VIHA targets conceptions of health
http://www.vicnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=36&cat=46&id=646727&more=
By Amy Dove
Victoria News
May 12 2006
Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, afflict a greater proportion of
Vancouver Islanders than residents in the rest of B.C., a health conference
in Victoria heard this week.
Thirty-four per cent of Island residents surveyed in 2003 reported being
restricted in their daily life by a chronic health condition, Dr. Richard
Stanwick, the chief medical officer for the Vancouver Island Health
Authority, said during a presentation at VIHA's first-ever conference on
the social determinants of health.
The findings, from a recent Canadian community health survey of both the
elderly and non-elderly population, compared with a provincial average of
27.3 per cent. Extrapolated to the Island's entire population, the survey
indicates that 200,000 Islanders have a chronic disease.
The reason for the discrepancy isn't known, Stanwick said at the
conference, held at the Delta Victoria Ocean Point Resort and Spa.
"We are going to keep looking," Stanwick said.
He added that the problem is not as simple as pinning the blame on a single
cause.
Representatives from government, school boards, the health authority and
other elected bodies came together to discuss social factors in people's
health.
The focus on health surveys has shifted in recent years, said Dr. Michael
Hayes, associate dean of the faculty of health sciences at Simon Fraser
University. In the past, surveys focused on environmental factors, whereas
more recent ones include factors like emotional and physiological
conditions.
"It shifts the whole frame of reference to conditions of work and indeed
conditions of everyday life that are so important to everyday health,"
Hayes said.
He cited obesity as an example of the problem. "It is conceptualized as a
problem of individual failure, missing completely what the real issues
are," he explained, citing media influence, poverty and accessibility as
factors.
Both Stanwick and Hayes spoke to the importance of considering all the many
factors in order to take stress off the health-care system. Housing
conditions, education, safe outdoor spaces and work environment all play a
role in people's overall health.
"The biggest barrier faced in health is cultural," Hayes said.
Changing people's perceptions will not be easy, he added.
Sharing information is another key to a healthier society, Stanwick said.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is working toward determining the
specific factors at work in each area that contributes to poor health.
"Only by getting higher quality information into the hands of everybody
will people understand what they are up against," Stanwick said.
"We have to get better at marketing this message."
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