The Importance of Social and Emotional Wellbeing to Toddlers - Term Paper Example

Social and Emotional Wellbeing Author’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Details: Institutional Affiliation: Date of Submission Purpose The report highlights the significance of social and emotional wellbeing to toddlers. In addition, the report seeks to put emphasis on the necessity of primary health care and the role played by the nurses in revision of primary health care. The report also elucidates the effect of health determinants in primary health care. Introduction There is great concern within the society in Australia on the growth and development of toddler. The society is keen to ensure the toddler attain proper growth and development to become productive adults. Over the past two decades various policies have been formulated with regard to the growth and development. To this effect, various indicators have been put forward to aid in the monitoring of health, development and wellbeing of toddler in Australia. The indicators provide a basis of guiding and evaluating policies to be development regarding growth and development of a toddler. In addition, the indicators allow for early interventions and prevention mechanisms to be put in place to allow for the full potential of growth and development. The social and emotional wellbeing is one of the 19 child headline indicators (AIHW, 2010). Definitions Social and emotional wellbeing: Social and emotional wellbeing refers to the manner in which a person thinks, feels about themselves or others. Primary health care: It is a model of health care delivery that seeks to address the core issues in health such as equity in the access to health care services, food, housing and resources. Determinants of health: These are the conditions which influence the ability of one to access quality health care. Toddler: Children with ages between one and three years old. Background information Social and emotional development entails gaining of strength or capacity to lead a full and productive life and being able to cope with challenges and uncertainties. Toddler need to be equipped with skills that are necessary for development and to succeed in life. This includes theability to undertsnad themselves and correlates with other people in the society (AIHW, 2010). Discussion Social and emotional wellbeing of a toddler takes various dimensions. The major dimensions include relational or environmental dimensions and those that are self or personal. The relational or environmental dimensions comprises of the factors that influence the relationship with other individuals in the society. Examples of components of relational or environmental dimensions include bullying and peer pr4essire.the self or personal dimensions on the other hand is comprises of behaviors, physical and mental capabilities of the individual. The dimensions provide a basis of evaluating the social and emotional wellbeing (Hamilton & Redmond, 2010). Contributing factors Various factors are responsible for the development of the toddlers social and emotional wellbeing. The factors can be broadly categorized into environmental and personal factors. The environmental factors include the influence that the toddler gets from the community, home or at school. The personal factors on the other hand come emanate from individual cognitive capabilities and social-emotional skills (Haswell et al., 2009). Environmental factors such as the community, home and school provide an enabling environment for the toddler to their develop positive or negatively in terms of their social and emotional wellbeing. Environmental factors shape the interpersonal relations and the way one handles himself I the society.iin addition, the environmental factors makes ones reactions to conform to the expectations of the community or society (Eckersley, 2008). Personal factors such as the individual cognitive capabilities and the social emotional skills determine how one reacts to various situations in life. It is based on the personal factors that reaction to incidences varies from one individual to another (Kelly et al., 2009). Benefits of social and emotional wellbeing Over the years continued increase on the need of building a well rounded society in Australia. The society is not only concerned with disseminating knowledge and skills to the toddler but also making them useful and productive members of the society. The concern is attributed to the increasing awareness of social wellbeing relevance in life (Shepherd, Li & Zubrick, 2012). Social and emotional wellbeing correlates with the attainment of cognitive development by the toddler, this means that the social and emotional wellbeing of a child influences the abilities of the child realizing his full potential in life (Smart &Vassallo, 2008). Studies show that the high achievers are individuals who receive social and emotional skills as toddler. The social and emotional skills go a long way in augmenting the positions of the high achievers in the society. Most of the high achievers are well established as a result of attaining social and emotional skills since it props up their education (Slater et al., 2010). The toddler’s with social and emotional wellbeing tend to be more employed and progress well at work. This is because the social and emotional skills impacted in them enables them to get along with the people around them. Such individuals always have maturity, discipline and experience and this attracts a lot of attention from the members of the society. Most people would thus be comfortable work and associate with them (Shepherd, Li & Zubrick, 2012). Social and emotional wellbeing promotes the impacting of discipline in the toddler as they grow. Well disciplined toddler will rarely engage in deviant behavior in the society such as the use of drugs, violence, crime and will know how to control or handle themselves even with extremes of emotions (Smart &Vassallo, 2008). Absence of social and emotional wellbeing Toddlers who lack aspects or dimensions of social and emotional wellbeing will often have poor life. This is because they become disadvantaged in their cognitive functions and interpersonal relations. Such toddler will often engage in deviant behaviors in the society such as drug addition, crime and violence (Smart &Vassallo, 2008). Primary Health Care Primary health care is essential in the dissemination of social and emotional wellbeing in the Australian society. Primary care entails the provision of services that are aimed at detecting and preventing the detoriation of one’s social and emotional wellbeing (AIHW, 2010). Determinants of health Determinants of health in Australia affect the delivery of primary health care in promoting social and emotional wellbeing. The main determinants of health in this case are mainly the social determinants of health which include the income and social status, social participation and support from social networks (Wissow et al., 2008). Income and social status determine the quality of care that individuals recive.30% of indigenous Australians are in income poverty. In addition, 20% of indigenous Australians are unemployed and this further exacerbates the acquisition of quality health care. This means that a larger population amongst the indigenous Australians cannot afford quality health care. Individuals from well off families are able to access