Health Society and Paramedical Practice - Assignment Example

What social patterns of health and illness exist? Healthcare is an important issue here in Australia and around the world. Since healthcare reform is an important political issue in the United States, the following will explore social patterns of health and illness using America as a model since this country’s healthcare is frequently in the news. Today, one in three Americans identify themselves as Hispanic, Native American, Asian American, African- American or Pacific Islander. Accordingly, it is predicted that by 2050, more than half of the American population will be self-identified minorities. Over the last 50 years, the United States has made efforts to ensure the improvement of healthcare access for all Americans. In the early 1960s, the United States established policies aimed at expanding the access to healthcare for all citizens. These programs did result in expanding access to healthcare for low-income families, people with disabilities and the poor through Medicare, Medicaid and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Despite these positive changes, disparities in healthcare continue to exist for minority populations in the United States. For a country which came into existence based on the premise of universal equality, the United States has, from a health-perspective, ignored some of the very principals under which it was founded. More than 20 years ago in 1985, the United States Department of Health and Human Services released a milestone report on racial health disparities in the United States entitled, “Secretary’s Task Force Report on Black and Minority Health.” Revealing significant gaps in the health status among Americans of diverse racial and ethnic groups, this report was the first of its kind. This was also the first national report to document the health disparities of racial populations in the United States. Despite attempts at addressing these issues, health issues among minority populations continue to persist. Today, a number of studies have shown that minority populations have higher death rates and rates of diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disorders. These studies represent the social model of health and data collected from independent studies over the years have concluded that African-Americans have the worst health outcomes when compared to other minority populations in America. For example, African-Americans have the higher cancer rates and the survival rate for African-American women with breast cancer is half that of white females. Such disparities are generally ignored by the U.S. healthcare system because the system does not fully address the environmental causal factors which result in health inequalities. Not addressing the factors which lead to health disparities furthers the bridge between the minority and the majority population in relation to health statuses. There has been increasing interest in racial and ethnic disparities and the use of preventive health services to counteract these disparities. Since the Healthy People 2010 Initiative, there have been many attempts to develop interventions that decrease health inequities. Some of these interventions include cultural competency programs, community-based outreach for minority populations, and advance targeted screenings. In an important study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 1999 entitled Race, Ethnicity and Medical Care: A Survey of Public Perceptions and Experiences, researchers assessed people’s perceptions about racial biases in the US healthcare system. Accordingly, this was the first national research study to study these trend. The aim of these studies was an attempt to understand the differences that occur in the health system by virtue of race. What are the differences between individualist and structuralist health promotion programs? Individualist health promotion programs look aim at addressing the health concerns of individuals while structuralism health promotion programs are focused upon addressing health trends such as the outbreak of HIV among high school students, or as in the answer above, addressing the racial disparities of healthcare. In Australia national health insurance coverage ensures that basic healthcare can be accessed by all. Individual private health insurance plans depend on an one’s age, employment status, residency, and race/ethnicity. The social model of health explores both individuals and the social population in determining our conception of health. According to this theoretical paradigm, improved health can be improved by looking at the key environmental and social aspects of what constitutes positive health. This is a theoretical model which has recently gained credence due to its emphasis on social determinants of health. As with the question above, since US healthcare is current, topical and presently being debated, the following will explore the differences between individualist and structuralist health promotion programs with a focus on the United States. Today, a number of studies have shown that minority populations have higher death rates and rates of diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disorders. These studies represent the social model of health and data collected from independent studies over the years have concluded that African-Americans have the worst health outcomes when compared to other minority populations in America. For example, African-Americans have the higher cancer rates and the survival rate for African-American women with breast cancer is half that of white females. Such disparities are generally ignored by the U.S. healthcare system because the system does not fully address the environmental causal factors which result in health inequalities. Not addressing the factors which lead to health disparities furthers the bridge between the minority and the majority population in relation to health statuses. There has been increasing interest in racial and ethnic disparities and the use of preventive health services to counteract these disparities. Since the