Population Health Curriculum for Health Professionals

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Lifestyle Factors The Prevention Movement
Diane B. Wilson EdD, RD Mary S. McLellan
MS,RD Medical University of South Carolina
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Developed as part of an Enhanced AHEC Community
Partnership for Health Professions Workforce and
Educational Reform project funded by the Health
Resource and Service Administration (HRSA)
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OBJECTIVES

• Prevalence of lifestyle factors, contribution to
  risk of chronic disease
• Prevention Programs

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Health Promotion

• Any intervention that seeks to eliminate or
  reduce exposures to harmful factors by modifying
  human behaviors or any combination of health
  education and related organizational, political
  and economic interventions designed to facilitate
  behavioral and environmental adaptations that
  will improve or protect health
• Concerned specifically with sociobehavorial
  processes

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Lifestyle Factors
Genes load the gun.Lifestyle pulls the trigger
Dr. Elliot Joslin
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Choices Made In Regard To

• Smoking
• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Substance Abuse
• Rest
• Stress
• Sexual behavior

• Other Life-style Factors

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Smoking

• Tobacco is the most important single preventable
  cause of death in the United States today
  USDHHS, 1990
• Responsible for 400,000 deaths/year.
• Smoking is increasing among teenagers in the US

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Nutrition

• Poor diet and lack of activity account for about
  300,000 deaths each year.
• Major concerns
• Obesity
• High Fat Diet
• High Sugar Diet

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Healthy Eating Recommendations

• Eat at least three modest meals/day
• Moderate fat intake
• Moderate sugar intake
• Avoid large portions
• Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily

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Exercise

• If exercise came in a bottle, it would be the
  most widely prescribed medicine known to
  man.
• Unknown Physician

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Substance Abuse

• Alcohol--A little is helpful, too much is
  deadly
• Accounts for 100,000 deaths each year
• Binge drinking is the number one campus life
  problem on college campuses in America.

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Sleep

• Most people need about 8 hours nightly to
  function at maximum capacity.
• Over two-thirds of Americans report a
  sleep-related problem.
• Sleep deprivation has been implicated in recent
  train, bus, and airplane crashes bringing
  attention to the importance of sleep.

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Stress

• Continual stress in life sets off chemical
  reactions in the body than can eventually lead to
  illness.
• Individuals constantly under stress are at
  greater risk for heart disease and other
  conditions.
• Practicing healthy habits can help alleviate
  stress.

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Sexual Behavior

• Abstinence is only sexual behavior absolutely
  free of risk, followed by life-time mutual
  monogamy entered into at virginity
• Unsafe sex exposes an individual to
• HIV virus
• Hepatitis B
• Genital herpes
• Other sexually transmitted diseases
• Unwanted pregnancy

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Other Behavioral Contributors

• Firearms
• 1 cause of death among young men
• Suicide and homicide in the top causes of death
  in the US
• Pollutants and Toxins
• Asbestos
• Other occupational hazards

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Discussion Time

• To what extent does behavior change require
• Personal Responsibility ?
• or
• Changes in Policy, Regulations, Culture ?

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Growing Interest In Prevention Is Due To

• National focus on prevention through Healthy
  People process
• Debates about possible national health care plans
• The move to managed approaches to care and care
  financing
• Demand from informed consumers

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Primary Reason Given for Offering Prevention
Programs
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Prevention RequiresChanged View

• Population Health
• Focus on prevention
• Focus on groups
• Tax dollars is the main source of support
• Has been administered through the public health
  system

• Traditional Medicine
• Focus on treatment
• Focus on individuals
• Strong advocates of free enterprise

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Summary

• Unhealthy lifestyle factors are major
  contributors to cause of death in the US.
• The top factors of concern are
• smoking, diet/exercise, and alcohol abuse.
• The Prevention trend has become an important
  part of healthcare.