Health Literacy in Australia

Health Literacy in Australia Health literacy was defined as â€Å"the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions† (IOM, 2004, p. 32).Inotherwords, it is the person’s ability obtain and understand healthcare information and make decisions based on those information whilst following those instructions during the treatment process. Health literacy can contextual where demands are made as well as skill which is brought upon by the participating parties according to the situation ((Rudd, Moeykens, Colton, 1999). According to the statistics almost 50 percent of the patient admitted that they are not familiar to basic information about healthcare. A successful treatment can be linked to be directly proportional to the health literacy and low level of this may lead to an unsuccessful treatment or the patient being wrongly diagnosed. As health literacy is directly related peoples health, those who have low level of health literacy are known to have poor health status than those having high level end experience a better life style regards to their overall health conditions. A good level of health literacy may allow people to make decisions that will allow them to make life changing decisions about their health Every day, people confront situations that involve life-changing decisions about their health. When people can obtain, communicate, process, and understand health information and services they are able to make decisions about health care. So, health literacy is more than just reading and having numeracy skills, but also includes elements such as cultural differences in society and health care provisions. â€Å"Limited health literacy occurs when those involved are not able to get and use the information and services. Lack of clear information and its importance, people get into situation that may not be ideally desirable. Moreover, people with low level of hea lth literacy are known to have a significant disadvantage to understand and execute medical treatments and prevent health care effectively which translates to their health. They have less or limited understanding about the medications, medical conditions and how to self-care. Health literacy level can be related to demography, economy and the way we communicate. It can be roughly categorized in terms of age, ethnicity, age and language. Among these categories people who have English as the second language seems to be the most affected with the low level of health literacy. As, we know that people responses to illness behaviors are culturally determined ( Smylie, Williams, Cooper, 2006).In Australia there exists a large number of migrant population and a large part of that comes from non-English speaking countries or who have English as a second language. These are further exaggerated their cultural barriers and economic challenges for accessing the services As it is rare to a obtain and access information about primary health care other than English which sometimes may be a cause of major concern as migrant people may not have the satisfactory level English to know the effects and methods required for the desired final results. Migrant people are found t o be affected by the health inequalities which are determined by the social determinants such where they were born, brought up, work and their age which are shaped through economy and resources. In Australia, people from various countries have migrated in search of their dreams and as they start journey most of them have a humble begging’s and the problem of health literacy arises for those who come as Asian countries and refugees as their origin being a non –English speaking and for most of them have not known at all but when they begin their life in Australia it is a different story as they have to come up with terms to know the language and access information in the language they have never known or access with makes their starting a very very hard. Migrant people come to Australia with limited English speaking abilities which can be a serious issue. A good health care needs patients and medical professionals to discuss the problem and how to address those issues. Studies have shown that communication is the major factor in creating misunderstanding in patient health conditions as well as being wrongly diagnosed which may cause a major problem towards the final outcome on the overall patient health. Another issue regarding the health literacy and is the delaying in seeking health care for themselves and their children. They have admitted that language as the major barrier in health care as they find difficult to explain the problem and understand the complex and sensitive health issues. As we now have established that the problems in health care is due to the failure to access, process and understand information about their health and the process. These problems are more significant in migrant peoples and people with low income which develops a level of inequality. Now, it is up to the clinicians to try to narrow this inequality and increase the overall health of these people whilst increasing their health literacy. Medical professionals need to innovative approaches in order to improve health literacy. They may opt to use evidence based strategies which address health literacy that may include interventions which is simplifying and improving information, using video or other targeted approaches to patient education, and improving patient–provider communication. They may adopt a user centered approach, use a universal precautions approach or targeting and tailoring communications as well as apply organizational changes. In a user centered approach health prof essionals may need to involver members of the target group in the design and testing process. They can also use proven designs that worked in the past. Using a universal precaution approach starts with a clear communication and should be the bottom line of every health information exchanges. As we know that medical professionals have a magic stick which can determine what is going on with a particular person simply just by looking so they need to use precautions which is true in the case of health literacy. For this very reason, health workers advocate in using a universal precautions approach to health communication as they, a high number of patients will have difficulty understanding health information. Parker and Kreps note that even though everyone will not be at the same health literacy level, it is always best to use the clearest language possible. Adopting universal precautions, health professionals must use clear communication with everyone, regardless of their perceived hea lth literacy skills. Having targeted and tailored approaches to communication clinician’s display would allow them with self-management and health related outcomes with patients having limited literacy. Targeted approaches are adapted when we need to meet the needs of specific groups such as people with limited literacy skills. Tailored programs and communication are based on individual and unique requirements. As the health literacy among the people improves their expectations also increases so hospitals need to assess their weaknesses and strengths to improve the quality of health care. Ref: Institute of Medicine (2009).Toward health equity and patient-centeredness: Integrating health literacy, disparities reduction, and quality improvement workshop summary.Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Rudd, R., Moeykens, B. Colton, TC. (1999) Health and literacy: A review of medical and public health literature. In J. Comings, B. Garners, C. Smith, eds. Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, Volume I. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass. Rudd, R . E., Anderson, J . E., Oppenheimer, S., Nath , C. (2007). Health literacy: An update of public health and medical literature. In J. P. Comi ngs, B. Garner, C. Smith. (E ds.),Review of adult learning and literacy(vol . 7) (pp 175–204). Mahwa h, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Health Literacy: Information for Clinicians at University of  Washington Medical Center: http://depts.washington.edu/pfes/HealthLiteracy/HealthLiteracyUW.htm Smylie, J., Williams, L., Cooper, N. (2006). Culture-based  literacy and Aboriginal health. Canadian journal of public  health, 97, S21-S25.

