Integrated Understanding of Health Context

MHST 601 – Critical Foundations in Health Disciplines

MHST 601 – Critical Foundations in Health Disciplines is an introductory course to the Master of Health Studies degree at Athabasca University. As a prerequisite to other courses in this program, I have taken the first course at the graduate level. The course promoted self-directed learning around a structured schedule to help students remain focused and engaged throughout the semester at the expected pace. Unit-specific forum discussions and professional social media presence via Twitter and regular blog posts further supplemented this goal.

Several contemporary health topics were discussed in the Canadian context throughout the course, including the role of inter-professional connectedness in the emerging new era of social media, federal and provincial health systems in Canada, determinants of health, alternate approaches to understanding health, chronic disease prevention and management, vulnerable populations, and the future of healthcare. Creating my ePortfolio, curating resources, storing resources, and regular blog posts were my favourite. Reflecting on my learning experiences in this course, I am pleased to have chosen Athabasca University to complete my graduate studies.

I am looking forward to enrolling in other courses in this program.

Unit 1: Inter-professional Connectedness

Unit 1 began with introductions, where students had an opportunity to connect to get a sense of each other’s backgrounds. The professor also introduced the course’s Twitter feed in this section to allow students to network with classmates, other Athabasca University students, and Twitter users worldwide. Students reflected on and planed their inter-professional connectedness strategies by identifying their professional identity and reflecting on their social media and professional responsibilities through an audit of each topic. Students also had an opportunity to reflect on curating health information resources through an audit and synthesize a plan to curate and store resources in a virtual library for future reference. You can click here to access my virtual library of curated resources for this course.

Unit 2: Federal and Provincial Health Systems in Canada

In Unit 2, students recognized the importance of having a digital professional identity as an ePortfolio to showcase their professional accomplishments and documenting learning activities throughout the Master of Health Studies program at Athabasca University (Athabasca University, 2018). Students could select from various platforms available to them to create their ePortfolios. I chose WIX for its functionality and overall appearance; please follow the link here to visit my ePortfolio. Also, students reflected on their specific roles within the broader healthcare sector. Specifically, students identified themselves as professionals, researchers, or someone who interacts with the healthcare industry in a different capacity (Athabasca University, 2018). As a respiratory therapist, I identify as a regulated health professional. Please follow the link here to review Canadian healthcare legislation and regulatory information regarding respiratory therapy on my curated resource page.

Unit 3: Health of Canadians – Understanding Health and Determinants of Health

In 1948, the WHO redefined health, shifting the focus from an absence of disease to a more encompassing definition that included social, mental, and physical components (Oleribe, et al., 2018). It stated: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, 2020). As potential future leaders in this field, in this unit, students engaged in curating and analyzing literature to understand current and contemporary conceptions of health and develop an appreciation of critical health determinants (Athabasca University, 2018).

Please refer to my blog post – A Comparison of Determinants of Health in Canada & Its Largest Province – Ontario – where I analyzed the Canadian federal government’s stance on health determinants against the standard WHO definition of health. In the Canadian context, the federal government is only a fragment of the more elaborate health care delivery solution as the provinces are the primary driver of health care services. Hence, to gain a full perspective on the Canadian approach to health and health care, it is warranted to have a closer look at the provincial level to determine whether both wheels are turning at the same pace. As you will note from my blog post, the Canadian government acknowledges that many factors contribute to an individual’s health and places great emphasis on social and economic determinants of health (Government of Canada, 2020). Contrary to that, the province of Ontario and the other provinces remain focused on downstream strategies focused on behaviour change, rather than allocating resources to improve health determinants identified by Canada’s government (Raphael, 2003).

Unit 4: Multilevel Approaches to Understanding Health – Beyond the Individual

As discussed in Unit 3, health outcomes, mortality, morbidity, and disease patterns are phenomena that are predetermined mainly by factors outside our control long before we need medical care (First Nations Health Council, 2017). While individualized treatment is necessary to treat individual health issues, the broader issues of population health require a multilevel approach beyond individual treatment (First Nations Health Council, 2017). In Unit 4, students explored the topic of health and its determinants beyond the individual. We developed an appreciation for the multiple determinants of health, such as behaviour, genetics, policy, and social structural determinants of health, through literature review and forum discussions with classmates. Health determinants seldom influence an individual or population in isolation; instead, it is through complex interactions between the various determinants of health that lead to specific trends in the broader area of population health. Understanding such interactions requires a systemic approach to understanding health and its determinants. Students explored the literature related to multiple levels of health influence, models, and frameworks. Please follow the link here to my Blog on the First Nation’s Holistic Policy and Planning Model.

Unit 5: Chronic Disease Prevention and Management

According to Public Health Ontario (2019), the following are the highlights of the burden of chronic diseases in Ontario:

• According to 2015 data, 1.3 million Ontarians were living with diabetes, 900,000 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 1.0 million with ischemic heart disease, and 600,00 cancer diagnosed in the past 30 years.

• Chronic diseases accounted for over 70% of deaths in Ontario in 2015

• Cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes accounted for 242,054 hospitalizations in Ontario in 2016.

