VCE: Health and Human Development
Unit 3 – Holiday Homework
2015
STUDENT
WORKBOOK 1
Key Knowledge:
 Definitions of physical, social and mental
dimensions of health
 Different measures of health status of
Australians, including the meaning of burden of
disease, health adjusted life expectancy and
DALYs, life expectancy, under-five mortality
rate, mortality, morbidity, incidence,
prevalence;
Key Knowledge:
 Definitions of physical, social and mental dimensions of health
The World Health Organisation defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
Outline the limitations of this definition
Outline an advantage of this definition
Unachievable – to achieve complete well-being in
all areas is difficult and beyond the capacity of most
people
Takes into consideration all 3 aspects of health
Dimensions of health
It is important of remember that the physical dimension of health is only one part of being healthy, and the social
and mental dimensions must be taken into account if we are to get an understanding of health experienced by
individuals or groups.
There are three dimensions of health:
PHYSICAL HEALTH
Definition (Study design)
Examples:
It refers to the efficient functioning of the body and its
systems, and includes the physical capacity to perform tasks
and physical fitness.
•
•
•
Ideal body weight
Adequate levels of energy
Strong immune system
SOCIAL HEALTH
Definition (Study design)
Being able to interact with others and participate in a
community in both an independent and cooperative way
MENTAL HEALTH
Definition (Study design)
State of well-being in which the individual realises his or her
abilities can cope with the normal stresses of life can work
productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to
community.
Examples:
•
•
•
A supportive network of friends
A supportive family
Productive relationships
Examples:

•
•
Low levels of stress and anxiety
High self-esteem
Positive thought patterns
Apply your knowledge:
1. Without referring to your notes complete the following exercise. Indicate in the column the appropriate
dimension of health.
Engaging in regular physical
P Having enough energy to
P High levels of confidence
M
activity
complete all daily activities
Adequate levels of energy
P
Obtaining adequate sleep and
rest
P
Supportive family
S
Being yourself
M
S
Appropriate level of fitness
P
Coordinating motor skills
P
Behaving in a socially
acceptable manner
Possessing the feeling of
success and accomplishment
M
Accepting responsibility and
reality
M
Processing positive selfesteem
M
Being aware of your feelings
M
Eating a balanced diet
P
Strong immune system
P
Being free from disease and
illness
P
Contributing to the needs of
the community
S
Developing friendships
S
Not smoking
P
P
Coping with stress
M
Mixing and working
cooperatively with others
S
Maintaining ideal body
weight
Communicating positively
with others
Supportive network of friends
S
Positive thought patterns
M
P
Low levels of stress and
anxiety
M
S
Being able to complete
everyday tasks
P
Productive relationships with
people you associate with at
work, school
Blood cholesterol - CVD
Well functioning body,
systems and organs
Appropriate weight to height
Energy levels – low in iron fatigue
P
P
S
P
WHEN YOU ARE ANSWERING A QUESTIONS RELATED TO HEALTH YOU ARE TO USE ANY OF
THE ABOVE EXAMPLES
Key Knowledge:
 Different measures of health status of Australians, including the meaning of burden of disease,
health adjusted life expectancy and DALYs, life expectancy, under-five mortality rate, mortality,
morbidity, incidence, prevalence;
What is meant by health status?
Status – “the relative position or standing” or “official position”
Health status definition. (Study Design)
Complete
the following questions.
Refer to the Textbook
Pagehealth,
9
‘An individual’s
or a population’s
overall
taking into account various
1. Identify the tool or measure used that allows judgements to be made regarding health status. ________________
aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk
2. Give examples of the types of statistics used to gather data to make judgements regarding:
factors.’
a. physical health _______________________________________________________________________
b. mental health ________________________________________________________________________
c. social health__________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain the limitation of using health statistics to make judgements about different population groups.
Do not give an accurate reflection of population groups and the challenges they face eg. IA
Measuring Health Status
There are a number of statistics or health indicators that give information on the health status of groups or
populations. The Study Design identifies the following health indicators:
o The meaning of burden of disease
o Health adjusted life expectancy
o DALYs
o Life expectancy
o Under-five mortality rate
o Mortality
o Morbidity
o Incidence
o Prevalence
Define Prevalence (Study Design)
The total number of people experiencing a condition at a given time
Define Incidence
The number of new cases of a disease during a specific time
1. Life Expectancy
Define Life Expectancy (Study Design)
An indication of how long a person can expect to live; it is the number of years of live
remaining to a person at a particular age if death rates do not change
Outline one useful purpose of using Life Expectancy as a measure of health status.
Especially useful for comparing different countries and population groups
Refer to powerpoint slide 18 “Life expectancy of Australians, 1955 – 2009
What health indicator is being used? Life expectancy
Explain what is meant by a “trend”.
A general change in a particular direction
Identify one trend evident in Figure 1.11.
1.
Males and females have increased in life expectancy
Compare males and females. Use data to support your answer.
Females have a higher LE than males Data – 2010 F- 84 compared to males 80
2. Health Adjusted Life Expectancy or HALE
1. Define Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (Study Design)
A measure of burden of disease based on life expectancy at birth, but including an adjustment
for time spent in poor health. It is the number of years in full health that a person can expect to
live, based on current rates of ill health and mortality.