Seymour Butts

Hi my name is Seymour butts. My fathers name is moby dick. My favorite color is black. My favorite food is pizza. I just got a new fish yesterday. I named him bluey. You want to know why, because he is blue. Today is was cloudy outside but it never rained. That’s a bumer. I rode in a hummer on Sunday. It was cool. I also went to the movies. I haven’t been to the movies in a long time. I went to the beach today. It was wavey. I have a dog named blacky. Because he is black. I come up with unique names. I had chicken stew for dinner tonight. That is my favorite thing to make. I also had a corn muffin with it.I just got done swimming in the pool. I do not have a pool. Fooled you. It is seventy six degrees in my house. That is very cold. It is twenty degrees outside. That is really hot. I cleaned my house today. It was very dirty. It took me all day to clean it. I love to clean the house. I don’t know how it got so dirty. Now the house does not have to be cleaned for another two years. I just dropped a glass plate and it shattered everywhere. Oh well. It was not my plate anyway. Well I hope this essay entertained you. It sure entertained me. All of this is true. That was a lie. I am just kidding.

Safety Regulations in the Petroleum Industry

It is common knowledge that petroleum and petroleum gas (LPG) are good sources of energy. Imagine that petroleum did not exist. This simply means that all the technology that has been developed around petroleum will not be there. To say the least, development in the energy sector has been greatly enabled by petroleum. As fears of future deficit of petrol continue to be entertained by the superpowers, there has been an effort to shift the focus from petroleum to other sources of energy such as solar, hydro electricity, safe nuclear power, bio oil among other alternative sources of energy. Despite the fact that petroleum is a very useful source of energy, it is also a very dangerous, volatile and flammable liquid or gas that can rein havoc if mishandled. Based on its volatile and inflammable nature, there is every need to uphold a high degree of safety measures so as to prevent explosion and fire disasters. The petroleum industry has a number of safety regulations often set by the government that need to be observed. Any organization that handles petroleum oil and gas can only be certified and allowed to operate after satisfying the safety regulations that are specified by the government. The difference of these safety regulations throughout all countries is minimal because after all the petroleum oil and gas is the same. The safety regulations govern every activity in the petroleum industry ranging from drilling, refining, transportation (either through road, ship, air, rail or pipeline), packaging (especially for gas) to safety at the premises in which some of the activities take place. This paper seeks to explain a number of health and safety precautions and regulations that need to be adhered to by every actor in the petroleum industry (Williamson, 1979). Taking US as our working example, we witness tight safety regulations governing the petroleum industry. These regulations are created and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is an agency in the US labor department which was created by congress under the legislation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSH Act) to set safety standards that will guarantee that workers do not suffer from any kind of work related deaths, injuries or even illnesses. The OSHA agency is aided, in the release of occupational health and safety standards, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) whose main function is to conduct research into the areas that pose safety and heath threats to the worker in the petroleum industry. Unlike OSHA, NIOSH does not lie under the US department of labor. Some of these safety standards are explained in the following paragraphs (Joseph, 2006). The regulations governing occupational health and safety are industry specific those that apply to the petroleum industry are based on the fact that petroleum is flammable, inhalation of petroleum vapor is dangerous and harmful to health and for those who drill, exposure to natural gas can trigger cancer and the natural gas is poisonous. The first regulation is base on the Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL). This is specifically important because exposure to petroleum vapor is harmful. However, it should be noted that the effects of the exposure depend on the concentration of the vapor and the amount of time one is in exposure. Inhalation of petroleum vapors can cause nervous effects such as dizziness, headache and even nausea. It can also cause respiratory irritation. Chronic exposure affects the blood, kidney and the nervous system. Very high exposure can lead to coma and death. Gasoline contains benzene which is a human carcinogen and thus the petroleum products that come to contact with the skin may be absorbed and eventually may cause skin cancer and myeloid leukemia. Based on these health risks, OSHA released a PEL regulations that specifies the amount of petroleum vapor that petroleum industry workers (especially those working in petroleum refineries) are supposed to be exposed to. Benzene-containing gasoline requires an 8 hour 1ppm with a maximum of 5ppm short term exposure. The other hydrocarbons also have their specific exposure limits. The limits are not supposed to be exceeded to avoid health hazards (National Safety Council, 