Healthy Lives - Healthy People - Report Example

Healthy Lives Healthy People Introduction Public health can be defined as the effort to develop a healthy society keeping in view the contemporary ideas about health issues. Public health strategies are constructed within the social and economic parameters of a country. Contrary to the traditional views, the new public health has taken a different approach in dealing with health issues. Previously nature was viewed as producer of health hazards like germs, parasites and viruses. The new public health has shifted its focus from nature’s inherent harmful characteristics to dangers created by man’s interference with nature (Johnson, 2001, p.3). Efficiently promoting public health strategies and correct implementation of those strategies can be a complex task and needs the cooperation of other professionals. The entire system can be greater than all the parts together, but without proper co-ordination there can be confusion and disharmony in the public health of a nation. Improper application of public health strategies or inefficient conceptualization of the strategies can lead to poor results and misuse of public resources. The worst case scenario can be spread of unnecessary diseases (Hartwell, 2011). Public health is essentially about “helping people to stay healthy and avoid getting ill.” (Public Health, n.d.) On 30 November 2010, the UK government published Healthy Lives, Healthy People: our strategies for public health in England, with the purpose of making health issues the central matter of concern in all government activities (Healthy Lives, Healthy People: update and way forward, 2011, p.7). This paper focuses on how this strategy addresses existing public health needs and areas of past public health failure. UK public health strategy 2011 Healthy Lives, Healthy People The policy statement Healthy Lives, Healthy People is based on the “philosophy of individual responsibility for health, although it acknowledges the importance of wider social, economic and environmental factors.” (Parish, 2011) This policy statement has been published by the UK government with a vision of bringing an overall change in the public health system in England, and emphasizing on those health issues that require development within a set timeline. Several strong changes have been recommended by this policy statement in order to tackle the current complexities in public health matters. For instance, in UK the problem of overweight or obesity is found in two out of three adults. There is also the prevalent issue of inequalities in the standards of health. People from poor communities on average have life spans less than that of people from rich communities by 7 years. Then there are other health threats which are difficult to control like spread of new pandemics and potential terrorist attacks. The new approach adopted by the policy statement includes co-operation from local communities. This entire health strategy is governed by public health consultants and is of real priority in the UK political arena. The idea is to form a reformed public health system by adopting a number of strategies. Firstly, new responsibilities are taken up by local authorities. This enables community participation and optimum use of local services to develop an overall solution to health and well being. The activities of the local authorities are supported by a ring-fenced budget and the directors of public health act as advisory body. There is also an organization called Public Health England, which is an integrated public service that brings together a wide range of health advisors that are scattered across the public health system. It promotes health and well being of communities and provides easy access to expert advice. It also helps to develop new approaches to health promotions, provides insights from behavioral sciences, and develops a resilient health protection service. Secondly, the policy statement emphasizes on the end results of the strategies adopted. The set purpose is to reduce health inequalities in the society with participation from local and national public health systems. There is a clear priority to use the resources efficiently to see that public health objectives are met (Healthy Lives, Healthy People: update and way forward, 2011, pp.4-5). The health strategy of 1999 focused mainly on eliminating sickness and prevention of premature death. It is now considered as a narrow way of looking at health issues (Orme, et al, 2007, p.28).This new policy is a new approach to deal with public health issues which is a major departure from earlier policies. The focus is no more on creating separate programs based on diseases, but the focus is on “health determinants, health status and health systems.” (Hunter, n.d., p.29) No health without mental health In February 2011, a new strategy to fight mental health problems was launched by the UK government named No Health Without Mental Health (Promoting Wellbeing and Public Mental Health, 2011). It is an extension of the policy statement Healthy Lives, Healthy People. This document provides a framework of activities to improve mental health facilities. The purpose is to improve the overall mental health problems and well being of the people belonging to all age groups and backgrounds, and to improve mental health outcomes by making services equally accessible to everyone (No Health Without Mental Health, 2011, p.6). Mental health problems lead to physical health problems as it has been observed that depression increases death causes by 50%. Early conduct disorder in children can lead to obesity and poor physical health. Healthy Lives, Healthy People have associated smoking with increased rate of mortality, and people with mental disorders are more likely to smoke heavily than mentally stable people. Smoking can reduce average life expectancy by 10 years. Other physical diseases like “diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease” are also related to mental health problems (No Health Without Mental Health, 2011, pp.59-60) In UK mental health statistics have revealed 1 out of every 4 people is suffering from mental problem. Depression combined with anxiety is the common form of mental disorder. Women suffer from mental disorder more than men, and 10% children of UK have mental problems at any one time (Mental health statistics, n.d.). In UK mental health problems are major causes of disability, with 