Healthcare Policy Issue - Essay Example

? Healthcare al Affiliation: Table of contents Introduction 3 Literature review 4 Methodology 7 Dissemination 9 Timetable 9 Conclusion 10 Recommendation 11 Bibliography 13 Introduction Social policy refers to a set of principles, legislation, or guidelines that have effect on the welfare of human beings. It usually acts as a public policy that lays the foundation against which people’s interest shall be represented through established systems and institutions. It has been noted over time, that social policy tends to focus on issues such as, health care, criminal justice, labour relations, and all matters that pertain to elements of unfair treatment. Social policy in general is designed to deal with equity issues in the society. It serves as a platform through which wellbeing of members of a society is addressed to ensure equal access to resources for equal benefit of every member of that society. Healthcare refers to the diagnosis, cure and prevention of diseases and other mental and physical impairments in human beings. The process of treatment is offered by practitioners in nursing, pharmacy, medicine and dentistry. Across the globe, right to use healthcare is dissimilar from one country to another depending on the administration of the nation in question. The aspects that are taken into consideration in regards to healthcare include: health policies, economic and social conditions in a country. There are policies that govern every nation in regards to population and personal-based health care objectives. This gives a clear impression that in each nation, there are rules that guide the sytem when it comes to healthy matters. This is basically controlled by the management of the every nation. Healthcare is a policy issue that is sensitive to countries globally. This is because it is an issue that affects human beings and should be taken into consideration has it has many impacts on the society at large. The projects in this case, will have a discussion generally basing on the issue of health. In this case, the geographical regions to be discussed will be the United States of America and the Great Britain. The major issues to be discussed in this project will include causative agents of diseases in both nations, individuals who are infected by various diseases and the effects of rise in diseases to both countries. Other issues that will be discussed include financial positions of both nations in the healthcare field. This will include how administrative bodies of both nations contribute to handling issues that affect the health of the public. That is the steps taken by each management to make certain that the citizens in each nation live comfortably without the fear of diseases. The level at which diseases strike a region and the diseases that are mostly known to affect the two geographical regions are among the issues that will as well be discussed. Healthcare issue is one of those factors that bring about many changes to the society. This project will also give an illustration of how healthcare as a policy issue has brought about changes to the nations of Great Britain and United States of America. These changes include, economical changes, social and at some point physical changes when it comes to personal level. The project will also mention how the countries take care of patients and how prevention is done in order to avoid the healthy people being infected. This is majorly because there are diseases which are known to be airborne which means that patients suffering from such diseases are not supposed to come into contact with those who are not infected. The methodologies implemented by the nations to avoid spread of diseases will therefore be discussed. Literature review Social policy in countries that have stable democracies such as the United States and Great Britain operates like legal policies. Most of the existing policies are consistent with UN Charter on Human Rights. This clearly explains why healthcare is considered to be a social policy issue. There are many researchers who have done investigation on this field though many of them have studied different sub-topics in regards to many illnesses that affect the world. Freid is one of the researchers who have taken part in such research activities whereby in his case, he generally talks of children and diseases that mostly affect the kids with the ways of treating and preventing such diseases (Freid, 1998, 1-23). American medical association is an example of an organisation among many that has taken initiative to research on healthcare. In this case, this union basically discusses on ways in which patients can be taken care of from home. (American medical association, 1998, 75). As an American organisation, it clearly shows that this is one practice carried out in the United States of America where patients whodo not require admittance in the health centres or have been discharged can easily get care from home. This also includes old people who can take rest at home and get care from there (Munson, 1999, 309) Other diseases that have widely been researched on include cancer (Wingo, 2000, 497-512) Dermatologic diseases (Sugarman, 2002, 23-217). Marcell is another researcher who has done investigation on healthcare but basically discussed about how male adolescents use healthcare services. This is one research which helps men in that category to know how to use healthcare services effectively (Marcell, 2002, 35-43). There are racial differences in hormones and Marsh is one researcher who has investigated on this specific area providing information on how to handle such an issue (Marsh, 1999, 999- 1003). All these investigations show that there are various researchers who have dedicated their time to taking up research on health issues in order to come up with information that can help the society at large. The researches done apply both to the United States of America and the Great Britain as they are also part of the globe. Research is an ongoing activity in the contemporary society as there is