Project

Burden of Diseases 6

Burden of diseases

Joseph Toole

Case Studies in Public Health

9 May 2017

Introduction

The burden of disease is the impact caused by health problems and it can be measured in several ways in terms of mortality, morbidity or financial costs and other indicators. It can be quantified either by quality adjusted life years or disability adjusted life years which show the number of years lost because of a disease. Prevention strategies are important as they account for the diversity in the population because these healthcare practices work for every race leading to a healthy variety of people worldwide. Different communities usually consume healthcare information in different ways such as through healthcare extension workers, advertisements on the radio and television, healthcare columns in the newspaper and when they visit the hospital or clinic.

Access to quality and comprehensive healthcare information is important in a community as it has great significance in the mortality of the people especially the youth who are the leaders of tomorrow. The knowledge acquired from these information leads to the achievement of health equity and increase in quality life for everyone in the long run. People in the community will acquire knowledge that will help them abstain from practices that will cause them health problems and finally financial constraints or even death.

There are diseases that do not have a cure but nonetheless scientists have come up with ways people can avoid contraction of these diseases and the people have acquired this knowledge through healthcare information that is widely distributed. In this way healthy and responsible people can be found in the communities leading to the overall health of the community. Prevention of disabilities and diseases will be on the rise, treatment and detection of health conditions will take place, life expectancy will increase and deaths will be prevented when health information is passed in the community.

There are widespread methods and ways in which different health information is passed in the community. All these methods exist because there are different people and circumstances affecting populations differently therefore, healthcare information must be widespread and effective. High cost, language and level of literacy are some of the barriers to the spread of preventive strategies. To tackle high cost, health information can be passed through written pamphlets that can be distributed widely or by use of health extension officers. Health information should be translated to as many languages as possible so as to reach every nation far and wide. Extension officers as well can be used to pass health information to people in a community who have a low level of literacy. They will explain what preventive strategies are and what their benefits will bring about. These are some of the ways to ensure preventive strategies are widespread and effective.

Several strategies have been put to place to reduce burden of disease especially in obesity. Increasing water access in schools, this will ensure students have safe and free drinking water during the school day. Reducing screen time and increasing physical activities, improving the diet by incorporating vegetables and fruits in the day to day diet. Providing education to parents on childhood obesity will also act as a preventive strategy to this disease. They will be aware of the control measures to put in place to keep their children healthy. Obese children suffer from anatomical health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and many other diseases. Obesity continues to be a major growing problem in today’s society. In fact almost one out of five children is obese and the number is increasing. Scientists believe that today generation of children has a short lifespan compared to their parents.  

Behavioral strategies aim at reducing screen time and increasing physical activities. This intervention will ensure that the population at large is healthy and is physically fit. Incorporating vegetables and fruits in the diet instead of fatty foods and snacks will also act as one of the major interventions to obesity.

Some of the recommendations to the already provided intervention strategies include involving policy makers to help in coming up with more preventive strategies. These policies should be widely spread and implemented to control obesity. Bariatric surgery as a way of treating obesity should not be embraced because it offers the patient an easy way out and they seldom change their attitude. The research agenda on obesity should be broadened and stigma about treatment of this disease should be addressed and reduced.

Medical research policy and global health policy are some of the policies that are exercised in my geographical location, they are policies that consider health needs of the people and have full support from the government especially when it comes to funding. Organizations that review and analyze health policies include World health Organization and the United way.

In conclusion, prevention strategies do account to population diversity and the prevention of diseases within communities and different populations. These interventions provides knowledge and information that leads to the achievement of health equity and increase in quality life. There are several ways in which prevention messages can be made widespread and effective and these includes use of health extension officers and health articles that are distributed worldwide to name a few. These measures have contributed to healthy living among people in the community and has increased mortality rate among different populations, they should therefore be embraced and spread worldwide.

Reference

Wardle, J. &. (2005). The impact of obesity on psychological well-being. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 19(3), 421-440. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2005.04.006

Anderson, P. M. (2006). Childhood obesity: trends and potential causes. The Future of Children, 16, 19-45. Retrieved from  http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/stable/3556549

Stansfield S. (2005) Structuring information and incentives to improve health. Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Breesy, L.C, Ferguson. C, M.G, Rosen M.A. (2008). The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance.