Gender And Family Health - Essay Example

Social Perspectives on Health 1 Social and Ethical Perspectives towards Sexuality, Health and Diseases Social Perspectives on Health 2 Introduction: The Society in which we live is bound by cultural, and ethical values, these values in turn differ according to different cultures and social background. The argument is that in what way the ethical and social perspectives influence the family, gender and health problems significantly. Every society is formed by many families with different gender roles, and this constitutes the social background. The gender roles play a prominent role in running the society culturally and ethically. The points that how do the people look at the concept of sexuality, family, health and disease, need to be distinguished. As all form part of the social make up, Above all the particular aspect of how the diseased are treated in their family and society, should be analyzed so that a better solution or treatment could possibly be brought out for those who suffer from health issues. The difference in gender also faces difference in attitudes towards family, health and diseases. As a matter of consideration the role of woman in particular is considered as the important one in a family and around the society, though in most of the cases women are still treated as weaker sex, the family health depends upon the woman of the concerned family. As far as the role of men is concerned, they perform the duty of giving a financial and moral support to the family. The society reacts to various health issues in different ways; in fact the response to health issues from the society causes the seriousness of the diseases. Social Perspectives on Health 3 The culture, ethics and sexuality in general contribute a main role in health matters such as diet, timings of taking food, restrictions towards food habits, etc. As far as sexuality is concerned the cultural and ethical perspectives differ according to the different society. Tibet, Chinese or the Japanese are examples, as they are found to be strictly adhere to their traditions and customs. People from these communities live according to the traditional backup, their food habits and their social behavior also remains aloof from that of the Western culture. As a result they are not completely changed by the influence of multi-cultural aspects, like America or Britain. So the health outcomes differs according to the social bakground. However apart from this the financial status also plays important role in determining the health outcomes in any kind of a society. When it comes to matter of wealth any human being pertains to accept any sort of living condition and this affects the health outcomes. This study of social perspectives involves two main things: 1/ the reaction of the public towards the health issues and 2/ the effect of the public health programs and policies in society that is covered by a particular community or gender who come under the health issue. To understand the ethical and social perspectives of the health problems it is also necessary to study the sexual behaviour, diet practices and quality of the hygienic conditions in which they live etc. Ethics are set of moral standards that affect our conduct in the social atmosphere. Ethics helps in shaping different parts of the society. It also involves the combined Social Perspectives on Health 4 decisions of a group or community of people to determine the future of the society. Ethics also decides the discussion of worldwide issues in cultural background by a certain group of people. The argument that how ethical perspectives effect the health outcomes, depends on health care, clinical and research care and public health issues. The reaction of the members of the society demonstrates the ethics of health in the society. Our present society now faces common problems and health issues in every part of the world, such as old age, HIV aids, obesity, diabetes, etc. Of course the intensity of these issues differs according to the type of ethical and cultural background in which the people live. The ethics might also influence the matters related to health, if a group or community of people in a society combine to make decisions for its future. The Ethics of Western Society and its effect on health outcomes: The Western Society is under the welcoming stage of changes in lifestyle, as the influence of media, advertisements and modern trends make western society accept the recent changes regarding all aspects of life. The effect is a mechanical life style, work load, and improvement of financial status and urges people to depend unavoidably on the pressurized life styles. This in turn paves the way for a less peaceful way of life; if circumstances become worse people force them to a rigid situation. On the whole it appears that wealth plays an important role as far as the ethics of western society is concerned, however wealth is also an important feature in other societies, the stress received from the working place stands as a common occurring feature of health outcomes. Social Perspectives on Health 5 The article “Change of Life Style” [2005] has noted that “The Western Dream endlessly thrust upon us by advertisements and media presentations is to own a better home, a new car, smarter clothes, more leisure toys [second homes, swimming pools, golf courses, boats, etc.], and to go to more exotic places. We are making the towns and cities noisy, stressful and unpleasant places which people want to get out of [moving to the country, the seaside or abroad]. For most families more time is spent working than in the past; meanwhile family life is falling apart, there are more divorces, more broken homes more disturbed children. Psychologists tell