Socio Economic Challenges Assignment

Arshdeep Dhaliwal Student Id: 543306
Assessment Task 2: Case Study
Background of the case study
This case study revolves around the story of Carla and her struggle throughout
her life. This 54-year-old woman is currently a volunteer at RSPCA. The case study
highlights the context of her former husband John together with her children who have
been facing similar socio-economic challenges. This report aims to examine the socio-
demographic characteristics of all the individuals within this case study, together with
the proper identification of key social determinants of health which are evident within the
case study. The thesis statement of this report argues over the selection of one of the
social determinants and discusses the best ways for addressing this challenge in the
context of population level. Exploration of the contribution by healthcare professionals
towards addressing social determinants of health as well as its impact over the
individuals will also be discussed in the report.
Socio-demographic characteristics
Socio demographics can be illustrated as the characteristics of a population.
According to the research data, characteristics like gender, age, educational level,
employment status, location, income as well as ethnicity are being considered as the
social demographic characteristics of an individual (Adler et al. 2016, p. 7). There lie
several index variables that are developed based on social demographic characteristics.
In the context of the case study of Carla, the index variable of the socioeconomic status
of the characters in the case study is the combination of the information related to the
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Arshdeep Dhaliwal Student Id: 543306
education level and income status. The three major characters as explained and
highlighted in the case study are Carla, her former husband John and her daughter
Annie.
The socio-demographic characteristics for Carla include lack of educational
attainment due to illiteracy in her house, failed marital status, temporary employment
status and poor level of income. The socio-demographic characteristics of her former
husband John includes his unemployment status and degrading health status (Donkin
et al. 2018). For her child, Annie, lack of proper education together with the poor income
of her boyfriend Josh, can be considered as the main socio-demographic characteristic.
Throughout the entire case study, the low educational level followed by temporary
employment status and food income status has been portrayed as the major social-
democratic characteristics of all the individuals.
Social determinants of health and their impact on the individuals
Social determinants of health are being referred to as a specific group of
economic and social factors among broader determinants of health of an individual
(Carey & Crammond 2015, p.662). The social determinants are related to individuals'
place in the neighborhood or society, like the factors of employment, the status of
income for education. According to the World Health Organisation, social determinants
of health can be defined as the conditions where people are born, develop, reside, work
and age (Krist, Davidson & Ngo-Metzger, 2019, p.603). These are also the wider set of
systems and forces that shapes the living standard and the conditions of an individual in
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Arshdeep Dhaliwal Student Id: 543306
their daily life. Social determinants of health include systems and force which are linked
to economic systems and policies, developmental agendas, political systems and social
norms. Throughout the support action by the World health organization, sustainable
development goals provide a mandatory and comprehensive framework for the
development of human beings as well as for the systematic address of the social
determinants of health of every individual in the globe.
In light of the case study of Carla, the social determinants of health that are
prevalent throughout the lives of every character in the case study are education level,
economic status, neighbourhood, society and healthcare (Danaei et al. 2017, p. 4).
Social determinants of health for Carla include a low level of education which resulted in
poor income. hindering economic stability. However apart from all the negative socio
social determinants of health of this character, one of the positive factors of Carla is her
friendly neighbourhood. According to the case study, Carla got immense help from her
neighbourhood who shared her child care duties when her children were young.
The social determinants of health for John include his current degrading
economic stability due to the loss of his job, together with the poor health status of
dementia and depression after his head injury. Finally, the social determinants of health
for Annie are the low level of education, unemployment, lack of proper neighbourhood
and environment after moving to the city at a tiny one-room apartment and finally her
degrading health status due to pregnancy which resulted in the development of
gestational diabetes.
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