Healthy People 2010 Initiative, there have been many attempts to develop interventions that decrease health inequities. The aim of these studies was an attempt to understand the differences that occur in the health system by virtue of race. These are structural issues which need to be addressed from a macro perspective. Why has a mens health movement arisen? A men’s health movement has arisen in response to the historical one-sided emphasis on women’s issues in healthcare. To be fair, women face a variety of unique healthcare challenges such as pregnancy, giving birth, menopause and a whole host of other issues. Despite this, a men’s health movement has arisen in response to an increased understanding by man and by healthcare workers that male health issues cannot be ignored and need to be understood with the same level of scrutiny as that of women. Accordingly, men today are more comfortable talking about their own health-related concerns such as testicular cancer, genital warts and other sexually transmitted diseases. Today men appear more comfortable discussing their sexuality and their sexual issues as such there is an increased dialogue between men and their healthcare professional about the issues that affect them. A men’s health movement does not take anything away from the women’s health movement which has made incredible gains for women in a variety of important health-related spheres but this movement is relatively new and based upon the early successes of women’s health advocates. Accordingly, the men’s health movement began in the 1980s to promote a greater awareness of health issues among men. Prior to the emergence of this movement, many health and sexual issues were taboo for men and rarely discussed. Sexual impotence and sexually transmitted diseases are just two of the important taboo subjects men rarely if ever discussed. Today there is far more openness, understanding and dialogue about the important health issues facing men in America and around the world and an increased acceptance for men to talk about these important issues. The issue of prostate cancer testing was one which men seemed to rally around and was an important early issue for the budding men’s health movement. Male rectal issues were before then ignored by most men and this issue helped raise social awareness about a unique male health related problem. Based on the successes of the women’s health movement, the men’s health movement was devised rather late but has achieved its goal of popularizing men’s health issues and creating a dialogue about men’s health in society as well as between men themselves. Is sociology beyond criticism? The Sociological Imagination remains one the most important early works in the emergence of sociology as a scholarly discipline. A foundational text in the field, C. Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination, continues to be relevant today. What is the sociological imagination and how does it relate to our concepts of self, health and society? How can the sociological imagination be used to solve tough social problems such as teen pregnancy, drug addiction, and crime? These questions will be explored below. C. Wright Mills coined this term to describe the process by which individuals come to understand the importance of social forces in shaping the day-to-day interactions of their lives and the lives of others in society. Western civilization tends to be heavily individualistic and people in the Western world have tended to focus on their particular individual circumstances, ignoring the importance of social forces and social factors in shaping the present situations that people find themselves in. Written nearly a half century ago, Mills began his analysis with the understanding that people often feel trapped by circumstances not fully understood and subsequently felt to be beyond their control. The Sociological Imagination emphatically argues that we must seek to understand the “interplay of individuals and society, of biography and history, of self and world” (Mills, 1959). What this means is that we must grasp the importance of social structures in seeking to understand our personal troubles and personal problems. History is also important and we must always remember that our personal predicaments are shaped by social forces. Thus, structural forces are always at play and this must be recognized. Mills used a variety of examples to outline his theory and unemployment, war and marriage are used to demonstrate the interplay between individual problems and the resulting social implications. How does the Sociological Imagination help us understand tough social problems such as teen pregnancy, drug addiction, and crime? Mills’ theory gives us a perspective which allows us to situate the problems of individuals within a wider social context. From this perspective, teen pregnancy can be viewed as a result of inadequate sexual education or increased levels of young promiscuity within a given society. Looking at social forces to shape our understanding of individual problems lies at the heart of the Sociological Imagination. Drug addiction and crime can thus be viewed as wider societal problems with broad ramifications. Drug addiction may be prevalent in societies in which drugs are easily accessible or places in which people seek a mental escape from their day-to-day problems. Crime can be seen as a result of poverty, widespread inequality or other social forces which promote anti-social behavior. For the sociologist then, the self and society are intertwined and interdependent. It is impossible to understand the self without understanding first the social situation in which the self exists. According, individuals and society have an interdependent relationship and one cannot exist without the other. For the first time, C. Wright Mills brought this idea to the fore and called it the “Sociological Imagination”. While the sociology is not beyond criticism, understanding the social forces which shape our society can give us a much better understanding of who we are and what is happening in the world around us. Read More