VCAA Health and Human Development Understanding health and wellbeing

If a person has a balanced diet which includes fresh, healthy foods like vegetables and water, they will have the energy to exercise. Exercise decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and obesity, optimising health and wellbeing.

By training with her netball team, Lucy develops meaningful and satisfying relationships with her team mates, promoting optimal social health and wellbeing. As a result of positive and supportive friends, Lucy develops a sense of belonging to her netball club, thus positively impacting spiritual health and wellbeing.

Health and wellbeing is said to be dynamic as it can change quickly. For example, a person could be experiencing adequate physical functioning and then suffer a fall and break their leg, which can reduce their level of functioning

If a person is physically healthy, they are able to complete their education and get a job, and therefore a taxable income, in which the taxes can be used by the government to fund infrastructure, education, etc, acting as a national resource.

Burden of disease is a measure of the gap between current health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and disability. Burden of disease is measured in a unit called the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY), made up of Years of Life Lost (fatal component) and Years of Life Lost due to Disability (non-fatal component).

HERE ARE TWO EXAMPLES OF HIGH-SCORING RESPONSES:

(1). Cardiovascular disease
Factor: high intake of salt
Description excess salt draws the fluid out of cells and therefore contributes to a great blood volume. A great blood volume means that there is more strain on the heart as it is required to pump a great amount of blood around the body. This therefore increases the risk of hypertension (cardiovascular disease) and hence contributes to more years of life spent living in ill-health (YLD) and thus a higher burden of disease.

(2). Cancer
Factor: Smoking
Description Smoking causes faults in the cells as they divide, which can lead to diseases such as lung cancer. Therefore smoking causes higher rates of years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD) associate with lung cancer.

Education

Having an adequate education can help individuals pursue a well paying career and being able to afford additional basic needs such as food, therefore promoting the functioning of the body and its systems (physical health).

Shelter

Having adequate shelter helps individuals to have a safe place to sleep and relax to replenish the mind and lead to less stress, and therefore promote mental health and wellbeing.

DALY is a measure of burden of disease, where one DALY equals one year of healthy life lost due to premature death and time spent with disease, injury or disability.

HALE is the average amount of time an individual can expect to live in full health, that is time spent without the health consequences of disease and illness.

Under consumption of fruit, such as apples, may contribute to increased YLL's in Australia. Fruit is high in fibre, which regulates bowel movements by adding bulk to faeces. Thus not enough fruit can increase the risk of constipation which is a risk factor for colorectal cancer due to waste staying inside the body. This can cause premature death increasing YLLs contributed to overall burden in Australia.

Social health and wellbeing (H+W) refers to the state and quality of an individual’s interactions and relationships with other people, including the ability to manage and adapt appropriately to a variety of social situations. Social H+W is said to be dynamic as it is constantly changing. This could involve an individual having a wide supportive network of friends and this having optimal social H+W, but then the person moves away from such friends to a different state, hence significantly reducing this supportive network of friends, negatively impacting social H+W via such a sudden change.

If a person experiences good physical health and wellbeing (H&W), they may have a healthy body weight. This can make them have a healthy body image and self-love, which promotes mental H&W by increasing self-esteem. If a person experiences greater self-esteem, they may be more confident in their abilities, which may motivate them to join a sports team. This can help them regularly attend sports practices that help them to maintain good fitness and energy levels, thus promoting physical H&W.

Illness is an individual’s experience with a particular disease or condition.

Illness is subjective as it is experienced differently by different individuals. For example, two people may have the flu, but one person may have a supportive family to take care of them when they are sick, and the other may not have that, which can cause them to be more sick and perceive their experience as worse.

If an individual has optimal physical health and wellbeing and adequate energy levels, they may have enough energy to go to school and socialise with their peers, allowing them to expand their supportive network of friends and improve their social health and wellbeing.

If people are experiencing high levels of confidence and self-esteem (mental health and wellbeing (h&w)) this can mean they are more likely to want to engage with family and friends and attend social gatherings to maintain meaningful relationships (promoting social h&w). This can mean people feel less stressed and anxious in their lives as they have people to talk about their feelings with (promoting mental h&w). Thus, if people are less stressed, they are more likely to be able to communicate effectively with others which promotes social h&w.

Optimal mental health and wellbeing includes the ability to think logically and make decisions. This may increase a person's likelihood of maintaining a job, increasing the amount of people in the country working and paying taxes. Thus, increasing the government revenue to spend on education and infrastructure.

Overconsumption of alcohol may increase mortality rates as consumption of alcohol may increase risk of bad judgment such as injury, drink driving, aggression and violence leading to increase mortality rates from injury. Another indicator alcohol consumption may impact is prevalence, specifically from CVD (cardiovascular disease). Because alcohol is high in energy, if not burned through bodily functions / systems or physical activity, it can lead to plaque build up, narrowing arteries (atherosclerosis) cause the heart to work harder to pump blood around the body which increases the risk of hypertension leading to heart attack / stroke.

Mortality relates to death, often at a population level.

Environmental: Working conditions.

Indigenous Australians tend to take on more dangerous labour work due to lack of access to other job opportunities. As a result, they might put themselves to work in dangerous working conditions to earn an income and contributes to a higher mortality rates due to injury among Indigenous Australian compared to non-Indigenous Australian.

