HHD - Chapter 1: Understanding Health Outcomes Key Terms

• The irrelationship between the dimensions means

  maintaining an optimal level of health and wellbeing requires a balance between all the dimensions.
• Health Status

  an individual's or a population's overall health, taking into account various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability and levels of disease risk factors.
• Self-assessed health status

  An overall measure of a population's health is based on a person's perception of their own health.
• Years lost due to disability (YLD)

  a measure of how many healthy years of life are lost due to illness, injury or disability
• Years of life lost (YLL)

  a measure of how many years of expected life are lost due to premature death
• Disability adjusted life years (DALY)

  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.
• Burden of disease

  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.
• Under-five mortality rate

  the rate of deaths occuring in children under 5 years of age per 1000 live births
• Under-five mortality rate (U5MR)

  the death of a child under 5 years of age
• Infant mortality rate

  The rate of deaths of infants between birth and their first birthday, usually expressed per 1000 live births.
• Infant mortality

  the death of a child between birth and their first birthday
• Maternal mortality ratio

  the number of mothers who die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth per 100 000 live births
• Maternal mortality

  death of a mother during pregnancy, childbirth or within six weeks of delivery
• Mortality

  death at a population level
• Morbidity


  refers to ill health in an individual and the levels of ill health in a population or group.
• Prevalence


  the number or proportion of cases of a particular disease or condition present in a population at a given time.
• Incidence

  the number of cases of a condition during a given period
• Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)

  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.
• Life expectancy

  a figure indicating how long, on average, a person may be expected to live
• Sustainable resources

  meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• A stable ecosystem

  a balanced relationship between landscape and species (both plants and animals) that live in an environment.
• Shelter

  a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
• Food

  culurallly appropriate nourishment
• Equity

  Equity is not about treating everyone equally but rather providing what individuals or groups need for health and wellbeing.
• Social justice

  people are treated fairly with equal rights to everyone
• Education

  being able to read, write, understand information and having knowledge.
• Income

  receiving money through work
• Peace

  a state where there is no war or conflict
• Prerequisites for health

  peace, shelter, education, food, income, stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity
• Disease

  an abnormal state in which the body is not functioning normally
• Subjective

  based on or influenced by personal feelings, opinions and experiences.
• Dynamic

  constantly changing
• Illness

  the state of feeling unwell or being in poor health, often due to disease or injury
• Spiritual health and wellbeing


  not material in nature, but about ideas, beliefs, values and ethnics that have arisen in the minds.
• Emotional health and wellbeing


  relates to being able to manage and express feeling in a postive way.
• Mental health and wellbeing

  relates to the mind or brain and the ability to think and process information in order to positively form opinions and make decisions.
• Social health and wellbeing

  being able to form meaningful and satisfying relationships with others
• Physical health and wellbeing

  relates to the functioning of the body and its systems
• Optimal health and wellbeing

  The best possible state of an individual's health and wellbeing for their age.
• Wellbeing

  wellbeing is a complex combination of all dimensions of health, characterised by an equilibrium in which the individual feels happy, healthy, capable and engaged.