Quality of Life in Persons with Schizophrenia Assignment Sample

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Life Expectancy Varies by 34 Years Between Countries

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Topic Background.

A Public Health Approach - Epidemica.

Data Collection.

Basic Causes of Issue.

Intervention and Prevention Strategies.

Monitoring the Programme.

Implementing Interventions.

Disseminate Information.

Conclusion.

References.

Introduction to Quality of Life in Persons with Schizophrenia

This report talks about a public health programme intended to increase life expectancy. There are many reasons for reduced life expectancies in countries and more so the reason varies from one place to another. This report states the example of the Central African Republic, which lies in the African continent. The country is mostly underdeveloped with a low life expectancy and a lower literacy rate. It is the country which has the minimum life expectancy in Africa. The aim of the report is to find the root cause behind low life expectancy rate and to suggest a corrective measure for the same.

Topic Background

Life expectancy is defined as the average life span that a person is expected to live for. In simpler words life expectancy is the mean age of the members of a population when they die. In the earlier times, life expectancy was not more than 35 years of age. Today, the global life expectancy, as calculated by the World Health Organization (WHO) stands at 73 years. (Caporale & Gil-Alana, 2016) notes that medical discoveries and innovations are the main cause of increased life expectancy. (Cernovsky, 2017) contradicts this view by stating that social and economic upliftment are the driving forces for increased life expectancies.

As per 2020 data Hong Kong has recorded the maximum life expectancy at 82 years, while the Central African Republic stands last with 52 years of life expectancy. On a broader aspect, life expectancy in Asia is 74 years, whereas in the continent of Africa it is only 63 years. Within Africa there is a striking difference between the maximum and the minimum life expectancy. The maximum life expectancy is that of Mauritius, at 82 years, while the lowest is that of Lesotho, Central Africa and Sierra Leonne, at 53 years. So, on an average Africa faces a disparity of 30 years of life expectancy, on an average at both national and international levels.

A Public Health Approach - Epidemica

Data Collection

In the Central African Republic an estimated 20,000 people fled the country and took refuge to the neighboring Chad owing to violence and homicide. Health issues like the HIV/AIDS is one of the prime reasons of untimely death in the Central African Republic. (Etikan, 2018) has cited mental ailments like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as the reasons of lower life expectancy in the country (2020).

Data is collected by interviewing people between age group of 30 to 60 years. The cognitive score of an adult of 60 years of age and above was below 25. This low score indicates serious cognitive problem and should be immediately referred to neurologists for effective treatment (2020).

Basic Causes of Issue

The above findings indicate that dementia is a serious medical ailment in the Central African Republic which causes lower life expectancy in the country. Some of the major reasons of dementia that are prevalent in the country are:

1. HIV/AIDS: (Mumford & Watson, 2018) states that the spread of HIV to the brain leads to a disease called encephalopathy. Encephalopathy is a disease which affects the nerve cells of the brain and affects the functionality of the brain. Timely detection of HIV/AIDS can eliminate this disease to a great extent.
2. Alzheimer’s disease: (Jutkowitz et al., 2017) observes that it is a psychological ailment in which the brain cells degenerate and die. This eventually leads to memory loss and dementia. (Guerchet et al., 2014) marked Alzheimer’s as the most common type of dementia prevalent in both developed and underdeveloped countries.

Prevention Strategies

The first intervention should be to develop cognitive treatment cells or centres in the hospitals of the Central African Republic. According to (Rana et al., 2014), there is also need to create awareness regarding the disease in the country. The literacy rate in Central African Republic is as low as 37%; hence roadside demonstrations and street plays would be more effective in spreading awareness about the disease.

The government has launched a public health programme name ‘Epidemica’ to address the issue of dementia in step-by-step manner. The objectives of the programme are:

1. Estimating the spread of dementia in the country and the extent of the disease in patients of various age group through neuropsychological methods.
2. Identify various socioeconomic, environmental and health physical factors contributing to dementia.
3. Determine if there is any genetic connection in the disease.
4. To create a repository of the required biological samples of patients and preserve those samples for further study and progress in disease detection and treatment.

