What is the greatest determinant of health?
Income
What impact does poverty have on health?
• More likely to have chronic health problems, cardiovascular disease and diabetes type 2, lower self esteem, higher levels of depression, low birth weight, fewer public services.
What community resources can a nurse recommend to a person experiencing poverty?
• Food banks, homeless shelters, aid programs, coping methods
How do social support networks impact health?
- Affects health, health behaviours and health care utilization through practical, emotional, informational and affirmational support
- Just as important as established risk factors, support during times of stress, assists with coping and behavioural changes
How can a genogram and ecomap be used to conduct an assessment of social support networks?
• Genogram- can be used to assess support by showing the family and the relationships between family members
o Help nurses better understand their patients living environment
• Ecomaps- can show outside support that influences the client
What community resources can a nurse recommend to a person lack social support networks?
• Community groups, sports teams, clubs, getting involved in the community
How does education influence health?
- Directly through medication use, safety practices
- Indirectly through use of services, lifestyles, income, working environments and stress levels, more education means you are more likely to smoke less, be more physically active, eat healthier foods because you are educated about the benefits of doing so
What community resources can a nurse recommend to an adult who’s not literate?
• Going to local college to get some sort of education or in programs that offer education through certain jobs
Describe attributes related to a person’s work/job that influence health?
- Affects physical, mental and social health
- Paid work provides money, social contacts, sense of identity and purpose, opportunities for personal growth and social contacts
How does unemployment affect health?
- Unemployment may result in a person not having benefits or pension which can increase stress and more likely to be unhealthy because they cannot sustain a healthy lifestyle
- Linked to material and social deprivation, adoption of health threatening coping behaviours, psychological stress and physical and mental health problems
What community resources can a nurse recommend to a person who is unemployed?
• Pursuing a better education, applying to different jobs, looking into options and what they are interested in.
What community resources can a nurse recommend to a person who is in an unsafe working environment?
- Contact employer, union, company
- Discuss conditions with employer
- Leave the job
Give examples of how determinants of health are interrelated
- Better education means better employment and working conditions, along with benefits for health and money to finance children’s edcation and development
- Higher education means higher economic status
- Higher economic status means better lifestyle
- Employment is social support network