1990). OSHA Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) regulations in the petroleum industry require a number of protective equipment. Some of this protective equipment includes the use of goggles, face shields and safety glasses to protect the eye and the face from metal or wood flying objects, dangerous light or even chemicals. The Fall Protection regulation requires that those working in excavation sites such as petroleum drillers and those laying petroleum tankers and pipelines need to be protected against fall by use of guard rails, personal fall systems and safety nets that will protect the workers in an event that they fall. Foot & hand and arm protection is also encouraged through the use of metatarsal guards, special shoes with anti puncture soles and toe shields and gloves ranging from heavy metal to soft cotton gloves respectively. The head, respiratory and other parts of the body are also protected. Each part of the body requires specific protective equipment against a specific hazardous stimulus. Respirators are also part of the OSHA regulations (Olishifski, 1999). According to OSHA 1910:134, the employers in the petroleum industry are supposed to provide respirators to the workers to protect them inhaling excessive petroleum vapor which is harmful to their health. This regulation calls for special kind of air purifying or air supplying respirators depending on the exposure situation. In this way, the worker is protected from vapor in excess of the OSHA PEL. Those working in enclosed premises processing, mining or handling petroleum should either be supplies with respirators or ventilation of the premises should be maintained at the OSHA regulations. All this is in a bid to maintain the concentration of petroleum vapor in air within the OSHA PEL brackets (Roughton, 2002) When handling the flammable or combustible liquids, OSHA proposes a number of guidelines that must be adhered to prevent fire and explosions. To avoid fire, there is need to prevent accumulation of petroleum in the air in such vapor-air mixture concentration that exceeds one quarter of the least flammable limit. This is achieved by encouraging ample ventilation to avoid this vapor accumulation. Explosions on the other hand are likely to occur due to pressure building in tanks holding the flammable or combustible liquid. For this reason, tanks are to be built of heat resistant steel, corrosion resistant steel or if built of any material should be built based on sound engineering designs as per the principles governing the material used. The tanks should also be vented to prevent any possible development of a vacuum or pressure which can lead to explosions (Penton/IPC, 1984) The handling of LPG requires that it be odorized so as to enable detect its presence in air to a concentration that exceeds one fifth of the lower flammable limit. The odor should be distinct and easy to detect. However, odorizing is not necessary if it proves harmful if the LPG shall be used for further processing. Odorizing is necessary to prevent fires incase of a leakage from cylinders and pressure tanks used to hold the gas (because LPG is highly volatile and flammable) because one is able to detect it early and thus take remedial measures. Regarding the cylinders that hold the LPG, one is not allowed to carry out any welding on the shell, head or any section of the pressure container. This is to prevent possibility of explosion of the container due to welding. Further, any fittings shutoff valves and any accessories fitted to the LPG pressure container should meet the 250 p. s. i. g pressure specifications. The shutoff valve should not be made of cast iron because of its less resistance to fire and heat. Incase of heat or fire, the valve is likely to expand or open leading to a leakage and hence fire or explosion. All these specifications are for safety purposes to avoid possible leakage from the pressure containers holding LPG. Areas with high temperatures require lower vapor pressure LPG in a high pressure container so as to prevent the opening up of safety valves as a result of the high temperatures. The OSHA regulations governing the petroleum industry are very diverse and go down to greater finer details. Despite all that the bottom line is the fact that these regulations were set to protect the workers and even the consumers of products originating from the petroleum industry. If these safety and health regulations are followed to the letter, it will lead to a high degree of safety in the petroleum industry. As said earlier, petroleum is a very important component in the energy sector development but posses a great danger to health and property if no handled with care (Olishifski, 1999). Any organization under the petroleum industry needs to adhere to these rules to avert any possible disaster that can result if the regulations were not adhered to. However stiff the regulations may be, for safety purposes, they need to be followed. The OSHA’s regulations have often been criticized by the petroleum industry players for lacking practicability. The department of labor under which the OSHA agency exists should set out modalities of working closely with the industry’s stakeholders to encourage a health and safety culture among the key players in the industry. If the regulations seem to be expensive and the specifications too much specific, then OSHA has no alternative than to liaise with engineers and some other professionals so as to supply the equipment and services which are compliant with the safety and health specifications to the ministry players.

