Health is a high-frequency Writing Task 2 topic — public health policy, lifestyle, mental health, healthcare access. The mid-6 essay reaches for healthy, sick, doctor, hospital; the Band 7+ essay uses precise medical-policy register. Here are 25 graded collocations.
Group A — describing the problem
- sedentary lifestyle
- A sedentary lifestyle is now the leading preventable cause of cardiovascular disease.
- the obesity epidemic
- The obesity epidemic has shifted from a developed-world problem to a global one.
- place a burden on the health system
- Smoking-related illness places a heavy burden on the public health system.
- chronic / non-communicable diseases
- Chronic diseases now account for the majority of health spending in most OECD countries.
- mental health crisis
- The pandemic exposed and accelerated an underlying mental health crisis among adolescents.
Group B — proposing solutions
- promote a healthy lifestyle
- Schools that promote a healthy lifestyle from year one see measurable benefits in adulthood.
- implement preventive measures
- Implementing preventive measures is invariably cheaper than treating the resulting illness.
- increase public awareness
- Public-health campaigns have increased awareness of skin-cancer risk to the point that beach culture has changed.
- subsidise [healthy options]
- Some countries subsidise fresh produce in low-income areas to offset food deserts.
- tax [unhealthy products]
- Mexico's tax on sugary drinks reduced consumption by 12 percent in two years.
- expand access to [care]
- Telehealth has expanded access to mental health care in remote regions.
Group C — describing benefits
- boost overall wellbeing
- Even moderate exercise demonstrably boosts overall wellbeing across age groups.
- reduce the risk of
- A Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by roughly 30 percent.
- have a positive impact on
- Workplace wellness programmes have a positive impact on employee retention.
- improve quality of life
- Even small lifestyle changes can improve quality of life for older patients.
Group D — qualifiers and hedges
- research suggests that
- Recent research suggests that loneliness is comparable in mortality risk to smoking.
- for the most part
- For the most part, simple dietary changes can pre-empt costly later interventions.
- to a large extent
- Mortality from cardiovascular disease is preventable to a large extent.
- the link between X and Y
- The link between sleep quality and cognitive performance is now well-established.
Pick the health-policy collocation
Implementing _______ measures is invariably cheaper than treating the resulting illness.
Pick one. You'll see why straight away.