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Ecological Approaches: Both Population And Individual Level Determinants Of Health

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Ecological approaches focus on both population and individual level determinants of health. Ecological approaches mainly consider health issues as a community based problem and not just individual, this helps to improve community health and reduce health concerns. Unlike the behaviour change model, by focusing on a community, ecological approaches reduce the idea of singling out individuals which is more beneficial and may make the approach more successful. There are numerous factors that have impact on individual’s choices in their life. These factors may be influenced by physical setting, organisations within the community or characteristics of people in the community. People can become obese for several reasons and the ecological approach explains some of these reasons. The ecological model suggests the idea of public policies to maintain a healthy community. Public policies are there to engage and encourage individuals and the social environment to create the healthy community. By creating a …show more content…

Formal and informal social networks, families, work colleagues, friendships influence individual’s decisions. Opinions people have of others can have a huge influence on how someone lives their lives, for example, if an individual hears negative comments about their body image the individual’s opinion of themselves will change and its usually in a negative way. This also links with interpersonal factors such as the characteristics of an individual, including their knowledge, behaviour and attitude. An individual with a lot of knowledge regarding obesity is more likely to try and avoid becoming obese and will have a negative attitude towards the subject because they are aware of the impact it will have on their health. This will differ with someone with a lack of knowledge about obesity as they may not understand or know about the severity of the health conditions that are associated with

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