Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

GLOBAL HEALTH 1

GLOBAL HEALTH 2

Global Health

Samantha M. Tallarine

Capella University

BSN-FP4014

Global Perspectives of Community and Public Service

June, 2019

 

Global Health

Heart disease is one of the non-communicable conditions that affect many people globally. According to the statistical report from the World Health Organization, heart disease has been ranked as the leading cause of death. In the year 2016, this disease claimed a total of 17.9 million lives, which amounts to 31% of all deaths globally. It is also established that the disease is more prevalent in low and middle-income countries as the mortality statistics revealed (Barquera et al, 2015). The most common type of illness is the Coronary Heart Disease, which affects people primarily due to lifestyle practices and behaviors such as poor nutrition, consumption of alcohol and lack of exercise. The poor outcomes of this disease have been associated with a deficiency or delayed access to health care intervention due to lack of resources or absence of health facilities that provide quality healthcare as far the cardiovascular disease is concerned (Mozaffarian et al., 2016).

Several factors have been identified to influence health and the delivery of healthcare associated with cardiovascular disease. These factors are categorized into different levels. There are individual factors such as sedentary lifestyles, feeding on fast foods rich in carbohydrates and fats, lack of exercise and consumption of alcohol and smoking of tobacco products (Barquera et al, 2015). Presence of these factors in a person’s life increases the incidences of the disease.

Socioeconomic and biological factors are the second type of factors contributing to the presence of heart disease. Many individuals in middle-income and low-income countries lack funds to seek immediate care interventions whenever there are signs of heart disease. This is coupled with a low level of education that negatively influences health-seeking behaviors (Mozaffarian et al., 2016). Biological factors such as genetic make-up of individuals in different parts of the world influence the incidence and prevalence of some forms of heart disease. People with African descent have been found to have a higher susceptibility to cardiac diseases as compared to other races.

Individual factors are the organization or the state-based factors to the incidence and prevalence of heart disease. Many countries globally have poor infrastructure that fails to provide primary and specialized cardiac care to patients with heart disease. Low-income and middle-income countries globally have poor roads connecting the people with healthcare facilities (Mozaffarian et al., 2016). As a result, delivering care to patients who develop heart condition at their home is impaired by lack of adequate transport, resulting in delayed care, which is the leading cause of complications, including death, among patients with heart diseases. In addition to poor infrastructure, there is also the poor distribution of healthcare institutions in many countries where facilities and healthcare professionals are concentrated in urban centers (Mendis, Davis & Norrving, 2015). This results in the unequal distribution of care services where people in rural areas lack the essentials.

Human resources is another factor that influences heart disease and the treatment of these conditions. Management of this disease involves primary prevention, secondary and tertiary prevention. Globally there is a significant shortage of healthcare personnel to provide health education to act as fundamental prevention strategies (Mendis, Davis & Norrving, 2015). Also, identified cases have not been effectively managed due to lack of adequate qualified healthcare professionals. This shortage has been associated with a lack of sufficient resources for training healthcare professionals in many countries.

Role of Altruistic Organizations

The healthcare sector is one of the largest and complex departments globally due to the effects of many human and environmental activities on health. Heart disease is one of the conditions that even though has no outbreak still requires emergency services. Several organizations have been established to provide emergency services to victims of heart disease. Altruistic organizations were created to play the same roles as these other organizations. The purpose is to promote timely interventions to heart disease, hence reducing the risks of complications associated with these diseases (Stewart, Manmathan & Wilkinson, 2017). The charitable organization provides emergency care through transporting patients from their residence to the point of emergency care. Also, these organizations have medical personnel who provide immediate care services to patients before transferring them to a specialized institution for further consideration (Carrera et al., 2018). Through these practices, these organizations have improved health outcomes in patients with heart disease in different parts of the world.

Interventions to Address the problem of Heart Disease

Being one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality at the global stage, heart disease has been managed in different countries to reduce its incidences and prevalence. The interventions have been aimed to prevent new people from being affected; early identification of the disease, treatment through comprehensive care, and provision of rehabilitative services to the victims of heart disease. One of the steps taken by countries is the increment in the number of personnel to provide care to people (Stewart, Manmathan & Wilkinson, 2017). This has been achieved through the establishment of medical training institution to provide quality education to healthcare professionals hence reducing the gap between demand-supply of healthcare services (Mendis, Davis & Norrving, 2015).