Undoubtedly, chronic diseases remain an area of public health concern given the data above. In this unit, students explored the concept of chronic disease, its impact and its prevalence in the various areas of their practice. Building on the idea of determinants of health discussed in previous units, students had an opportunity to explore determinants of chronic diseases, such as lifestyle (i.e., smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet) and social determinants (i.e., income, education, access to health services). While the role of contemporary approaches to disease prevention remains invaluable, health solutions addressing chronic disease must continue to advance given our ageing population and the burden of chronic illness on our societies. Please follow the link to my post in the Unit 5 Forum on this topic.

Unit 6: Vulnerable Populations

An integrated understanding of health issues is incomplete without accounting for the health issues that the vulnerable populations in our societies face. In Unit 3 and 4, students focused on health determinants such as lifestyle choices, dietary, income, etc., and the interactions between the various determinants of health through integrated models and frameworks. In Unit 6, discussions took place surrounding vulnerable populations and the impact of health determinants in vulnerable people. As a concept, vulnerability initially emerged in environmental sciences, where it was applied in the study of natural disaster impacts on human populations (Schroder-Butterfill & Marianti, 2006). The application later expanded in other areas such as population health with the underlying assumption that exposure to any threat, combined with an inability to cope with that threat, can predispose an individual or population to adverse outcomes. According to Schroder-Butterfill & Marianti (2006), vulnerability is the combination of threat, an inability to cope with that threat, and adverse consequences of that threat.

There are many vulnerable populations in our society, including the elderly, people with disabilities, the sick, single parents, racial and ethnic minorities, newcomers to Canada, low-income individuals and families, the marginally housed, battered women, children, etc. (Egan, 2006). it is essential to recognize that illnesses could have magnified consequences in vulnerable populations due to their inability to cope with the effects of such conditions. Students shared work stories through blog posts and forum discussions to highlight health issues currently facing vulnerable populations in Canada and their impact on this population compared to the general Canadian population. Please follow the link here to my blog post on elder vulnerability.

Unit 7: Future Directions

The universe and everything within it has a state of past, present, and future as it exists in a constant state of change through time. Additionally, from the smallest microscopic organisms that are not visible to the naked eye to the largest planets and everything in between, everything exists in a state of harmony and with the capacity to influence its surroundings. Change itself, on the other hand, requires adaptation. An inability to adapt can potentially be detrimental to any organism, process, or system. Similarly, concepts and methods within the healthcare industry have always been in a state of change. As much as it is essential to reflect on our past to understand the present, it is also necessary to focus on our future and take advantage of advancements in research and technology to prepare for foreseeable challenges that we may face in the future.

In unit 7, students focused on emerging trends in health and healthcare such as demographic changes, acknowledging historical injustices and a desire for a more inclusive society, and several technological approaches to health and health care (Athabasca University, 2018). As a healthcare professional and business systems analyst, I hold a biased interest in technology integration and virtual care medicine for its immeasurable potential to prepare our health industry to face current and future healthcare needs.

Conclusion

Health and healthcare remain an area like a deep-sea; lots known, yet lots to explore. As a healthcare professional and potential future leader in this industry, I have gained a different perspective on the concept of health and healthcare in general. In addition to direct patient care and bedside procedure skills, I have now gained foundational knowledge in professional connectedness and responsibility, healthcare governance, determinants of health and frameworks, chronic disease and management, vulnerable populations, and the future of healthcare. MHST 601 has been crucial in building this foundation, which I can now build upon through other courses in the Master of Health Studies Program to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to become an effective leader in this industry.

References

Athabasca University. (2018, April 16). Unit 2: Federal and Provincial Health Systems in Canada. Retrieved from MHST 601: http://charon.athabascau.ca/cnhsgrad/mhst601_w2018/unit2.htm

Athabasca University. (2018, April 16). Unit 3: Health of Canadians - Understanding Health and Determinants of Health. Retrieved from MHST 601: http://charon.athabascau.ca/cnhsgrad/mhst601_w2018/unit3.htm

Athabasca University. (2018, April 16). Unit 7: Future Directions. Retrieved from MHST 601: http://charon.athabascau.ca/cnhsgrad/mhst601_w2018/unit7.htm

Egan, J. (2006, November). Vulnerable Populations. Retrieved from Government of Manitoba: https://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/pdfs/vulnerable.pdf

First Nations Health Council. (2017). Social Determinants of Health Discussion Guide. Retrieved from First Nations Health Council: http://fnhc.ca/wp-content/uploads/FNHC-Social-Determinants-of-Health-Discussion-Guide.pdf

Government of Canada. (2020, October 07). Social determinants of health and health inequalities. Retrieved from Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-system/reports-publications/health-care-system/canada.html

Oleribe, O. O., Ukwedeh, O., Burstow, N. J., Gomaa, A. I., Sonderup, M. W., Cook, N., . . . Taylor-Robinson, S. D. (2018, 08 24). Health: redefined. The Pan African Medical Journal, 30, 292. doi:10.11604/pamj.2018.30.292.15436

Public Health Ontario. (2019). The Burden of Chronic Diseases in Ontario. Retrieved from Public Health Ontario: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/c/2019/cdburden-infographic.pdf?la=en

Raphael, D. (2003, December 01). Barriers to addressing the social determinants of health: public health units and poverty in Ontario, Canada. Health Promotion International, 18(4), 397-405.

Schroder-Butterfill, E., & Marianti, F. (2006, January 12). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. Ageing and Society, 26(1), 9-35.

World Health Organization. (2020). Constitution. Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution