Investigating Social Issues in Healthcare: Inequalities and Factors

This report examines social issues within healthcare, focusing on inequalities in health distribution based on social class, gender, and ethnicity, referencing the Black Report and exploring behavioral, materialist, psychosocial, and life-course models. It further analyzes the impact of culture on health perceptions, beliefs, and healthcare practices, emphasizing the importance of cultural awareness for healthcare professionals. Key milestones in health and social care development, including the Public Health Era, the impact of war, and the establishment of the NHS, are identified and analyzed for their transformative effects. The report also explains the relationship between social factors like lifestyle, knowledge, and economic status and their direct influence on health outcomes and healthcare access. Desklib offers more resources for students, including solved assignments and past papers.

Social Issues in Healthcare
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Contents
1.1 Identify terms and concepts relating to inequalities in health and/or social care......................3
1.2 Explain the contribution of culture on society in health and/or social care...............................5
2.1 Identify key milestones in the development of health and/or social care..................................6
2.2 Analyse how these milestones brought about changes to health and social care provision......6
3.1 Explain the relationship between social factors and health and/or health care.........................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
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1.1 Identify terms and concepts relating to inequalities in health and/or social care
As per the words of Kluegel and Smith (2017), the distribution of health can be determined by a
number of factors consists of individuals, community, and national factors. The body of evidence
has been continuously growing that leads to health inequalities in the distribution of health and
health care services to the individuals and communities. It is found that inequalities in the
distribution of health have been documented by social class, gender, and ethnicity etc. The social
differences in the delivery of the health outcomes lead to the creation of the unequal distribution
of the opportunities to be healthy. The health differences are both unavoidable and unfair in the
society. They go against the principles of the social justice and determined by the circumstances
that are generally beyond the control of the individuals and society. Health inequalities reflect on
the fact that the individuals are not receiving the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health. Individuals who are socially disadvantaged in terms of income, employment,
status, education, and residents also have a higher risk of the health issues problems. The number
of factors affecting health inequalities is continuously growing in the globalising world that
negatively affects the health status of the individuals and groups (Kluegel and Smith, 2017).
As per the black report published in 1980, it is found that social class health inequalities are one
of the most important causes of death and found as the reason behind the wide growth of the
health inequalities. There are four models which are used for the explanation of the social class
inequalities in health which are a behavioural model, materialist model, psychosocial model and
life-course model (Shilling, 2017). The model reflects on the social class differences in the
promotion and damaging of the health behaviours such as consumption of the drugs, use of
immunization, active leisure time pursuits etc. Materialist model laid emphasis on the factors
such as poverty that prone people to the health hazards. Most of the affected people are likely to
reside in the areas where they are more exposed to the harm like air pollution. As per the black
report, materialist model is one of the best models for understanding the social class inequalities
in health. The psychosocial model also contributes to the health inequality due to the stressful
social circumstances. It is seen that people who are connected and having good relationships
with the family have longer life expectancies as compared with those who are isolated. In
addition to the studied models, the chances of health also depend on the patters of the social,
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psychosocial and biological benefits and drawbacks experienced by individuals over time.
Prevalence of healthcare inequalities is the unjust differences that lead to the exploitation of the
society in the growing world. It is essential to reduce the factors that contribute to the health
inequalities with greater ease and flexibility (Melnyk, et. al., 2017).
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1.2 Explain the contribution of culture on society in health and/or social care
In the words of Holland (2017), culture is said to be an aspect of identity-based on a number of
things such as values, beliefs, language, dressing, musical taste, and attitude and so on. In health
and social care, the shift has been seen in the cultural competence in the recent years. The impact
of the culture on the society in terms of health is vast where it affects the perceptions of the
health, illness, and beliefs related to the causes of the diseases and the approaches to the
promotion of the health. Both the health professionals and the patients in the society are affected
by their respective cultures. There is no doubt in the fact that the health stream of the region is
shaped by the beliefs of the historically dominant cultures. Demonstration of the awareness of
the patient’s culture is helpful in the promotion of the trust, better health care and leads to the
better improvement of the health issues and problems. The contribution of the culture on the
society in health and social care is multi-layered where it develops a mind-set in the individuals
about the health throughout the life cycle (Holland, 2017).
Health is a cultural concept as it frames and shapes the world and experiences and also reflects
the views of the patients and health care providers about health and illness. In some of the
cultures, stoicism is the norm even in the conditions of the severe pain while in the other
cultures, people express the painful feelings moderately. Also, the degree of the investigation of
the pain might be different in different culture. It is the belief of some people that physicians who
do not give injections while treating might not be taking the symptoms seriously. Culture also
influences the family dynamics that includes traditional gender roles, patterns of support within
the family members. Healthcare professionals can likely to have positive relationships with the
patients and offer them quality and authentic health and social care by understanding the cultural
values and beliefs of their respective patients (Britto, et. al., 2017).
