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| Image: R Blackburn |
An individual’s view of health can be influenced through lifestyle, geographical location, family, friends,
EDUCATION and representations through the media. As a western nation, we now have access to images and information to know that
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ARE STRUGGLING. Two-thirds of the world’s 799 million illiterate adults ages 15 and over are women. As our world fast advances, technology constantly being improved, populations growing, travel increasing, and things once never thought possible have been done, the interconnectedness of our world is increasingly apparent. Be it through the global media, advertising, the internet, or the international threat of terrorism, the barriers of time, distance, language, and culture are being eroded (
Keleher & McDougall, 2009, p. 170).
MAKING DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IS OFTEN NO LONGER POSSIBLE OR RELEVANT. We now live in a global village and health concerns are increasingly transnational (domino effect). The health problems of one country should be a concern for all of us (
Keleher & McDougall, 2009, p. 170), and a determinants approach is central to tackling global health inequities.
Growing up, I knew I didn’t want an average 9-5 desk job. I wanted a job where I could help people, educate people, and cause
MOMENTUM IN THE HUGE MACHINE OF CHANGE. I am amazed that we live on the same earth yet live worlds apart. How lucky am I to be born in Australia. We do not choose when or where we are born, though it greatly impacts on the life we "choose". When I enrolled at University I felt I had a sound understanding of what it meant to be healthy and what did or did not affect that. However, looking back, my ideas about health were limited and perhaps a little naive, confined to factors given to me by the media and the norms of my privileged society. My definition of health was confined to
eating well, being active and having a positive outlook on life. A determinants approach to health has opened my eyes and opened my heart and I realise now, those factors barely touch on what affects the health of an individual and their community. As
Kali says, "awareness is the start of an education process. I don't think people know how bad these issues are, and they need to be educated. Unfortunately, we aren't raised to think globally”.
Health is a dynamic concept with multiple meanings, dependent on the context in which it is used. This, we can learn through education.
When I looked at a health issue, my idea of a solution was focused around a downstream response- those at a micro level including treatment systems, disease management, individual prevention and early intervention. A level often used by politicians and the media. A downstream response would be supplying food rations in developing countries. I now see the importance of adapting an upstream approach- those at a macro level (whole-of-population approaches). This approach includes government policies that promote good health and prevent illness and disease, including,
EDUCATION and affordable health care (
Keleher & McDougall, 2009, p. 8). “Education is key... with more knowledge we could understand how we could help. It’s a choice that I believe more people would choose if given the correct information and opportunity" says
Nicole, 25. An upstream approach entails finding the reasons behind poverty in developing countries, not why are they hungry today and how we can deliver their next meal, but how did they get this far? Poverty and inequities are well recognised as key determinants of health and social well-being. Health for most of the world’s population is less determined by the biology, than it is by social cultural, environmental, political, economic vulnerability, limited access to information and services, and violence and war (
Keleher & McDougall, 2009, p. 170). Solutions to health problems need to adapt an upstream approach of looking ‘up and around’ so we can see them more complexly in order to really deal with these health issues. It means going beyond contemporary concentration on the immediate causes of disease and instead focusing on the
‘CAUSES OF THE CAUSE’.
These is an increasing imbalance between the western world and developing nations. Many political boarders now serve as semi-permeable membranes,
OFTEN QUITE OPEN TO DISEASES AND YET CLOSED TO THE FREE MOVEMENT OF CURES (
Farmer, 1996). When discussing health in low and middle income countries, it is important to consider the wider structural determinants of health such as economic globalisation, structural adjustment programs, historical factors, communication technologies and global media (
Keleher & McDougall, 2009, p. 170). Health, in particular is susceptible to political power. There are several reasons as to why health is political. Firstly, good health is not shared equally, social factors that influence good health (poverty, hygiene, education) are dependent on political action and funding. The United Nations have stated that health is the
RIGHT OF EVERY CITIZEN. However, different political philosophies determine the budget for health, the types of programs and approaches that will be funded, and how health services and health resources such as
EDUCATION will be distributed (
Keleher & MacDougall, 2009, p. 6). Often, the health and well being of citizens lie in the hands of the government, their values and ideologies.
Throughout the coming weeks and months (and years),
WABI-SABI The Movement will write with a loud voice- in the hope of educating, informing and inspiring you.
EDUCATE | INSPIRE | LEARN Each person is unique, their personalities differ and they learn and observe in different ways, though through the varied content and media, we will create awareness- to create change.
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