on blogging and social determinants of health

so i'm sure people are shocked to see my posting more than once every month. awhile ago, i had started a 101 list of things i wanted to accomplish, and i remembered that one of my items was to blog three times a week (at least) for a month, so this has been my attempt.

the purpose behind this was that i don't tend to be a very open person. there are things i place out there voluntarily, and typically they're easy, shallow thoughts, but the stuff i think about deeply, the things i learn, the things that trouble me... most of those things stew in my mind, or if you're 'lucky' enough, i will boil over during a phone or gtalk conversation.

this is where blogging was supposed to come in. to 'force' me at least three times in a week to translate my thoughts into coherent sentences.

i shared with a friend earlier this term that i realize there are a lot of thoughts and "aha!" moments in my head... but when it comes to telling people them, they fall short of the 'glory' it manifested in my head. my thoughts are much more eloquent than my words are.

but as i'm spending a lot of my time studying and regurgitating information, i'm not having very many thoughts. so this week is kind of a crummy week to be blogging my thoughts. because what will result are things like this:

i was studying for my health, science and society course and was reading that social determinants are often much more impactful on health than individual behaviours. the textbook displayed two lists of '10 tips' for better health. the first is something you would see a bit more normally, and as mentioned above, individual changes can make some sort of impact on health, though maybe not as impacting as we believe. the second list... well it's interesting. i hope i am never expected to give these tips as a nurse.

the 'traditional' list:

1. don't smoke. if you can, stop, if you can't cut down.
2. follow a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables.
3. keep physically active.
4. manage stress by, for example, talking things through and making time to relax.
5. if you drink alcohol, do so in moderation
6. cover up in the sun, and protect children from sunburn
7. practice safer sex
8. take up cancer screening opportunities
9. be safe on the roads: follow the Highway Code
10. learn the First Aid ABCs: airways, breathing, circulation.

the 'social determinants' list:

1. don't be poor. If you can, stop. If you can't, try not to be poor for long.
2. don't have poor parents
3. own a car.
4. don't work in a stressful, low paid manual job
5. don't live in damp, low quality housing
6. be able to afford to go on a foreign holiday and sunbathe
7. practice not losing your job and don't become unemployed
8. take up all benefits you are entitled to, if you are unemployed, retired or sick or disabled
9. don't live next to a busy major road or near a polluting factory
10. learn how to fill the complex housing benefit/asylum application forms before you become homeless and destitute

anyway, back to the books.