Reflective Journal 3

During the semester I have learnt about the way society views health. The way
most people look at health is in an individual and within the biomedical model
(Germov, 2005, pg 11). Not very often is the social side of health addressed. It
is viewed as a separate issue and not really considered important when
compared to the physical side of health. One of my biggest challenges in this
topic has been reframing my thoughts to consider health within the social
perspective. It has been a challenge because, as with a lot of people in a
western society, we are taught from an early age that the health of an
individual is theirs alone and only doctors are able to help them with a cure to
their ailments. Changing my view on health has also given me an extreme
insight to how I look at my own health, especially my mental health. I now
know that the cause and the cure is not all medicine based and health can
fluctuate with the who and the where, not just the what of your condition.
As the semester progressed we looked into global health and how health can
vary not just by country to country but can vary drastically within the country.
The stark inequality is seen in the difference between developed (Australia, US,
UK and others) and developing countries (poorer countries within South
America, Asia, The Middle East and Africa) (Germov, 2005, pg 65). The
developed countries have higher life expectancies, which lead me to question
some things. Thinking about the wealth distribution even within just Australia
(Germov, 2005, pgs 83-85), why is there not more being done to assist the
people in the developing nations that do have such low life expectancies? This
was answered for me when looking into the politics of aid. Germov explains
within Chapter 4 of Second Opinion that aid is a contentious issue as a lot of
critics believe that when a country offers and gives aid it is more for their
benefit rather than the country they are attempting to help. The reason why
their aid is ineffective is because the donor country is making their aid highly
conditional. This is a huge issue as their aid is not helping where the countries
are truly needing it. Addressing poverty would go a long way to helping these
countries sort some of their socially caused health issues. Unfortunately, to my
mind, I do not see how this is going to change unless there is some global
social pressures put on the powerhouse countries. It makes me feel very
grateful to have the opportunities that others may miss out on just because of
where they were born.
One major point I was looking forward to in the topic was gendered health. I
have been interested in the inequality of genders for a few years and this is
where I thought I might thrive. One of the more interesting things that I learnt
is that the saying women get sick, men die is bizarrely not too far from the
truth (Germov, 2005, pg 125). The main difference between physical health
that men and women seem to experience is directly related to their exposures
and where the risk factors lie within the day to day tasks of the man or woman.
I think one of the most interesting things that I experienced learning this side of
health was just how gendered our day to day lives can be. From something as

complex as the jobs we have right down to the toilets we use. Gender is so
ingrained in our minds that we just dont see it anymore unless someone
challenges how they express their gender. These little things seem so
inconsequential in the day to day but it speaks a lot to how we perceive not
just duties when we delegate but how we see the gender in question with what
tasks we do designate as theirs only. In going forward in the future, I cant wait
to learn more about how gender affects health. I am sure that it finds its way
into every nook and cranny of our lives and there is a definite link between
gender and health impacts associated with it.
One topic I did not expect to be so impacting was food, health and social
wellbeing. All throughout my life I have always been taught that there is only
good, organic, unprocessed food or junk food. Junk food usually referred to
anything quick and simple to cook that came out of a box or a can. But in
looking into the topic further I learnt that some countries (such as Kuwait) had
no choice but to live out of cans and boxes. They only got what little fresh food
that they had from trade with other countries and everything else is what they
can get from what I used to consider junk. Our society has a huge
preoccupation with food. Most of the family traditions I can think of involve
food, and excessive quantities of it. It seems that excessive quantities are not
just exclusively for special occasions however, with the McDonaldization of
food and there being so much cheaply made, excessive quantities seem to be
the norm (Germov, 2005, pg 209). With fast food outlets like McDonalds and
Hungry Jacks offering larger and larger meal sizes it is easy to be swept away
with it. As a consumer of fast food I go to these places when I am tired and
hunfry, especially after a long day at work, and therefore seem to think that I
will need the extra food which has been successfully marketed to me. And in
keeping me wanting more, as our bodies want to do, they crave the sugary,
high fat foods that are offered by fast food outlets, they win the battle. Its easy
to see why there is such an obesity crisis throughout the Western world.
Successful marketing and a cheap, quick and easy solution seems to lead to
the fattening of the fast foods wallet and our waistlines. I can now see so much
clearer through the veil that the fast food industries put over my eyes.
All over, this topic has given me a fresh perspective on what health truly means
and is. Health is not simply something to leave to the doctors. It is something
that we as individuals and as a society need to work towards improving in our
day to day lives. One story that keeps coming up with students and tutors alike
is the rescuing people as their drowning rather than preventing them from
falling in the river in the first place. I can see how this works and am looking
into ways to implement these teachings within my own life and, further on
down the track, I will consider how to then pass on to any students I teach. By
creating a healthy environment within my own life, I can pass this onto my
friends and family who can hopefully pass it onto others and a small supportive
community will then have been created. I think that I can now understand my
own health in such a way as to now start changing it and creating that
environment that I believe will benefit my nearest and dearest. It took me a
while to wrap my head around the concept of health being a social issue, not
just a medical and physical issue and now that I have, I believe, embraced this

new view I will take it and try to apply it to not just my future professional
career but also the rest of my university career. In going on with the topics that
follow this one, I look forward to gaining a broader perspective on health and
hope to one day be able to apply it when I am teaching.

1307 words

Reference
J. Germov (ed.) Second Opinion 5th edition South Melbourne: Oxford University
Press.)