HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
Health - Reflective Journal 1
From the textbook readings and discussions in the weekly workshops, my ideas and beliefs of
health have been shaped and improved. With no prior knowledge about the topic of health, I
attended this class with an open mind of what to expect. At first I found some of the words
difficult to understand but through reading the assigned textbook chapters multiple times I am
gaining a better understanding of health education.
During the workshop in week 1 when asked to draw a picture that represents health, I drew a
smiley face along with the other students on my table. The fact that we all drew the same
picture expresses that we all are under the impression that a person presenting a smile is
healthy and happy inside and out. Hidden behind that smile would be a person with a lifestyle
that balances physical, emotional and spiritual traits.
After the textbook reading in week 2 (Germov, J 2014) I found it difficult to understand how
health can be classed as a social issue. The textbook states how a persons sociological
imagination consists of historical, cultural, structural and critical factors. Lifestyle including
nutrition and living conditions are examples of the social patterns or factors that affect a
persons health and illness. Also in chapter 2 it was fascinating to see that Australia has the
second highest average life expectancy in the world (second to Japan). I comprehend that
this is due to our superior living standards and healthy nutrition that we are able to survive the
Australian conditions.
The most influential new understanding of health that I have developed is the differences
between the definitions of wellbeing and wellness as I had always assumed that they had the
same meaning. It was interesting to discover that through the class discussions about chapter
3 of the textbook (Heil, D 2014) the definition of wellness is the state that a person is in or
feeling and the definition of wellbeing is the state of being in the world. I was surprised to
learn that their definitions differed but were also connected. My understanding is that a person
can have both good wellbeing and wellness, which links them together and makes a person
healthy.
It was also interesting in chapter 3 to uncover that health and its official definition was
reformed after World War II, which was most probably due to distraught soldiers returning
from war with permanent psychological damage who needed mental support to fully recover.
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
When the war finished in 1945, the World Health Organisation (WHO) altered the definition of
health one year later to a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not
merely the absence of disease and infirmity. By doing this, medical professionals are now
able to include and overcome mental health as an issue in society. By including the word
social in this definition they are also considering the lifestyle factors that make health a social
issue in the world and not just thinking about a persons physical state.
The film The Matrix that was watched during class can also be related to health and
wellbeing. Nobody can predict the future and so when Neo is given the choice of taking the
red or blue pill it expresses the type of control that we have over our own lives and health
related concepts.
Through these examples, my knowledge about health has dramatically improved and I am
beginning to understand how health can be classed as a social issue and how wellness and
wellbeing have different but related meanings. By the end of this topic I will be able to reflect
on more of my findings and ideas about health education.
Word Count: 614
References
Germov, J 2014 'Imagining Health Problems as Social Issues', Chapter 1 in J. Germov (ed.)
Second Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
Heil, D 2014, Well-being and Wellness, Chapter 3 in J. Germov (ed.) Second Opinion, 5th
edition Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
The Matrix 1999, DVD, Village Roadshow Pictures & Silver Pictures Los Angeles, and
starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne.
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
Health - Reflective Journal 2
Since completing the first reflective journal, I believe that I have developed a better
understanding of the weekly readings and I am now able to analyse and think about them in a
much more critical way. When beginning the topic it was difficult for me to comprehend seeing
health as a social issue and I can now understand the diverse range of sub-topics that are
connected with this such as wellness, wellbeing, gendered health and the sociological ladder
in the topic of health equality. The interactive activities during class assist me to recognise
these issues and their connection to health in our society.
In groups we were given a country and were asked to research their eating habits and
amount of food they intake on a weekly basis. Our group was given Italy to investigate and
used the website we were given deMilked to find answers. In a comparison to countries
such as Australia, the USA and Canada, Italy had a much lower intake of packaged foods but
consequently a much high intake in comparison to countries such as Ecuador and Kuwait.
This led us to believe that the Italian family we were looking at were middle class, spending
approximately $295 on food each week (Menzel 2013). This activity helps me to think about
the types of food that I eat and whether it is comparable to the Australian family pictured in
the photo. It also gives me a sense of appreciation to examine how much money the people
of the western societies can spend on groceries compared to the poverty-stricken countries. I
can now value how hard it must be for people in underdeveloped counties to live a healthy
and balanced lifestyle without consuming the right amounts of nutritious foods from the food
pyramid or the balanced food plate.
This type of food inequality can be related to chapter four in the textbook Global Public
Health where poverty, global inequality and life expectancy are discussed. The average life
expectancy for a person living in a richer country is 80 years old whereas the lowest average
life expectancy age in the world is 48.1 years in a small African, underdeveloped country
called Sierra Leone (Broom & Germov 2014, p.66). It is upsetting to know that it would be
almost impossible to eradicate global inequality between the rich and poor. Alternatively, it
would be possible to try and eliminate gender inequality so males and females can have
equal rights in relation to health and living in society.
