key determinants

There are many key determinants that lead to suicidal thoughts and suicide. Finding the key determinants is important as tackling it can solve the problem. For biological key determinants, depression is the number one cause of suicide. This also includes other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Some people have depression from genetics as a family history of depression can affect the person. Several causes can trigger depression in a person, leading to suicide. Untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide. This fact is from suicide.org.

For social and cultural determinants, social pressure is a key determinant especially for youth in school. Failing a class or being peer pressured can lead to suicidal thoughts for the youth. Men are more likely to fail a class and can feel very pressured from social standards. Peer pressure is also important as women may have a negative self image of oneself and feel pressured to change themselves or even hate themselves. Alcohol and drug consumption is also a cause of suicide. These are depressants so it can lead to unusual behavior of someone. In colleges, many people consume alcohol and drugs so it could be a strong determinant of suicide.

In environmental determinants, areas with gloomy weather are shown to have higher rates of suicide. But the physical environment does not have much of an affect compared to the social environment on the youth. Having a firearm can lead to greater thoughts of suicide which makes the risk factor higher. Also, not having a counseling center nearby to get help can lead to a higher rate of suicide.

For economical determinants, studies have shown times that in times of bad economy, there have been more suicide rates. Unemployment and losing a lot of money lead to depression for many people. Suicide also has a large impact on the economy. Loss of a close person due to suicide can financially and emotionally impact a person, which may trigger suicidal thoughts. Politics can affect suicidal rates by decisions that affect the nation's economy. The distribution of income in society and the business condition of a society have change suicide rates. By making laws that affect an individual's income status, suicide rates may go higher or lower. There are many determinants that lead to suicide. Usually, it is a combination of many causes for one person. I think for the youth, tackling social and cultural determinants may affect them the most.

magnitude and indicators

Surveillance is the collection of data over a time period that is analyzed to assess the problem. For suicide, surveillance is used to show how much deaths there are within the year. This data can be collected from death reports and hospital records for suicide attempts. Many of the data are organized into age groups and gender. Suicide rates can be seen through years, and some years are higher than others, indicating there is something wrong. Especially if the number of suicide rates is increasing, there is a large problem.

Statistics show suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. In the 1970s to 1980s, the suicide rate for the youth increased by forty percent. This was 8.8 deaths per 100,000 in 1970s to 12.3/100,000 in 1980. During this time period, suicide from firearm also increased. Young white male adults had the highest rate of suicide and the rate of male to female was 5 to 1. This surveillance of youth suicide rates is from the CDC.

In another study from CDC, from the years 1994 to 2004, suicide was the third leading cause of death for the youth ages 10 to 24 in the United States. There was 4,599 deaths in 2004. The trend drops a bit during 1994 to 2004, but from 2003 to 2004 there is a sudden increase. For females aged 10 to 14 by 75%, 32% for females 15 to 19, and by 9% for males from 15 to 19. This data was collected from WISQARS.

For direct indicators, there would be a sudden increase of suicide for the youth to show there is a problem. The number of suicide rising would indicate there is a problem and something needs to be fixed. Even if the number is not rising, but is continually high, action needs to be taken. Another direct indicator would be if there is an increase in people receiving counseling. Also, if people are being hospitalized from suicide attempts, that would be an indicator.

For indirect indicators, a rise in sell of depressant medicine can show higher number of people are more likely to commit suicide. The most common method of suicide is firearms or poisoning, so if the sells of these products increase, that would be an indirect indicator. Another is if suicide is in the media a lot. People are more likely to be influenced by it, and think about committing suicide.

I think the data showing the deaths per 100,000 is a strong data as it is easier to understand for many people. It has the incidence rate and the population affected. Just saying there were 4599 deaths doesn't have an affect because the denominator is not known. The data that is detailed is more effective.

sources used:

http://www.spanusa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=0D213AD4-C50A-1085-4DD96CE0EEED52A0

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000871.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5635a2.htm#tab

problem definition

Studies from 2001 have shown the third leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24 is suicide in the United States. This statistic is from suicide.org. The population defined is young people ranging from teenagers to young adults. The place is America and the time frame is from around 2001. I chose this topic as the third leading cause of death is a very high number and it is something that is highly preventable. The population chosen I believe is important because it is a prime time of growth for many people and highly affects the society. The age group is around college students and the working population. They are the future of society so if suicide affects this age group, it shows there is something wrong. Also, this age group should be the healthiest as they have most likely become independent recently and at their prime time of age. Suicide is usually correlated with depression and substance abuse, so if there is a high number of suicide rate within the population, it shows the risk factors are high in society, which even if it does not lead to suicide, can harm society greatly. There are many problem factors contributing to suicide. Biological problems include family history of mental illness or history of suicide. Environmental factors include situations of being exposed to another suicide or negative feelings. Cultural can have stress as a strong risk factor for suicide where one may be pressured a lot. Political can include the economy going through a rough time, which shows a higher rate of incidence. Another risk factor is lots of violence surrounding the person. All these negative causes can destroy a society and a person’s life. Statistics from NIH.gov show there are 20.2 deaths from suicide per 100,000 in the population in ages 15-24. Men are four times more likely to die from suicide than women and the most common method of suicide is firearm, suffocation, and poisoning. I picked the time frame because it is a recent time frame and shows how our society is currently functioning. From rates posted from 1950 to 2003, suicide rates have more than doubled. This is shown from suicide.org. This could be due to incorrect collection of data from earlier years and most likely a huge population growth, but suicide is still a problem in the states. The place chosen is America because it is home and there seems to be more pressure in the youth. Suicide is highly preventable and rates can hopefully go down with much effort soon.

Final Paper topic

For the final paper, I would like to discuss about suicide prevention. I believe it is important

as not many people talk about it yet it is in the top 20 leading causes of death for Americans. Many people look down on suicide especially with some religious beliefs and choose to ignore it rather than to face it. Suicide is when one person end his or her life and there are many factors to it including from thinking about it to planning it. Suicide is an injury that can be prevented with the right steps.

I believe preventing suicide is important, as not only is the person affected, but the people around are affected even more. Families are devastated at losses and the economy is affected at an average of 33 billion dollars loss from self harm. Preventing suicide is a bit hard because people do not speak up on it and can be unexpected many times. Yet there are risk factors that contribute to suicide that can be seen and prevented. Such are depression, easy access to tools that help people commit suicide, and alcohol and substance abuse. Suicide can range from adolescents to seniors so it affects a wide range of ages. Ways to prevent suicide can be intense therapy, access to better medical care, and support from family and friends. Society can also greatly affect the person's will commit suicide. Not only is suicide prevalent in America, but it also occurs very frequently in other countries as well. There is an estimation that every forty seconds, someone dies of suicide in the world.

Suicide prevention is important to me because a close family friend recently committed suicide. The person was like a brother to my dad and had a loving family that included a daughter around my age. He had been depressed for awhile because of the bad economy but it was a shock to hear the news. From this, I personally experienced how much a suicide can affect the people around the person. Sometimes it's hard to accept suicide but people need to be more educated about it in order to create an environment where people do not seek suicide as the answer. This is why I would like to write about suicide prevention as my topic for the final paper.

From the first half of the class, I have learned much about public health and how it works. There are so many different areas of public health that all relate to one goal which is to make society healthier and more livable. Before the class, I barely knew anything about the American health system and all the organizations that go into making Public Health work. I also did not know the top ten health achievements of Public Health. These achievements are vital and a part of our everyday lives yet not many people realize it. I think we take these contributions from Public Health for granted, we don't realize how important public health is in our life. As we learned in class, people focus on medical care more than public health because medicine is visible but public health is more abstract. But hopefully with the new health care reform, there will be more focus on public health and many more people will realize the importance of it.

I thought the lecture on injury prevention was very interesting because accidents, or unintentional injuries, were shown in a different light. It required you to think outside of the box and see the whole picture. It was true that education alone was not enough to stop majority of people to have safer behavior, but rather the social environment around the person needed to be changed. This is true in many other areas of Public Health as well. For example in lowering obesity rates, rather than telling someone to eat healthier, changing the foods available would work better. Another interesting area was public health and the law. It was interesting to see how gun companies used propaganda to sell their products. It showed how

many commercials give false information to sell. In order to stop these, public health makes sure people are not given false information in ads.

It was surprising to see the numbers of how many people are unhealthy in the US. Especially with obesity, many americans are overweight. This leads to the first and second causes of death in America. It was also shocking to see how much money is spent on healthcare every year. Compared to other countries, the US's health does not compare well, yet America spends the most money. It was also surprising to see how unintentional injuries hurt or kill a lot of people because people don't give much attention to accidents. Probably because people have been desensitized to accidents, not much thought is given to it. But in reality, many of these "accidents" can be prevented and potentially save a lot of lives. A lot of things that I did not give much thought to before because I thought it was normal actually turned out to be a bigger problem and something that could be changed for the better.

Looking back on my first blog, not much has changed but I am far more educated in how public health runs and affects our everyday lives. Now I see health is not just about medical care but actually encompasses a lot more. Now I am more interested in people's health towards their behavior and the environment more than the infectious diseases affecting people. I think preventive care is more important and beneficial than curing a sickness. I have learned a lot from this class so far and it has changed the way I see health care a lot.

Health Care Reform

Health Care Reform has been a controversy for many decades. Past presidents have tried hard to create a new reform but have not been successful until now with Obama. While it is not perfect, it is a new step towards a better health care system. The purpose of the bill is to make sure everyone can get affordable, quality health care from guaranteed insurance and reduce health care costs. The US currently spends over 2.5 trillion dollars for healthcare and it still continues to rise exponentially. Many people in America are uninsured which causes harm to both themselves and to the health care system as they are not getting the treatment they deserve and need, and more debts are being created in the end. Now with the bill, all people with income below 133% of the federal poverty level will be able to go into medicaid. Insurance is guaranteed and medical underwriting is not allowed. It will be easier to access health care for everyone. Medicaid, medicare, and public health will all be improved. It will an extra cost of about 950 billion over 10 years to fully implement the changes but in the long run, less money will be spent on health care and costs will be reduced.

Democrats supported this bill greatly and it was finally passed.

Democrats stand for the interests of the working Americans and want personal liberties

for all. Their goal is to raise the economy, create affordable healthcare for Americans,

have retirement security, and many more. Democrats want the government to make

changes to better the lives of all Americans. The democrats are considered more liberal

so they would support health care reform. The republicans greatly opposed the reform.

Republicans oppose health care reform as they believe government is given more power

from controlling America's health care. Less power is given to the citizens in the choice of

health care then. Also, there is greater taxation on wealthier people with the health care

reform. Republicans are considered more conservative and health care reform is a

huge change. To appease the Republicans, few changes have been made to the health bill.

I think the health care reform bill is a good change. So far, the current health care system

has not been working well so hopefully this new change will bring a better health care

system to the US. I think it is good how people are mandated to get health insurance

now but at the same time, insurance is made affordable and easy to access so everyone in the

US can be insured. Health care expenditures will lower and hopefully the money can go

towards other areas like public health and improve things in America greatly. Everyone in

my family is already insured so there probably won't be a major change. We may have to

pay higher tax but it will be for the better in the long run. This reform could my grandparents

more as they are on medicare and it is supposed to be improved.

The healthcare system before the reform had some strengths. If insured, people would

have great consumer access and America is top in medical technologies. Financial

incentives also worked well for special services between physicians and insurance companies.

Of course there were many other strengths but it also had many weaknesses. Hopefully

with the reform, America's health care system will gain even more strengths. If ranking

of the US in least infant mortality and lifespan goes up and health care does not cost so

much, it would a good indicator the new health care is working well.