22.8% cases of disability attributed to mental problems. This new strategy targets at improving mental health problems of people. Mental health problems are related to other health issues and so improving mental health means better physical health, reduced behaviors that can cause damage to health, and reduced rate of mortality (No Health Without Mental Health: A cross government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages, n.d., p.3). Existing health problems in UK Health inequality in UK is a major issue between the rich and poor sections of the society. Inequality of health indicates different standards of health in each step of the socioeconomic ladder. The standard of health is higher among the advantaged communities than the disadvantaged communities. In UK, the advantaged communities have less risk of disability, chronic illness and premature death (Barron, 2009, p.170). The statistical figures give a picture of extreme health disparity. In constituencies that are considered as “worst health” have infant mortality rate 2.0 times more than infant mortality rate on constituencies considered as “best health”. (Shaw, et al, 1999, p.9). A study conducted on 800,000 patients in England has shown that death rates from heart attack have declined by 50% between 2002 and 2010. The reasons attributed to this decline are better treatment facilities and less smoking. The disease that is considered as the biggest killer in UK is cardiovascular disease which has killed 180,000 people in 2009. Another major reason for death is stroke which kills 11,000 people every year in England and Wales. According to records, Britain has the highest percentage of obese people with 65.4% men and 55.5% women suffering from overweight and obesity. This percentage is lower in high income families (Holtz, 2012, pp.43-44). A principle reason for child obesity is seen as parental unawareness. Very often parents cannot distinguish between healthy and overweight children and often carry misconceptions regarding obesity characteristics (Rudolf, 2011). Another major cause of health concern is smoking. It is the “single greatest preventable cause of illness and premature death in UK” (Holtz, 2012, p.44) with 27% men and 24% women addicted to smoking. This rate is higher among the young population and lower in age group of 75 years or above. Reports show that smoking is more common in the low income families. Smoking leads to lung cancer and it has been seen that in UK 90% of those who suffer from lung cancer are chain smokers. Another common form of cancer is breast cancer which constitutes 20% of all cancer cases in UK. An estimated 62,000 deaths are caused by cancer every year in UK. A third health issue is alcohol consumption and it has under its wing 24% men and 26% women (Holtz, 2012, p.44). Other than these, loneliness is another element that is a major health issue in UK. It has been related to physical diseases like cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dementia. It can also lead to increased smoking and obesity, and can result in premature death (Roxby, 2012). The major problem that is faced by the UK government is that awareness for healthy lifestyles cannot be created through sermons on how people should conduct their daily lives. Since problems related to public health vary from one community to the other, it is now proven in recent years that onesize-fits-all solutions are not applicable in the current health crisis of the society. Keeping this in view the UK government has published Healthy Lives, Healthy People to promote lifestyle awareness and reduce health inequalities. The need is to adopt a new approach that “empowers individuals to make healthy choices and gives communities the tools to address their own, particular needs.” (Healthy Lives, Healthy People: our strategy for public health in England, 2010, p.2) The purpose of this policy statement is to delegate major health related responsibilities to local communities. It has put an end to central control and provides funds and freedom to local governments. This enables local governments to develop health policies as are suitable to their areas. There are also financial incentives to encourage the local communities to work with integrity to improve health and reduce health inequalities (Healthy Lives, Healthy People: our strategy for public health in England, 2010, p.2). This new policy has the opportunity to deal with health inequality in UK which is a major problem. However, current persistent problems like the global recession, welfare changes and reduced employment can hinder the fulfillment of set objectives (Campbell, 2013). Moreover, it has been concluded that improving overall public health and eliminating the health disparities between different social communities is a mammoth task, and cannot be the responsibility of any single department. Therefore, the key element of the new policy is to find common solution to common social problems (Hunter, n.d., p.16). Past public health failures The past public health policies so far have failed to control smoking and alcohol consumption. The problem of alcohol consumption is found more in young women, leading to rising death rates caused by chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. The worsening public health statistics can be attributed to over-reliance on health education and lack of fiscal intervention. For instance, wide publicity of alcohol along with discount offers in bars and clubs contribute towards increased alcohol consumption among people. The need is to enforce moderate price rises and limited availability of alcohol (Gray, et al, 2006). It is important that politicians and general people do not get swayed by food corporations selling junk food who pursue only profits, but listen to advices of NHS doctors and health campaigners whose objective is to ensure improvements in public health (Malhotra, 2013). Conclusion The problem of public health is a major concern for the UK government. Added to this is the glaring health disparity among different socioeconomic groups. The current policy statement titled Healthy Lives, Healthy People gives a hope of a brighter future. This is because of its philosophy of delegating responsibilities to local communities. This will enable communities to focus on local health issues and creating strategies as required by any particular area. 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