In groups we were asked to list the activities that we undertake on a daily basis that are
specific to our gender. In our group of all girls, we listed actions such as putting on a bra,
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
putting on makeup and taking dance classes. Finally we listed gender specific activities that
we undertake every year. The list grew and included activities such as going grocery
shopping, menstruating and seeing a doctor for different reasons. During discussion I came to
the realisation that just because these activities are classified as being gender specific, it
does not mean that a person of the opposite sex cannot also undertake majority of the
actions. By listing these actions in some way we were promoting gender inequality. Why cant
a male take dance classes or do grocery shopping? As a class this was our own interpretation
of gendered health and the way that society portrays it.
It was interesting to read in the gendered health chapter of the textbook how a person of one
gender is more prone to particular diseases and health related issue than the other and vice
versa. It makes us question whether it is something that one gender is doing wrong in their
lifestyle to contract these diseases. This then links to the inequality that females receive in
health. Up until recently it was proven that men were the main subjects of medical research
due to having normal bodies as men do not have abnormal hormonal cycling or fall pregnant
(Broom, Freij & Germov 2014, p.131). This leads to biased test results and I believe it shows
evidence in inequality towards womens health.
This can then be related to indigenous health and the inequality that aboriginals receive when
it comes to being hospitalized. Indigenous Australians have always been considered unequal
in the world but I found it interesting that the consumption of excessive alcohol, tobacco and
other drugs has such a significant influence to indigenous health (Gray, Saggers & Stearne
2014, p.158). While reflecting upon this it made me wonder why people of the indigenous
community dont reduce their alcohol and drug use to end this problem.
It is clear after a critical reflection that the issues relating to food health and social wellbeing,
global inequality, gendered health and indigenous health are all somehow linked. They are all
involved with inequality, which is something that should be addressed in our society. These
issues have made me consider and reflect on how the world that we live in is unequal and
something should be done in attempt to find a solution.
Word Count: 842
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
References
Menzel, P 2013, Hungry Planet: What People Eat Around the World, deMilked, viewed 29
April 2016 < http://www.demilked.com/what-the-world-eats/>.
Broom, A & Germov, J 2014 'Global Public Health, Chapter 4 in J. Germov (ed.) Second
Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
Broom, D, Freij, M & Germov, J 2014 Gendered Health, Chapter 7 in J. Germov (ed.)
Second Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
Gray, D, Saggers, S & Stearne, A 2014 Indigenous Health: The Perpetuation of Inequality,
Chapter 8 in J. Germov (ed.) Second Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University Press, South
Melbourne.
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
Health - Reflective Journal 3
Coming toward the end of this topic I can see that I have developed my reflective writing skills
since the first journal and I am now able to use the sociological imagination template to
critically think about many social factors and topics that are presented to me in the textbook
and in our class discussions. Health promotion, Indigenous health, mental health and the
inequality surrounding these topics really interests me and is something that Id like to
elaborate on further.
My understanding is that as a future teacher promoting health in education is very important.
Allowing children to undertake good nutritious practices and a balanced diet from a young age
will hopefully make the next generation of people extremely healthy. From these good health
education practices hopefully we can soon see a decrease in the high obesity rates around
the world. I found the topic of health education and promotion really stimulating. The
examples that Jennifer gave about health promotion while living and teaching in Canada was
eye opening to see and hear about. I feel as though some of these practices could be carried
out in Australian primary schools to keep children fit and healthy. As a future primary school
educator I believe that I personally could use these ideas in my classroom to promote healthy
eating and exercise. It was interesting to notice how her students were unprejudiced about
trying new foods. Being such a picky eater I was able to relate to this lesson but it left me
open-minded about the ways in which some children may need to have teacher
encouragement to maintain good nutrition, as they may not be eating healthy in their home
lifestyle. I enjoyed watching that her students ate the food that they grew in the gardens
themselves and participated in the jump rope for heart program after they were taught how to
skip.
I believe that the purpose of this lesson was for the class to use our own imagination and
allow us to think about whether or not these activities would be useful to implicate in
Australian schools (if they arent already compulsory in some schools around Australia). This
topic can be linked with inequality (which was the focus of my previous reflective journal) and
whether any third world or poverty stricken countries would have funding to involve their
school students into learning about health and nutrition to suit their very different lifestyles.
For example, in a country such as Ecuador, which is almost the complete opposite of
Canada, would they have enough children actually attending schools to implicate these
practices? I believe it would be a difficult task due to part of the country having such a large
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
mass of undernourished population, differently to a western society country that consume
large amounts of junk food that are high in sugar.
