Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care

This assignment discusses the consequences of varying states of illness and circumstances on individuals, including depression, fatigue, mood disorders, and physical challenges. It also evaluates sociological perspectives on the relationship between patients, doctors, and the public, including the functionalist approach, conflict approach, and social construction approach. The importance of health and social care services in society is emphasized.

Contemporary Issues in
Health and Social Care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Consequences of varying states of illness and circumstances.....................................................1
Evaluation of sociological perspectives on the relationship between Patients, Doctor and the
Public...........................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Health and Social care refers to the services which are provided by the health and social
care service providers in U.K. These services are quite important from the point of view of the
people so that they are able to ensure that they get good services from these service providers
(Allen and Kambouri-Danos, 2017). There can be also certain issues which can be faced by the
people when they receive these services. Therefore it is important for the healthcare
professionals in a country to ensure that they are able to provide good services effectively and
efficiently to the people. In this assignment, detailed focus will be analysis of consequences of
varying states of illness and circumstances on the individuals. Additionally, key sociological
theories and interpretations of the relationship between health, healthcare professionals and the
public will be discussed as a part of this project.
MAIN BODY
Consequences of varying states of illness and circumstances
The individuals who are facing a chronic disease or a medical condition can face different
types of difficulties and issues (Buse, Martin and Nettleton, 2018). Therefore in this way these
diseases or medical conditions impact the individuals in the following manner-
 Depression- Long-term effects of Chronic Illness can impact the individuals by putting
them under depression. Therefore in this way they can feel the impact of the illness on
their mind. They can feel sad and depressed about being ill for such a long time. Thus in
this way this can impact the people who are facing serious health issues since a long time.
Depression is caused due to the reason that the individuals feel that they are facing a big
disease which is creating an impact on their health which creates stress on them and thus
leads towards Depression (Akande, Ojagbemi and Baiyewu, 2018).
 Fatigue- Fatigue is caused by the diseases having a long-term and the patients can face
different types of problems and difficulties (Coughlan and Cronin, 2020). Therefore in
this way they can feel fatigued about the impact created by their bad health on their
different activities. Thus in this way this can affect the health of the individuals.
 Mood disorders- They are caused because there are certain diseases which create stress
on the patients and in turn their mood is affected as a result (Klarin, 2018). Thus it
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important for the patients to remain cheerful so that they are able to get a right treatment
for their disease and it is also important for the treatment to work properly.
 Physical challenges- Chronic illness leads to creation of physical difficulties for the
patients which in turn puts them under different sorts of problems and issues. Therefore
in this way this can impact their overall health and can affect them.
The consequences of the various states of circumstances on the individuals are explained
as follows-
 Impact on morale- Due to the impact of the circumstances the morale level of the
individuals can decrease (O'Dell and et.al., 2019). This can thus affect them as they may
feel the burden of the circumstances over them. For example- A situation like Diabetes
may affect the health of the individuals who are facing it thus leading towards low morale
and impacting their overall situation badly.
 Impact on motivation- Diseases like Cancer, Tuberculosis can affect the patients in the
long-run by impacting the motivation level. Thus due to the circumstances they may feel
that they are not motivated properly. Therefore in this way the burden of the
circumstances can be felt by them.
 Increase in stress- Stress of the individuals may increase because of the burden of the
disease which they are facing. Due to the impact of the circumstances an increase in the
overall level of stress of the individuals can be also witnessed. Therefore due to these
reasons they can get under stress and can feel the burden of these circumstances.
 Impact on behaviour- Serious diseases can affect the behaviour of the patients leading
towards bad behaviour shown by them. If the circumstances of a person are not good then
this can impact the level of behaviour. Therefore due to these reasons the person may feel
an increasing burden of these circumstances ultimately impacting the overall health of the
person and thus leading towards illness.
Evaluation of sociological perspectives on the relationship between Patients, Doctor and the
Public
There are different types of perspectives which determine this relationship. These
perspectives are explained as follows-
The Functionalist Approach-
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According to this approach, it is perceived that good health and effective medical care are
very important so that the society is able to function in the right manner (Shet, 2020). According
to it, if the members of a society are ill and do not have good health it is going to affect their
ability to do their different types of tasks and activities properly. Thus this can result in a poor
return to the society.
Thus if the healthcare professionals follow this approach then the relationship between
the Patients, Doctor and the Public can be a good one because they will be able to coordinate and
cooperate in a highly effective manner. Therefore in the healthcare profession, using this
approach can be a very effective for the people so that they are able to attain the various goals
and objectives regarding providing good healthcare services to the people in the society. Those
people who have chronic health conditions are often neglected by the people of the society which
affects them adversely and can impact their overall motivation level and therefore it is important
for the people of the society to make sure that they are not neglected.
This approach states that the relationship between a Doctor and a Patient is a hierarchical
one i.e. the Doctor is the one who gives instructions and directions and it is a requirement for the
patients that they are able to follow these instructions and directions without problems and
issues. The Physicians also have a major role to play. They are required to make sure that the
individuals are diagnosed regarding their health following which decision has to be made on the
treating of the patient. Thus this is the reason due to which the relationship between the Doctor
and the Patient has been termed as hierarchical in nature because Doctor has to give instructions
and directions and the Patients are required to follow them (Gonzales, 2016).