Health Care Spending

This article highlights how the recession in the economy greatly affects Health Care Spending. Private payers slow down and public spending greatly increases. Private payers can include self pay, group pay purchased per person, or employer-provided. In contrast, public spending is usually affected by age such as the elderly receiving medicare, financial status where people use medicaid, and special populations which include the dod or va for the military and veterans and more. Because of the recent recession, private spending is expected to go down and public spending is expected to increase. Not only does the economy affect the healthcare system, but the baby boomers are now requiring medicare, so public healthcare spending would increase. In the lecture, there is a graph that shows private health insurance was growing rapidly until 2007 but now the article states private payers are decreasing. This is not surprising as with low economies, more people are likely to become unemployed and lose their company insurance or are unable to afford expensive health insurances. The article also states public payers will pay for a little over half of the U.S.'s health care. This would lead to an increase of tax for everyone as more money is required for the public health care system. Medicine prices are also expected to decrease from the economy's crash. The bad economy has contributed to slower spending growth and rise in public spending such as medicaid instead of private health care.

Continued increases in healthcare spending would imply there are more patients using healthcare and receiving the care they need. But this also means more money is required for healthcare. Healthcare could be becoming more expensive from physicians, equipment, and medicine. National Health spending is greatly affected by purchase of health care goods and services. Continued proportional spending in public spending means more people are switching from private to public. This is due to the recession in the economy and more people becoming older and switching to medicare. Medicare is fully federal funded and medicaid is fifty percent state funded.Most of this money would come from taxes meaning the government would have to increase taxes even more. Healthcare could also become unaffordable for most people. Growth in medicare and medicaid means the economy is bad and less people are able to afford important things such as health care. In contrast, growth in private spending would mean the economy is better and more people are employed with employers' health insurances and living better.

There seems to be many problems with the US healthcare and its reform. Trillions are dollars are spent, yet the system is not perfect. Many people are still not receiving the basic healthcare they need. This could lead to graver diseases or situations and owing more money in the end. Huge public hospitals have closed from the economic recession. This is probably because general hospitals are more likely to have debt in emergency rooms and the patients are not likely to have health insurance. Although the US is a wealthy nation, not everyone is covered with insurance and its healthcare system is not as great as other countries'. If I could change one thing about the healthcare system, I would probably want to have universal coverage. This way, everyone could have insurance and there would be less problems with debts and being unable to pay. People who are uninsured are more likely to end up in the emergency room because they neglect their health and this would lead to greater costs for the government. People would not have to worry about health care based on financial status, age, or location. Infant mortality would probably go down and life expectancy would increase if everyone had insurance. Putting more emphasis on disease prevention could work too but it would probably only have short term effects and health care would end up right where it started.

I didn't know before how much the economy affected the US healthcare system. So much money is spent on healthcare but all this money just seems to disappear. Of course the article stated that these were just assumptions but it is scary to see how much more people will be paying for healthcare within the next decade. If this continues, I feel like more people will be unable to afford insurance and less people would be insured. I've heard many negative and positive responses of Britain's health care system. Although there are some cons to having a universal health care system, there are many good pros too. Less money is spent per person in Britain as opposed to the US so it is affordable for everyone. Also, Britain ranks above the US in healthcare. And if people really want private health care, they have the option to purchase their own and go to private hospitals. Maybe if the US followed Britain's example, there would be less problems within health care. Of course not every health care system can be perfect.

challenge of global health

This article is on how even though donors give large amounts of money, global health is worsening over the years. The money is not spent where it is needed the most and causes more harm than benefit to developing countries. There are many problems with the global health-care system and there needs to be change.

Global health is worsening even with large amounts of money because the money goes to wrong places. Money is not spent on where it is actually needed but rather where the donor would get the most out of it such as publicity. The money is controlled by the donor so it is not really effective. The real problems are not tackled and even some of the money are used in the wrong places because they are not properly regulated. Many of the money is spent towards HIV/Aids when there are also many other diseases that need to be cured. Also the need for physicians is growing because many are dying or simply emigrating to America for money and leaving developing countries. No one is willing to tackle all of global health's problems either. The money may focus only on one problem too much shadowing other major health problems such as a mother receiving drugs for Aids but not even getting the most basic care for childbirth or infant care.

