Poverty Impacts on Health and Well-Being of People in Britain - Essay Example

?Poverty impacts on people's health and well-being in Britain today Poverty has been affecting the people of Britain to a great extent including their health status as well as their lifestyles or well-being since a long time. However, these effects are becoming significantly higher in the recent times. Different researchers have opined that the increasing level of poverty and inequality in the Britain are creating significant level of negative impacts upon the people’s health, mainly affecting the children and the older people. Various material impacts, such as poor level of diet, damp housing in some places of the country, scarcity of places for the children to play, higher level of unemployment across the country and proper or well-structured access to well-resourced health services are negatively affecting these people’s health status (Smith, 2001, pp.59-60). This paper is aimed at providing a detailed analysis of the impact of poverty on people’s health and well being in Britain and the role of nursing intervention in their treatment. Different effects of poverty on health of Britain: Economic inequality is said to be closely associated with the level of social and healthy inequalities in different countries across the globe. In the developing countries existence of income inequality is expected to form the greatest level of negative effects on the development of health status of people living in the country. However, in the developed countries of the world, such as Britain, income inequalities in the form of poverty are negatively influencing the health conditions of people. Following the prevalence of the global crisis due to early period of 1970s, the process of restoration of class power has been set in the developed part of the world. This restoration has created the existence of significant amount of negative association between the prevalence of poverty and the decline in the health status of people in the country (Smith, 2001, pp. 348-350). The Report Card, presented by the OECD on the member countries of the international organisation regarding the correlation between the poverty and health inequalities, has provided significant assessments. This comprehensive assessment has been projected on the well-being of people in developed countries of the world, including Britain. The purpose of this report has been to persuade monitoring, to allow comparison, and also to encourage the discussion as well as the development of different policies in the process of improving children’s lives. The report has represented the fact that an important progress on previous reports on the topic has revealed the fact that income and poverty are used as proxy in measuring the overall level of well-being of children and young people in the country. Particularly, the paper tries to measure as well as compare the level of well-being of children and young people under the six wide ranges of dimensions. These dimensions include material well-being of these people, the health and safety status, the level of education, “peer and family relationships, behaviours and risks, and young people’s own subjective sense of well-being”. These aspects are considered as very important ones in the development of the health status of the people living in the country (Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries, 2007, p.43). The level of poverty in the country is negatively affecting the number of people having employment opportunities. This fact is again affecting the purchasing power of these people across the country. One of the most important associations between the level of poverty and the choice and purchasing power of the people in the country suggests, the lower their level of income, the lower is amount of health services they can demand. Those people in the country who are badly suffering from poverty and unemployment are getting mentally affected. This mental effect arises from the fact that these people are not only being deprived of possessing several effective health services due to scarcity of monetary resources, but are also failing to reduce their mental dissatisfaction from the non-possession of those services. While rich people can have access to different health services from the highly expensive health service centers (both private as well as public), poor people are getting marginalised from accessing those services. This inequality in allocation of health services are creating significant amount of negative effects on the psychological structure of these poor people living in the country. This negative effect is again deteriorating the mental and health status of these people (Walker et al., 2011, p.21). The presence of a large number of jobless and poor minority people in the country, comprising of people from poor Asian countries, Black Caribbean people and also the poor African people, are greatly affecting the average health level of country. These people from different ethnic societies and social communities are entering into the country with the hope of earning money. However, over the passage of time these people constitute the largest section of the country’s population belonging to the poverty-stricken population. Unhygienic lifestyles of these people as well as risky sexual behaviour are also creating significant level of negative effects on the mental as well as physical health status of these people. These issues have been creating greater level of spread effects on the development of poor health conditions of the White people living in the country (Sorhaindo, 2007, p.6). High degree of income inequality is creating damages to the mental health status and the level of well-being of people in the country. Relative deprivation as well as social injustice corrodes mental well-being of people. They also raise the level of stress and increase trust and communication. Resilience can help alleviate the negative impacts of inequalities and endorse personal as well as community capability to endure different other challenges. Economic inequalities, in terms of poverty, are primary drivers of health and well-being. Almost 1.3 million to 2.5 million ‘years of life’ have been lost in Britain each year as the outcome of health inequalities, with an annual estimated cost of almost ?56–?68 billion. Absolute and relative deprivation is linked with augmented threat of mental illness. Almost 12-15% of British children in families having the lowest levels of family income face mental health problems in comparison with 5% of British children in different families having the highest levels of family income. Greater income inequality is associated with larger rates of mental and psychological illness, lesser rates of trust as well as social capital, and enlarged hostility, violence or even racism. People having severe mental illness die quickly at an average age of 25 years previous to people without the same ailment (Public mental health and well-being, 2010, p.4). Nursing effects: This mental problem arising from the lack of financial resources among the poorer section of the country has been compelling the doctors and the nursing practitioners to response to the most effective way (Hughes and Ferrett, 2008, p.1). Psychosocial interventions (also known as PSI) for people having continuing mental and psychological health problems have considerably developed over the last 14 years in UK. As a consequence, investments in training mental and psychological health professionals having PSI skills have risen in the country. It has been recognised by The NICE (2003) that family interventions along with the cognitive behaviour therapy must be usually available for different service users having