According to this approach, the patients with long-term conditions are affected because
they feel that they have a right to get good healthcare services and treatment due to the Chronic
Disease which is faced by them. Thus in this manner these patients have to be treated correctly
by the Doctors. They have a right to make sure that they get the desired healthcare services
according to the illness which is faced by them. This will help them in recovering from their
illness and thus will ensure that a contribution is made towards the creation of a healthy society
(Teodorovici, 2019).
The Conflict Approach-
According to Karl Marxx, the middle class has been struggling and thus the capitalists
have been taking over everywhere and this also shows in the treatment which they receive and
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due to these reasons the middle-class people are not able to get good treatment as compared to
the capitalists. This approach states that there is a great difference between quality of health and
healthcare delivery (Tamplain and et.al., 2019). There is a great difference between the quality of
healthcare services which are provided to the people. This difference arises due to the fact that
the healthcare services which are received by the patients depend greatly on the amount of
money which is paid by them. Thus accordingly the quality of the healthcare services is
determined and provided to the different patients. Thus according to this approach, the level of
income of the patients determine the quality of healthcare services which are received by them.
This approach also critiques the efforts which have been put by the Doctors in treating
the patients. They have been able to diagnose the problems which are faced by the patients and
treat them effectively. However, they have also given importance to their financial status in
treating the patients and thus in this way have ignored certain patients who are financially not so
good. Thus this theory impacts the relationship between Patients, Doctor and the Public because
the patients have the right to receive good healthcare services irrespective of their financial
status. Therefore the role of the healthcare service providers is to make sure that such type of
conflicts are reduced in the society. When these conflicts are reduced better services can be
received by the different people in the society in a highly effective manner. The aim must be to
make sure that the disparities between the people in society on the basis of income are reduced
thereby allowing them to receive good services (Wamalwa, 2019).
Patients who are facing long-term condition feel bad when they do not receive good
treatment just due to the reason that they are not having good financial status. Therefore in this
way these patients are not given priority in treatment. However if the Doctors and other other
healthcare service providers are able to give attention to all the patients despite their financial
status the patients become satisfied with the services which they receive from healthcare service
providers (Williams, 2019).
Social Construction Approach-
The society perceives health and illness as the medical condition which is faced by the
different people according to how they are feeling. This approach emphasizes that health and
illness are constructions which have been created by the society (Taylor, 2019). This means that
these condition have no reality but are considered as health and ill conditions if they are defined
as so by the society and its members. The Doctors are considered as experts in dealing with these
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conditions because they can identify the problems which are being faced by the patients and thus
can give the appropriate treatment to them on the basis of their medical condition. For
determining the illness of the patients the use of complex terms is made by the Physicians and
thus in this way they sometimes make the use of certain terms which are not understood by the
patients.
This theory impacts the relationship between the Patients, Doctors and the Public as a
society's social background acts as a key determinant in the determination of the quality of the
healthcare services which they are going to receive (Watanabe and Dickinson, 2017). If a society
has higher-income individuals who are working in it then this can surely impact it as the society
will be able to receive good quality healthcare services without facing different types of
problems and issues.
Patients who are facing long-term condition can be impacted due to the implementation
of this approach as if they belong to a society where the level of income is low then they will not
get the desired priority in the receiving of treatment. However if they belong to a good society
then they will be able to get prioritized treatment without problems and issues. Also, a Doctor's
involvement with the patients is symbolized with this approach as it is believed that the Doctors
are able to manage the health condition of the patient in the right manner by making the
appropriate use of their knowledge and skills.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that health and social care services are quite
important from different perspectives in the society. Therefore it is important for the members of
a society that they are able to concentrate on the availing of these services so that they are able to
maintain good health in the future. There are different types of consequences of varying states of
illness and circumstances on the individuals. Also the various types of theories can be applied so
as to determine the perspective of the individuals in the society towards the health and social care
services. Thus it can be said that for providing good quality healthcare services it is absolutely
important for the Doctors and Nurses to give appropriate attention to everyone which will help a
lot in providing good healthcare facilities in a highly effective manner and thereby achieving the
goals and objectives related to healthcare.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
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science: contemporary issues and future directions. Early Child Development and Care.
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Buse, C., Martin, D. and Nettleton, S., 2018. Conceptualising ‘materialities of care’: making
visible mundane material culture in health and social care contexts. Sociology of Health
& Illness. 40(2). pp.243-255.
Coughlan, M. and Cronin, P., 2020. Doing a literature review in nursing, health and social care.
Klarin, T., 2018. The concept of sustainable development: From its beginning to the
contemporary issues. Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business. 21(1).
pp.67-94.
O'Dell, H. W. and et.al., 2019. Public attitudes toward contemporary issues in liver allocation.
American Journal of Transplantation. 19(4). pp.1212-1217.
Shet, S. V., 2020. Strategic talent management–contemporary issues in international context.
Human Resource Development International. 23(1). pp.98-102.
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Taylor, R. A., 2019. Contemporary issues: Resilience training alone is an incomplete
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Akande, O., Ojagbemi, A. A. and Baiyewu, O., 2018. Management of Older Adult Mental Health
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Gonzales, A., 2016. The contemporary US digital divide: from initial access to technology
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Teodorovici, C., 2019. Addressing the problem of job satisfaction in contemporary psychological
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Wamalwa, A. N., 2019. Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of Safaricom Limited. In
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(pp. 166-182). IGI Global.
Williams, T., 2019. Five Effective Ways To Support At-Risk And Wounded Students In
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