The two markers for a good healthcare system is increased maternal survival and increased overall life expectancy. Maternal survival is important because if pregnant women are surviving, it means the facility is clean, well-kept, safe, fully staffed, and well supplied in medicine and sterile equipment. This in turn shows a good health-care system where people can get treated right. Longer life expectancy shows the overall population is surviving longer and living healthier lives. This shows living standards are up to par and there are not many diseases shortening life expectancies. A good health-care system would lead to longer life expectancies. It would show there are no major problems affecting the population and everyone is getting treated with quality.

A new strain of TB called the XDR-TB has emerged with devastating effects. It is almost always lethal and threatens many communities in the world. This strain mutated from TB by becoming resistant to antibiotics and has become deadly. This is linked to poor general health system. TB treatment was not handled well because the money was not used wisely in where it was needed and so this new strain has developed and hurt more people. The therapy was not done effectively and created the emergence of a lethal, drug-resistant strain. Another harm from donors not using the money correctly is higher spread of HIV among children. Because the money is not given to where is it most needed such as clinics, physicians are forced to reuse syringes to give vaccinations to children which spreads HIV. Not only with syringes, but also equipment and blood-bank systems that lack proper care and sterilization because of low funding spreads HIV easily among the population.

Power of Public health

This week's reading is on a case of an old woman who has leprosy but does not want to be isolated to an uncomfortable dwelling. The board of health wants to move her to another place to prevent spreading of the infectious disease. It says the board of health has the power to make and enforce regulations to protect the health of the community.

Both quarantine and isolation are for people with infectious diseases. Quarantine is when people who may or may not actually have an infectious disease are asked to stay inside their home or stay away from others. For example, students are quarantined in their rooms when they have the flu. Isolation is for people who for sure have an infectious illness and are isolated from other people. They receive special care and the people who care for them take special precautionary procedures.

I think the board of health with a doctor's approval should decide when an individual should be quarantined. Even in the reading, it states the board of health has the right to isolate people for the general public's health. If it is the individual's choice to decide whether to quarantine herself or not, not everyone may decide to isolate his or herself and the infectious disease may spread. For example, a person may think he or she feels better but is actually still contagious and unknowingly spread it to the public. But when it is the board of health's decision, the person is mandated to be isolated and has no chance to spread the disease. Of course they would need proof from a doctor so a person is not isolated for no reason.

The state court should balance the right of the individuals and the right of the community. Every community is different so the the wants of the individual and the community would be different for each state. I think erring on the community would be more favorable because the community's health is for the greater good. If individuals had more right on health, it could get out of control and diseases once thought to be cured can be a hazard again. Although siding on the community too much could potentially lead to infringement of a person's right. A good balance is the best as both the individual and the community can be appeased.

Annual Checkup

It was surprising to see how the U.S. was actually pretty low compared to other countries in health care activities. Because the U.S. spends so much money towards healthcare, I expected the numbers of health care activities to be higher. The Doctor consultations per capita and average length of stay for acute care is lower than average. This was not expected because the U.S. is a very developed country and has a lot of concentration on medical care. This obviously shows the medical system in the country is not so great. Japan is the highest in both doctor consultations per capita and length of stay which I think is important because it shows the health care system greatly cares for citizens. Doctor consultation is important because it shows people are getting the right information and being checked up on and getting illnesses treated. Having a longer length of stay for acute care shows the treatments are more thorough and the patients are receiving better care.

It was not surprising that the U.S. was the highest on spending on healthcare. The U.S.'s spending is clearly above the average yet there are many problems in the country. It is very questionable where all the money goes towards as the healthcare is clearly not perfect. All the money seems to be wasted and people are taxed greatly for nothing. If the U.S. spends the most on healthcare, you would expect the U.S. to be higher in most of the other healthcare measure rankings.