I imagine that health promotion and education within most Indigenous Australian communities
is inconspicuous. The film that was watched in class, Beneath Clouds, directed by Ivan Sen
that told the story of two teenagers who met and travelled to Sydney together was quite
confronting. The movie demonstrated examples of identity, wellbeing/wellness and presented
the teens gaining a meaningful life as the key concept throughout. The inequality gap that the
film interpreted between indigenous and non-indigenous was clear and represented themes
such as self vs. other, us vs. them and aboriginality vs. whiteness. The cliff-hanger ending of
the film was a good discussion point and left us wondering what happened to the two
characters and whether they made it to their final desired destinations. Until reading about
Indigenous health and watching this film I never understood that people of the Aboriginal
communities are so disadvantaged when it comes to health and care. I didnt realise that they
had such lower life expectancies than non-indigenous people and that it was mostly due to
problems that could be managed much more efficiently by medical professionals such as
alcohol and drug abuse. With these low life expectancies comes the reluctance to seek
professional medical help. With connection to my previous journal reflection where I briefly
reflected upon why this problem is so prominent in society, such high drug and alcohol
consumption cause higher rates of problems such as violence, crime and threats to culture
and tradition (Gray, Saggers & Stearne 2014, p.149).
I comprehend that it is hard to tell why Indigenous individuals have a high rate of violence
(which includes domestic, sexual and child abuse) in their community but these alcohol and
drug problems are certainly a contributing factor. To now think of this issue as a part of the
sociological imagination template, historically, I believe that types of violence, drug and
alcohol consumption within a community can be passed through generations just as many
health related diseases and illnesses could. This can be linked to culture and how maybe it is
socially acceptable in the aboriginal culture and beliefs to not appropriately look after your
own health and seek professional advice. From a structural point of view, there is no
particular organisation within any persons life and it is completely unpredictable. To critically
improve these low life expectancies and high rate of drug and alcohol abuse and violence as
a population, awareness should be raised within both indigenous and non-indigenous
communities to progress from these problems. Types of violence can lead to long-term
physical and mental health damage for any individual whether they come from an aboriginal
community or not.
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
My group inquiry project that I completed was on the topic of mental health of young people.
Although this chapter was not specifically covered in class discussions or in the set readings,
I believe that mental health issues are one of the most significant topics in society today for
school aged children and as a future educator I need to have awareness of the subject. Social
media, social class, cost, treatment and work are the five main social factors that were
researched that are related to mental health disorders and also relate to the social side in this
health topic. Social media can commonly trigger problematic thoughts that lead to developing
a mental health disorder. The factors that were stated such as social class, cost and
treatment all relate to the inequalities that people living in low socioeconomic areas can face.
Without earning enough money for treatment, mental health disorders can become worse
until help is sought and the willingness for recovery is present in an individuals mind (Sawyer,
Savy 2014, p. 254)
After presenting our inquiry report presentation, an interesting class discussion topic was
introduced to us. We began talking about if an individual enrolled in an education course at
university was to develop a mental health disorder, should they be allowed to continue their
studies? I personally believe that it depends on the type of mental health problem (such as
whether it is a condition that can be more easily overcome such as anxiety or depression or
whether it is a disorder such as schizophrenia) and whether or not the person had a
willingness to recover from their problem. As an education student, you need to be strong and
be able to cope with many unknown difficulties that you may face in the workforce as a
teacher. It would therefore also depend on the strength of the person and whether they could
handle the social implications that surround mental health. I believe that many people would
suffer from a small degree of anxiety at some point in their life so this may not be the cause of
any future issues or worsen any existing mental health issues of an individual.
I have recognised that inequality is a very strong focus and it really stood out to me
throughout the textbook chapters that were set as readings. I have become really interested
in all factors of inequality around the world that relate to many health topics such as gendered
health, indigenous health, food and nutrition and mental heath. Inequality can be recognised
in many different contexts and it is an issue in society that should be addressed in all forms. I
believe that my understanding of health from a social perspective has been developed widely
throughout this topic. I am now able to understand the sociological imagination template and I
can now use that knowledge to allow for reflection on health in a historical, cultural, critical
and structural way.
HLPE1540
Brittany Selwood
ID: 2167037
Word Count: 1404
References
Gray, D, Saggers, S & Stearne, A 2014 Indigenous Health: The Perpetuation of Inequality,
Chapter 8 in J. Germov (ed.) Second Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University Press, South
Melbourne.
Sawyer, AM & Savy, P 2014 Mental Illness: Understandings, Experience, and service
provision, Chapter 13 in J. Germov (ed.) Second Opinion, 5th edition Oxford University
Press, South Melbourne.
