5. A more complex model: the production of health.
The simple model has described health care (in particular, treatment and
curative services) as affecting health status. But health status is influenced by
many things, including heredity, environment, lifestyle and luck.
The production of health can also be conceptualised in terms of a production
model (note 4). Inputs of various types are combined by the individual (or the
family) to produce good health. Health care is one such input; others are
education, risk taking behaviours, health enhancing behaviours, and
environmental factors. This is illustrated in figure 3. Here, health status is
seen as the output of the production model. In contrast, in the health care
production model developed earlier, it was episodes of care that were
designated as output. This model shows that changing lifestyles could be more
efficient than using more health care in producing more health.
|
Figure 3 INPUT Episodes of PROCESS OUTPUT |
Education Lifestyle Environment Production of health ▼ Health status |
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