How FundsForWriters.com Taught Me to be a Successful Writer

How FundsForWriters.com Taught Me to be a Successful Writer Once upon a time, there was a writer. Shed had over a hundred feature articles published in various magazines, before she heard about FundsForWriters.com. Hey, Im a writer! I bet I could tell other writers a thing or two, and earn fifty cool ones, she thought. So she dashed off a submission to the editor, Hope Clark. It was rejected. She tried again. And again. She had to pitch four times before her fifth submission was finally accepted. Even then, the piece seemed so less-than-satisfactorily edited, it spawned not one but two irate editorials, back-to-back, on the importance of perfecting a pitch before submitting making her the only writer to have inspired such an occurrence. Hopes words stung her. She couldve quit then. She couldve packed it all in, declared this market unfit for her work, proclaimed its editor crazy and never looked back. Sour grapes? Likely. But she didnt. That writer was me. Last year, a writer had five articles published with FundsForWriters.com. Meaning nearly once every couple of months, you read her name in the newsletter. She came this close to landing a 3-in-3: three acceptances in three days. She became one of only two people to ever have two feature articles published in the newsletter in the same month, a record. That writer was also me. This is my story. Heres how I went from 0 to 5 FFW credits in less than 12 months: 1. I learned to edit. I am naturally verbose. If a thing can be said in four words, I use ten. So when asked to include voice, flavour, anecdotes and practical tips, all in under 600 words, I cursed and shook my head. Impossible! But then I did it. Five times. I grit my teeth, hardened my heart against my trademark lyrical prose and took a machete to the verbiage. As the word count dropped, my bank balance climbed. 2. I studied the market. It helped to subscribe to the newsletter for several weeks, to discern a pattern to the features presented. The guidelines themselves said it best, they couldnt have laid it out any clearer. I took note. 3. I didnt encumber myself. Ive written on diverse topics from parenting to mobile-optimized websites. I drew upon my interest and experience from other fields to apply to writing. Nobody told me it couldnt be done, so I didnt let it stop me. I was bold. I took risks. Sure, theres a chance of failure, but at least I wont regret not trying. 4. I didnt spread myself too thin, either. Im online social media shy. All I have is a blog to showcase my

Analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Essays

Analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Essays Analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Essay Analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Essay In order to validate the statement, The years from 1952 to 1975 in U. S. history were marked by tremendous political and social turmoil that led to major changes in American society, one would have to evaluate the role played by the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War in bringing about and contributing to those changes.The purpose of this essay is to evaluate whether or not the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement indeed contributed to the social and political turmoil during the time period of 1952-1975 that changes American society in a major way. The Civil Rights Movement is considered to have started in the 1950s, when an open battle began against racial segregation and discrimination. The social factors that contributed to it were the growth of the urban black middle class, and the lasting impression of freedom offered to black soldiers during World War II.The political factors were the political mobilization of northern blacks, which dominated the Democratic Party at this time. After the Cold War ended, many white Americans joined the movement because they felt that the racial injustice was becoming an embarrassment to a country that wanted to be perceived by other nations as a model nation. People that played an important role were labor unions with substantial black membership, ministers, educators, students at black colleges, and other professionals.It was officially kicked off when the United States Supreme Court decided on May 17, 1954 to announce its decision to the Brown v Board of Education in Topeka. This decision declared that segregation of public schools utilizing any method based on race was considered unacceptable under the eyes of the law. This decision came with much tension, and also helped to bring awareness to many other issues of segregation in the South.When Rosa Parks decided to not give up her seat for a white passenger in 1955, it was answered in response by the Supreme Court ruling again that segregating public transportation was also to be illegal. One of the most known leaders of the Civil Rights Movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. His nonviolent methods of protesting racial injustice allowed for many people to join the cause due to the high moral approach that he utilized (Brinkley, p. 745-749. ) The Civil Rights Movement contributed to the major changes in American society.The reason that this is statement is validated is because the efforts of this turmoil during this period is realized today. They accomplished their goals, which were to end racial segregation and stand for equality for all American citizens. While Martin Luther King didn’t live to realize his accomplishments himself, he left behind a legacy that showed many that goals can be accomplished through nonviolent methods. The political changes are that laws were put into place to ensure the goals of Civil Rights activists are upheld.The social changes are that in most cases people are treated equally in regards to race. The Vietnam War, once called the most disastrous of all America’s undertakings over the whole 200 years of history by George Kennan (Brinkley, p. 773) was a war where the United States entered to support South Vietnam. The goal was to help South Vietnam maintain an anticommunist government. What began as providing aid, turned into intervention, and then full-fledged involvement.In the beginning, few Americans protested America’s involvement in the war, however this drastically changed as time continued. Peace marches took place in several major cities, including Washington, D. C. and New York. The Vietnam War was a huge factor in the turmoil of the time period. The turning point was the Tet Offensive, where the American people actually were able to see through news footage, the devastation that was occurring in Saigon, among other places in South Vietnam (Brinkley, p. 773-779).The statement is validated because people learned of what information was not originally being provided to them, and decided that the United States’ involvement should not continue at the extent that it was. The American people got their way with this issue because we succeeded this war. When looking at the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War together, it is quite apparent that these two had a dramatic impact on American political and social change. The American people moved in a different direction, opposing both where they once accepted both.

