Abstract

This chapter will help you to meet the following requirements of Tomorrow's Doctors (2009) Apply to medical practice, methods and knowledge of population health and the improvement of health and healthcare. a) Discuss basic principles of health improvement, including the wider determinants of health, health inequalities, health risk and disease surveillance; b) Assess how health behaviours/outcomes are affected by diversity of the patient population; c) Describe measurement methods relevant to improvement of clinical effectiveness and care; d) Discuss the principles underlying the development of health and health service policy, including issues relating to health economics and equity, and clinical guidelines; e) Evaluate and apply epidemiological data in managing healthcare for the individual and the community; f) Discuss the role of nutrition in health; g) Discuss from a global perspective the determinants of health and disease and variations in healthcare delivery and medical practice. After reading this chapter, you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the following: * Population influences in health, including differences in health care development; * Approaches to measuring and addressing population influences on health; * The relevance and practice of epidemiology; * Some of the factors which influence how disease is treated.