Health Issues in the Local Community

643 Words3 Pages
You have been commissioned to conduct a preliminary investigation leading to a health promotion to address a specific health issue in your local community. Identify the health issue of your choice and assess the social and cultural factors that need to be considered to successfully implement the health promotion. The health issue being addressed is the use of drugs in the local community. Social factors relating to health are influenced by a person’s interactions with other people such as family, friends and peers, while cultural factors relating to a person’s health refer to things such as their family upbringing, the ethnic group they belong to or the religion they associate with. These two factors can greatly influence someone with their behaviors, ideas, beliefs and habits. Family Family can play a big part in whether someone uses drugs or not. Parental drug attitude, sibling and adult drug use would certainly impact on an individual’s attitude towards drugs. If a person is in a family where drugs are used openly and regularly they are most likely going to have the impression that there is nothing wrong with such behaviors. Whereas, if a person is raised in a strict home with rules regarding the use of drugs, they might be less likely to have a positive attitude towards them. Where a family lives could also play a vital role in an individual’s attitude towards drugs. For example, a person whose family lives in an area of lower socioeconomic status may be more likely to do drugs because of a lower level of education and, therefore, a lack of education on the effects or consequences of drugs. Peers/Friends Friends can be one of the greatest influences on a person’s attitude towards drugs and, in some cases, can be a bigger influence on a person than family. People, adolescents in particular, want nothing more than to fit in and will do any number
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