The Ethics of Food Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Ethics of Food - Term Paper Example Ethical considerations with respect to the food industry are a maze of complex questions that pin moral responsibility on any number of different sources, whether consumers, producers, the media, the government, or scientists. In the increasingly intricate food production process, there are many steps in the process where things could be positively changed and such positive changes could be introduced by any of these ethical food sources. Ethics is the philosophical study of moral values and rules. Applied to food, this means a study of what values and rules ought to be embraced as the norm for the production and consumption of food through each step of the process. An ethics of food is particularly important because food is essential to human life. For instance, to deny a person food for any prolonged period will inevitably lead to that person’s death. Although the denial of a specific person food for a time is not subject to ethical debate, millions of people each year die o f hunger that could be prevented in theory. Here, we will examine the sources of ethical duty within the food production process, starting with governments and ending with scientists. This analysis depends, in large part, on an overview of theory with a great deal of empirical application and comparison to real life. When dealing with an applied ethical issue such as the ethics of food, it is particularly important to bear in mind that one’s philosophical conclusions have very real and widespread effects on human life. Sources that serve as a general introduction to the ethics of food often take the form of a series of questions, of which there are always more than there are answers. All of these questions have something to do with the distinction between an ethical and an unethical act. For instance, a question might be â€Å"Is buying ‘local’ food always better for the environment?† (Prince, et al., 2007, p. 2). This question implicates food consumers mo st directly, but also food producers. The explicit moral value is the environment; namely, how does one best achieve what is best for the environment, which is taken to be morally superior to an act that degrades the environment. The moral duty implied for consumers in this question revolves around the issue of how one goes about helping the environment, and an answer to this question (if it exists) would make this moral duty more clear. Additionally, the question presumes some role of producers in helping the environment: namely, that by producing and selling foods locally, food producers can help the environment in ways that previous generations of producers have not been able to. Accordingly, every question posed in the ethics of food should be addressed in this manner: first, identifying to what or to whom the question implies we have a moral obligation to, secondly identifying the nature of that moral obligation, and thirdly specifically who bears that moral obligation. An addi tional preliminary comment is that moral obligations about food choices bear weight. The objection that food choice, or the ethics of food, does not really matter will not work. The majority of Americans deal with obesity, which affects the American workforce, healthcare costs, and a degraded environment. Unhealthy food choices lead to decreased brain function, developmental problems in children, and malnutrition from a lack of vital nutrients. Environmentally, poor diets compromise our resources by increasing the need for pesticides and fertilizers that corrupt lakes, streams, and oceans, creates disease in livestock, and releases greenhouse gases that cause irreversible damage in terms of global warming. At current trends, this kind of diet will lead to even more significant social problems in the future (Young & Leehr, 2009). In this sense, one cannot claim that food choices do not matter, or that ethics does not have a role in which direction Americans take. At this point, as Yo ung and Leehr (2009) contend, it does not matter which side of the debate between agri-business

Implementation of the Carlson SAN Approach Essay

Implementation of the Carlson SAN Approach - Essay Example The figure illustrates that with the SAN approach storage devices are connected which makes them the protection of data more efficiently than before. SAN is a devoted network that transmits I/O traffic to the server and the storage devices and hence is termed as â€Å"network behind the servers†. Moreover, the applicability of SAN would enable a strong universal connectivity within storage to assist in clustering technology to derive the best output. Also, SAN can deliver disk and tape competence in more servers. SAN eliminates any limit regarding the access of the storing data in the individual server (Walder, 2013).   SAN central data facility was required by Carlson to enjoy a safer environment and high data protection of the data of the organization. Upholding consolidated data on a SAN central data facility is relevant as it protects data and enhances the speed for the benefit of the organization regarding the storage of the relevant data. Besides, file sharing can be done in a convenient manner with safety and without risk of security everywhere in the world. In addition, it improves the mobility and data control facility to a greater level of efficiency. The SAN central data facility is more cost-effective as it enables to store the data in several computers and it also facilitates as a backup data. Furthermore, the SAN central data is reliable and provides the scalable facility. It is also easy to access and provides quick efficient data sharing activity. On the other hand, the dispersed arrangement that it replaces leads to a time-consuming framework and also involves high maintenance. It requires high cost and is not as fast as the SAN central data facility. The risk associated with the dispersed arrangement is more as it is not fully protected.