Strategies to Improve Health in Glasgow

Strategies to Improve wellness in GlasgowImproving the wellness of the citizens of Glasgow. healthThe man Health Organisation (WHO) definesHealth is a state of complete physical, mental and neighborly well-being and non merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This definition is un tackd since 1948.1Demography of GlasgowAccording to the 2002 census, Glasgow has a people of virtually 580,000. This is to a greater extent(prenominal) than 10% of the total universe of discourse of Scotland that is just everyplace 5 million. The metropolitan theater of operations of Glasgow ho accustoms intimately 1.7 million people. It is the largest urban center in Scotland and 4th largest in the UK. Slightly fewer than 24% of the population of Glasgow atomic number 18 be upset the age of 20 and slightly more than 15% atomic number 18 aged over 65 with most 7% over 75. This is similar to the rest of Scotland.2The ethnic mix is 96.5% white, 2.5% Asian, 1% Black, Chinese and other ethni c groups.3Indices of deprivation were updated in 20074 for England tho slightly different indices ar used for the four-spot home nations of the UK. The frugal index was produced in 2006.5 Although there are slight differences in the criteria, eastern Glasgow has the closely deprived areas in the whole of the UK. However, Glasgow is a mixed conurbation with many affluent areas too.Health InequalitiesThe NHS was hypothetical to remove health inequalities but has failed to do so. The Black Report, commissioned in 1977 and published in 1980 rear that little had removed in terms of health inequalities.6 Sir Donald Achesons Report of noember 1998 found little evidence of improvement.7 A seminal paper by Dr Julian Tudor Hart in 1971 coined the inverse care law.8 In areas with just about sickness and death, general practitioners book more work, larger lists, less(prenominal) hospital support and inherit more clinically in put togetherive traditions of consultation than in the hea lthiest areas and hospital doctors shoulder heavier case-loads with less staff and equipment, more obsolete buildings and suffer recurrent crises in the availability of beds and replacement staff. These trends can be summed up as the inverse care law that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the want of the population served.Tackling health inequalities is a major component of the Governments health policy. There are plenty of publications9 but little evidence of change. Health and life expectancy nominate improved through all strata of society but the gradient down the brotherly classes remains or has expanded. Some contest that this is a disgrace whilst others say that provided that there is improvement in all sections that this is an exertion.The WHO Commission on the social Determinants of Health10 was chaired by Sir Michael Marmot and looked at health inequalities non only in inadequate nations but also in the rich. It found that children born in the Calton area of Glasgow ordain live, on average, 28 eld less than a person living eight miles awayinLenzie, East Dumbartonshire. There the life expectancy is 82 years compared with 79 for the whole of the UK. A Calton resident has a life expectancy of 54 years. The report said crowing death range were generally 2 times high in the most deprived move of the UK than in the most affluent. Throughout the country and through all social classes, women live, on average, five years longer than men.11Mortality rates are high in Scotland, higher in Clydeside and even higher in Glasgow. They are especially high in areas of deprivation. Decreases in deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) have been offset by increases in deaths from liver disease and suicide.12The challengeGlasgow is probably the most challenging city in the UK to improve health, if not the most challenging in the European Union (EU). The incidence of CHD and blastoff is the highest in Western Europe and most of this is attributable to modifiable insecurity factors.13 Rates of cancer are also high. The incidence of lung cancer is 77 per 100,000 in Western Scotland compared with 49 per 100,000 in the rest of the UK and most of this is accounted for by smoking fit outs.14 Glasgow has been called the UKs fattest city15 Obesity is well known as a risk factor for CHD and diabetes but it also contributes to the risk of many cancers. The WHO says that obesity is second only to smoking as a father of cancer.16If improvement in the health of Glasgow was aimed purely at reducing smoking and obesity it could have a major impact on health. Other areas where there whitethorn be epochal profit are a reduction in drug and alcohol abuse and safe sexual practices. Substance abuse and sex are related. Most prostitutes work to fund a drug habit and often injudicious sex occurs when intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. Intravenous drug use and sleeping around spread hepatitis B and HIV. Hepatitis C is very common with intravenous drug use but is less commonly