schizophrenia and also their families and/or carers. The effects of PSI have been broadly assessed since its inception. Even though a relative beginner in the mental and psychological health field, this has importantly been posited higher than other kinds of post-qualifying mental or psychological health training. Different studies have appraised the effect of PSI training in relation to the attitudes as well as values of apprentices, while others have discovered attitude changes in regard to knowledge achievement (O’Neill et al., 2008, pp.582-583). With respect to different findings of other related research studies, the result presented in the study conducted by O’Neill et al., (2008) has suggested the fact that PSI training played a major weight on doctors’ and nurses’ clinical practices as well as their skills. Without regarding the time period since their training on PSI, all practitioners (who have been surveyed) have established commitment, ardor and eagerness regarding their specialist skills. The positive attitude adjustment has been the most important gain following the PSI training. Different other related studies have revealed similar kinds of findings. Nevertheless, it has been significant to make a note of the fact that practitioners in these research studies have believed that it has been a wish to work with different clients with continuing mental or psychological illness. This illness has provided these people the motivation to take on the PSI training at the first place. However, this fact can possibly be an inherent factor in the process of development of greater degree of positive attitudes among these practitioners (O’Neill et al., 2008, p.586). Different psychosocial interventions have been implemented as an addition within the clinical practice (Nolte et al., 2008, p.29). Different other researchers have found problems of practitioners in implementing PSI abilities in practices. One practitioner within this research has suggested that the PSI can be an exhausted resource. Even though these withering aspects have been accounted elsewhere, different policy drivers, including the “National Service Framework (DoH 2001)” and the “National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) (2003)” have authorised PSI as an efficient advance for the clients with a permanent mental or psychological illness. Inspite of the challenges related with implementing PSI abilities and skills in real-life practices, the findings of different research papers have appeared to propose that psychological or mental health organisations are yet to grip the function of the different PSI practitioner as the detached unit within the clinical and medical arena (O’Neill et al., 2008, p.586). Nursing practitioners have stressed upon the significance of supporting each and everyone in everyday practices. These practitioners have viewed this process as the “collaborative process of working together to identify problems, share research and knowledge, and support each other within their roles when difficult situations or problems arose with clients” (O’Neill et al., 2008, p.586). Consistent with different researches, practitioners have believed that level of their knowledge along with clinical competence is enhanced with standard clinical management and they have viewed this as a necessary element for augmented skill of PSI implementation. This process may result in the positive and improved clinical effects for the clients and also their carers. Practitioners in various researches have been clearly able to coherent the features of an efficient psychosocial or mental nurse practitioner and also to hold a therapeutic coalition with carers and their families (Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Scope, 2006, p.4). This has been (and need to be) the positive approach towards the client or the carer which allows establishment as well as maintenance of the therapeutic environment. It needs to be central to enhancing client outcomes, including attainment of larger self-belief and independence to manage different symptoms of their mental or psychological illness in an effective way (O’Neill et al., 2008, p.586). Nursing practice related caring treatments are taught by the professors in the undergraduate courses of nursing. In the general hospitals and in the private hospitals nurses are trained specially to take greatest level of care to the mental patients with greatest level of patience and intensity of medical care. In this respect common health problems are separated from treatment of mental people and in this respect nurses are trained in different format. Nurses are required to understand the nature of mental or psychological problem of the patient and then they need to take care of those patients accordingly. This is regarded as the most important aspect of nursing treatment of these types of patients (Happell, 2005, p.42). Conclusion: The problem of poverty in the UK has been one of most important reason in modern times causing significant amount of negative effects on the mental and psychological conditions of the people living there. Owing to lower income level and significant amount of unemployment rate (mainly after the introduction of the global financial crisis in 2009) people are suffering from mental problems to a great extent. Hence, nursing practitioners need to develop their collaboration with the mainstream medical and clinical practitioners to provide effective medical services to these affected people. Hence, it is also necessary to incorporate nursing practices that involve greater level of care to the mental or psychological patients with higher level of patience. References: 1. Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries, (2007), UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, available at: http://www.unicef.org/media/files/ChildPovertyReport.pdf (accessed on May 8, 2012) 2. Happell, B. (2005), MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES WITHIN THE GENERAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE NURSING PROFESSION, Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, Vol.22, No.3, pp.41-47 3. Hughes, P. and Ferrett, E. (2008), Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction: The Handbook for Construction Professionals and Students on Nebosh and Other Construction Courses, London: Routledge 4. Nolte. E. et al., (2008), Managing chronic conditions: Experience in eight countries, World Health Organization, available at: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/98414/E92058.pdf (accessed on May 8, 2012) 5. O’Neill, M. et al. (2008), Exploring the role and perspectives of mental health nurse practitioners following psychosocial interventions training, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Vol.15, pp.582–587 6. Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Scope, (2006), Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Scope & Standards Draft Revision, available at: http://www.ispn-psych.org/docs/standards/scope-standards-draft.pdf (accessed on May 8, 2012) 7. Public mental health and well-being, (2010), National Mental Health of UK, available at: http://www.nmhdu.org.uk/silo/files/nmhdu-factfile-4.pdf (accessed on May 8, 2012) 8. Sorhaindo, A. (2007), Young people health risk taking: A brief review of evidence on attitudes, at-risk populations and successful interventions, Department of Health, available at: http://www.learningbenefits.net/Publications/DiscussionPapers/Young%20people%20health%20risk%2007-07.pdf (accessed on May 8, 2012) 9. Smith, G.D. (2001), Poverty, Inequality and Health in Britain. The Policy Press 10. Walker, A. et al., (2011), Fighting Poverty, Inequality and Injustice: A Manifesto Inspired by Peter Townsend, UK: The Policy Press Read More