better health care services when compared to those from poor families (AIHW, 2010). Race affects the delivery of health services in vary many ways. Racism hinders equitable access to primary health care services while at the same time affects other determinants of health such as education, employment and income. Delivery of primary health care in some instances is inclined on racial lines (Priest et al., 2011). Aborigines’ for instance are disadvantaged in terms of accessing primary health care. Almost 21.5 5 of indigenous Australians are reported to be disseminated annually based on racial lines on seeking medical attention. This is evidenced by the widespread poor outcomes being recorded in terms of social and emotional wellbeing amounts the aborigines’ and Torres islanders. At the same time, the other Australian communities record low levels of toddlers having issues poor social and emotional wellbeing (Government of Western Australia department of health, 2011). Education equips people with knowledge and skills to solve problems and have a mastery control over situations that they face. Education levels of the family members determine the level of participation and awareness with regard to social and emotional wellbeing (Priest, Baxter & Hayes, 2012). Research shows that 38% of the indigenous population is well educated when compared to 76% of the non indigenous population in Australia. Individuals who are well educated will be more involved in ensuring social and emotional wellbeing for their families as compared to those who are less educated. Education plays a vital role in providing more awareness of how essential social and emotional wellbeing influences a person life. Parents who are educated are thus keen to ensure their toddler attain proper social and emotional wellbeing since it will go a long way in transforming their lives to lead productive and fulfilling lives (AIHW, 2010). The presence of social support networks such as the family, friends and the entire community is vital in the realization of better health outcomes. Support attained from the community, family or friends enable the realization of social and emotional wellbeing. Support from this quarters act like a buffer to the social and emotional challenges that the members of a community face. However, the absence of community support leaves the community vulnerable to social and emotional disturbances which in turn affect the growth and development of toddlers (Government of Western Australia department of health, 2011). Psychological emotional wellbeing needs of the child Social and emotional wellbeing of toddlers is essential since it influences their growth and development. Social and emotional health is bound to influence the present and future physical health of the toddler. It is thus responsible in determining whether or not the toddler will develop healthy lifestyles. Childhood provides an opportunity of various emotional, social and behavioral difficulties to be picked up on time (South Australian Council of Social Service, 2008). Models of effective practice in education setting In the education setting, effective promotion of social and emotional wellbeing is achieved through the establishment of partnership working with the toddler. This gives room for the toddler to air out their views and opinions freely. The education should focus on the identification of possible social and emotional risk factors that are likely to disrupt their learning (AIHW, 2008). The models in an education set up will be focused on promoting emotional and cognitive engagement in the toddler. Emotional engagement in toddler will entail establishing an environment that promotes a sense of belonging. Such an environment will sharpen the emotional skills of the child. The cognitive engagement is established by stimulating the development of the brain. This will entail facilitating the toddler to develop reading and writing skills. The basic reading and writing skills provide a foundation for the toddler to develop complex thinking strategies (Victorian Government Department of Human Services, 2008). Roles of nurses and primary health care strategies they can employ The provision of primary health care requires nurses to understand the core principles in child development. Primary health care allows for early detection of negative aspects in social and emotional wellbeing. This allows for interventions to be put in place to prevent the detoriation of the social and emotional wellbeing of the toddler. In addition, primary health care enables toddlers to realise their full potential in as far as social and emotional wellbeing is concerned. Nurse’s roles in the delivery of primary health care are clearly defined. In this case, the nurse will be more concerned with ensuring the child attains the social and emotional milestones. Nurses have to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the child to establish if the milestones that have been achieved or not. In addition, the nurse will have to identify the social factors that support or undermine the social and emotional development of the child. Moreover, the nurse would understand the significance of human relations as the building blocks of healthy development. In addition, the nurse will have to identify the social factors that support or undermine the social and emotional development of the child. Furthermore, nurses’ would understand the significance of human relations as the building blocks of healthy development. Assessment provides a means of the nurse establishing the priority needs for the child. The nurse ought to utilize the knowledge and skills to identify the needs f the child and to also support the parents in choosing the most effective management strategies to be put in place. The nurse ought to advice the parents on how they can enhance interactions and their relationship with the child (Haswell et al., 2009). The strategies to be put in place while disseminating primary health care will involve the setting of achievable and realistic goals, prioritization, accountability and collaboration with other professionals. This will hasten the delivery of primary health services to the community (Haswell et al., 2009). Recommendations There is need for a change in approach of disseminating of primary health care services are concerned. The change ought to enhance equity and easy accessibility of the health services. To achieve this: The nurses have to understand the diversity in cultures that exist due to the varied races in Australia. This will eliminate the discrimination based on racial lines that hinders many from accessing essential health services. The public ought to be educated more on the significance of social and emotional wellbeing. This will enable the community to be involved in primary care activities that promote social and emotional wellbeing. Conclusion Health determinants greatly influence the delivery of primary health care in promoting social and emotional wellbeing. A larger proportion of the community cannot easily access essential primary health care services. Social determinants of health are the ones that mostly affect the manner in which the primary health care services are disseminated in the community. Previously, most members of the public were not fully aware of the essence of social and emotional wellbeing. 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