HHD Unit 3 AOS2

• Life expectancy


  The number of years of life, on average, remaining to an individual at a particular age if death rates do not change
• Fertility rates


  The number of live births per 1000 women aged 15–49 in one year
• Infectious diseases


  Diseases caused by microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, that can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another
• Pandemic


  The spread of infectious disease through human populations across a large region such as multiple continents or worldwide
• Cardiovascular disease/Circulatory disease


  Involve the heart and blood vessels, and interfere with how the blood is circulated throughout the body
• Respiratory disease


  Affect the lungs and other parts of the body that are involved in breathing
• Public health


  The ways in which governments monitor, regulate and promote health status and prevent disease
• Old public health


  Government actions that focused on changing the physical environment to prevent the spread of disease
• Health promotion


  The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health
• Biomedical approach to health


  Focuses on the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. It is a medical model practised by doctors and health professionals and is associated with the diagnosis, treatment and cure of disease
• New public health


  An approach to health that expands the traditional focus on individual behaviour change to one that considers the ways in which physical, sociocultural and political environments impact on health
• Social model of health

  An approach that recognises improvements in health and wellbeing can only be achieved by directing effort towards addressing the physical, sociocultural and political environments of health that have an impact on individuals and population groups
• Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion


  An approach to health developed by the World Health Organization that aims to reduce inequalities in health
• Health system


  All the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore and/or maintain health
• Schedule fee


  The amount that Medicare contributes towards certain consultations and treatments
• Patient co-payments


  The payment made by the consumer for health products or services in addition to the amount paid by the government
• Bulk billing


  When the doctor charges only the schedule fee, the payment is claimed directly from Medicare so there are no out-of-pocket expenses for the patient
• Premium


  The amount paid for insurance
• Funding


  The financial resources that are provided to keep the health system adequately staffed and resourced so a high level of care is available for those who need it
• Sustainability


  Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
• Access


  Individuals are able to use a service without barriers such as location, knowledge, time or cost
• Equity


  Ensures we are all on an even playing field by providing extra support for people in need so they can have the same basic/essential opportunities as everyone else
• Life expectancy data over time shows that significant improvements in health status have been made, with males expected to live 80.9 years in 2019 compared to 53.8 years in 1900. Similarly, females in 2019 had a life expectancy of 85.0 years compared to 57.5 years in 1900 . This represents an increase in life expectancy at birth over this time of around 40%. A major reason for this trend has been the massive decline in infant mortality rates (especially those under one year of age).
• There was a steady increase of life expectancy in the years leading up to 1961, with life expectancy at birth increasing by 14 years for males and 17 years for females. However, between 1961 and 1972, life expectancy at birth tended to even out or plateau. It was during this time that deaths from cardiovascular diseases reached their highest level, and other lifestyle diseases such as cancer were much more prevalent. Since 1972, life expectancy at birth has continued to increase.
• Corresponding to increases in life expectancy, death rates have also decreased. They fell by 73% for males between 1907 and 2018, and by 77% for females.
• Categories of disease


  • Infections and parasitic diseases
  • Cancers (neoplasms)
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Respiratory diseases
  • Injury and poisoning
• Infectious and parasitic diseases were the most common causes of death in Australia in the first part of the twentieth century, contributing to 13% of all deaths. Living conditions were quite different; water and food supplies were often contaminated, rubbish littered the streets, and public facilities such as sewage disposal, safe water and controls over food supplies were not well established. These conditions led to outbreaks of diarrhoea and diseases including cholera, smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough and diphtheria.
• In 1911, gastroenteritis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough and measles were responsible for the death of one in every 30 live-born children. This led to high rates of infant mortality. Deaths of children aged 0–4 years accounted for more than 25% of all deaths at that time.
• There has been a reduction in death rates from infectious diseases since 1900. However, in the last part of the twentieth century, diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C were responsible for an increase in death rates from infectious and parasitic diseases.
• Cancer death rates increased throughout the twentieth century, reaching a peak in the mid-1980s before falling gradually between 2000 and 2018. This rise was due to an increase in lung cancer (particularly stomach cancer) for which the uptake in cigarette smoking in the 1920s was responsible.
• For males, cancer death rates peaked during the 1980s at nearly 290 deaths per 100 000 population, then fell to 247 deaths per 100000 in 2000. This decline reflected the reduction in male smoking rates that started to occur in the mid-1970s.
• Since 1900, cardiovascular diseases have been one of the major causes of death. Death rates from cardiovascular diseases increased and reached their peak in the mid-1960s. Although there has been a decline in death rates from cardiovascular diseases since then, they continue to be one of the major causes of death.
• Pneumonia and influenza were the major causes of death from respiratory diseases in 1907 but were replaced by deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by 2000. Apart from the 1919 Spanish influenza pandemic, death rates from respiratory diseases fell dramatically across the century, and by 2000 were less than 10% of 1907 levels. Death rates from COVID-19 may also be represented as a spike in years to come.
• In the early part of the twentieth century, deaths from respiratory infections were common among those who worked in the mining industry, where few occupational health and safety regulations were in place to protect workers from the effects of inhaling the mining dust.
• Deaths due to asthma decreased in the first half of the twentieth century, before three peaks in asthma mortality occurred in the 1950s, 1960s and late 1980s. Since the 1980s, deaths due to asthma have reduced by 70%.
• Since 1900, death rates for injury and poisoning more than halved for both males and females, with the most rapid decline occurring from the 1970s. Deaths from motor vehicle crashes were at their highest in 1970 and fell by 2000. This decline reflected the range of public health actions that were introduced by the government, commencing with the introduction of the compulsory wearing of seatbelts in 1970.
• Male death rates from injury and poisoning were affected by war deaths. But deaths that occurred overseas were not counted as part of Australian official mortality statistics.
• Work-related accidents have contributed to a significant proportion of accidental deaths since 1900. Working conditions in the early part of the twentieth century were dangerous, involving exposure to toxic substances or physical injury due to limited occupational health and safety regulations.
• The government had pressure to improve people's health due to high rates of mortality, infectious, respiratory, under-five mortality caused by poor living conditions. The old public health policies and practices played a significant role in reducing the prevalence of infectious and parasitic diseases, respiratory diseases and injuries that were prevalent during the first half of the twentieth century. As a result, significant improvements occurred in life expectancy, maternal and child mortality and overall death rates.
• Old public health policies

  • The establishment of government-funded water and sewage systems and better sanitation
  • Quarantine laws
  • Elimination of housing slums and introduction of better-quality housing
  • Improved food and nutrition
  • Improved working conditions
  • Establishment of public health campaigns
  • More hygienic birthing practices
  • Provision of antenatal and infant welfare services