Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care: A Case Study

This report provides an executive summary and detailed analysis of contemporary health issues, primarily focusing on depression as a significant mental health concern. The report utilizes a case study of Shubha, a woman who migrated from Bangladesh to the UK, to explore the interplay of socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors influencing her mental health. It examines how these factors, including diversity, discrimination, and ethnicity, impact health and well-being. The report also assesses the implications of contemporary health issues on the development and provision of healthcare services, analyzing the challenges faced by practitioners and the importance of culturally sensitive approaches. The methodology involves secondary research using documents, journals, and online resources to understand the impact of depression and the role of various interventions. The report highlights the need for awareness of social determinants of health and the importance of tailored healthcare services to address the diverse needs of patients. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of understanding the complex factors affecting mental health and service provision.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Healthcare refers to all the services that helps to improve physical and mental condition
of the peoples. Depression one of the type of mental illness and it impacts the appetite and sleep
of peoples in negative way. Depression leads to low level of energy and lack of concentration in
the peoples. The Report will outline depression as a major health issue that impact the mental
condition of patients in negative manner with the help of a case study based on Shubha who has
migrated from Bangladesh to U.K. The main objective of the following Report is to provide an
understanding of social, economic, political factors that impact the physical and mental health of
peoples. The study helps to analyse the impact of depression on the development of services.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Socio-economic, political and cultural factors related to health issues.......................................2
Influence of diversity, culture, discrimination and ethnicity on health and well-being. ............4
Analysis of the implications of a contemporary health issues on the development and
provision of services....................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Healthcare refers to all the services that leads to improvement in the health, treatment of
illness or mental distress of the peoples. Availability and access to different healthcare services is
affected by social, economic conditions, political and cultural issues of various countries. It also
affects the well-being of patients. Health and social care services are provided by practitioners,
professionals, physicians that are working in healthcare institutions (Holloway, I. and Galvin,
2016).
The Report will be based on a Case study of Shubha who is suffering from depression as
a major health and mental condition. The Report will outline the factors such as socio-economic,
political and cultural etc. that are related with health issues, impact of diversity, culture , impact
of health issues on development of services on the health of Shubha etc. Along with it, various
service provision will understand that is required to ethically conduct the health and social care
services. Lastly, the study will analyse the debate on how issues will address.
The aim of the study is to provide an understanding of different factors like economic, social and
political that are related with the health issue that is depression and to explain the impact of
discrimination, diversity on health and well-being of the patient etc.
Structure of case study
Age, gender, cultural background -
The case study is based on a female patient 'Shubha'. She is 26 years old woman. The
patient has emigrated from Bangladesh to U.K. before three years with her husband and family.
Her family has struggled a lot due to financial crisis. Shubha belongs to minority culture and
family of the patient gives due importance to cultural issues such as shaking hands, making eye
contact with other peoples. These issues may affect the process of providing healthcare facilities
to the patient.
Shubha had arranged marriage and gave birth to a girl before one month. The patient was not
happy with the appointment of a male practitioner. This is a type of social issue that may impact
the health of patient.
Health and social history-
Shubha has not disclosed any details of health and medical history to her husband and
family. There was no history of the patient regarding the mental illnes as well as no details in
respect of treatment. The first physical examination of the patient has revealed that everything
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was normal, there are various social issues that are considered by the family of the patient such
as gender etc. The family of the patient was not very much supportive during the process of
treatment of the patient. It is essential for the practitioner to recognize the hierarchy of the family
of the patient to collect necessary information about the health history of Shubha .
Health and social challenges-
The practitioner was facing various challenges in collecting information in respect of the
patient. Therefore, for obtaining full assessment of health issues, a female translator has been
provided to her for supporting the practitioner during the next appointments with the patient.
There are some people in community that have negative views regarding mental illness of the
patient. Therefore, practitioner is facing the difficulty of collecting information regarding the
problems Shubha is facing. She is reluctant in acknowledging the causes and conditions that is
representing the state of depression in the patient. The patient belongs to minority community,
that expects quick care from the practitioner. It is a challenge for the healthcare service provider
to move from collaborative approach to paternalistic approach of treating the patients.
Overview of health and social interventions-
The general practitioner will use a tool for considering the impact of various factors and models
for explaining the problems related with mental as well as physical health that is depression
condition of Shubha. The doctor will ask different types of questions regarding the health and
well-being of the girl child. The general practitioner will provide a patient's health questionnaire,
various types of screening tools for to collect information related with health of patient as well as
health of her baby.
