Environmental Health Determinant of a Community Essay

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Environmental Health Determinant of a Community

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The modern healthcare sector is focused on the gradual improvement of the health of the nation. This task can be achieved only if the central barriers to the delivery of care and factors that have a pernicious impact on people’s state will be eliminated. Under these conditions, social, environmental, and cultural determinants of health acquire the top priority as the central issues impacting people and the quality of their lives. The given paper is devoted to the consideration of one of the aspects and the way it influences the health status of individuals living in a certain area.

The photo depicts the illegal dumping of household rubbish and other objects. They can be found in the street that is not equipped for storing garbage. From the image, one can understand that the given waste deposit is not new and people have been using this area for a comparatively long period. The object can be considered an environmental determinant of health. Several factors prove this assumption. First, garbage and waste deposits harm people’s health and might precondition the emergence of various health issues (Abbasi, 2018). Second, the lack of special equipment for storing means that substantial damage can be caused to the environment (Bricher & Kuruvilla, 2014). Soil, underground waters, and the air can be polluted because of the disregard of basic security measures regarding recycling and waste control (UN News Centre, 2015). Finally, this illegal deposit is located near residential buildings, which means that the people living there will suffer from its negative impact.

There are several ways in which this very determinant can influence the health status of the community and residents. First of all, by the research, fermenting, domestic organic waste creates favorable conditions for the development and growth of microbial pathogens that might affect people and give rise to multiple infectious and chronic diseases (WHO, 2018). The situation might be complicated by the fact that such areas also provide a beneficial environment for rats and other animals that are known as infection carriers (Abbasi, 2018). In this regard, the health status of the community will be reduced because of these risks. Uncollected solid waste can also be a cause for injury or some other sort of trauma.

Another way in which this health determinant can affect the health status is direct exposure. Researchers state that it leads to diseases through chemical exposure and precondition the development of chemical poisoning (WHO, 2018). Children are more vulnerable to it, which means that their health can be undermined significantly (WHO, 2018). It proves the negative impact of this determinant and shows how it can impact the local population, the quality of life, and the lifespan of the members of this very community.

Approaches to Improve the Health Status

The facts provided above evidence a negative impact the environmental determinant presented in the photo can have on the residents. For this reason, there is a need for immediate intervention with the pivotal aim to improve the state of the environment and living conditions for people to enjoy their lives. Regarding the nature of this health concern and the way it impacts people, the following three approaches to improve health status can be suggested.

First, the preference for the community approaches should be given, as the problem affects all groups regarding their position. The situation can be improved as soon as the central cause of the emergence of risks is eliminated. It means that residents should be explained the danger of solid waste and illegal dumping. The emphasis should be made on the gradual decrease in the quality of their lives and the rise of multiple problems with their health (Donkin, Goldblatt, Allen, Nathanson, & Marmot, 2018). For this reason, their efforts should be focused on cleaning the area and eliminating this deposit waste with the primary aim to attain a significant improvement of the environment. The further use of the room as a place for domestic rubbish should be prohibited.

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If there is no opportunity to eliminate this negative factor impacting the health status, the approach that is focused on the protection of people and minimization of harm should be introduced. It includes compulsory vaccination of people who live in this area (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). There are several reasons for the selection of this method. First, the emergence and spread of such infectious diseases as diphtheria, cholera, plague, hepatitis, and typhoid fever can be stopped by using this approach (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). Second, compulsory vaccination will help to reduce the risk of being infected by a rat or other insect or animal living in the area. By the statistics, people living near waste deposits face the highest risk of being attacked by an infected rat, cat, or dog; it can be followed by the emergence of health problems and numerous complications (Pega et al., 2017).

Finally, the health status can be improved by using special equipment to sort domestic and solid waste and create conditions for its appropriate storing. The disregard of the basic rules is one of the central factors resulting in the emergence of the mentioned health problem. For this reason, the use of special tools is placed where waste deposits are found can help to reduce risks of contamination and prevent people from being affected by the negative impact of exposure and other pathogens found in such places (Marmot & Allen, 2014). The implementation of this method might demand additional resources and effort; however, it will result in a significant improvement of the health of the population.

Reflection

In general, the given discussion perfectly demonstrates how different environmental factors can affect the health of the nation and create the basis for the emergence of multiple health problems. The photo made for this assignment perfectly proves this idea. I should say that the process of taking a photograph also was one of the factors that made me think about the health status of the population and the environmental determinants impacting it. The fact is that to take the appropriate photo, one should know what to search for. In other words, the knowledge of all determinants is the key to success. For this reason, I investigated the area recording problematic issues, concerns, and thinking about the ways to improve the state of the area. Having noticed the object in the photo, I realized that it could be a significant factor affecting the region and resulting in the emergence of multiple health problems. I also started to think if I could analyze it to provide the required solutions and improve the health of people living there. In such a way, the process of taking this photo turned out an important part of the assignment that helped to check my knowledge of the issue and how various determinants can be found and treated regarding the peculiarity of the environment and people living in the area.

References

Abbasi, K. (2018). The social and environmental determinants of mental health. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 111(5), 151. Web.

Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: It’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(2), 13-31. Web.

Bricher, J., & Kuruvilla, S. (2014). Defining health by addressing individual, social, and environmental determinants: New opportunities for health care and public health. Journal of Public Health Policy, 35(3), 363-386. Web.

Donkin, A., Goldblatt, P., Allen, J., Nathanson, V., & Marmot, M. (2018). Global action on the social determinants of health. BMJ Global Health, 3(1), 603. Web.

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Marmot, M., & Allen, J. (2014). Social determinants of health equity. American Journal of Public Health Association, 104(4), 517-519. Web.

Pega, F., Valentine, N., Rasanathan, K., Hoesseinpoor, A., Torgersen, T., Ramanathan, V.,… Neira, M. (2017). The need to monitor actions on the social determinants of health. Bulletin World Health Organization, 95(11), 784-787. Web.

UN News Centre. (2015). Web.

WHO. (2018). Web.

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IvyPanda. 2024. "Environmental Health Determinant of a Community." February 22, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/environmental-health-determinant-of-a-community/.

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