Contemporary issues in health and social care PDF

CONTEMPORARY ISSUE IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
A critical analysis of the ways in which global, cultural, economic and political contexts
shape contemporary issues in Health and social care
Health and social care can be influenced by various factors within global, political, economic
and cultural contexts (Stoddart and Evans 2017). Each of these context influences the
delivery of health and social care in different ways and shapes the current debate and

1HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
discussions about health care. This essay will critically analyse ways in which global cultural
and economic and political issues contribute to the current state of health and social care.
Economic factors are one of the strongest influencers of health and social care in any country.
These factors can include housing, education, employment and income since access to all
these factors is affected by the economic strength of a country (Bourgois et al. 2017).
Additionally, the economic factors has been considered to be the largest predictor as well as
driver for health outcomes, influencing health behavior or people and is the second most
prominent contributor towards life expectancy and health of the people (Harper 2014). It can
be added that countries that have a poorer economic position often struggles to maintain the
health and wellbeing of the people andare more likely to have higher rates of mortality and
morbidity and poorer health outcome for the people. Lack of economic strength also results
in a reduced access to healthcare as well as education which in turn increasehealth problems
and unemployment that further affects the socioeconomic status. Deterioration of the
socioeconomic status also can lead to deprivation. It can also be added that even within
developed countries, the same patterns can be seen in the case of deprived neighborhood
characterized by a poor economy and unemployment (Versteegh et al. 2016). Some authors
have pointed out that in UK; the poorest areas have the highest incidence of poverty,
unemployment, mental health problems (such as depression) as well as higher rates of
violence (Whitehead et al. 2016). Thus, economic instability can lead to social unrest, social
conflicts and adverse health outcomes for the people and indicates that health and social care
and the wellbeing of a population is socially determined. One can also argue that in addition
to socioeconomic status, culture and lifestyle practices influence health outcomes for many
individuals. These two factors are intricately linked to one individual’s socio-economic
status.
Cultural factors influence how people behave and react to different situations. It has been
pointed out that culture influences how people think about illness and health, how they work
towards it, how the actions of healthcare providers and organizations are perceived by the
people and how the people interact with the environment, economy and politics (Johnson et
al. 2016). The culture of a region can either improve or limit access of healthcare for people.
For example, the Irish Traveler culture in the UK consists of people with a nomadic lifestyle
and no permanent residence as they keep moving through the country (Epstein et al. 2015).
Due to the nomadic nature and a lack of a permanent address, provision of healthcare has
been challenging for them in UK as a result of which there is a higher incidence of health

2HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
problem among them (Patel et al. 2016). Culture can also impact the level of education
among the people, which in turn can impact the levels of employment and socio economic
status of people. Cultures that give value to knowledge and wisdom often show more
inclination towards education and have lower rates of dropouts and better rates of
employment according to some authors, which shows how culture can indirectly impact the
health and wellbeing of the people. Additionally, a healthy culture that does not promote
addiction or violence (as seen in the case of countries like Japan or Germany) tends to have
better health outcomes for the people compared to cultures where these factors are prevalent
(such as United States or Mexico) REF. Moreover, a culture that supports unhealthy lifestyles
can also lead to an increase in the incidence of lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes,
hypertension and obesity (Fietje and Stein 2015; Napier et al. 2014). Thus it can be seen that
cultural factors can indirectly impact both the physical and social health of people.
Globalisation had a multifaceted and a complex effect on the United Kingdom and the health
of its population. United Kingdom has always been associated with the global economy and
as a result is vulnerable to the different types of the health risks that arrive to its borders. The
risks are created by the flow of capital, services, goods and the flow of people. There have
been pressure on UK to liberalise the trade and it has taken precedence over the protection of
the health of the public, and also protect the people from the emergence of the newer threats.
The new threats are even not addressed by the existing health system. The greater mobility of
the people across borders and the ageing population are the two main factors that have
affected the health issues. UK will thus continue to be the hub for the mobile populations and
at the same time will create both the opportunities and risks for promoting and protecting
health. However, the rise in technology due to globalisation will also enhance the health and
social education, health training though the global communication and the information
systems. Also it is important to note that the absence of regulation over the internet has
increased the tendencies of illegitimate marketing practices related to the services provided
by the foreign companies and the health related goods (Buse and Hawkes 2015).
Impact of Brexit on the health and social care is one political factor worth discussing as it
features almost every day in the news. Even if European Union (EU) has limited amount of
jurisdiction over the health and social care and it will thus have a major implication on the
social and health care prevailing in UK. The exit of United Kingdom from the European
single market will affect the delivery of the healthcare services that works through the
workforce as well as the services and goods. Secondly, several directive of EU affect the

3HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
areas of United Kingdom law that similarly affect the delivery of the care and health services.
Thirdly, it is also important to highlight that Brexit has occurred at the time period when the
National Health Service along with the social care is already experiencing a huge amount of
operational and financial pressure (kingsfund.org.uk 2018).
It is important to highlight that NHS is the national health care organization and any
corruption within the organizational and the administrative level will jeopardize healthcare.
The politicians from the parties have failed miserably to provide appropriate funding for
health care. This has led to the both the distressing and predictable consequences. The lack of
funding left the hospitals struggle with the rising demands of ageing and growing population.
The challenges that the hospitals are currently facing has occurred due to the failure in the
sufficient investment in the services of the community. The policies framed by the
government and the corruption at the party level have made the condition worse (Ham 2017).
From the discussion above it can be concluded that economic, cultural, global as well
as political factors can impact health and social care service provision and the wellbeing of
people either through affecting the access to care or by influencing the behavior of people.
The media presents these important issues to the general public to enable debate and
discussion of important issues and to raise awareness of the state of health and social care in
the country.