Understanding Heath, Illness, Individual and Community Health

Understanding Heath, Illness, Individual and Community Health

There is a fine line between the health of an individual and the health of a community. Each can influence the other. In this Discussion, you will analyze a case study to determine if members of a family and their community are “healthy,” according to the WHO definition.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the “Introduction to the Writing Center” guide located in the Week 1 Resources.
• Explore some of the handouts and tutorials relating to tone and scholarly writing as well as the example of “gold star” discussion posts.
• Use these examples as handouts to help you create your first discussion post.
• Then, consider the following scenario with respect to the health of the Davis family and the health of their community:Jonathan Davis and his wife, Alexis, are 55 years old and have one daughter, Joanne. Jonathan and Alexis live in the same neighborhood as Joanne, who visits her parents frequently.

  Jonathan has smoked one pack of cigarettes every day for the past 30 years and is 20 pounds overweight. He works in a local plastics manufacturing plant and has a physically demanding job. Alexis enjoys working in her garden and cooking a variety of vegetable-rich meals. Joanne exercises regularly but does have asthma, for which she uses an inhaler when needed.

  The community where Jonathan, Alexis, and Joanne live has extensive walking and biking paths. Joanne makes full use of the paths and bikes on them at least once every week. The community has recently instituted a wellness clinic about three blocks away from Jonathan and Alexis’ house.

  Although the plastics plant pollutes the river, the company plans to install water and air pollution control measures in about 3 years. The plant is currently implementing purification measures for the river.

• post a comprehensive response to the following:

• What does being “healthy” mean to you?
• Are the members of the Davis family healthy, according to the WHO definition? Your definition?
• Are they living in a healthy community? Please explain.
• What can be done to improve and promote the health of the Davis family as well as the community?

Support your rationale using information from your assigned readings and resources, paraphrasing effectively. Refer to the Writing and Library Skills Resource Guide for examples and additional support.

READINGS:

Required Resources

Media

• • Video: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Concepts of health promotion: What do we mean by health? Baltimore, MD: Author.Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.

    In this media, Dr. David Gibson, Professor Emeritus of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Dr. Peter Beilenson, Health Officer of Howard County, Maryland, and Dr. Marianne Shaughnessy, Associate Professor of the School of Nursing at the University of Maryland, discuss their perceptions about the meaning of health. Dr. Beilenson also explains the difference between health, health care, and medical care and Dr. Shaughnessy expands on his discussion. To conclude the video, Dr. Gibson presents a brief history of health and he and Dr. Shaughnessy describe the concept of the dimensions of health.

    Note: As a reminder, additional Learning Resources for the week are listed below the Media Player. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the web page to view the complete list of Required and Optional Resources.

  • Course Media: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Personal Health and Wellness: Dimensions of Health Wheel [Multimedia], Baltimore, MD: Author.
    • Dimensions of Health

Readings

• • Course Introduction
  • Article: Montague, J., & Frank, B. (2007, July/August). Creating whole-person wellness. Assisted Living Consult, 3(4), 14–20. Retrieved fromhttp://www.assistedlivingconsult.com/issues/03-04/alc78-Wellness-719.pdf
  • Article: Hettler, B. (1976). The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model. National Wellness Institute. Retrieved fromhttp://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nationalwellness.org/resource/resmgr/docs/sixdimensionsfactsheet.pdf
  • Article: Smith, B. J., Tang, K. C., & Nutbeam, D. (2006). WHO health promotion glossary: new terms. Health Promotion International Advance Access, 21(4), 340–3 45. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/about/HP%20Glossay%20in%20HPI.pdf
  • Article: World Health Organization. (2009). Milestones in health promotion: statements from global conferences (pp. 1–5). Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/milestones.pdf
  • Glossary: World Health Organization. (1998). Health promotion glossary. Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved fromhttp://www.who.int/healthpromotion/about/HPR%20Glossary%201998.pdf