Relationship between demography and public health
- Demographics are the classifiable characteristics of a given population.
Demographic characteristics most commonly used in public health statistics include: Age.
Gender.
Race.
Basic understanding of demography is essential for public health practitioners because the health of communities and individuals depends on the dynamic relationship between the numbers of people, the space which they occupy and the skills they have acquired.
Summary. Demography is the scientific study of human populations. It is important to understand the structure of a population in order to plan health and public health interventions; population structures can be represented as age pyramids. Population growth or decline depends upon fertility, mortality and migration.
Why is demographic research important?
Demographic research focuses on why people have the number of children they do; on factors that affect death rates; and on the reasons for immigration, emigration, and geographic mobility
Understanding a society’s demography is an essential tool in determining current and future public health needs
Why is demographics important in health care planning?
Demography is concerned with this and with understanding population dynamics - how populations change in response to the interplay between fertility, mortality and migration
This understanding is a pre-requisite for making the forecasts about future population size and structure which should underpin health care planning
Basic understanding of demography is essential for public health practitioners because the health of communities and individuals depends on the dynamic relationship between the numbers of people, the space which they occupy and the skills they have acquired.The significance of demographic changes for the health of the population and on the need for health and related services The overwhelming influence on health service needs is the size and age structure of the population. This is recognised in the UK, where NHS resources are allocated on the basis of age-weighted capitation.The health and healthcare needs of a population cannot be measured or met without knowledge of its size and characteristics. Demography is concerned with this essential ‘numbering of the people’ and with understanding population dynamics—how populations change in response to the interplay between fertility, mortality, and migration.Certain factors, like sex, age, or income can influence an individual’s health, risk for certain diseases, and risk for being seriously affected by public health emergencies.,The twentieth century was a very unusual period, demographically
