Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care

UNIT 12: PUBLIC HEALTHUnit content1 Understand public health strategies in the UK and their originsKey aspects of public health: eg monitoring the health status of the community,identifying the health needs of the population, developing programmes to reducerisk and screen for early disease, controlling communicable disease, promotingthe health of the population, planning and evaluating the national provision ofhealth and social careSources of information for determining patterns of health/ill health: eg WorldHealth Organization statistics, government statistics, regional statistics, localstatistics, epidemiological studies, regional reports, local reports, demographicdata, Public Health Observatories, Health Protection AgencyHistorical perspectives of public health system:- nineteenth century: eg work of John Snow, Edwin Chadwick, the sanitarymovement, Poor Law Act (1834), first Public Health Act (1848)- twentieth century: eg Beveridge report (1942), founding of the NationalHealth Service (1948), Acheson Report (1998), Our Healthier Nation (1999)- twenty-first century: eg White Paper — Choosing health: making healthierchoices easier (2004), public health agencies, Health Protection Agency,National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence- target setting: local, national, internationalKey groups in influencing public health policy: pressure groups, eg Greenpeace,Friends of the Earth; international groups, eg World Health Organization, UnitedNations; national groups, eg Health Protection Agency, National Institute forHealth and Clinical Excellence, Cancer Research UK2 Understand current patterns of ill health and factors affecting health in the UKPatterns of ill health: inequalities in health; Black Report (1980), Acheson Report(1998), Our Healthier Nation (1999), Tackling Health Inequalities: a Programmefor Action (2003), Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier (2004)Factors affecting health:- socio-economic: eg social class, age, culture, gender, sexuality, income,expenditure, employment status, housing, diet, peer pressure, media,discrimination, education, access to services- environmental: eg urban, rural, water supply, waste management, housing,pollution, access to health and social care services, access toleisure/recreational facilities- genetic: eg sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia, cystic fibrosis, susceptibility tocertain diseases170BN018467 – Specification – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Nationals in Health and Social Care– Issue 1 – February 2007 © Edexcel Limited 2007