A Study on health awareness among undergraduate maritime cadets in India

Abstract

Health awareness is a comprehensive understanding of the health of an individual. The primary determinants of health in any setting include social and economic environment, physical environment, and individual characteristics and behaviours of the person. Health awareness is the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health. Seafaring being a job primarily requiring a tough physical and mental constitution, health awareness is essential to identify and understand the impact of various health and safety risk determinants. Like in the general population, there has been a paradigm shift in the history of health concerns of the seafarers from earlier nutritional and communicable diseases to present focus on non- communicable diseases and occupational health risks. The seafarers are required to be adequately informed about the physical, mental and health hazards present in the maritime domain and the known risks in the occupation to fully prepare themselves for healthy life and adaptation to the environment.