Impact of the Media of Diabetes on the Public Health Policy Opinions - Essay Example

? Impact of the Media of Diabetes on the Public Health Policy Opinions Impact of the Media of Diabetes on the Public Health Policy Opinions Diabetes is a significant and advancing health care problem, primarily for the reason that there is an immense increase in occurrence of type 2 diabetes in addition to type 1 diabetes, (Onkamo, Vaananen, Karvonen & Tuomilehto, 1999). It is anticipated that the number of individuals with diabetes will continue to increase with time. Diabetes stands for immense problem of morbidity and mortality rates via micro and macro vascular problems. On the other hand, it is now apparent that stern measures of blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol can decrease the risk of diabetes associated problems. In order to reach stern measures, a well thought-out primary and community care is required. 15 years ago responsibility for care of the people living with diabetes has moved away from hospitals to primary care (Goyder, McNally, Drucquer, Spiers & Botha, 1998). Throughout this period, general tests have been established that when regular analysis of patients is ascertained, the quality of primary care can be as good as the hospital or can even surpass hospital outpatient care in the short-range of time. There are a number of outlines and diabetes management plans that have been formulated globally to advance diabetes care in the community. In contrast, empirical information indicates that conformity with diabetes clinical practice suggestions is insufficient in primary care and a huge population of patients living with diabetes remains at high risk (Goyder et al., 1998). As a result, a diverse range of involvements targeted at advancing the provision of diabetes care and acquiring a better metabolic management for patients living with diabetes have been put into practice. The media plays a significant role of addressing the issue of comprehending the best way to reduce the gap flanked by what is known to be efficient in diabetes care versus the care that is currently offered. Therefore, it is clear in the chosen four articles that the underlying objective is to find out the efficiency of the diverse intervention programs aiming at health care professionals like nurses, health care policies and health care delivery systems. This is for the reason of trying to advance the management of patients living with diabetes in primary care, outpatient and community situations. The media is seen as an advocate of this trending issue, diabetes. The media strives to create awareness of the disease and fosters on lifestyle change. Above all, the media enforces the need to come up with a decisive primary and community health care for the patients living with diabetes. This is clear by the extent which heath care policies are mentioned in the articles and further the way nurses are mentioned in the quest to point out effective health care programs. It is evident that the media can influence the public’s opinion on a public health problem like diabetes. The media as seen in the chosen four articles published in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Daily News, influencing the opinions of the members of the public on the significance of diabetes as a problem and provides room for finding what should be done about diabetes. In an article published on New York Times, In Diabetes, a Complex of Causes (2012) Amanda Schaffer states that, “Early on in type 2 diabetes you may be able to reverse the disease with lifestyle changes.” In the USA Today, Worried about type 2 diabetes? Walk after every meal (2013) Nanci Hellmich indicates that, “If you're at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, then take a 15-minute walk after every meal.” In an article published on New York Daily News, “Now you've got even more good reason to eat a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet. A new study finds that middle-aged women who do so may live a healthier, longer life.” (2013). In an article published on The Washington Post, “Yes, the nutrition advice you’ll hear for prediabetes can be contradictory, oversimplified and impractical for the long haul. Yet research has revealed plenty about how a person with prediabetes should eat to remain diabetes-free as long as possible” (2013). Hope Warshaw, a dietician and a diabetes educator replies to a question asked by an individual with prediabetes. In Hope’s reply, it is clear that there are a lot of inconsistent and oversimplified solutions in the media that mislead the patients. These articles reveal ways to avoid and manage diabetes. It is observable that significant factors in most of the articles include poor eating patterns, poor lifestyle, poverty, overweight and lack of excising. Public opinion is a significant factor that influences the advancements of health care policies as a result improving population health and reducing inequalities. Still, very little is acknowledged about the views of the public on the determinants of health or the impact of the media on their views. Therefore, there is a need for more studies to be conducted in finding the role of the media in shaping public’s understanding and health care policies about diabetes, a disease that is associated with racial differences and social problems. Form an analysis of the four chosen articles of the media covering diabetes in the USA it is evident that behavioral grounds and personal solution of diabetes is dominated in the coverage. On the other hand, issues related to social determinants, social policies or differences were present in one of the articles. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of deaths in the USA and above 90% of population is living with type 2. Just as it is known in other chronic ailments, immense racial, ethnic and class related differences are bound in the diabetes incidence, morbidity and mortality (CDC 2005). Genetic vulnerability, personal actions and social-economic settings have an effect on the population distribution of type 2 diabetes. Social and economic settings have an effect on an individual’s way of managing stress and chances for diet and exercises. This is what influences the start of diabetes via both direct (through natural association with stress and insulin deficiency) and indirect (through health actions) processes (Abraham et al., 2007; Brown et al., 2004). With the accessibility of these optional causal narratives, media reporters can structure the determinants of diabetes in a number of ways. This includes explaining genetic, behavioral and or social structural stages of causes. Media reporters, as seen in the fur chosen articles, pick out structures in their analysis of social harms to come up with various factors of a subject more significant, usually factors connected to informal acknowledgment and policy accountability. Media structures express significant thoughts that people acquire from when creating their assessment of policies. Fundamental representation of diabetes probably has an effect on the public’s views via a two step process. Primarily the fundamental structures in news content have an impact in the public’s own evaluation of diabetes causes which as a result turn out to be significant thoughts in their assessment of public health policies. Researchers have indicated that both the fundamental acknowledgment and approach regarding groups are significant contributors to social policy views. Fundamental acknowledgement of diabetes has an effect on the public’s policy views by affecting their approach regarding the target population with diabetes (particularly if they are worthy of), and or by having an effect on their acknowledgment of responsibilities (if people, government or society should be accountable for tackling diabetes). Experimental research in a number of subjects has indicated that fundamental acknowledgements for public health policy problems have an effect on the public’s approaches about those affected by the problems. When individuals become aware that the start of an ailment is manageable, which means that the causes are individual’s behaviors, they show little compassionate approaches toward people with the disease and are less expected to want to assist them than when they know that the disease is beyond human management. Case in point when individuals acknowledge mental illness to genetics (contrasting bad character) they sustain low stigmatizing approaches regarding people with mental problems. Over and above influencing approaches on group deservingness, fundamental narratives outline the limits of policy involvement that policy makers and members of the public regard right (Stone; Tesh 1994). Research indicates that when individuals recognize behaviors as the basis of diseases, they would attach responsibility to the individual, on the hand when they recognize structural or environmental factors. They would in great aspects sustain social or governmental responsibility (Tesh 1994). For diabetes, prevention measures may be aimed at a number of stages of intervention which entail macro level policies (for instance advancing the quality of living of the poor people) meso level policies (for example advancing the neighborhood access healthy food), and mirco behavioral level policies (for instance offering encouragement to transform peoples food varieties) (Schulz 2005). Depending on an individual’s level of understanding of what brings about diabetes, an individual can sustain completely varying policy behaviors. As McKinlay and Marceau (2000) suggest in their evaluation of diabetes avoidance, greatly diverse policy actions are needed depending on which stage of explanation an individual centers. For example, when an individual considers that diabetes is immensely the consequence of people’s regretful behavioral choices an individual may perceive making out neither advancing the level of living of the poor nor advancing the availability of healthy food as an efficient means or proper policies. As an alternative, an individual would hold those at risk individually accountable for making good lifestyle decisions. At the same time as available literature can uphold links in genetic or behavioral fundamental accounts and public’s views on policies, there has been less effort in evaluating public views on social structural accounts for health or health differences. This is in fact despite the significance of such accounts in the public health literature. A great number of limited studies on the public’s views of what brings about health differences has taken place in UK historically and has indicated varied evidence on the significance of comprehending or accepting the social determinants of health in the public. In a study linked to fundamental beliefs to policy support, Reutter and colleagues discovered that Canadians who believed in structural accounts for health differences were extra