Impact of health and social interventions-
Social interventions by people living in societies can create a negative impact on the mind of
Shubha. The health and social interventions helps the practitioner in collecting details regarding
the mental stress of Shubha. Questionnaire and tools have help the doctor to assess the hierarchy
of her family that whether her family is supporting her or not. Referral from specialist has help in
investigating further information about the welfare of the baby (Agha, M. and Agha, 2017).
Socio-economic, political and cultural factors related to health issues.
There are various socio-economic factors that directly or indirectly affects the mental
health of peoples in U.K. There are some factors that may result in the situation of mental
disorder and depression are lack of support of the family members, some major events related
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with the life of patients, lack of employment in the country etc. all these factors contributes to the
depression in the minds of people living in U.K. In UK, there are large number of health and
social care sectors that plays a significant role in providing services related with depression in
the countrywide (Read, Grundy, E. and Foverskov, 2016). Workers that are working in
healthcare organizations must take steps for creating the awareness in the communities regarding
the way in which social, political, economic factors impacts the mental health of patients in U.K..
According to the survey, there is a direct link between the rate of mental disorder, anxiety and
depression and position of the peoples in the society. Another major socio-economic factor that
contributes to the mental health disorder and depression among the peoples of U.K. is the
condition of unemployment in the country. Unemployment situation in U.K. contributes to the
suicide by the peoples. Quality of housing, slow growth in income also affects the mental
condition of the young population of the country. Some other types of economic issues that leads
to stress and depression are situation of poverty in U.K., lack of equality among rich and poor
etc. In the given case study of Shuba, the general practitioner should be aware of different social
and economic issues that patient is facing such as financial issues etc. The practitioner should
assess the hierarchy of the family of the patient because, it may be possible that the patient is
reluctant in providing all the details regarding the health issues or may not support the patient
during the treatment process (Galama, T.J. and Van Kippersluis, 2018).
Depression is a psychological matter but political factors may also impact the mental
health of the peoples living in U.K. Political factors plays a major role in the well-being of the
peoples. Government of U.K. should take steps for reducing the social disadvantages to mentally
ill people, and to promote equality among the peoples for their well-being. The unequality in
decisions of Government of the country in respect of income, job, condition of housing etc. and
all these factors impact the health and well-being of the peoplthe political factors that has
affected es (Baer, H. and Singer, 2016). In the given case study of Shuba, the mental condition of
the patient is political condition at the time of migration from Bangladesh to U.K., policies of
Government that has affect the employment conditions of the patient, Status of migration etc.
The general practitioner must consider the impact of past and current political issues on the
mental condition of the patient .
There are various cultural factors that may leads to situation of depression in the peoples
that are living in U.K. such as, condition of unemployment in the country, gender, unequal power
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etc. Cultural factors affects the way of thinking of peoples of U.K. The difference in the culture
of peoples of U.K. affects the way in which people understand their distress. In the Western part
of U.K., biomedical factors mainly contributes to the mental disorder and depression in the
minds of peoples. Attitude and beliefs of people living in UK has influenced the behaviour of
peoples only some societies of the country. Encourages the solution to mental problems such as
depression among peoples (Kickbusch, I. and Reddy, 2015). In the given case study, the
practitioner should consider the cultural issues such as gender of the patient due to diversity in
culture, the patient will prefer to be treated by female doctor especially at the time of conducting
physical examination and test of the patient. Healthcare service provider should consider
different ways of explaining problems related with mental health of the patient. The practitioner
should provide a female translator to Shubha so that, it will be easy to determine the causes of
mental stress and depression of the patient. The doctor can use questionnaire for assessing the
health issues of the patient. It may be possible that, family of Shubha is expecting a paternalistic
approach during the treatment process of the patient (Gómez, 2017).
Methodology
For conducting secondary research regarding major health issue that is depression. Data is
collected through the process of analysing different documents. It means that, data is collected
from books, journals, relevant websites, through newspaper articles etc. Secondary data has been
collected from statistics regarding depression in U.K. as provided in Government survey papers
etc.
Influence of diversity, culture, discrimination and ethnicity on health and well-being.