no perfection due to new issues that come up as time goes by. This is one factor that makes research new everyday and new information even on previous researches are discovered. This applies generally to health as an issue in general as discussed by McCaig (McCaig, 2001, 320). Looking at health as a general issue there should be cleanliness and in this case, the Great Britain has contributed in providing information on how to dispose waste from health centers in order to keep the environment clean and conducive for patients (Great Britain, 2007, 102). Statement of General Aims and Specific Objectives The aim of the proposed study is to compare and contrast healthcare issue in the United States of America and the Great Britain. The paper shall seek to research various matters around health care and every detail that affects the healthcare field in general (Kongstdevdt, 2007, 163). The result collected from the above study will be used to analyze the changing of global trends to observe how much administration of various nations globally, remain loyal to the needs of its citizens. Data obtained shall also be used to analyze whether there is need to re-address healthcare as a social policy issue. Besides, results obtained in the study will also be used to analyze how much the two concerned governments have remained agile to represent the interests and aspirations of the people as is enshrined in their constitution. The study will also enable assessment and evaluation of how the two countries safeguard certain provisions of United Nations Charter on Human Rights. The project will also aim at viewing the effects of healthcare research findings if they have contributed to improving outcomes as explained by Young’s expectations in is manuscript (Young, 2010, 82). Research Questions i. Has the administration of the United States shown concern to healthcare issue in any way? ii. Has the administration of The Great Britain shown concern to healthcare issue in any way? iii. Have the implementations by the administrations if any, been in match with the citizens’ aspirations? iv. Have the implementations if any, been effective enough to the countries’ economy? Methodology The methodology that will be used in the project is interview and questionares. This is because it is a methodology that makes it possible to get the numerical information of individuals affected by diseases in the two nations. It is an effective method for this type of research because the key points to be noted and information to be gathered mainly involves numeric information and it covers a wide area. In this general methodology strategy, two methods will be used to for data collection for effective findings. The two methods that will be used are sampling and questionnaires. Sampling will be used as it entails information on apart of the total population to be covered. This will be effective as it is a method which will provide facts about a certain percentage making it easier to understand the health situation of a specific region or a certain percentage of population. There are various reasons as to why this method has been chosen. They include saving time and money, for reduction in the population which may be too large for complete remuneration and it is a method that allows more time to be spent on training and checking. With this method of data collection, a sampling design will be made where there are certain steps that will be followed in making it, order to come up with effective findings. These steps are Type of inverse This is the first step where the objectives to be studies are clearly defined. Sampling unit This is the second step which states the geographical area to be the area of study whereby here, it is the United States of America and the Great Britain. Source list This is a list that is intended to show the names of the items where in this case it will include names of places where sampling will be conducted. Size of sample It is the forth step in making the sample design and it is meant to indicate the number of items to be selected. Parameters of interest This is where the main point of interest will be determined and in this case, it will be the portion of people that are affected by certain diseases since it is a healthcare discussion. Budgetary constraints The sixth step in making the sample design and it indicates the cost from a practical point of view. This will therefore give an indication of the cost that will be incurred in the research process. Sample procedure The last step in making a sample design and it involves a technique to be used in selecting samples. The other method of collecting data which will be applied is questionnaires. A questionnaire refers to a set of carefully selected questions used in sample studying, there are various type of questionnaires which are, open-ended, close- ended, multiple choice and declarative. In this project, the type of questionnaire that will be used will be the open-ended one. This is because this type of questionnaires gives room for freedom of expression and it is convenient for studying a depth interview. Since healthcare is an issue which has to be studied in depth, this will be the best form of questionnaire to be used. In this type of research the responses received are always not biased and it is one that sets an interview at ease. This is another reason as to why it will be used to collect data. Dissemination The report from research will be published and printed out in magazines in order for it to reach many individuals. Such information is important for the society at large and should be made available and reachable to many. Magazines are bought on daily basis by several individuals and placing this information on them will make many individuals get to read about it. The reason as to why magazines will be used is because they are affordable and are readily available to citizens who need them. Timetable Date Activity Duration Typing and Printing Collection of Data Conclusion In conclusion, this research project will touch on healthcare as a social policy