supportive of social policies to tackle poverty as compared to those who approved other accounts (Reutter, Harrison, & Neufeld 2002). Whereas this discovery provides support to public health, researchers argue that the desirability of exposing the structural determinants of health, has disputed applicability to the USA, where poverty linked policy is typically politically and racially charged. The perceptions of American citizens of what brings about poverty in addition to who they regard as poor are significant predictors of their backing for welfare and connected social policies (Gilens 1999). In occasions where white Americans give details about differences through debates about personal behaviors (which include laziness or inspiration), they additionally, tend to articulate extra antagonism to the government assistance for blacks and the financially deprived (Kluegel & Smith 1986). An immense body of study shows that opinions of the public on policy are shaped by their approaches on the particular groups influenced by the policies, in particular if they are worthy of the assistance (Cook and Barrett 1992; Nelson and Kinder 1996; Schneider and Ingram 1993; Kinder and Sanders 1996). The news media have a crucial role of depicting groups that are worth the assistance. Gans (1995) suggests that the news media illustrates the contemptible poor or the underclass in means that points a finger at the poor and puts emphasis on their divergence from middle class American principles. Iyengar (1991) discovers that those who consider news stories that center on people rather than the social settings are greatly expected to regard poverty to people’s personality mistakes for instance laziness and allocate accountability for regarding poverty to people as compared to the government or community. In the end Gilens (1999) illustrates that racialized and stereotyped views of poverty in the media forms part of the cause of publics little support for welfare policies. From this establishment, it is possible to see that the media is playing a major role of educating and enlightening the members of the public. However, there are various factors that the media is doing wrong. They include the following. Influencing the public wrongly – As seen from the consequences arising from the role of the media in addressing the problem of diabetes. It is clear that the media is not only shaping but also changing the attitudes for the worst of the people living with diabetes and further the people around them. Leading to discrimination – By the fact that media seeks to bring out the causes of diabetes relating it with lifestyle problems that include eating patterns creates a chance for discrimination among people living with diabetes and the people around them. It is possible to conclude that once people have realized the main cause of diabetes as lack of exercises (laziness), poor eating patterns or diet, the people living with diabetes will feel less valuable and the main cause of their problems. Fails to offer a solution to the diabetes problem – The media will continue to address the issues of diabetes while stretching the gap between the people living with diabetes and the people around them other than concentrating on the rightful medical solutions. This will mean that a solution to diabetes will not be achieved fast if people already have changed attitudes and beliefs towards the causes of diabetes. Leads to stigma and lose of hope – The media as seen in the four chosen articles depicts diabetes in a way that grabs the attention of the reader. This is especially rampant on the internet where titles are used to attract readership. Basing on this fact, little efforts are put on providing factual information regarding the causes and solutions for diabetes. Diabetes patients are left stigmatized knowing that the media perceives their plight as a problem of a particular group. This media trend on influencing the public’s opinion leaves the nursing profession with a lot of burden. The nurses and the students of nursing are introduced to a world where diabetes patients rely on the media for their medical solution regarding diabetes. For instance, many patients use the internet to find the solution to their diabetes problem. In this regard, a lot of efforts are made by nurses to try and provide specified websites to the diabetic patients in order to ensure that they obtain valuable information at all times. This is vivid especially with many patients with diabetes suffer in search of valuable information on the millions of websites that come up on the search engine from a query of diabetes. Nurses will be required to learn more about diabetes and how the public opinion is influenced by factors like the media. In this regard, nurses will be required to inform the members of the public together with people with diabetes the value of the media resources in obtaining information versus the factual means to obtain solution to their problems. Nurses are required to attend seminars where training on how to deal with people with diabetes are imparted. This will help them apply the same knowledge when dealing with people with diabetes. There is a need for the nurses to participate in formulation of health care policies that focuses on providing tangible solution to diabetes and how to obtain assistance deservingly. Over and above, nurses will be required to help in taking care of the people with diabetes in the communities and ensure that they are