Diversity refers to the difference in the beliefs, values, lifestyles of individuals and
groups and difference in treating the peoples on the basis of these differences. Diversity in
healthcare services refers to the difference in the backgrounds and features of the patients
(Crews, D.C. and Wesson, 2018).
Influence of diversity on health-
According to Sirugo, Williams, S.M. and Tishkoff (2019) healthcare providers that provides
health related services to the patients should ensure that the different needs of patients should be
satisfied. Shubha must have access to all the healthcare facilities, and should not be
discriminated on the basis of age, religion etc. Diversity in U.K. plays an important role in
removing discrimination among the individuals. Providers of healthcare services must be aware
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of the potential barriers that may affect the health and well-being of the patients that are living in
U.K. There are different factors such as behaviour of workers that are working in healthcare
institutions etc. might affect the dignity, health and well-being of peoples of U.K. There are
different factors that may impact the health of individuals such as different backgrounds of
patients, education level, culture etc. For example- Shubha who belongs to minority backgrounds
will consider their diseases in different manner this will create difficulties for healthcare workers
to understand the disease.
Culture refers to behaviour of peoples in the society. The culture of person reflects the
way in which they perform the work. On the basis of culture, peoples have different ideas
regarding health. It can be referred as the behaviour, language that is shared by the peoples of the
country.
Influence of culture on health-
According to Walker, Williams, J.S. and Egede (2016) the culture is one of the important
factor that might affect the maintenance of health and well-being of patients in U.K. The impact
of values, culture of healthcare institutions in U.K. on the health of individuals is huge. To
minimize the impact of diversity in the culture on the health and well-being of individuals, heath
care institutions in U.K. should take different steps such as culture that is being followed by the
organizations should be properly defined to the patients, medicines should be such that they will
promote the well-being of peoples, practises and facilities of healthcare institutions in the
country should be integrated with the local culture of the individuals. All these factors will help
in promoting health and well-being of peoples of U.K. Attitude, beliefs of people living in UK, ,
view of people regarding male practitioner etc. can prevent Shubha from getting treatment and
this can also impact the willingness of patients of taking healthcare services. Practitioner must be
aware of difference in the culture, background of the patients that are having similar health
problems such as depression.
Ethnicity refers to the state of group of peoples that shares similar culture, language,
society etc. It results from the impact of social and political factors, religion of the peoples.
Influence of ethnicity on health-
According to Kattari, S.K. and Hasche, (2016) the various ethnic groups in U.K. such as
minority groups faces large negative health outcomes as compared to other population of the
country. Economic and social position of black ethnic groups in U.K. is the main factor that
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promotes inequalities in ethnic health of the peoples. Healthcare organizations such as hospitals,
clinical centres in the country should understand the tradition, practises of the population of U.K.
So that, the facilities and services of providing healthcare can be improved. According to the
research minority groups in U.K. have faced more situations of depression among old age
persons due to various factors like lack of support, health diseases, lack of better economic status
etc.
Discrimination refers to treating the peoples differently on the basis of gender, sex,
marital status etc. Practitioner should not discriminate between Shubha and other patients
because it may negatively affects the health of the patient.
Influence of discrimination on health-
According to Sabin, Riskind, R.G. and Nosek, (2015) discrimination on the basis of various
factors such as race, age of peoples living in U.K. can impact their health and well-being in
different ways. Discrimination is a major factor that promotes stress in the minds of patients.
According to a survey, population of U.K. majorly suffers from age, gender discrimination.
Healthcare workers that are working in healthcare institutions in U.K. should address
demographic changes such as increase in the number of old peoples in the country so that, issues
like ageism can be tackle for improving the health and well-being of the patients. The number of
healthcare problems in U.K. are more for the peoples that have faced discrimination on the basis
of age, physical disability etc. as compared to those who had not faced it. Example- The old age
patients are not receiving better quality of healthcare services as compared to other patients.
Healthcare organizations in U.K. should take steps for increasing awareness among the peoples
regarding discrimination and the ways in which it can negatively affect the well-being and health
of the patients. Health visitor should treat all the patients like Shubha and other people that are
admitted in hospital equally and should offer help according to the risk related with health of the
patient. Discrimination on the basis of gender, age can increase the chances of mental stress and
also leads to chances of anxiety and depression in the patients (Thayer, Z.M. and Kuzawa, 2015).