2. Explain Health Adjusted Life Expectancy in your own words.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Outline the difference between Life Expectancy and Health Adjusted Life Expectancy
LE is based on quantity – how many years you will live
HALE – indicator of quality of life. The number of years lived without reduced functioning due to
ill health
Refer to powerpoint slide 19 “Life expectancy and HALE in Australia for males and females
4. What indicators of health status are being used? LE and HALE
5. What population groups are being used? Males and females
6. What information is being presented in the data? LE and HALE in Australia for males and females
7. What is the information telling us?
Females have a higher LE and HALE. Females difference from males LE = 4 years and HALE = 3
years
Males spend 7 – 8 years in ill health and females 8 – 9 years in ill health
3. Mortality
Define Mortality
Refers to the deaths in a population
Mortality data can be collected for particular age or population groups, or for geographical areas: Some examples of
these mortality measures include:
 Under-five mortality rates The number of deaths of children under 5 years of age /1000 live births
 Infant mortality rates. The number of deaths of infants 0 – 12 months /1000 live births
 Maternal mortality rates Deaths of women who are either pregnant or in their first 42 days after
giving birth or having a termination expressed per 100,000 live births
4. Morbidity
1. Define Morbidity (Study Design)
Refers to ill health in an individual and the levels of ill health in a population or group.
Morbidity data include data on sickness, injury or disability in a population
2. Morbidity rates can look at;
a. Define Prevalence (Study Design)
The total number of people experiencing a condition at a given time
b. Define Incidence
The number of new cases of a disease during a specific time
3.”Breast cancer – incidence up, death rate down, survival rates improve”. Is this headline possible? Explain your
response. Yes. There is an increase in number of people suffering from breast cancer however;
because of improvements in screening to detect and treatment less people are dying and people
are living longer with the disease or are cured.
4. When looking at morbidity rates, why is it important to consider both incidence and prevalence rates?
Prevalence gives an overall picture of how many people have a disease/condition and incidence
shows if there has been and increase or decrease in cases
Measuring morbidity
Data from doctors and hospitals can be used to make judgements about health status.
Slide 20
a. Hospital data – “hospital separations”. What is meant by the term hospital separations? Anytime a
patient (or resident) leaves because of death, discharge or transfer or sign out against
medical advice
b. GP – doctor visits
Are hospital and GP data completely accurate in indicating the level of morbidity in the population? Why/why not?
No because there are many conditions where people do not go to the GP or hospital
5. Burden of Disease
Slide 23 - 24
Write out YOUR understanding of the “Burden of Disease” by using an example.
Example:
ASTHMA
compared
CANCER
Definition of the Burden of Disease – Study Design
A measure of the impact of diseases and injuries, specifically it measures the gap between current
health status and an ideal situation where everyone lives to an old age free of disease and
disability. Burden of disease is measured in a unit called the DALY.
(It is a way of saying how much disease or illness or injury there is in a country and what affect it
has on the life expectancy and quality of life of its population.)
How do we measure the Burden of Disease?
The unit for burden of disease data is the or DALY. Disability Adjusted Life Year
One DALY is equivalent (equal value) of one healthy year of life lost due to premature death or through
living with a disease or disability
In 2010, it was estimated that 2.8 million years of life were lost in Australia. Write out examples conditions/diseases
that may contribute to the years of life lost.
Asthma
CVD
Diabetes mellitus
Cancer
Injuries
Respiratory diseases
Mental illness
Infections
How is the Burden of Disease measured?
YLL
Refers to the loss
of years of life as a
result of
premature death
+
DALY
s
YLD
A measure of how many
“healthy” years are lost
due to disability or nonfatal health conditions
(disease or injury).
=
A measure of burden of disease,
one DALY equals one year of
healthy life lost due to premature
death and time lived with illness,
disease or injury
DALYs for a disease or condition are
calculated as the sum of the YLL due to
premature death in the population and
the YLD of the health condition
Calculation of YLL - YLL = N x L (N = number of deaths; L = standard life expectancy at age of death in
Years)
To estimate YLD for a particular cause in a particular time period, the number of incident cases in that
period is multiplied by the average duration of the disease and a weight factor that reflects the severity of
the disease on a scale of 0 (perfect health) to 1 (dead). The basic formula for YLD is the following:
YLD = I x DW x L where:
• I = number of incident cases
• DW = disability weight
• L = average duration of the case until remission or death (years)
Burden of Disease in Australia
By looking at burden of disease data, a more complete picture of the conditions that are having the largest impact on
the Australian population can be gained.
Slide 25. Examine Figure 1.23 Projected burden (YLL, YLD and DALYs) of major disease groups, 2010 and
complete the following.
Top 3 contributors to YLL Top 3 contributors to
Top 3 conditions to overall burden of
Approx how many
in Australia
YLD in Australia
disease in Australia
DALYs contribute by
each condition
1.cancers
1.Nervous and sense
1.cancers
550,000
2.CVD
2.mental disorders
2.CVD
500,000
3.injuries
3.diabetes
3.nervous and sense disorders
400,000