U.S. has the highest ranking in obesity. I would want to change this factor to have less obesity in the U.S. Changing this would have a greater impact on the public's health because obesity leads to many health problems as taught in the lecture. Obesity can lead to heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, and many more. The number one cause of death in the country is heart disease so lessening obesity could potentially save many lives. Also as mentioned in the lecture before, people who lost a little weight with a healthier lifestyle compared to the people who took medication for preventing diabetes had a far more positive outcome. An intervention would be changing the sources of food in neighborhoods with greater poverty. In poorer neighborhoods, there is a greater amount of fast food chain stores and less markets for healthier food. This leads to a greater amount of obesity in impoverished neighborhoods. Healthier food also tends to be more expensive, so by changing the price and having less fast food restaurants in poorer neighborhoods can lead to less obesity.

Ten Great Public Health Achievements, 1900-1999

This week's blog is on an article that shows ten great achievements by Public Health that improves the daily lives of the American population. From the beginning of the 20th century, public health has managed to greatly improve living conditions and lengthen the average lifespan. The first great achievement mentioned is the vaccine. With the creation of vaccine, smallpox and other potentially deadly diseases such as measles are no longer a threat to citizens. The spread of these infectious diseases can be easily controlled and cured. The next one mentioned is motor vehicle safety. Roads and rules about driving has made it safer to drive and less likely for a person to get in an accident. Rules about seat belts, speed limits, and drinking and driving has changed driving behavior for the safety of drivers and pedestrians. The third one is work related health problems. Safety regulations and safer workplaces have significantly decreased work related health problems. Another achievement is improved sanitation and water. This is important as it stops diseases from spreading and less infections occur. Risk-factor modifications have lessened the number of deaths from coronary heart diseases and strokes. Better nutrition and sanitation has decreased infant mortality and made it safer for mothers giving birth. Family planning and contraceptives has also improved the quality of life by giving people more choice and education. The ninth achievement of Public Health is fluoridation of water improving dental health of people regardless of class or social status. And finally, the tenth achievement of public health is awareness and education of tobacco use. Anti-smoking campaigns has decreased the usage of tobacco and consequently lessening deaths from smoking. These are the top ten achievements of public health during the 20th century benefitting and saving many lives.

I think vaccinations are very important because everyone as a child is required to take the shots. Thankfully most people are not affected by these infectious diseases anymore. We don't have to worry about getting measles or another kind of disease because everyone is vaccinated so the chance of something having an infectious disease is very small. Another achievement that is important to me is the anti-smoking campaign as it has lessened the amount of smokers. Smoking is not only very unhealthy to the smoker, but also to the people around the smoker from secondhand smoking and bad influence. My grandfather passed away from lung cancer due to smoking so it is important to me that people don't smoke. Thankfully the number has greatly decreased and new laws prohibit smoking such as the one in California where smoking is not allowed while driving with a minor or not allowed in most public places.

Another great public health achievement is saving the environment. People are reminded to save energy and better methods of traveling such as walking, biking, or carpooling that are less straining on the environment. Pollution is very unhealthy for the earth and people. Information on global warning and is public and people are more aware. Recycling is enforced and I remember guest speakers came to talk about recycling in elementary school so this shows many people are educated about recycling. The environment's state directly affects people's lives so it is good people are taking measures to conserve it. These show public health is constantly at work to make the nation safer and improve people's quality of life in ways we don't really see or think about.

Introduction

Hi, my name is April and I am a first year biology major. This blog is for public health issues and my opinions on them. I am interested in Public Health because it affects the whole community and our general everyday life. I hope to become a physician so I am interested in Public Health too. Public Health is what makes our daily life safe and improve our quality of life. It not only focuses on the sciences of epidemiology but also in social justice. It is basically the health of our population. I am interested in the epidemiology part of Public Health and how cases can be solved. I hope to learn much through these blogs and the class.