protected from any form of harassment. For instance, they are needed to offer informational guidance and support to the families of the patient on how to avoid stigma and public ridicule arising from what the media publishes and the attitudes of the public. Nurses play a significant role of helping the people living with diabetes stand tall and regain their dignity and self awareness in the society. The basic factors in public health policy can be explained as arguments that revolve around American’s ethical judgments of us in opposition to them. The politics of social policy at all times turns on the mental pictures that individuals develop of the beneficiaries. From the observations made regarding the media in shaping the public’s policies, I support this view. The media in the bid to address the issues of diabetes by advocating the behavioral actions of the people with diabetes bring about negative stereotypes regarding people with diabetes. This negative stereotypes brought about by the media reduces the chance of solving the problem about the disease. Consequently, the media leaves the patients with untold suffering and stigma as a result of the bad picture the media subject to the public. A crucial question for the forthcoming years is whether the group centered attitudes depicted by the media on people living with diabetes will be significant predictors of public health policy. In the prospective years the media is seen to put emphasis on racial discrimination. Nevertheless, the public’s mental pictures of the people living with diabetes will in the real sense entail their race. Studies show that the use of group lens to figure out an individual’s policy opinions turns out to be more prospective when the in group sees a threat. Over and above, the public’s interpretation of public health policy matters through their views of groups may turn out to be sensitive in spite of perceived threats of diabetes. This trend implies that group centered approaches may turn out to be more important determinants of the public’s attitudes about diabetes and related factors like obesity. From this reasoning health problems are generalized in the future to bear potentially damaging outcomes for the public’s support for advancing societal resources to contend with these disparities. References Abraham, N.G., E.J. Brunner, J.W. Eriksson, and R.P. Robertson. (2007). Metabolic Syndrome: Psychosocial, Neuroendocrine, and Classical Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences1113:256-75. Amanda Schaffer, (2012). In Diabetes, a Complex of Causes. New York Times http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/diabetes/ Brown, A., S. Ettner, J. Piette, M. Weinberger, E. Gregg, M. Shapiro, et al. (2004). Socioeconomic Position and Health among Persons with Diabetes Mellitus: A Conceptual Framework and Review of the Literature. Epidemiologic Reviews 26:63-77. CDC. (2005). National Diabetes Fact Sheet -- United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2005.pdf. Gilens, M. (1999). Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Goyder, E.C., McNally, P.G., Drucquer, M., Spiers, N., Botha, J.L. (1998). Shifting of Care for Diabetes from Secondary to Primary Care, 1990–5: Review of General Practices. BMJ 316:1505–1506, Hope Warshaw, (2013). Q&A: I have prediabetes. What should I eat? The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/qanda-i-have-prediabetes-what- should-i-eat/2013/11/05/70a3e868-4192-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html Iyengar, S. (1991). Is Anyone Responsible? Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Iyengar, S., and D. Kinder. (1987). News That Matters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kluegel, J.R., and E.R. Smith. (1986). Beliefs About Inequality: Americans' Views of What Is and What Ought to Be. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Knowler, W.C., E. Barrett-Connor, S.E. Fowler, R.F. Hamman, J.M. Lachin, E.A. Walker, et al. (2002). Reduction in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes with Lifestyle Intervention or Metformin. New England Journal of Medicine346 (6):393-403. McKinlay, J., and L. Marceau. 2000. U.S. Public Health and the 21st Century: Diabetes Mellitus. Lancet356:757-761. Nanci Hellmich, (2013). Worried about type 2 diabetes? Walk after every meal. USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/12/diabetes-walk-after- meals/2408753/ New York Daily News, (2013). Women who follow a Mediterranean diet live longer without disease: study. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/mediterranean-diet-helps- women-live-longer-better-study-article-1.1507462 Onkamo P, Vaananen S, Karvonen M, Tuomilehto J. (1999). Worldwide Increase in Incidence of Type 1 Diabetes: The Analysis of the Data on Published Incidence Trends. Diabetologia 42:1395–1403, Reutter, L.I., M.J. Harrison, and A. Neufeld. 2002. Public Support for Poverty-Related Policies. Canadian Journal of Public Health93 (4):297-302. Schulze, M.B., and F.B. Hu. (2005). Primary Prevention of Diabetes: What Can Be Done and How Much Can Be Prevented? Annual Review of Public Health26:445-67. Stone, D. (2006). Reframing the Racial Disparities Issue for State Governments. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law31 (1):128-152. Tesh, S. (1994). Hidden Arguments: Political Ideology and Disease Prevention Policy. In Dominant Issues in Medical Sociology, edited by H. Schwartz. New York: McGraw Hill.519-38. Read More