INDH1006 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Capital, World Health Organization, The Who
26 May 2018
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Notes 2 – Introduction to Indigenous Cultures and Health behaviours
Learning Outcomes:
The concepts of health and wellbeing
• Health is a complex issue. It is not static. Several concepts,
definitions and models relating to health exist.
• Health has been defined by the WHO as ‘a state of complete
physical, emotional and social wellbeing, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO, 1946). These three elements
are components of health status.
• Health status is the level of health of an individual, person, group or
population as assessed by that individual or objective measures.
• Determinants of health are biological, behavioural, social and
environmental. The determinants interact.
• There are many ways in which health is conceptualised.
• How we view the concepts of health and illness, how we think and
feel, influence the types of health behaviours we adopt. In this
1. Recognise differing perceptions of health, illness, disease and
disability.
2. Discuss the factors that influence perceptions and how these
perceptions can impact health behaviours.
3. Discuss Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous
definitions and models of health.
4. Explain the links between human rights, social justice, health equity
and equality and how these concepts relate to Aboriginal and Torres
Strat Islander peoples.
5. Define culture and discuss how it impacts health and wellbeing.
6. Discuss the nature of collective and individual societies.
7. Understand the links between the social determinants of health,
social justice and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander constitutional
rights.
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regard, note that socio-cultural factors influence the meaning of
health including age, gender, family beliefs, current health status,
religion/spirituality, history and subjective experiences as well as
geographical location.
• Health therefore is not merely the absence of disease. Social and
environmental factors along with perceptions of well-being need to
be incorporated into any definition of health.
• Health and illness are social concepts and they mean different
things to different people.
• Culture significantly influences people’s beliefs about what factors
contribute to health and ill-health.
• The WHO, (1946) grounded the idea of wellbeing within its broad
concept of health. Health is considered to be a positive state. It
acknowledges the importance of preventative behaviours in physical
health e.g. ‘A healthy person is not just someone without disease
or disability but is someone who behaves on a way that is likely to
maintain that state in the future’ (Brandon et al., p. 11).
• Many of us share common factors but the differing cultural values
and norms that surround an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
collective philosophy differs from a more individualistic Western
philosophy.
• For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, connection to land,
family and community relationships relate to overall ‘wellbeing’
rather than health.
• Several conceptual frameworks (ways of thinking about health and
wellbeing) have evolved over time. These include the medical,
biopsychosocial and ecological models. These will be reviewed
below.
(WHO, 1946; Segen's Medical Dictionary, 2012; Jones & Creddy, 2012;
Taylor, 2008; Kingsley et al., 2013)
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Measurements of health status
Objective Measures
• Epidemiology offers examples of objective measures in terms of the
distribution and frequency of disease.
• Statistical measures include mortality, morbidity, prevalence and
incidence.
• Health is also measured in terms of life expectancy and health
inequalities identified using life expectancy measures (Jones &
Creddy, 2012)
Subjective Measures
• Health perceptions (or perceived health status) are subjective
ratings.
• Objective and subjective measures allow for comparisons to be
made between and within countries and the information about the
health status of a population helps governments shape health
policies to determine how health services should be delivered.
You will recall from the Workshop that you were asked to consider what
health is, how it is perceived and to identify factors that influence those
perceptions. These are discussed further below.
1. Health is the absence of disease in an individual
Health is understood as having two opposite states: either someone is
‘healthy’ or ‘ill’ – these are mutually exclusive. This view suggests that
health is static, it does not change and is dichotomous.
Health has in the past been related to the functioning of the body, health
and illness (biomedical perspective; Cartesian dualism – separation of
mind and body). Health and illness are considered in terms of a person’s
medically defined pathology. This biomedical approach, links to the
medical model which is useful in identifying and reducing disease in
individuals. When moving the focus away from the individual to
populations, the limitations of this model become apparent. Public health
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Document Summary
Notes 2 introduction to indigenous cultures and health behaviours. The concepts of health and wellbeing: health is a complex issue. Several concepts, definitions and models relating to health exist: health has been defined by the who as a state of complete physical, emotional and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or in rmity" (who, 1946). The determinants interact: there are many ways in which health is conceptualised, how we view the concepts of health and illness, how we think and feel, influence the types of health behaviours we adopt. Health is considered to be a positive state. These include the medical, biopsychosocial and ecological models. These will be reviewed below. (who, 1946; segen"s medical dictionary, 2012; jones & creddy, 2012; You will recall from the workshop that you were asked to consider what health is, how it is perceived and to identify factors that influence those perceptions.