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The below table will reflect on the key development in the health and social care sector with the
consideration of the milestones in the different periods of history.
2.1 Identify key milestones in the
development of health and/or social care
2.2 Analyse how these milestones brought
about changes to health and social care
provision
The Public Health Era 1834- 1918
Improvement in the health services
The new Public Health has brought major
changes in the health and social care provisions
such as improvement in the quality of the
healthcare, health protection, promotion of the
preventive measures to combat the health
issues and emerging threats.
It also improved the private sector such as
medical equipment, food, vaccine
manufacturers and pharmaceutical industry.
The impact of war and depression 1918-1948
Enhancement of health awareness
In the aftermath of the war between 1918-
1948, the health problems were widely
discussed in newspapers and the writers were
concentrating on the poor health conditions of
the British people. Due to the consequences of
the war, the ministry looked over the health
responsibility in the form of training doctors,
hospital funding and sanitation facilities etc.
(Holman, et. al., 2017).
Post NHS NHS was the first free health system offer
medical service to the entire population at the
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1948- Present day
Free quality health and medical services for all
point of need. After the establishment of the
NHS, a number of changes have been observed
in health services that include hospital care,
local authority services, general practitioners
etc. (Holman, et. al., 2017).
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3.1 Explain the relationship between social factors and health and/or healthcare
In the words of Northwood, et. al. (2018), social factors play important role in the healthcare and
outcomes and also influences the decision that is made at the stages of the health and healthcare.
While studying the relationship between the social factors, the relationship between lifestyle and
health can be effectively considered. Lifestyle reflects the behaviour, attitude, culture, beliefs,
and personality and also influence the social activity and health. The lifestyle patterns have
played important role in the improvement of the quality health services since the last decades. It
is found that healthy lifestyle achievements depend on the individual’s needs and the
environment around them. Hence it can be said that achievement of the healthy lifestyle is not
only the responsibility of the doctors and physicians but also parents, media, media, politicians
play a credential role in the accomplishment of the desired health outcomes. In addition with
lifestyle, knowledge is also an important factor that can bring improvement in the quality of the
healthcare as there are so many dangerous diseases and health issues are caused due to lack of
knowledge and awareness about the consequences. Health knowledge is important as it
motivates the individuals to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease and reduce the
risky behaviours that might expose them to health-related issues and problems. Health and
healthcare are also associated with the economic factors like financial conditions of the patients.
For an instance, individuals with the high financial background can be avail quality and authentic
health services while on the contrary low financial background of the individual forces him to
opt for the poor health care and treatment. Hence it can be said that economic factors and health
shares direct relationship where high economic status leads to high-quality health care services
and low economic background reflects on the low quality of the healthcare services (Northwood,
et. al., 2018).
On the basis of the discussion above, the relationship of the health with the different social
factors like lifestyle, knowledge and economic factors have critically examined that shows that
health is critically related with the social factors directly or indirectly.
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References
1. Britto, P.R., Lye, S.J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A.K., Matthews, S.G., Vaivada, T., Perez-
Escamilla, R., Rao, N., Ip, P., Fernald, L.C. and MacMillan, H., 2017. Nurturing care: promoting
early childhood development. The Lancet, 389(10064), pp.91-102.
2. Holland, K., 2017. Cultural awareness in nursing and health care: an introductory text. CRC
Press.
3. Holman. D, Lynch. R, Reeves. A ., 2017. How do health behaviour interventions take account
of social context? A literature trend and co-citation analysis. London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine.
4. Kluegel, J.R. and Smith, E.R., 2017. Beliefs about inequality: Americans' views of what is and
what ought to be. Routledge.
5. Melnyk, B.M., Fineout‐Overholt, E., Giggleman, M. and Choy, K., 2017. A Test of the ARCC©
Model Improves Implementation of Evidence‐Based Practice, Healthcare Culture, and Patient
Outcomes. Worldviews on Evidence
‐Based Nursing, 14(1), pp.5-9.
6. Northwood, M., Ploeg, J., Markle‐Reid, M. and Sherifali, D., 2018. An integrative review of the
social determinants of health in older adults with multimorbidity. Journal of advanced
nursing, 74(1), pp.45-60.
7. Shilling, C., 2017. The body, class and social inequalities. In Equality, education, and physical
education (pp. 55-73). Routledge.
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