The term “health” in the general sense refers not only to a specific individual. It applies to the group, and to society as a whole. In the article, we will specifically determine that this is the health of the population, according to what indicators it is evaluated. Let's start by defining the concept.
What is public health?
Dictionaries offer us several interpretations of the term. Public health is:
- The state of society, the opposite of painful, indicating the fullness of the life manifestations of any of the members of society.
- Natural state, which will be characterized by the balance of the object with the environment, the absence of pathological changes.
- The state of optimal life of the object - it can act as a single individual, and society in general. It is also the presence of conditions and prerequisites for its long-term and comprehensive social activity.
- The state of society, which is characterized by complete material, physical and spiritual well-being (interpretation of the general Charter of the World Health Organization - WHO).
- One of the qualitative, quantitative characteristics of the state of life of both man and society in general. In relation to the latter, it is determined by such external factors as fertility and mortality, life expectancy, the level of injuries in society, the physical development of individuals, incidence rates, etc.
- The health of people living in a certain area.
Varieties of health
Now - the classification. Health is generally divided into several key varieties:
- Individual. This is the health of a particular person. It is assessed by its physical development and condition, personal well-being, the presence / absence of diseases, pathologies, etc.
- Group General health indicators of any groups - professional, social, age.
- Public health. What stands out here? Reflection of indicators of the health of members of society, but not the overall health of all its members. Note that WHO has not yet proposed a single, comprehensive definition of this concept. Therefore, we consider its various interpretations.
Public health
We learned that this is public health. Several other definitions are immediately suggested. Public health is:
- The optimal state of society, which provides all the conditions for a productive, active lifestyle of its members. Vital activities of people are not constrained by either mental or physical illnesses. Public health is something without which society cannot create spiritual and material values. This is the wealth of society (according to Lisitsin Yu. P.).
- The state of society, in which the formation of healthy lifestyle (healthy lifestyle) is ensured .
From here, the index of public health will be the ratio of individuals who follow the precepts of the healthy lifestyle, and individuals who ignore these rules, have bad habits, etc.
The concept of “public health potential” is also important. This is a measure of the quality, quantity of health of members of society, its reserves that have been accumulated by society.
We proceed to the further disclosure of the main topic.
Social Health Assessment
Specialists of the World Health Organization have developed a number of characteristics on the basis of which an assessment of public health is given. This is the following:
- The share of gross domestic product (GDP) that goes to healthcare development.
- Availability in the community of primary health care.
- Providing the population with safe drinking water.
- Percentage of people who have been vaccinated against dangerous infectious diseases.
- Indicators on the quality of food for children. Particular attention is paid to babies that were born with a small body weight (up to 2.5 kg).
- The level in society of child mortality.
- Average life.
- Adult literacy rate.
- Share of GDP per member of society.
Public Health Indicators
The health status of the population is estimated by experts on the basis of three groups of indicators:
- Medical.
- Mental well-being. This includes the level of damage to mental disorders, the frequency of neurotic, psychopathic conditions, etc.
- Social well-being. The basis here is the demographic situation in society, the overwhelming lifestyle of the population, external environmental factors, the level of medical care.
Description of public health
In international practice, when describing the state of society, experts necessarily pay attention to the following factors of public health:
- A number of critical demographic indicators. This is the average life expectancy, birth rate and mortality - perinatal, infant, general, child, age.
- The incidence rates in society are general, by specific age groups, in relation to chronic, nonspecific, infectious diseases, certain types of pathologies, diseases associated with a temporary loss of a person's working capacity.
- The level of physical development of the population.
- Data on people with disabilities - causes of disability, statistics (children's, age, general).
Public Health Research
The health of society is an object for observation, research by WHO experts, like national, regional organizations. In their work, specialists apply the following methods:
- Sociological. In particular, this is interviewing, questioning, a comprehensive examination of families.
- Medical and statistical.
- Organized experiment.
- Expert.
Medical indicators
These most important indicators of population health are divided by experts into independent categories:
- Physical development.