issue. It will mainly discuss in this issue in two specific regions which are the Great Britain and the US. This gives a clear impression that everything which will be discussed in the project will only cover the two specific regions without including other facts that do not affect the nations. The major points that will be discussed are diseases that are known to affect the two nations, the methods used to take care of patients and implementations by the administrations to fight the epidemics among other sensitive issues on healthcare in the countries. The project will not take a specific disease into consideration rather it will illustrate on various illnesses. This is specifically because healthcare as an issue is a wide topic to cover as it includes various things to talk about. It is also a sensitive issue as it affects people who make up the society and who are responsible for running all the activities to make certain that everything goes on smoothly. For every activity carried out to be effective enough it requires healthy and energetic individuals. The fact that healthy and energetic people are needed to make the economy of the society grow, makes healthcare a social policy issue as it has to be taken seriously to avoid negative growth of economy. This therefore, applies to all nations of the world but in this case, the project will only discuss on the issue covering the Great Britain and US. It is necessary to make certain that individuals are fit physically in order to avoid instances such as early deaths or increase in mortality rate. This is because with the increase in mortality rate, labour needed for effective production and growth of economy will not be sufficient leading to poor development. This makes healthcare a sensitive issue in the contemporary society. Recommendation It is the responsibility of the administration of each nation to make certain that healthcare is taken seriously. Even after writing my project, I recommend that other researchers take part in studying more about healthcare in various nations of the earth. This is an implementation that will help to note weaknesses in this field, making it possible to correct mistakes and improve healthcare situation worldwide. Generally, it will be of benefit to the society at large as work that requires human effort will be carried out effectively. This will in turn lead to positive development economically which will in turn improve how people live making life better. More research should be carried out because in everyday life, there are diseases that come up and it becomes hard for people to understand what they are. At some point it also becomes difficult for those who are experts in the medical field to know what type of diseases they are. In such situations, it is a vital issue to dig in and acquire more knowledge on them so as to find methods to have them cured and prevented to avoid more infections. The reason as to why more researches should be done is because most researchers take their time to acquire knowledge on healthcare issues on specific geographical areas. It is therefore necessary for other researchers to come up and cover other geographical regions so that findings on every nation of the world can be acquired. This will help to make it easy when dealing with health issues over a wide geographical location. Healthcare services should not only be offered by individuals who have specialised in medicine. In cases where patients get better and can be taken care of from home, it is best to have them discharged in order to use cash that would be used to cater for bills in the health centre in other useful issues. In such cases it is easy to take simple instructions on taking care of the patient where individuals can practice this at home. It is possible and this is a methodology that should be implemented in the whole globe. It is an activity which helps to make people busy and instills a caring character as well. Such virtues when earned makes people live together in peace as they are able to offer one another love. It gives a clear impression therefore that it is not of benefit to the patients only but to the society at large. Bibliography American Medical Association. 1998. Medical managing of the house care patient: Guideline for physicians, second edition. Chicago, Illinois. Freid, V. M., Makuc, D. M., Rooks, R. N., 1998. Ambulatory healthiness care visits by children: Principal diagnosis and place of visit. Vital Health State, 13 (137), 1-23. Great Britain. Dept. of Health. Estates and Facilities Division. 2007. Safe Management of Healthcare Waste. United Kingdom: The Stationery Office. Kongstdevdt, P.R, 2007. Essentials of managed healthcare. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Joos, I. M., Nelson, R. 2010. Introduction to Computers for Healthcare Professionals. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Marcell, A.V., Klein, J.D., Fischer, I., 2002. Male adolescent use of health care services: Where are the boys? J Adolesc Health 30 (1), 35–43. Marsh, J.V., Brett, K.M., Miller, L.C., 1999. Racial dissimilarity in hormone replacement therapy prescriptions. Obstet Gynecol 93 (6), 999–1003. 1999. McCaig, L. F., Burt, C.W., 2001. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1999 emergency department summary. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. Munson M., 1999. Characteristics of elderly home health care users: Data from the 1996 National Home and Hospice Care Survey. Advance data from vital and health statistics. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. Wingo, P.A., Guest, J.L., McGinnis L., 2000. Patterns of inpatient surgeries cancer in the United States. National Hospital Discharge Survey. Cancer Causes Control 11 (6), 497–512. Sugarman, J.H., Fleischer, A.B Jr., Feldman, S.R., 2002. Off-label prescribing in the treatment of dermatologic disease. J Am Acad Dermatol 47 (2), 23- 217. Young, P.L., Olsen, L., Institute of Medicine, 2010. The healthcare imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes. National Academic Press. Read More