Chronic disease management is a problem that is impacting the populations across the world. Canada Public Health services https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/prevalence-canadian-adults-infographic-2019.html , provides the following data on the health of our population. 25% of Canadians have Hypertension, 11 % have Diabetes and 9.6 % have COPD. Looking at Newfoundland Labradors (NL) rates of these diseases it is alarming. Newfoundland data is even more alarming, according to https://www.nlchi.nl.ca/images/COPD_Indicators_Report_2019-03-07.pdf , NL has 34% of its population living with diabetes, 33% have hypertension, and 9.9% have COPD. The lasting impacts of poorly managed conditions has such an impact on quality of life for the population.
Major chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes are the cause of 65% of all deaths in Canada each year and are the leading causes of death globally. While chronic disease management has the attention of many facets of the health care system, I wonder if the population would be better served if the same health care system that is exhausted from trying to manage all the complications, shift their focus to preventing these diseases in the first place?
My knowledge of prevention of chronic diseases is limited, while my exposure to the treatment of these illnesses has spanned over 33 years. I have often felt that as the health system, we are showing up too late to make a difference. What if these people knew more about healthy diet, had access to coaching to live a more physically healthy lifestyle, or knew about mental well-being? Would these diseases have been able to manifest? Would our health system be able to find the resources to shift to a wellness model? These are some of the questions I have as I embark on looking at the benefits of health promotion.
I am wondering about what can be done to stop this increase of chronic disease and wonder what it will take to change the face of this in NL. As I look at the determinants of health as outlined in the Canadian Public Health Association, many of these determinants are challenges in the county as well as within this province. Income, Employment , Health, Social Safety net, Food insecurity, Housing and Social exclusion are the determinants that I think of that need to closer look in order to improve health of our people.
Swift, J., Power, E. (2021), reference the idea that is getting the attention of federal as well as provincial governments which is the concept of a guaranteed basic income. Low income and how that impacts health is also relative to the food insecurity issues that the province faces, which in turn impacts chronic disease management. With the cost of food on the rise, and a province that imports most of its food, the impact to the health of the people is impacted.
As I begin this journey on health promotion, I am excited to dive into the factors that impact the health of this province. I am eager to be a part of the change and use the knowledge I gain by taking a deeper look now as this province is going through its own transition. I want the health status to improve not only for myself, but for my family and friends who make this place home. To ensure movement in the right direction will be challenge while holding individuals, communities, and governments accountable for their part of the change!
Looking forward to this journey and honing in on the advocacy role of the nursing profession to help lobby for change and improvements to our health system.
Reference
Canadian Public Health Association. (n.d). What are the social determinants of health? https://www.cpha.ca/what-are-social-determinants-health
Hussain, Z., & Tarasuk, V. (2021). A comparison of household food insecurity rates in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011–2012 and 2017–2018. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 10.17269/s41997-021-00577-6.
Swift, J., Power, E. (2021). The Case for Basic Income: Freedom, Security, Justice. May 2021. Between the Lines.
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