us, not surprisingly, that far from getting happier, we are less content and more stressed……..And it is apparent that in going down this road we also destroying the Earth” On the link between ethics and the society, Karim, Jahan & Wazir [2006] noted the key components of ethics are “internationalization and sensitization” and “self-responsibility and accountability”, Karim [2006] states that self monitoring and evaluation reflexivity helps in “shaping the social consciousness”, and develop group empowerment. . While analyzing this aspect, ethics seems to have a dominating effect in society but at the same time society stands as responsible for determining the ethical perspectives. In an international symposium conducted by the Association for Reformational Philosophy [2005] it was noted that the ethics of modern society is filled with tension, the argument is that “On one hand we see the past decennia as a constant advance of ethics, especially in relation to social sectors and professional practices [for example, bio-ethics, computer ethics and business ethics]. Ethics has become professional in two senses: it is connected Social Perspectives on Health 6 with a specific profession and it has become the business of specialists [often institutionalized in ethical committees and protocols]. On the other hand, at least in Western culture, a powerful resentment is at work against the rehabilitation of an obligatory morality in public life” So it becomes quite clear that while ethics plays an important role in determining the social concept, the determination in turn is made by the people in the society. So ethics changes according to the changes that takes place in the life style of the people under the influence of multi-cultural and multi-professional pressures. This obviously leads to changes in food culture, amount of food intake, style of eating, imbalanced food behavior. It might be surprising to find that ethics in society might influence the health out comes, but the fact that if changes take place in food culture and habit with the influence of the above mentioned reasons, the health outcome also gets affected. The pressures from the work load, the mental tension that arises out of the necessity to improve the financial status, etc. definitely lead to restlessness, and tension, less time to relax, less concentration in family values, etc. As a result the health gets affected and most of the common diseases such as depression, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and HIV aids occur. This is mainly due to people find relaxation in sex, eating a variety of cuisine and drinking. The Wikipedia website states that “Japan has a shame culture [external reference standard] rather than the guilt culture [internal reference standard] that is more familiar in the West. In Japan, inter-relationships between people are heavily influenced by concepts of “honor”, obligation” and “duty” in a way that is much less true in the more Social Perspectives on Health 7 individualistic and free-wheeling west. Finally, generalized conceptions of morality and desirable behavior are less developed in Japan, where particular and situational obligations to family, school, and friends tend to guide behavior.” Apart from this the Japanese pay more importance to family values. Women especially are bound to culture and tradition till now, though equality in education has brought changes in the mental make up and has given equal rights to women, they are still living according to the cultural influence not completely under the influence of other interacting cultures. This could also be found in Chinese and many Asian societies, where tradition and custom play an influencing role in spite of the western influences. So the issue of health seems to be less effective as far as the influence of ethics is concerned. Harmony is found to be the dominating factor in the ethics and culture of these mentioned societies, but is less so in the Western cultures. While this argument goes in one direction, the argument that how does society influence the health outcomes keeps knocking at the door of many researchers. The social factors that combine various activities are found in the society, such as economic factors, political factors, food habits, family background etc. San Francisco Department of Public Health [2002-3] has noted in a survey the following factors that lead to the health outcomes they are “economic Conditions”, “race discriminations or inequality”, “low income”, “housing and homelessness”, “racial disparities”, “transportation”, “access to food” etc The significantly difficult factors that face the low income family such as the need and purchase of food and prescription drugs become a real challenge in the face of low Social Perspectives on Health 8 economic conditions. The problems of racial discrimination in all walks of life, [found in the majority of western countries], such as in work places, care centers, etc. have a bad influence in the health outcome, as this may lead to depression and mental health problems. San Francisco Department of Public Health [2002-03] also adds that “Conditions of social and physical environment play an important role in producing different health, disease and injury patterns in our population” and “Disease and injury, which can be clinically determined and reported in health systems data, are not quiet the same thing as health and well being, which is based on how people experience their own conditions and function with them” these factors give us the opinion that health outcomes could either be on the good side or bad side depending upon the circumstances in which people are bound to live. Literatures speak of several economic and behavioral factors one leading the other that influence