Professional Practice #1

Definition of Health

• Health is defined as a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, going beyond merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Determinants of Health

• Health determinant: Any factor that either elevates or reduces the overall health level within a population or for an individual.

• An individual's health status is largely shaped by their circumstances and environmental factors.

• Significant influencing factors include:

  • Geographic location and living conditions.

  • The state of the surrounding environment.

  • Genetic predispositions.

  • Income and education levels.

  • Quality of relationships with friends and family.

Definition of Public Health

• Public health is characterized as society's collective and organized endeavor aimed at preserving well-being and preventing injury, illness, and premature death.

• It encompasses a harmonized combination of programs, services, and policies designed to safeguard and enhance the health of all citizens (according to the Canadian Public Health Association).

• Public health involves both the science and art of disease prevention, life prolongation, and health promotion.

• The primary objectives of public health are to:

  • Boost the overall health and well-being of the population.

  • Prevent disease onset and mitigate its adverse effects.

  • Extend human lifespan.

  • Diminish health disparities and inequalities.

Occupational Health

• Occupational health (and safety) is vital for protecting the well-being of workers.

• It integrates preventive measures, regulatory frameworks, and training initiatives to reduce workplace hazards, injuries, and illnesses.

• Effective occupational health and safety programs emphasize:

  • Risk assessment: Identifying potential dangers.

  • Hazard control: Implementing strategies to eliminate or minimize risks.

  • Employee engagement: Actively involving workers in safety processes.

• Prioritizing workers' physical and mental well-being not only safeguards individuals but also provides crucial support for employment and economic stability.

Environment and Health

• An environmental determinant of health is any external agent (e.g., biological, chemical, physical, social, cultural) that can be directly linked to alterations in health status.

• Human health is intrinsically dependent on society's capacity to prudently manage the interactions between human activities and the physical and biological environment.

• This management must ensure that health is safeguarded and promoted without jeopardizing the natural systems essential for the integrity of the physical and biological environments themselves.

Environmental Health

• Environmental Health focuses on managing human-environment interactions in a way that simultaneously improves health for everyone and preserves the integrity of the environment.

• Total Worker Health (TWH):

  • A TWH approach is defined by policies, programs, and practices that holistically integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards.

  • It combines these protective measures with efforts to promote injury and illness prevention to comprehensively advance worker well-being.

What is an Environmental Health Hazard?

• Agent: Refers to 'something that causes change' or 'any chemical, physical, biological or social substance or factor being assessed'.

• Hazard: Defined as 'the capacity of an agent to produce a particular type of adverse effect'.

• Environmental health hazard: Any physical, chemical, or biological factor present in the environment that poses a risk of harm to human health, potentially leading to disease, injury, or death.

Classifications of Environmental Health Hazards

• Type of Source:

  • Natural (e.g., wildfires, floods).

  • Anthropogenic (human-made, e.g., pollution).

• Geographical Scope:

  • Local, regional, state, national, global.

• Demographical Impact:

  • Specific populations such as children, the elderly, or different socioeconomic status (SES) groups.

• Economical Context:

  • Differences between developing and developed countries.

• Nature of the Hazard:

  • Biological, chemical, physical, mechanical, psychosocial.

• Route of Exposure:

  • Through air, food, water, soil.

• Route of Entry:

  • Ingestion, inhalation, dermal (skin contact).

• Setting:

  • Home, work, school, hospital, community.

Types of Environmental Health Hazards

• Biological hazards:

  • Bacteria, viruses, parasites.

• Chemical hazards:

  • Toxic metals, air pollutants, solvents, pesticides.

• Physical hazards:

  • Radiation, extreme temperature, noise.

• Mechanical hazards:

  • Motor vehicles, sports injuries, workplace injuries.

• Psychosocial hazards:

  • Stress, lifestyle disruption, unemployment, social change.

Biological Hazards Details

• Key microorganisms of concern for environmental health include bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.

• The environment plays a threefold role in biological hazards:

  • It influences the existence of the agent.

  • It dictates the exposure of the host to the agent.

  • It affects the susceptibility of the host to the agent.

Facts About Communicable Diseases

• Approximately 13 \text{ million} deaths occur each year from communicable diseases, with half of these in developing countries.

• Pneumonia: The leading cause of death for children globally. In the USA, influenza causes over 40,000 deaths annually.

• Tuberculosis: Each year, 1.5 \text{ million} people die, and 8 \text{ million} are newly infected.

• Measles: Responsible for 900,000 deaths per year, primarily among children.

• Diarrhoeal diseases: Cause 2 \text{ million} deaths annually.

• HIV/AIDS: Affects 33 \text{ million} infected individuals.

• Malaria: Kills 3000 people daily, with three-quarters of these being children.

Chemical Hazards Details

• Since the early 1900s, about 10 \text{ million} chemical compounds have been synthesized in laboratories.

• All chemicals possess some degree of toxicity. The health risk associated with a chemical is a function of the severity of its toxicity (its capacity to cause injury) and the extent of exposure.

• When assessing the risk posed by a toxic substance, several factors must be considered:

  • The quantity of the substance absorbed by the body (i.e., the dose).

  • How the body metabolizes the substance.

  • The nature and extent of the health effect at a specific level of exposure (dose-response relationship).

• The dose is related to:

  • The route of exposure.

  • The length, duration, and frequency of exposure.

Physical Hazards Details

• Physical hazards arise from the interaction between various forms of energy and matter.

• Types of energy that can lead to physical hazards include sound waves, radiation, light energy, thermal energy, and electrical energy.

• The main types of physical hazards are noise, vibration, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, pressure, and temperature extremes.

Mechanical Hazards Details

• Mechanical hazards result in injuries caused by the transfer of mechanical (kinetic) energy.

• Examples include injuries from machines, tools, and moving parts, leading to entanglement, crushing, cutting, impact, and ejection of materials.

Psychosocial Hazards Details

• Psychosocial hazards are factors within work design, organization, management, or the social context of work/life that possess the potential to cause psychological or physical harm (stress).

• Examples:

  • Anxiety about survival during wartime for oneself and family.

  • Uncertainty regarding health effects from radiation exposure (e.g., Chernobyl).

• Stress is more accurately defined as a human response to 'stressors'.

• The stress process involves two stages:

  • Stage 1: Deciding whether an event (stressor) constitutes a hazard.

  • Stage 2: Assessing the available possibilities for dealing with the situation.

Difficulties in Assessing Environmental Health Hazards

• Long Time Frames: There can be extended periods between exposure to a hazard and the manifestation of its health effects.

• Multiple Causation: Environmentally related diseases or illnesses are frequently caused by a combination of factors.

• Diverse Health Problems: Exposure to a single specific environmental hazard might lead to an array of different health problems.

Homework Guidelines

• Seriously read the course syllabus.

• Read the syllabus again for thorough understanding.

• Print out the lecture schedule and assignment due dates, or integrate them into electronic calendars.

• Organization is crucial for academic success!