Monitoring the Programme

Following steps are to be taken for monitoring the programme for effectiveness:

1. Digital records of the patients who come for check-up: The patients should feel the need and the urge and checkup for medical diagnosis. This step will help in identifying patients with serious physical disorder, if any. Then the medical team can visit the patient for sample collection.
2. Weekly review of the progress of the health of the patient.
3. Weekly session with psychologists for monitoring progress in the patient and evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment.
4. A public health monitor should be appointed at district level to act as a team leader for this health project and ensuring that the urban and the rural people are equally benefitted from the programme.

Implementing Interventions

Following interventions can be applied if the project is not being implemented properly:

1. Training of the District Officer regrading project implementation and disease eradication.
2. Recruting health practitioners from designated hospital to review the progress on a monthly basis
3. Setting up a national level fund for smooth implementation of the project
4. Conducting health workshops giving free treatment on a monthly basis to the patients and free-checkups to family members.
5. Connecting health beneficiary schemes to the programme by providing incentives upon successful registration and check-ups by the patient.

Disseminate Information

Dissemination of information is very important for creating awareness about the disease among the local people. Following steps can be taken in this regard: -

1. Street plays
2. Community theatres and movies
3. Demonstrations by doctors
4. Story-telling plays for children
5. Social awareness campaigns for women
6. Billboard advertisement in local language

Conclusion on Quality of Life in Persons with Schizophrenia

This aim of this report was to find out the root cause of life-expectancy and to suggest corrective measures. In connection to the Central African Republic, the root cause has been found out to be dementia, which is a serious mental ailment. Dementia destroys the functionality of the brain and reduces the cognitive power of a person to zero. The report has found out that HIV and Alzheimer’s disease are two prime reason of dementia in the Central African Republc. As per the report the public health programme Epidemica is effective in dealing with the issue.

References for Quality of Life in Persons with Schizophrenia

Caporale, G., & Gil-Alana, L. (2016). Estimating Time Trends in Life Expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Population Review, 55(2), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1353/prv.2016.0004

Cernovsky, Z. (2017). Quality of life in persons with schizophrenia. Mental Illness, 9(1), 12-15. https://doi.org/10.4081/mi.2017.7052

Etikan, İ. (2018). Life expectancy; factors, malaria the most common disease affecting pregnant women in Africa [Nigeria and Cameroon]. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal, 7(4), 12-15. https://doi.org/10.15406/bbij.2018.07.00221

Guerchet, M., Mbelesso, P., Ndamba-Bandzouzi, B., Pilleron, S., Desormais, I., & Lacroix, P. et al. (2014). Epidemiology of dementia in Central Africa (EPIDEMCA): protocol for a multicentre population-based study in rural and urban areas of the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo. Springerplus, 3(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-3-338

Jutkowitz, E., Kane, R., Gaugler, J., MacLehose, R., Dowd, B., & Kuntz, K. (2017). LIFE EXPECTANCY, TOTAL COST, AND NET COST OF DEMENTIA: RESULTS FROM A DEMENTIA MICROSIMULATION MODEL. Innovation In Aging, 1(1), 1119-1119. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx004.4096

Mumford, L., & Watson, C. (2018). Matching Graft Life Expectancy with Patient Life Expectancy. Transplantation, 102(3), 31-32. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.tp.0000542582.11359.4c

Rana, S., Zdraveva, E., Pereira, C., Fangueiro, R., & Correia, A. (2014). Development of Hybrid Braided Composite Rods for Reinforcement and Health Monitoring of Structures. The Scientific World Journal, 14(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/170187

Who.int. (2020). Retrieved 19 August 2020, from https://www.who.int/gho/mortality_burden_disease/.

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