Contemporary Issues in Social and Health Care

Running head: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE
Contemporary Issues in Social and Health Care
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Author Note

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE
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INTRODUCTION
Current scenario shows sociological theories are essential to apply appropriately and
healthily so that the relationship between health, healthcare professionals and the public is
maintained which is broadly considered as medical sociology. Medical Sociology also sheds
light on health as well as diseases concerning household and occupation. According to the
observations by various Medical Sociologists, disease spreading is dependent on the
socioeconomic standing of different individuals, tradition, ethnicity, and other cultural
practices (Boivin et al. 2014). This paper discusses the social contexts shaping health issues,
consequences of illness, sociomedical theories, demographic and epidemiological concepts of
the contemporary issues.
DISCUSSION
The current global context is such that it might impact the health and social issues
positively or negatively. So, it is crucial for policymakers, researchers and health
professionals to understand the effects it can have on health. It is also a fact that the United
Kingdom is one of the most important centres that is linked to the global economy and its
increase. This increases the number of immigrants coming over for work and various other
reasons. As the immigrants migrate, they carry the diseases and health issues from their
country which leads to an increase in the number of health issues in the country they have
migrated to, here the United Kingdom. To establish trades, these health issues are not given
much precedence and it results in the spreading of new diseases (Whelan 2019). For instance,
sexually transmitted infections like Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Syphilis
and Chlamydia are the most common ones to be carried by the immigrants while migrating to
another country. For this reason, AIDS, Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia and other sexually
transmitted infections have taken a form of the global problem and can be considered as one
such contemporary health issue affecting the population (The Nuffield Trust 2020).
The culture of a place is one factor that affects health and social issues. It is dependent
on the way people belonging to a particular region think about health and diseases, the habits
they possess, the way the health professional's actions are perceived in the specific
community they work in and the way in which they react to the policies set by the
professionals (Napier 2014). However, to improve the social health of a place, the violation
of their culture is not something desirable as it might give rise to outrage among the people.
Instead of that, explaining the reasons behind every action would be much helpful for the

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE
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workers in providing proper health care. For instance, diseases like AIDS, syphilis and
chlamydia and related sexually transmitted diseases are still treated as vile diseases and often
the sufferers of this disease are expelled from their residence, workplace and society. These
disputes arise as populations still consider that sexually transmitted diseases are cultural and
social evil and contagious. This is mostly the notion of the underprivileged populations
whereas the educated and privileged populations not always treat the sufferers the same way
(www.cugh.org 2020).
The economy and politics of a place are also another two factors that can affect health
and social issues. There are quite a few regions, the economic status of which is weak and as
a result, they can not afford proper treatment or medication when they suffer from any illness
which often results in the causative agent for the disease to be multidrug-resistant. Whereas
other people having a stable financial condition afford the treatment. This imbalance affects
the natural equilibrium as well. These issues regarding the economic situation are dependent
on the politics of the place. The political parties mostly prepare health and medical policies
and settle medical funding. Their inefficiency in doing so by maintaining a balance or
harmony between the financially stable and unstable population might affect social health
significantly and might result in the outbreak of various diseases. Thus, it is crucial to prepare
proper medical policies keeping in mind the population belonging to different financial
categories. Here it can be stated that the treatment for diseases like AIDS, Gonorrhoea
Chlamydia are quite costly, which refrains the underprivileged individuals from getting
treated. These diseases also spread through sexual contact and thus affects the population and
often takes the form of a pandemic (Health Knowledge 2020).
There are vast consequences that arise from varying states of illness which affects an
individual's flow of life. Diseases affect an individual's life in a variety of ways. It might lead
to disabilities as well, which destroy the person's confidence and esteem. In cases of acute
illness, the individual suffering from it has an idea of how long he or she is going to suffer
and knows that they are going to get cured after a short period and that does not affect their
state of mind much. But in the case of chronic diseases, there is no surety about the
individual's recovery and the time required to recover from the diseases. It is also possible
that the individual does not get cured and live with the disease for the rest of their lives thus
affecting the individual's life in several ways. People suffering from any such chronic
diseases complain of issues like fatigue, intense pain and sudden mood swings (Cockerham
2017). Some disease can even affect an individual's appearance leading to poor self-image.