Health
3 Components of Consumer Health
1. Health Information
2. Health Products
3. Health Services
1. Health Information is any concept, step, or advice that various sources give to the health status of an individual. The type of information varies depending on "diseases, sexual health, weight loss/gain, drugs and alcohol, depression/mental illness, violence, smoking, eating disorders acne/skin care, local clinics, and sexual assault" (Payne, et al, 2005). Health information plays a vital role in the life of individuals. "It is an information that people require to make wise choices and decisions about theirhealth or the health of [other people]" (Galvez Tan, et al.. 2009).
Source of Information
1. People
2. Media
3. Technology
Reliable Information
• Are licensed professionals who took up specialized and intensive studies in the field.
• They are the ones who have the qualified educational background and can give scientific explanation to validate information.
• We can also find reliable health information from health books. and accredited online sources.
Unreliable Information comes from those from people who are not in this field.
2. Health Products
In-vitro diagnostic reagents.
Household/urban hazardous substances and/or a combination of and/or a derivative thereof (FDA Act, 2009).
- Food
- Cosmetics
- Biologicals
- Drugs
- Devices
- Vaccine
3. Health Services
• These programs aim to appraise the health conditions of individuals through screening and examinations, cure and treat disorders, prevent and control the spread of diseases, provide safety, emergency care, and first aid, and ensure a follow-up program for individuals who have undergone treatments.
Different Types Of Health Services:
1. Health Professionals are individuals who are licensed to practice medicine and other allied health programs
Healthcare practitioner is an independent healthcare provider who is licensed to practice on a specific area of the body"
Allied health professional is a trained healthcare provider who practices under the supervision of a physician or healthcare practitioner"
2. Healthcare Facilities
• Places or institutions that offer healthcare services.
Different Types Of Healthcare Facilities:
HOSPITAL is an institution where people undergo medical diagnosis, care and treatment.
Different kinds Of Hospital
• Private hospitals are operated by individuals to gain profit.
• Voluntary hospital does not require profit because it is owned by a community or an organization.
• Government or Public hospital is being run by the state and the treatment fees are subsidized
• Teaching hospital includes a school for medical students.
2 Classifications Of Hospital
1. General hospitals have complete medical, surgical, and maternal care facilities.
Some examples are the Philippine General Hospital, Baguio General Hospital, Cebu General Hospital, and Davao Medical Center.
2. Specialty hospitals handle a particular disease or condition or deal with only one type of patient.
Some examples are the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, and National Kidney Transplant Institute.
Different Types Of Healthcare Facilities:
• Walk-In Surgery Center - is a facility that offers surgery without the patient being admitted in the hospital.
• Health Center - the services in a health center cater to a specific population with various health needs.
• Extended Healthcare Facility - a facility that provides treatment, nursing care, and residential services to patients, often the elderly.
3. Health Insurance - is a financial agreement between an insurance company and an individual or group for the payment of healthcare costs" (Payne, et al., 2005). This also may pertain to a "protection that provides benefits for sickness and injury" (Meeks, et al., 2011).
TYPES OF COVERAGE:
Medical Insurance - it pays for the fees of the health professionals, laboratory tests, and prescription drugs.
Major Medical Insurance - offers payment for long-term or chronicdiseases such as AIDS and cancer.
Hospitalization Insurance - pays for the stay of the patient inside the hospital.
Surgical Insurance - pays for surgery fees.
Disability Insurance - provides financing for members who meet accidents or suffer from illnesses.
Republic Act No. 8423 or “Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997”:
Provisioned the creation of the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Healthcare (PITAHC), which works closely with the Department of Health.
PITAHC is also the law-making body with regards to the effective use of traditional and alternative medicine.
Naturopathy
Naturopathic medicine views diseases as a manifestation of alteration in the processes by which the body naturally heals it self" (Donatelle, 2006). Naturopathy offers a wide range of natural practices including herbal medicine acupuncture, acupressure. nutritional therapy, and veniosa cupping massage therapy.
10 Herbal herbs accredited by DOH:
AKAPULCO for ringworm and other skin (fungal) infections
AMPALAYA - non-insulin dependent diabetic patients
BAWANG - blood pressure control
BAYABAS - used as antiseptic to disinfect wounds
LAGUNDI - cough and asthma
NIYOG-NIYUGAN - intestinal worms (ascaris and trichina)
SAMBONG for urinary stones
TSAANG-GUBAT - For mouthwash
PANSIT-PANSITAN - For arthritis and gout
YERBA BUENA - For relief from body aches and pains
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE:
Reflexology focuses on treating specific disorders through massaging of the soles of the feet and hand.
Acupuncture is a form of energy medicine where long needles are inserted to specific parts of the body to affect the energy flow. Acupunctures is believed to treat musculoskeletal dysfunctions.
Acupressure uses the same technique as that of acupuncture. The only difference is that acupressure does not use needles but hands to apply pressure on certain points of the body.
Ventosa cupping massage therapy
This procedure is done by placing inverted glasses that have flames from burning cotton, on specific points in the body. It isbelieved to relieve muscle and joint pains.
Nutrition Therapy approaches treatment of a medical condition by providing a tailored diet for the patient.
Quackery (a form of health fraud)
is any advertisement, promotion, or sale of products and services that have not been scientifically proven safe and effective (Meeks, et al, 2011). It is being operated by a quack.
Quack is an individual that has little or no professional qualifications to practice medicine. He/She also pretentiously uses meaningless medical jargon and relies on scare tactics, paranoid accusations, and quick fixes.
Three Major Characteristics of Health Quackery:
1. It is a big business.
2. It multiplies and spreads fast.
3. It thrives on individuals who are diagnosed with illnesses that are known to have no cure.
• Medical Quackery includes cures, treatments, and remedies of various health conditions that are drugless or bloodless in nature.
• Nutrition Quackery involves promotion of food fads and other nutritional practices that claim to be all natural. These are believed to have beneficial properties of multiple plants in one product.
• Device Quackery makes use of miraculous gadgets (such as dials, gauges, electrodes, magnets, and blinkers) that are believed to cure certain health conditions.