Sociocultural: Social exclusion.

Indigenous Australians still face discrimination from the wider public, making it hard for them to socialise and feel accepted. Thus, it can severely affect their mental health negatively and lead to substance abuse such as alcohol abuse. Overconsumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning and increase the mortality rates due to alcohol poisoning among Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous Australians.

Patrick having joined the ‘Men’s Shed Association’ has provided him with the opportunity to socialise with other men while working on projects, thus improving his effective communication skills (social health and wellbeing). With the ability to socialise, he is more likely to ‘discuss issues’ in his own life and vent his emotions of frustration as a result of his unemployment. Thus lowering his levels of stress and anxiety and improving mental health and wellbeing. Patrick being in a more positive headspace can motivate him to continue attending Men’s Shed, and socialise with men through positive interactions, thus helping to form productive relationships with others, improving Patrick’s social health and wellbeing.

For example:

Mental health and wellbeing is the current state of wellbeing relating to the mind. It includes levels of stress.

Develop personal skills: This action area refers to providing education to and improving the skills of participants so that they can improve their life. The “Take a step” campaign provides “practical steps” that young indigenous people can take to start to feel better. This assists people in finding ways that work for them to improve their mental health. This campaign educates indigenous youth and provides them with the skills they need to recognise signs of declining mental health and ways to get better.

Strengthen community action: This action area works to connect individuals and communities so that they can work together to achieve a common goal. In the ‘Take a step’ campaign, community based chat feature, videos and fact sheets are provided to young people and family and friends with a young person in their lives. This ensures that everyone in the community gets involved in improving the mental health of indigenous youth so that young people do not feel alone and so this is more achievable if everyone contributes to the campaign.

Individuals can donate to non-government organisations (NGOs), such as World Vision, to assist them in continuing their work in low-income countries. This may assist funding World Vison projects that centre around education programs for women and girls in small, rural and conflict affected communities where women often have limited access or denied access to education. Thus, this may mean that more women and girls have adequate literacy and numeracy skills and have increased opportunities for employment later in life, helping to reduce inequality and discrimination based on sex in low-income countries.

Sexual orientation – Through reducing levels of discrimination based on sexual orientation, less gay and lesbian individuals will face derogatory comments from others or violent abuse, assisting in increasing their sense of belonging (spiritual) in the community as they will feel more accepted.

Gender identity – Through reducing discrimination based on gender identity, fewer transgender people will be denied access to employment, assisting them in being able to earn an income. They can use this income to afford nutritious foods, such as vegetables, helping to reduce levels of malnutrition and assisting them in being free from illness/disease (physical).

For example: It relates to the disposal of human waste (see marking criteria for more accepted answers).

If children cannot adequately wash their hands after going to the toilet, they may ingest faecal matter when eating, which can lead to diseases such as diarrheal disease. Therefore a lack of access to basic handwashing facilities may lead to children experiencing increased YLD associated with diarrheal disease.

Lobby the government by designing and sending letters to your Member of Parliament about providing more support to countries that have poor hand washing facilities. This is using your voice to make a difference by encouraging governments to acknowledge the issue and take action. This may contribute to more funding for aid programs which can assist implementing programs to provide greater access to facilities in schools for handwashing in low-income countries.

Dimension 1: Environmental sustainability can mean that the effects of climate change are mitigated through a reduction in greenhouse gases. This can result in a decrease in temperatures and subsequent bushfires, resulting in a reduction in injury due to bushfires, promoting physical health and wellbeing, globally.

Dimension 2: Environmental sustainability can mean the food sources in the environment are used in a way that can be maintained into the future. Therefore, people around the world are less likely to worry about whether the planet will run out of food, decreasing stress and anxiety levels and promoting mental health and wellbeing globally.

Cigarettes and e-cigarettes contain carcinogens which when consumed, can cause faults in the body’s cells as they divide, which can lead to tumours. Hence increased smoking and vaping can increase the prevalence of cancer in Australia.

Cigarettes and e-cigarettes also contain harmful chemicals that lead to a build-up of plaque in the arteries, atherosclerosis, which can increase the likelihood of a heart attack. Hence, increased rates of smoking and vaping can increase mortality rates from heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases in Australia.

The social model of health, which incorporates the Ottawa Charter, involves health promotion programs such as the Quit program. The Quit program, through its free website provides tools, such as, recommending people to distract themselves with a video if they feel the urge to smoke. This example of helping individuals ‘Develop Personal Skills’ shows how the Quit program equips smokers with the skills to quit their smoking addiction, hence increasing the likelihood that they will persist and quit. This can reduce overall rates of smoking and vaping.

Individually: If smoking/vaping rates are reduced, people are more likely have better functioning of their body systems and attend work, therefore earn an income to afford a decent standard of living and necessities such as food, shelter. Therefore, acting as a resource for individuals.

Nationally: Reducing smoking/vaping rates reduces risks of associated health conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This means nationally more people can experience optimal physical health and wellbeing by being free of disease and illness. This means less hospitalisation from fatal COPD conditions, reducing the strain on the health system, allowing more funds to be diverted towards infrastructure by the government, acting as a resource nationally.