Quick questions on Determinants of health and health inequities: HSC Health and Movement Science Focus Area 1

Genetics, sex, age, body composition. Largely non-modifiable. Examples: genetic risk for breast cancer (BRCA1/2), age-related cardiovascular risk, biological sex differences in autoimmune disease.

Family structure, peer group, cultural beliefs, religion, language, media. Shape risk behaviours, help-seeking and access to information. Examples: family smoking patterns predict adolescent uptake; cultural norms around alcohol shape consumption; English proficiency affects access to written health information.

Income, employment, education, occupation. The single strongest population-level driver of health gradients in most Australian data. Higher income / education quintiles have longer life expectancy, lower smoking rates, lower obesity, lower mental-illness prevalence.

Geography (remoteness), housing, infrastructure, exposure to pollutants, access to healthy food and safe physical activity. Examples: remote Australia has higher rates of preventable hospitalisation; food deserts in outer-suburban areas correlate with obesity; lead exposure in Mount Isa and Broken Hill from historical mining.

Specific Australian programs (NACCHO, Western Sydney Diabetes, Heart Foundation salt-reduction work, Cancer Council tobacco control) score better than abstract claims.

Identify the four categories of determinant of health and give one Australian example of each. [4 marks]

Analyse how the determinants of health interact to produce the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health gap. [6 marks]

Justify the use of a multi-component intervention (rather than a single-component intervention) to address a chosen Australian health inequity. [8 marks]