Health Approach and Disease Based Explanation - Term Paper Example

Health Approach and Disease Based Explanation Student Name Course Tutor Date Introduction The main focus of public health is generally on the safety and well being of the entire population. Therefore the emphasis on public health is on the preventive measures rather than the curative aspect of the disease. The field also emphasizes input from a variety of sectors including health, education, social services and policy. This approach mainly involves the community in its preventive measures through the enactment and establishment of appropriate policies that will enhance the lives and health of the community at large. Preventive measures are usually conducted through education and public awareness on the risky factors of certain behavior. Environmental cleanliness is also advocated so as to eliminate disease causing pathogens and improve the health of individuals in the community. Over time preventive measures have been considered to be an effective model in dealing with diseases in the community. On the other hand disease based explanation is mainly concerned with the curative aspect of the disease once it has occurred. Thus its main emphasis and objective is the treatment process of the disease once it has been identified in the community. This model tires to identify the best approach to be applied in the management of the disease once identified. Hence the main contrast between the public health approach and the disease based explanation is the area of focus. While the public health model emphasizes on the preventive measures through strategies and policies, the disease based explanation focus on the curative aspect of the disease once it has been identified. Another contrast is that while the treatment process is expensive and posses diverse effects to the health of individual, preventive measures are less expensive and can aid in the prevention of a disease in the community. This essay will therefore discuss the public health approach and disease based explanation approaches (Verinder Glenda & Talbot, 2009).. Public Health Approach Public health has is mainly concerned with the skill of prevention of illnesses while at the same time prolong life and promoting physical health and efficiency through the use of community based determinations of cleanliness of the atmosphere and regulation of community contaminations. This is mainly achieved through individual awareness on the ideologies of personal sanitation together with the encouragement of early diagnosis and anticipatory management. The prevention of substance abuse has been the core emphasis of involvement for public health formulation of appropriate and effective policies so as to address the issue of drug abuse. For instance alcohol is a drug that is readily accessible and legal to consume. Prohibited drugs are unlawful and present noteworthy health risks to the users. Hence public health struggles focus on the decline of the amounts of alcohol intake among individuals so as to prevent the health implications of alcohol abuse. On the other hand substance usage is the administration of any material that alters an individual’s consciousness for instance alcohol, tobacco, caffeine among others. Thus substance use could vary from helpful to problematical depending on the magnitude, regularity, mode or circumstance of usage. Hence substance abuse denotes to designs of substance use that is not reliable with the authorized or medical strategies. Substance misuse is generally linked with physical, psychosomatic, financial and societal complications that pose certain dangers to the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities at large. Public health therefore has applied certain strategies so as to reduce the burden associated with alcohol misuse. Hence it has employed certain strategies that include; health campaign, preclusion and learning with emphasis on the promotion of stumpy risk drinking so as to encourage the culture of moderation; health impacts and treatment; limiting the availability of alcohol and safer communities through development of alcohol policies and programs that aims at addressing local issues. Effective organization, aim and objective setting; good leadership; developing strong public strategies and regulation; coming up with policy alternatives through negotiating. Public health approaches encompass harm decline to individual and communities. Research has exposed the usefulness of harm reduction strategies. Strategies such as needle exchanges and harmless injection locations have tremendously enhanced and condensed the spread of well known infective diseases that have been known to cause deaths to the individual. These programs also act to draw professed disregarded drug users provision of contact to health facilities and a chance to interchange towards risk behavior lessening or handling of the addiction. However, harm reduction approaches have not been entirely operational due to their enactment within the prohibition model. Hence the aspect of policy transformation is crucial to public health approach that will encompass the use of controlling tools so as to protect against harms and develop population health. For instance alcohol is often restricted form public consumption and some public places restrict the smoking of tobacco. Other regulatory controls can also be targeted at distribution outlets. These controls include: licensing of outlets, cautionary posters and handout material made available to consumers. A substantial amount of education on drug abuse has been established by research to be unsuccessful. Thus a post proscription model of education will be all-encompassing, engaging and delivering accurate information regarding the harms and benefits of drugs. While inhibition, protection and health elevation are crucial, there is need for provision of adequate services for individuals in need. Thus the provision of these services needs to be diligently connected to the prevention initiatives since they inform about the achievements and failures of the current strategies. Environmental model in public health also emphasizes the need to keep the environment conducive so as to prevent the spread of diseases through contamination. Hence there is need for individuals and communities to be mindful of their environment which has both advantages and disadvantages to their general wellbeing and health. The physical surrounding plays an important role in the health of individuals. The main steps of the public health approach are illustrated below; The Steps of the public health approach Disease Based Explanation Disease based explanation approach is a treatment based approach. Its key emphasis is on treatment rather than preventive measures of a disease. For instance, during the addiction of a drug the onset of this model is during the occurrence of the addiction i.e. the onset of the addiction process. This approach is founded on years of addiction treatment familiarity supported by clinical research in treating individuals with addiction conditions. It is designed to meet an individual’s variety of needs and effectively addresses psychiatric requirements of individuals with recurring disorders resulting from drug and substance abuse. Hence this is achieved through heavy investment in supreme progressive addiction treatment resources and redefining the relationship between medicine, rehabilitation and expertise. Individuals are given an opportunity for an elongated period of sobriety and an enhanced quality of life (Wigens, 2008). Each client interacts with a principal therapist on an association developed on evidence-based rational. According to Jean, (2003).Evidence based thinking incorporates research with clinical experience together with a large prescription of mutual intelligence. Most therapists use this model due to its flexibility as it constantly addresses the transforming issues concerning a client. The first step in the treatment of addiction involves the client being separated from his usual environment. In the new setting the client is encouraged to interact and make new sober friends, engage in consistent exercise and acquire relaxation methods. Thus individuals experiencing addiction disorders are disconnected from outside stresses and strains so as to focus on the recovery process. A lasting recovery procedure begins with an individual learning about the technique and the necessity for treatment (DiClemente et al. 2009). Disease based model in the treatment of addicts believes that each client deserves to be treated as a unique individual who possesses their unique treatment plan. Hence the client’s needs are constantly assessed and with the help of therapists the clients are helped in setting and defining realistic goals. This assessment is done so as to be able to identify any gaps. Thus this is a process whereby the clients are able to build therapeutic rapport while at the same time ascertaining and eliminating any existing long term impediments. Key relationships that support the recovery process are formed while allowing therapists and peer influences. Generally substance abuse treatment may be founded of a variety of approaches: medical model that lays emphasis on the recognition of addiction as a biological/psychological/social disease, hence the necessity for life long abstinence and the usage of a recovery program to sustain moderation; social model that incorporates the community/group in the process of salvage and sustaining sobriety and the behavioral model that highlights on diagnosis and treatment of other impediments of the recovery process (Jean, 2003). Recovery process is a very complex procedure that requires a long term commitment. Hence this is a significant aspect of the treatment continuum must be incorporated during the strategy of training programs for health care providers of substance misuse treatment. The difficulties of recovery should be well comprehended together with the prerequisite to address the problem of addiction in the community. The process of recovery may transform the entire community as an individual client undergoes on the enduring journey of well being. Relapse in the recovery process is not an isolated event but rather a process whereby an individual becomes dysfunctional and unable to survive with normal life in sobriety (DiClemente et al. 2009). The process of being dysfunctional may lead to reintroduced alcohol or drug abuse. The treatment of substance and drug abuse is costly to both individuals and the community. The substantial costs can be measured in terms of loss of productivity and joblessness, weakening in physical and psychological health and dependency on non-familial sustenance systems for survival (Dabney 2012). Developmental model of disease based explanation identifies six stages of treatment of drug and substance addiction; Transition Stabilization Recovery Maintenance The contrast between the public health that focuses on the preventive measure is that the stages ate cyclic while the disease based explanation is linear motion that explains the disease and the possible treatment options. Conclusion Both the public health approach system and the disease based explanation are approaches that are applied in solving the society’s health concerns. However the stages of application of the two approaches differ with the timing of addressing of the issues. If applied diligently both approaches are crucial in solving the problem of drug and substance abuse in the community at large. More efforts and resources should be channeled towards the preventive measures so as to prevent the occurrences of such issues in the society rather that waiting for them to happen so as to solve them. Thus treatment based explanation is more costly than the public health preventive approach since the approach is applied when the problem has already occurred thus endangering the health status of individual in the community. Strategies and policies should be put in place in the public health preventive measures rather than laying a lot of emphasis on the treatment based approach. References Wigens L. (2008). Public Health Approaches to Practice. Nelson Thornes Limited. Verinder Glenda & Talbot L. (2009). Promoting Health: A Primary Health Care Approach.Elsevier Australia. Jean, L. (2003). Health: an ecosystem approach. Contributor International Development Research Centre (Canada).IDRC. Dabney P. E. (2012). Rights-based Approaches to Public Health. Springer Publishing Company. DiClemente R. J. et al. (2009). Richard A. CroEmerging Theories in Health Promotion Practice and Research. John Wiley & Sons, 2009 Read More