Infrastructural development is another intervention associated with management of heart disease. Most countries have diverted most of their funds to the development of infrastructure to promote quality and accessible healthcare for citizens (Mendis, Davis & Norrving, 2015). Primary healthcare has strengthened to provide comprehensive care, including cardiac services to patients (Cappuccio & Miller, 2016). To reduce complications and death due to delayed care as a result of poor roads, roads have been constructed to connect rural areas and urban centres to ease transportation of patients. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

The cost of healthcare is one of the factors that negatively influence the outcomes of heart disease globally. Many people in low-income and middle-income societies have failed to access medical services due to lack of enough funds to transport and pay for medical bills. As a result, there has been the establishment of ambulance services and emergency contacts to facilitate prompt transportation of patients to healthcare facilities. Policies have been introduced by many countries to make healthcare services accessible to even people with low income (Mendis, Davis & Norrving, 2015). This has been achieved the provision of health insurance to most vulnerable groups such as the elderly and people with little income. With this, cardiac services, which are usually very expensive, have been covered, enabling the majority to access quality care hence improving outcomes.

Effects of Health Decision at Local Level

One of the factors determining health practice and outcomes are the decisions made concerning the disease. Heart disease is most prevalent in populations with low income, elderly and without a higher level of education. The common cause of heart illness among these populations is due to poor health decisions made due to lack of essential resources. Individuals in urban areas are aware of the disease and its impact without necessarily being educated. People in urban areas and have better income will have the resources to practice good nutritional practices, which are essential in the incidences and prevalence of heart disease (Threapleton et al., 2013). These individuals also attend cardiac clinics for the screening of heart disease, which has promoted timely interventions, hence improving outcomes. During these visits to healthcare clinics, individuals in urban areas have been able to acquire health education about the best practice and behaviors that would promote better cardiac, and overall health (Stewart, Manmathan & Wilkinson, 2017).

Some instances have seen individuals make poor decisions that have resulted in poor health outcomes due to the presence of heart disease. These decisions usually are made without consideration of the implications they have on health. Majority of individuals in low-income society feed mostly on fast foods and lack enough time to have physical exercise. As a result, the accumulation of fats and sugars in the body increases the risk of development of heart disease (Misra et al., 2017). Some individuals are chronic consumers of alcohol and smokers of tobacco products. These two have been identified to contain substances that increase the risks of heart problems. Most of these decisions have been made due to lack of education to improve or to counsel on the impacts of such to cardiac and overall body health.

Evidence-based Interventions

There are interventions which have been proven to be effective in the management of heart disease. These interventions are grouped into three categories, primary, secondary and tertiary management of the cardiovascular disease. Primary interventions to prevent incidences of heart disease include health education on proper nutritional practices, avoidance of sedentary lifestyle and cessation of smoking and alcohol consumptions (Stewart, Manmathan & Wilkinson, 2017). Other preventive measures include routine screening of persons for heart disease. Education of patient on the early signs and symptoms of any form of heart disease is also part of the preventive interventions (Threapleton et al., 2013).

The second type of interventions that have been implemented is the availability of treatment options and supplies for the identified cases of heart disease. Countries have set up primary care facilities with the capacity of providing emergency services to patients with different forms and acuity of cardiovascular disease (Misra et al., 2017). This has been achieved by strengthening the role of the community health department and professionals. Provision of primary healthcare facilities has also promoted the prompt intervention that as not available due to the distance between the patient and the point of care which were mostly located in urban centres (Wallace, Smith, Fahey & Roland, 2016).

Thirdly, management of the cardiovascular disease has been provided through setting up of special department in healthcare facilities to offer expert care to a patient with critical heart diseases. This includes the surgical management of heart disease by specialized healthcare professionals (Wallace, Smith, Fahey & Roland, 2016). In cardiology departments, supportive interventions such as cardiac rehabilitation have been provided in most countries to assist patients in recovering from heart disease through monitored cardiac exercise (Cappuccio & Miller, 2016). The overall outcome of these interventions improved health outcomes among patients with heart diseases hence a reduction in mortality and morbidity rates. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

 

 

 

 

Resources

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