the health outcomes Sorkin, Summers and Farquhar [2001] has noted that “ A multidisciplinary team of scientists in the fields of outcomes research, pharmaco-economics, public health, health services research, and health economics addresses such complex problems as benefits and cost of advancements in genetic technologies, methodologies for constructing health care utilization and cost estimates and the effect of insurance type on resource utilization and health outcomes” Economic conditions lead the individual to maintain his health outcome. In the case of poor economic conditions, people are suffering because of the scarcity of food, and the need to live in unhygienic, poor conditions and also by not being able to buy the needed prescription drugs, due to their meager financial position. Social Perspectives on Health 9 Genetic factors could also be included as one of the major influences in health outcomes, be it the society or group of people belonging to any class. The societal problems that face aboriginal people determine their health outcomes and those who are born to these indigenous aboriginals. The chances of diseases, such as diabetes and liver disease, continuing through the generations are significantly high unless improvements, such as easier health care access, are addressed. Baird [1994] p-133-59], has noted that “…in chronic diseases of multifaceted origin, where environmental and socioeconomic factors influence health status, interactions between genetic and environmental factors are complex, and differences in patterns of illness will be attributable to their interaction.” However Cass, [2004] has reviewed several literatures and says that “Despite marked improvements in the average indicators of health in Western nations, good health is not enjoyed by all. Our indigenous citizens suffer substantial and systematic inequalities that cannot be accounted for by individual make-up or behaviors.” So he supports the argument that the health issues are not due to individual effect or individual person, but by a society or community as a whole. There are obvious factors that affect health outcomes of the homeless women, such as drug use, unsafe sexual relationships, the chances of becoming single mothers, poor living conditions etc. The risks of diseases are found out to be increasing in the case of the homeless and the unemployed groups. To be more precise the chances of diseases or worse Social Perspectives on Health 10 health outcomes are more prevalent in the case of women .As Nyamathi, [1997] states, “Homeless women now represent a rapidly growing population at risk for poor health outcome. Several studies indicate that homeless women in Los Angeles are vulnerable to drug dependencies such as injection drug use [IDU] and was reported in 10-20%. …...............Few studies have attempted to delineate factors that may play a role in the genesis of drug dependency in women, such as childhood and family dysfunction, and victimization” This argument helps us to understand the link between the social, and family background in the health outcomes. The article Healthy People 2010 [2006] has given a definition for society and health outcomes, it is given that “Social environment includes interactions with family, friends, coworkers, and others in the community. It also encompasses social institutions, such as law enforcement, the workplace, places of worship, and schools. Housing, public transportation, and the presence or absence of violence in the community are among other components of the social environment. The social environment has a profound effect on individual health, as well as on the health of the larger community, and is unique because of cultural customs; language; and personal, religious, or spiritual beliefs.” In addition to this it also points out the factors such as “inequalities in income and education” also contribute to disparities in health outcomes. Society also contributes to the inequality in health conditions of the individual and the particular community. Gakidou, Frenk, and Murray [2000] have released the social and economic factors that affect the health outcomes, they say that the following things Social Perspectives on Health 11 such as “[1] how the average level of socioeconomic status affects the average level of health in a population; [2] how the average level of socioeconomic status influences the distribution of health; [3] how the distribution of socioeconomic status affects the average health; [4] how the distribution of socioeconomic status influences the distribution of health in population” The perspectives of culture also influence the health outcomes. The culture of the ethnic minority in countries like Britain, United States and Europe, control the health outcomes in many ways leading to mental illness. Interaction and communication is a complicated fact among the people of these particular groups. There are obvious opportunities for existing problems to be provoked. Racial discrimination is a major problem that is faced by the ethnic society. Racial trouble occurs in various fields in society, in fact sexually related issues are found to be in large numbers among this group of people. Literature also focuses a lot in regards to this problem. The US Department of Health and Human Services [2006], has noted an executive summary that, “Cultural and Social factors contribute to the causation of mental illness, yet that contribution varies by disorder. Mental illness is considered the product of a complex interaction among biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors” According to researchers, stress has been considered as one of the redeeming health issues in almost all parts of the world as it is influenced by social, economic as well