POLY1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Health Policy, Public Health, Aust
Lecture 6 - Health & Disability
Review:
Which level of govt has the primary responsibility for delivering education in Australia?
state + fed
what source provides the greatest level of funding, on average per student to Catholic
schools?
Federal
Nous groups description of compounding effects of concentrations of disadvantage in
schooling
Diagram in textbook/on slides
Learning objectives:
different ways of conceptualising health:
Biomedical
social determinants
human right
who + what health pol involves
institutional + funding arrangement
Implications of a two-tiered system
Dominant themes in Aust health pol:
these feed into + shape our policies
the crisis narrative:
current or predicted future failures of the health system
Common stories:
Public hospitals cannot cope with demand
shortages of health professionals
entire health system threatened by demographic changes (ageing pop)
silver bullet narrative:
scientific advances + breakthroughs will help to save + improve lives
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
what is health policy?
Financial arrangements determining who pays for what
persistent arguments between powerful interest groups that leave the less powerful
without a say
ideas (debates) about what health actually means
-> what health policy actually includes
Lewis (textbook):
who pays + for what signifies to what extent health is seen to be a public good
who has power in health policy debates indiciates who has the ability to influence the
health policy process
different perceptions about health
Dominant discourses:
Biomedicine
body as a machine that sometimes breaks downed needs to be fixed
key concepts:
Disease + other malaises, such as disabilities, are deviations from normal
biological functioning
assessment + intervention is focused on addressing + correcting the malfunction
rather than adapting the environment
Diseases and malaises are causes by specific agents of processes
biological explanations are privileged over understanding the associated social
patterning
universal nature of diseases, regardless of culture, time + place
fails to acknowledge cultural + historical variations that affect understanding +
experience of disease and how it is addressed
medicine as a scientifically neutral enterprise
positivist, non-biased, scientific evidence is valued
Implications:
creates experts and expertise associate with biology -> power conferred on
medical practitioners
use of biomedical terminology re normal and abnormal
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Individualistic, curative interventions are prioritised
allocation of funding - e.g. lung cancer gets less funding because it can be seen as
the result of some peoples individual actions
Social determinants & public health
recognises underlying social, economic + political causes of poor health
Wilkinson + Marmot:
close relationship between living + working conditions and health outcomes =
renewed appreciation of health being impacted by social environment
factors such as income, education, conditions of employment, power and social
support either strengthen or undermine health
diagram on PP
individual lifestyle factors
age, sex and constitutional actors
Social + community networks
General socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions
e.g. education, unemployment, health care services, housing
Implications:
more preventive approach -> focus on protecting and promoting the health of
communities
in contrast to individualistic + curative
old public health = quarantine, sewerage disposal, provision of clean water, food
safety, immunisation
new public health = community involvement and focus on addressing social
determinants of health
who is involved?
diverse + inclusive team needed, should involve those whose help we are
trying to improve
working with not doing to
Conceptual Framework for Australias Health
**on PP**
Considers health to be multidimensional, defining health in according with WHO
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Nous group(cid:1685)s description of compounding effects of concentrations of disadvantage in schooling. Biomedical social determinants human right who + what health pol involves institutional + funding arrangement. Dominant themes in aust health pol: these feed into + shape our policies the (cid:1684)crisis(cid:1685) narrative: current or predicted future failures of the health system. Financial arrangements determining who pays for what persistent arguments between powerful interest groups that leave the less powerful without a say ideas (debates) about what (cid:1684)health(cid:1685) actually means. Biomedicine body as a machine that sometimes breaks downed needs to be fixed key concepts: Disease + other malaises, such as disabilities, are deviations from normal biological functioning assessment + intervention is focused on addressing + correcting the malfunction rather than adapting the environment. Implications: creates experts and expertise associate with biology -> power conferred on medical practitioners use of biomedical terminology re (cid:1688)normal(cid:1689) and (cid:1688)abnormal(cid:1689)