sexually transmitted. Accidents and much violence result from intoxication, especially with alcohol. Between 1960 and 2002, the death rate from cirrhosis of the liver in men rose by 69% in England and Wales and 106% in Scotland. Amongst women it rose by nearly half.17 Improving mental health is also extremely important.18 It is often joined to substance abuse but it is difficult to decide if mental illness is caused by drug or alcohol abuse or a result of it. citizenry often have more than one risk factor. This is why doctors use tables that examine several parameters to assess an individuals risk.19 Those in cast down social classes are more likely to have multiple risk factors. For males, 30% in social class V have at least two or three high risk behaviours compared to fewer than 10% in social class I. For females, the figures are 20% and fewer than 5% respectively.20Some benefit may be obtained from improved medical s ervices. Governments may help with alleviating poverty and economic regeneration but most preventive will be aimed at getting the individual to take responsibility for his own health. He has to generalize the problem. He must want to change. He must be empowered for his own good. There is a vast amount of health advance material that is readily available.21A single agency is peculiar(a) in what can be achieved. It is important that many agencies and all levels of society should feel part of this keen challenge to change the ways and the attitudes of the people of Glasgow.Government actionImproving medical services to sleep with with those who suffer from the important diseases should improve outcome but disease prevention offers hope of a much greater improvement. Most of the risk factors for illness and premature death are modifiable and amenable to change by the individual.Legislation may come from the EU, UK or Scottish Government. It may change behaviour as in banning smok ing in public places or it may address poverty and lamentable housing. Poverty is bad for health but poverty applies only to the lowest in the social shell whilst there is a gradient of health and life expectancy right across the social classes.22 The benefit of giving money to scummy families is unclear.23Laws may aim to curb tobacco or alcohol use. acme taxation reduces tobacco consumption24 and there are a number of ways of other ways of reducing alcohol consumption too.25 Subsidy as well as taxation may make honorable food more attractive and un water-loving food less so.26Governments must assure funding for health packaging campaigns and may help with coordination across various departments. The NHS is an obvious department to be involved in both health promotion and provision of medical services. Education may be important in trying to change both association and attitudes amongst young people. It can help to develop an interest and knowledge in healthy eating and cooki ng. It can aim to change attitudes to tobacco, alcohol and drugs and encourage an ethos of exercise. The Department of dish out and Industry may be involved in economic regeneration. Both the police and courts may be able to direct people with problems related to drug or alcohol abuse towards care quite a than just a punitive system.The process of changeHealth promotion aims to get individuals to change to a healthier lifestyle. This is not easy to achieve. Change is rarely easy. It involves the individual going through several steps on the way to achieve a lasting change in habit and attitude.Health promotion initiativesThe mechanism for health promotion is normally mass media campaigns. They seem to work for smoking cessation27 and even in changing sexual behaviour in young people.28 However, there is very little evidence about long term effects.Campaigns may be aimed at one facet or multiple risks. For example, diet, system of weights and exercise are intimately entwined. Thi s may spill over into smoking, alcohol and drug abuse. Health promotion may be at a national, community or individual level. The individual level is usually when a patient is seen in a medical setting, especially general practice.Simply exhorting people to change is not enough. It must be facilitated. Most general practices have antismoking clinics where support, advice and even prescriptions to help withdrawal may be had. The subject has been extensively reviewed by both CKS29 and NICE.30 People must be helped to appreciate what is healthy food and that it is not more expensive than their traditional diet. Fun runs are of limited value as they are an isolated event. Changes in diet and exercise must be for life. The individual must find a form of exercise that he can manage and he likes or he will not persevere. Counselling and support for substance abusers must be available. Methadone can give stableness to the life of a heroin user31 and acamprosate can reduce the craving for al cohol32 but counselling must not be ignored.Long term changeIn Europe it is usually suggested that inequalities in health are the result of inequalities in income. In the USA they focus on health literacy33 and suggest that it is inequality in education that is responsible. As income and education tend to be related it is possible that one is a surrogate for the other. Health is worse in those of lower intelligence but this does not account for all the discrepancy.34.People from poorer backgrounds are more likely to smoke.35 Smoking is the main cause of differences in death rates in middle age across socio-economic groups. In men between 35 and 69 years, it accounts for 59% of social class differences in death rates.36 They are more likely to be obese37 and this may be linked to the higher incidence of diabetes.38 Abuse of alcohol is more prevalent as is drug abuse. They are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy39 and to be involved in accidents.40 Accidents are a major cause of death and disability in those under 45.41 They are more common in lower social classes and in males more than females. This is not just due to high risk jobs as both poverty42 and lower social class43 are risk factors for children too. There is also a relationship between poverty and poor mental health.44 However, as poor mental health causes social decline the question of cause and effect arises.Perhaps the most important aspect of long term health improvement is improvement in general education. Health literacy is closely related to general literacy.45 People of poor health literacy have poor lifestyles, they present late with disease and are poor in compliance with management. Those with poor educational achievement have a dead end job or no job. They have low egotism esteem and are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, to smoke and have a poor diet. teenaged pregnancy is more common in low achievers. Improved education, improved job prospects and improved exemplar of li ving are the key to improving health.Bibliography friendly Determinants of Health by Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson. Oxford 2005.Promoting Health A practical Guide by Linda Ewles and Ina Simnett. Balliere Tindall 2003.Challenging Health Inequalities From Acheson to Choosing Health (Health monastic order). Elizabeth Dowler and Nick J. Spencer. University of Bristol 2007.Footnotes1 World Health Organisation. WHO definition of Health. http//www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html2 Upmy street.com. http//www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/population/l/Glasgow.html3 DirectGlasgow.co.uk http//www.directglasgow.co.uk/glasgow-information/glasgow-information.asp4 Indices of Deprivation 2007. http//www.communities.gov.uk/communities/neighbourhoodrenewal/deprivation/deprivation07/5 Scottish Index of denary Deprivation. http//www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/6 The Black Report. http//www.sochealth.co.uk/history/black.htm7 The Acheson Report. . http//www.archive.offici al-documents.co.uk/document/doh/ih/contents.htm8 Tudor Hart J The inverse care law. lancet 27 Feb 1971. 1(7696)405-12.9 Department of Health. Search on health inequalities. http//www.dh.gov.uk/en/AdvanceSearchResult/index.htm?searchTerms=health+inequalities10 WHO. Commission on Social Determinants of Health Final Report. 2008. http//www.who.int/social_determinants/final_report/en/11 Office of study Statistics. http//www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=88112 Leyland AH, Dundas R, McLoone P, Boddy FA. Inequalities in Health Inequalities in mortality. MRC http//www.inequalitiesinhealth.com/public/index.php?cmd=smartyid=1_len13 Scottish Government Health Directorates. Coronary heart disease/ stroke task force report. September 2001 http//www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/cdtf/cdtf-05.htm14 National Cancer Intelligence Network. News release. 7th October 2008. http//www.ncin.org.uk/press/UKIM1008press.pdf15 The Scotsman. 10th walk 2003. http//news.scotsman.com/obesity/Glasgow-dig ests-UKs-fattest-city.2409145.jp16 World Health Organisation. 2008. Cancer diet and physical activitys impact. http//www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/cancer/en/17 Leon DA, McCambridge J Liver cirrhosis mortality rates in Britain from 1950 to 2002 an analysis of routine data. Lancet. 2006 Jan 7367(9504)52-6. abstract http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/1639915318 Scottish Public Health Observatory. amiable Health Policy Context. http//www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Healthwell-beinganddisease/MentalHealth/mental_keypolicy.asp19 British Hypertension Society. Proposed Joint British Societies Cardiovascular Disease. http//www.bhsoc.org/resources/prediction_chart.htm20 Department of Health. Health Survey for England 2003. Published December 2004. http//www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_409871221 Health Promotion. PatientUK. http//www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/16/22 Office of National Statistics. Variations persist in life expect ancy by social class. 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