- Disabilities.
- Incidence.
- Mechanical movement of the population.
- Demographic.
Each of the groups should be considered in detail.
Demographic indicators
These are indicators of natural population movement. Among the most important are the following:
- Average fertility rates.
- Perinatal mortality (infant during childbirth).
- Child mortality.
- Infant mortality.
- Natural population growth is the difference between fertility and mortality.
- Indicators of aging society.
- The average life expectancy is the number of years that, according to these statistics, the average representative of a given generation will have to live.
Physical development indicators
In other words, these are indicators of the formation of a living organism. They are established by measuring growth, weight, chest circumference, muscle strength, lung capacity, body fat. Based on this, standards are formed for population groups. They, in turn, are used to evaluate individually physical. development.
Ethnographic factor and climatic features of the region will leave a mark on standards. From here their local variations are created.
Disability indicators
Health disorders with persistent dysfunctions of the body are fixed, which cause certain diseases, injuries, congenital pathologies. Their consequence is one - the restriction of human activity.
Specialists find the necessary data through medical and social examinations.
Incidence rates
The incidence itself (a disease that occurred in the current year) and its prevalence (soreness - the disease that arose last year and continues in the current year) are taken into account. It is studied by type - general, infectious, with disability, etc.
The incidence of the population will show the frequency, prevalence and level of diseases - both taken together and individually, both among the whole society and among its individual groups. Includes quantitative, qualitative, individual assessments.
Indicators of the mechanical movement of the population
This is the data on the movement of the population from region to region of the country, outside the state. Why is this important? Migration has a direct impact on the health of the population - the sanitary state of society, the spread of infections.
And now it’s worth disassembling the characteristics established for the Russian Federation.
Adult Health Groups
Description of population health groups in the Russian Federation we have drawn up in a table.
Health group | Characteristic | Necessary Activities |
First | Practically healthy people who do not have deviations in physical condition, do not suffer from chronic diseases. This also includes those with small deviations in blood pressure, which do not affect well-being | Annual medical examinations |
Second | Patients with chronic diseases that do not affect overall health, performance. Diseases without exacerbations, in remission. | General examination at least 2 times a year. Medical treatment for specific specialists |
Third | People with chronic diseases, which are characterized by periodic exacerbations. The consequence is frequent loss of performance for a long or short time. | The frequency of medical examinations is determined by the attending doctor |
Now let's move on to young citizens.
Child Health Groups
Information is also better represented in a table.
| Health group | Characteristic |
| First | The group is exposed to almost completely healthy children. They rarely get sick, do not have physical and mental disorders |
| Second | The guys here have small physiological, morphological abnormalities, minor health problems. There are no chronic diseases, but immunity is slightly reduced. The frequency of diseases with infections per year - no more than 4 cases |
| Subgroup "A". Healthy children, but with a burden of heredity. Or mom was diagnosed with complications during pregnancy or childbirth |
| Subgroup "B". Children with some functional abnormalities, or guys who have a risk of developing a chronic disease |
| Third | Children with hidden (not manifesting themselves) chronic diseases or congenital pathologies |
| Fourth | It is exposed to children who are diagnosed with low resistance of the immune system, chronic diseases with frequent exacerbations that worsen general well-being, congenital pathologies |
| Fifth | Group for children with disabilities, severe defects in physical, mental development, cancer |
We turn to the last topic of our material.
Public health
Russian law explains the protection of public health as a system of political, economic, legal, cultural, social, scientific, sanitary, medical, anti-epidemiological measures. Their complex is aimed at maintaining the health (psychological and physical) of each member of society, maintaining its active longevity, and providing qualified medical assistance if necessary.
The following acts guarantee the right to protect public health to the civil society of the Russian Federation:
- Constitution of the Russian Federation.
- International norms, acts and regulations of the Russian Federation.
- Constitutions, normative acts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Public health is an important object for study, analysis by experts of WHO and other medical organizations. It helps to know the important characteristics of the whole society, apply them in relation to any of its members.