Analysis of the implications of a contemporary health issues on the development and provision
of services
As per the case study, the patient is suffering from depression. There are many reason
behind this mental illness such as; diversity, culture, background and ethnicity. Along with it, the
socio-economic, political and cultural factors have also major impact on the health issue of
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Shubha i.e. Depression. According to the survey, there is a direct link between the rate of mental
disorder, anxiety and depression and position of the peoples in the society (Cherry, B. and Jacob,
2016). Another major socio-economic factor that contributes to the mental health disorder and
depression among the peoples of U.K. is the condition of unemployment in the country.
Unemployment situation in U.K. contributes to the suicide by the peoples.
There are various types of depression has been addressed such as; major depression,
bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, dysthymic disorder, cyclothymic disorder. In
regarding there are several provisions and policies that are essential to consider in the present
case study. The patient is examined with the mental disorder where she sometimes behaves
patiently and sometimes she become aggressive and the service provision make the nurses
understand to adequately respond to the diverse care as consumer's need (Rybakowski, 2016).
In this, government of UK is also responsible to develop policy and to set down the
standards and norms that protect health of public. Following are some service provisions in the
case of Shubha;
The health and social care Act 2012: This provision introduced the legal duties and
responsibilities about health inequalities. This consists various social values with reference to the
social determinants. Under this service provision, the service provider is required to the treat all
the people with suffering from various illness equally . Under this case study, the patient is
suffering from depression. Thus, various social service sector must respect their values and treat
them equally other. The provision provides extensive reorganized of the structure of NHS
England (Krachler, N. and Greer, 2015).
Care Act 2014: Under this Act, employees in the social service sector are responsible for
promoting individual well-being. In the critical situation the patient can have mood swings and
uncontrollable emotion. The service provider is responsible to provide the services and tackle the
issues of patients in every situation. Thus, the authority or service provider do not say no in
critical situation such as; if patient is stinking or behaving abnormal, or have any hygienic issue,
they cannot refuse to treat them or discriminate them (Cooper, A. and White, 2017).
Cross-sector service provision: Generally people who are severing from mental illness
are exposed to discrimination and stigma. In this case study the patient is required treatment with
togetherness of various services. In this provision, no one service can adequately respond to the
diverse care of need of consumers. As per the service provision, patient and the provider of
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service is required to understand that only one service does not heal the issue and treat the
illness. With different services it can be treated effectively. The people are required to change
their view regarding the medication and social services of health and social care services
(Fehsenfeld, M. and Levinsen, 2019).
The provisions are essential for the service provider and enable them to understand the
ethic code of conduct in health and social care sector . All the organization in this field in UK are
required to follow the code of conduct given by the government regarding healthcare.
CONCLUSION
From the present case study it has been evaluated that depression may predict the onset of
heart diseases as well as addressed as physical illness too. This adversely affected the endocrine
and proper functioning of immune in the patient's body that increased the condition of the person
to a wide range of physical illness. Many conditioned has also been analysed that lead Shubha
towards the condition of depression. Questionnaire and tools have help the doctor to assess the
hierarchy of her family that whether her family is supporting her or not. Overall the main issues
arise in the case study were; her struggle in terms of financial pressure in the very beginning of
her marriage and similarly many situations like her self-consciousness in speaking English and
stress in the relation between her and mother-in-law.
The study has been analysed various perception of many authors and scholars that put
different view point of themselves. Some authors considered that on the health and well-being
and on depression the major is reason is influence of diversity, on the other some author
mentioned that cultural factor that consist the background of patient and other social and
economic factor have major effect on the health and well-being of people . The main challenges
arising from the case discussion were, understanding and implication of the provision effectively
in health and social care practices that has been mentioned by the government. The service
provision is required to follow by the service provider such as nurses (Sabin, Riskind, R.G. and
Nosek, 2015).
In UK, there are many health and social care sectors that plays a significant role to
provide depression services in the countrywide. On the basis of the discussion there are some
recommendation for future development and practices . Each and every member that involves in
the service from the family of Shubha to the GP should be recommended to responsibly tackle
the situation and should have proper understanding of the service provision. Along with it, the
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health and social care service provider is required to respect the patient and create a comfortable
environment that they can able to speak openly which make the process easy and effective. For
future health and well being development, it is recommended to the service provider to be
conscious about the validity of the behaviour and attitude of the particular patient.
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