The Conflation of Health and Healthcare

Health is difficult to define while healthcare relates to the various services available. Recent election campaigns within the United-Kingdom seemed to conflate the terms health and healthcare. Healthcare investment is not a guarantee of improved health, a point the general public may fully not appreciate. Recently, I attended a meeting in west Wales with a community group. Their interest in health was focused on healthcare, so we discussed an alternative model:

Health is difficult to define while healthcare relates to the various services available. Recent election campaigns within the United-Kingdom seemed to conflate the terms health and healthcare. Healthcare investment is not a guarantee of improved health, a point the general public may fully not appreciate. Recently, I attended a meeting in west Wales with a community group. Their interest in health was focused on healthcare, so we discussed an alternative model:

II. Determinants may lead to disease or predict serious adverse outcomes. So smoking and alcohol misuse may contribute to an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

III. It may be easier to think about disease as opposite to health. So high blood pressure is an unhealthy condition because it increases the risk of adverse outcomes such as stroke.

IV. Healthcare is the response to the unhealthy conditions or adverse health outcomes. This includes primary-care blood pressure checks or delivery of specialist stroke care services

Do we need to dilate health and healthcare, educating those in government and the general public on their difference??

1. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). Policy on Early Childhood Caries (ECC): Classifications, Consequences and Preventive Strategies. Reference manual 2012-2013; 34 (6): 50- 52.
2. Plutzer K, Spencer J (2008) Efficacy of an oral health promotion intervention in the prevention of early childhood caries. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 36: 335- 346.
3. Dye BA, Arevalo O, Vargas CM (2010) Trends in paediatric dental caries by poverty status in the United States, 1998-1994 and 1999-2004. Int J Paediatr Dent 20: 132- 143.
4. Kagihara LE, Niederhauser VP (2009) Stark M. Assessment, management and prevention of early childhood caries. J Am Acad Nurse Pract 21: 1-10.
5. Petersen PE, Bourgeois D, Ogawa H (2005) The global burden of oral diseases and risks to oral health. Bull World Health Organ 83: 661- 669.
6. Ogunbodede EO, Rudolph MJ, Tsotsi NM, Lewis HA, Iloya JI (1999) An oral health promotion module for the primary health care nursing course in Acornhoek, South Africa. Public Health Nurs 16: 351- 358.
7. Lewis CW, Grossman DC, Domoto PK (2000) The role of the Pediatrician in the oral health of children: A national survey. Pediatrics 106: e84.
8. Gonsalves WC, Skelton J, Heaton L, Smith T, Feretti G, et al. (2005) Family medicine residency directors' knowledge about pediatric oral health education for residents. J Dent Educ 69: 446- 452.
9. Pahel BT, Rozier RG, Stearns SC, Quiñonez RB (2011) Effectiveness of preventive dental treatments by physicians for young Medicaid enrolees. Pediatrics 127: e682- e689.
10. de la Cruz GG, Rozier RG, Slade G (2004) Dental screening and referral of young children by pediatric primary care providers. Pediatrics 114: e642-652.
11. Tyagi R (2008) The prevalence of nursing caries in Davangere preschool children and its relationship with feeding practices and socioeconomic status of the family. J Indian Soc Pedod Prev Dent 26: 153- 157.
12. Walid EI, Nasir F, Naidoo S (2004) Oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour among nursing staff in Lesotho. SADJ 59: 288- 292.
13. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). Guideline on Infant Oral Health Care. [Online] Reference manual, 2012- 2013; 34 (6):132- 136.
14. Mouradian WE, Schaad DC, Kim S, Leggott PJ, Domoto PS, et al. (2003) Addressing disparities in children's oral health: a dental-medical partnership to train family practice residents. J Dent Educ 67: 886- 895.
15. Graham E, Negron R, Domoto P, Milgrom P (2003) Children's oral health in medical curriculum: a collaborative intervention at a university-affiliated hospital. J Dent Educ 67: 338- 347.
16. Department of Health (South Africa). South African Infant and young child feeding policy, 2013.
17. American Academy of Pediatrics (2005) Policy statement: Breast-feeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 115: 496- 506.
18. American Academy of Pediatrics (2012) Policy statement: Breast-feeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 129: e827- e841.
19. Mobley C, Marshall TA, Milgrom P, Coldwell SE (2009) The contribution of dietary factors to dental caries and disparities in caries. Acad Pediatr 9: 410- 414.
20. Sandström A, Cressey J, Stecksén-Blicks C (2011) Tooth-brushing behavior in 6-12 year olds. Int J Pediat Dent 21: 43- 49.
21. Pierce KM, Rozier RG, Vann WF Jr (2002) Accuracy of pediatric primary care providers' screening and referral for early childhood caries. Pediatrics 109: e82- 82.
22. Wagner R (2006) Letters to the editor. J Am Dent Assoc 137: 150- 152.
23. Hallas D, Fernandez J, Lim L (2011) Nursing strategies to reduce the incidence of early childhood caries in culturally diverse populations. J Pediatr Nurs 26: 248- 256.
24. Drummond BK, Clarke HM, Maxwell-McRae AM, et al. (2002) Oral health knowledge of Plunket nurses in New Zealand: evaluation of an oral health module. NZ Dent J 98: 64- 66.
25. Kumarihamy SL, Subasinghe LD, Jayasekara P, Kularatna SM, Palipana PD  (2011) The prevalence of Early Childhood Caries in 1-2 yrs olds in a semi-urban area of Sri Lanka. BMC Res Notes 4: 336.
26. Mouradian WE (2001) The face of a child: children's oral health and dental education. J Dent Educ 65: 821- 831.
27. Mouradian WE, Berg JH, Somerman MJ (2003) Addressing disparities through dental-medical collaborations, Part 1. The role of cultural competency in health disparities: training of primary care medical practitioners in children's oral health. J Dent Educ 67: 860- 868.
28. Wessel LA (2005) Nurse practitioners in community health setting today. J Health Poor Underserved 16: 1- 6.
29. Hallas D, Shelley D (2009) Role of pediatric nurse practitioners in oral health care. Acad Pediatr 9: 462- 466.