Burden of Disease & Health Indicators

Concepts of Health and Wellbeing

• Health and wellbeing encompasses physical, social, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions, striving for equilibrium and happiness.
• Optimal health and wellbeing is the highest achievable level, considering genetics and environment.

Physical Health and Wellbeing

• Relates to the body's state, function, and ability to perform daily tasks.
• Includes maintaining a healthy weight, absence of illness, optimal energy, fitness, and blood pressure, along with well-functioning systems.

Mental Healh and Wellbeing

• Encompasses the current state of mind, brain function, and the ability to process information.
• Includes managing stress, anxiety, and having optimal self-esteem.

Stress

• Stress is mental tension experienced when resources seem inadequate.
• High stress impairs health by weakening the immune system, disrupting sleep, and encouraging risk-taking.

Anxiety

• Anxiety is intense worry or fear about future events.

Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem reflects feelings about oneself; positive self-esteem promotes confidence and independent action.

Confidence

• Confidence is believing in one's ability to succeed, aiding in accepting challenges and focusing on success.
• Utilizing logic in making decisions as well as optimism is key.

Social Health and Wellbeing

• Involves the quality of relationships and ability to adapt socially.
• Requires supportive relationships, effective communication, and adaptability.

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

• Is the ability to express feelings appropriately and display resilience.
• It involves understanding and managing emotional reactions, and feeling secure.

Resilience

• Resilience is the capacity to effectively cope with adverse events and related emotions.

Spiritual Health and Wellbeing

• Is related to beliefs, values, and ethics, and includes a sense of purpose and reflection.
• Includes a sense of belonging, peace, and developed personal values.

Values

• What an individual feels is important in life, such as family or freedom of speech.

Beliefs

• What an individual feels to be true, such as a belief in life after death.

Illness

• Illness is a subjective experience of disease or injury.

Disease

• Disease is a physical or mental disturbance with specific symptoms and dysfunctions.

Dynamic and Subjective Nature

• Health is dynamic, meaning continually changing.
• Health is also subjective, meaning influenced by personal beliefs and feelings.

Importance of Optimal Health and Wellbeing

• Benefits individuals and the society as a whole.

Benefits for Individuals

• Enhanced productivity, reduced healthcare costs, better education, and independent living.

Benefits Nationally

• Reduced stress and anxiety, increased social participation, and higher average incomes.

Productivity

• Is efficiency in producing goods and services, measured by output per unit of input.

Civic Participation

• Is involvement in community groups and associations.

Health Savings

• Healthcare spending in Australia was $240 billion in 2021-22.
• Reduction in spending with a healthier population.

Productivity

• Mental illness costs the economy $100 billion annually.
• Lower stress/anxiety improves productivity and government revenue.

Social Support Savings

• Reduced payments for unemployed lower government costs.

Social Benefits

• Higher employment, civic participation, and better generational health.

Global Health

• Reduces disease transmission, promotes economic development, peace, and sustainability.

Indicators of Health Status

• Include health status, incidence, prevalence, and morbidity.

Health Status

• Overall health considering life expectancy, disability, and disease risk factors.

Incidence

• Number of new cases in a population (usually annually).

Prevalence

• Is the total cases in a population at a given time.

Morbidity

• Ill health in a population, often via incidence and prevalence.

Measurement of Burden of Disease

• Burden of disease is the gap between current and ideal health.
• Is measured in DALYs (disability-adjusted life years).

Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY)

• One DALY equals one year of healthy life lost.
• They are calculated as the sum of years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability.

YLL (Years of Life Lost)

• Years of expected life lost due to premature death.

YLD (Years Lived with Disability)

• Years of healthy life lost due to disease or injury.

Life Expectancy

• Average years of life remaining at a given age.

Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

• Average time lived in full health without disease consequences.

Mortality Rate (Maternal, Infant, and Under Five)

• Death rates for mothers, infants, and children under five.

Maternal Mortality Ratio

• Number of maternal deaths per 100,000 births.

Infant Mortality Rate

• Deaths of infants before their first birthday, per 1000 live births.

Under-5 Mortality Rate

• Deaths of children under five per 1000 live births.

Self-Assessed Health Status

• An Individual's own opinion of overall health.

Factors Influencing Health Status

• Biological, sociocultural, and environmental factors contribute to health variations.

Contributions to Australia's Health Status

• Can include smoking, alcohol, obesity, and nutritional imbalance.

Explore key concepts in epidemiology and public health, including DALYs, HALE, and mortality rates. Understand how these measures assess the impact of diseases and injuries on populations. Learn about the factors influencing health status variations across different groups.