as cultural factors and also how the individual considers the state of his mind. It has a two Social Perspectives on Health 12 way effect in the individual, it is well explained by Avey & Holly [2002], who argues and compares the terms of two people experiencing the fun in roller coaster. “One person enjoys roller coasters and experiences the event as entertainment, while the other fears roller coasters and perceives the ride as a threat to their safety. Each person has a different physiological response to the event, based on their differing psychological perceptions. The person who fears roller coasters will experience a stress reaction while the other person will not, even though both were exposed to the same “stressor”. She also quotes the words of Aneshensel [1992] that “Perceived emotional and social support have been shown to buffer stress more than objective membership in social networks”. Sexuality is, as a matter of fact, influenced by the gender roles in the social make up. The role of women is considered as requiring more attention than men, as women have the natural tendency to pass over the health issues to her child. The risk of health outcomes depends more on women than men. Researchers have found that more women than men are affected by health problems if the sexual relationship was unsafe.. The influence of media also plays a prominent role in enhancing the sexual desires among the people. Gender roles enhances the health outcomes in worst conditions in sexuality, as National Institute of Mental Health [2001] has pointed out that “Social and Cultural understandings of gender exert powerful influences on human behavior, particularly in the domain of sexuality. Differences in male and female sexual behavior are in part biological based, but much of the variation in individual and couple sexual behavior emerges from Social Perspectives on Health 13 socially culturally determined understandings of what is appropriate for and expected of males and females” On the whole the social and ethical perspectives do have an influencing role in determining the health outcomes, but it appears after reading several researches and literatures that the health outcomes differ according to the different cultural, social and economic background. Among various social groups in Western countries it is found that certain underprivileged groups have the worst health outcomes. To be more particular the ethnic groups, homeless women, and the aboriginal people are those most affected by health issues. Health care services need to be revised and improved so that more accessible treatment and the opportunities are present so that the underprivileged groups are given more chance to improve their living and health standards. But the focus over health outcomes from a better perspective appears to be very less. As discussed above literatures and research articles have concentrated only on the health issues in majority other than focusing on better health outcome References: Department of Health and Human Services. “ Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General”.online . available from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/cre/execsummary-1.html Gakidou, Emmanuela and Frenk, Julio and Murray Christopher “A Health Agenda” Boston Review. A Political and Literary Forum. Online available from http://bostonreview.net/BR25.1/frenk.html. Healthy People 2010 [2006] .online available from http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/html/uih/uih_2.htm#deter Nyamathi, m.Adeline, RN Ph.D, FAAN, Leake, Ph.D, and Lillian Gelberg, MD, MSPH Sheltered Versus Non-Sheltered Homeless Women, Differences in Health, Behavior, Victimization, and Utilization of Care. Online available from. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1495574 Cass , Alan [2004] Health outcomes in Aboriginal Populations. Canadian Medical Association .online available from http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/171/6/597 Baird PA. The role of genetics in population health. In: Evans RG, Barer ML, Marmor TR, editors. Why are some people healthy and others not? The determinants of health of populations. New York: Aldine de Gruyther; 1994. p. 133-59. Sorkin.A., Summers.K , Farquhar.I Investingating Health : The Social and Economic Benefits of Health Care innovation .online available from http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/622379/description#description. Factors Influencing Health ,San Francisco Department of Public Health [2002-2003] Annual report. Online available from .http://www.sfdph.org/Reports/2002-03AnnlRpt/200203AnnlRptChapt03.pdf#search=%22social%20factors%20influencing%20health%22 “Culture of Japan” .online available from .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Japan Association of Reformational Philosophy. Online available from . http://home.planet.nl/~srw/is2005/ppaper/positionpaper_eng.doc Karim, Jahan Wazir[2006] Ethics for Global Civic Society Non-Western Perspectives .online available from http://www.globalknoeledge.org/gkii/Global_Civil_Society[WazirJahanKarim].ppt The Change Of Life Style. Online available from http://www.tgws.org.uk/docs/web-chl.pdf Avey, Holly. “How U.S. Laws and Social Policies Influence Chronic Stress and Health Disparities .online available from http://www.ithaca.edu/healthpolicy/race/docs/holly.doc p-7 Aneshensel [1992] source taken form Avey, Holly. “How U.S. Laws and Social Policies Influence Chronic Stress and Health Disparities .online available from http://www.ithaca.edu/healthpolicy/race/docs/holly.doc “The Influence of Gender on HIV Risk” National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health. 2001. online available from http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-01-002.html Read More