Discussion: Population Health Determinants in Rural Health Care
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2015), the social determinants of health are conditions in the environments that affect the lifestyles of people. For people living in rural America, typically experience a life of farming or country life. The health care accessibility in rural areas of the United States are face with some difficulties such as sparsely populated areas that are isolated from main health care facilities in inner cities in order to receive emergency treatment. The federal funding to enhance quality of life can have a significant influence rural population health outcome. The availability of local emergency and health services are key in
Another U.S. study found that low availability of emotional support and low social participation were associated with all-cause mortality.
“Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people have a greater amount of disadvantage and significantly more health problems than the non-Aboriginal & Torres strait Islander population in Australia”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1978), health can be defined not only in terms of absence of disease, injury or infirmity, but also, as a state of mental, physical and social well-being. Over the last decades, many studies have emphasized the role of social circumstances on health status. The tight link between health and a wide range of socioeconomic, environmental and demographics factors have been increasingly recognized and proffer an alternative perspective on how to consider public health, social justice and even restructuring of the health care system (Daniels et. al., 2004). The increasingly acknowledgement that health is also a result of cumulative experience of social conditions and exposure to environmental
There is growing research into what has become known as the social determinants of health; the central claim arising from this research is that “various social factors have a strong influence on population health and on inequalities in health outcomes across social groups”. (Preda & Voigt, 2015) Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks. Conditions such as social, economic, and physical in various environments and settings such as school, church, work, or neighborhood have been referred to as “place”. (HP 2020) According to Healthy People 2020 (2016) understanding the relationship between how population groups experience “place” and the impact of “place” on health is fundamental to the social determinants of health. Healthy People 2020 (2016) have developed an approach to social determinants by organizing a “place-based” framework, reflecting five key areas of social determinants of health. Each of these five determinant areas, economic stability, education, social and community context, health and healthcare, neighborhood and built environment; reflects a number of critical components that make up the underlying factors in the arena of social determinants of health. Differences in social, economic, and environmental circumstances lead to health inequalities that are socially produced and therefore
emphasis was on relationships to family, group and country rather than the development of an
these issues though those might be temporary. A final solution will have to be a national policy change in immigration, however, until then we could pursue some international options to aid undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Health determinants are the factors that can have a positive or negative impact on a person’s health. Many things can affect how healthy we are, from a complex interplay between macro to molecular influence to influences from society (for example, the prevalence of drug and alcohol use), to individual factors such as genetic make-up. Education, employment, income, lifestyle, psychosocial and physiological factors can also influence a person’s health and wellbeing. Health can also be significantly affected, and modified to some extent, by the quality and timeliness of the health care services we receive, including preventative health care such as education, screening and immunization.
Conditions of birth and people’s growth, lifestyles, occupations and age strongly influence their health. This essay focuses on children between the ages of zero to 19 and examines what the social determinants of health are. Firstly, it attempts to analyse poverty, family violence, addiction and the impacts on the health of younger New Zealanders who are exposed to those determinants. Secondly, strategies, initiatives and prevention services are identified at national, regional and local levels to investigate what the government and other non-government organisations are doing to ensure that the rights of children are being upheld. Children deserve to have the best start in life to enable healthy growth and development of their own special skills and talents. They need warm, healthy homes to live in, good nutritious food to give them energy to grow and learn, and opportunities for education, along with other activities that help them progress through life. They need the support and care of their parents, whanau and communities that have their best interests at heart.
In the United States for decades the cost of health care has been on the rise and will continue to rise. Healthcare is a major concern for every country in the world. Access to healthcare service is critical for rural residents. Most importantly, residents should be able to have convenient access to medical care such as primary care, dental, behavioral health, emergency, and public health service. According to Health People 2020, access to healthcare is important for overall physical, social, and mental health status, prevention of disease, detection and treatment of illnesses, quality of life, preventable death, and life expectancy. Rural residents often experience obstacles to healthcare that limit their ability to receive the care they need. In order for rural residents to have sufficient healthcare access, necessary and appropriate services must be available.
The “What’s Different about Rural Health Care?” (2010), website identified factors contributing to the disparities in health care, “rural Americans face a unique combination of factors that create disparities in health care not found in urban areas. Economic factors, cultural and social differences, educational shortcomings, lack of recognition by legislators and the sheer isolation of living in remote rural areas all conspire to impede rural Americans in their struggle to lead normal, healthy lives.” These disparities increase the risk of mortality in the rural
Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in
Within the United States, there are substantial inequalities between the places and people. The rural community is one of such significant inequalities and health care disparities. With approximately one-sixth of the population in the United States of America living in rural areas, it is necessary to address the social and economic conditions accountable for the health disparities and inequalities among this vulnerable population.
Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved
Social determinants of health are social, economic and physical factors that affect the health of individuals in any given population. There are fourteen social determinants of health but Income is perhaps the most important of these because it shapes living conditions, influences health related behaviors, and determines food security. In Canada, people with lower incomes are more susceptible to disease/ conditions, higher mortality rate, decreased life expectancy and poorer perceived health than people with high incomes. In numerous Canadian studies and reports, there has been more emphasis on health being based on an individual’s characteristics, choices and behaviours, rather than the role that income plays as a social determinant of health. Although Canada has one of the highest income economies in the world and is comprised of a free health care system, many low income families are a burden on the system because of the physical and mental health issues influenced by income insecurity. Low income individuals are heavier users of health care services because they have lower levels of health and more health problems than do people with higher incomes. This essay will address income as a social determinant of health in three key sections: what is known on the issue, why the issue is important and how can health and public policies address the issue. The main theme that runs through the essay is the income related health inequalities among low income groups compared to
A communicable disease chain is the mechanism by which an infective agent or pathogen is transmitted. The chain requires an infective agent, a source of infection, a mode of transmission and a host. An example of an infective agent could be bacteria, a virus, fungus, protozoan or helminth. The source of infective agents can be transmission from host to host, an infected human or animal, insects, soil or livestock. The mode of transmission is how the infective agent is carried from host to host. Transmission can be by air, ingestion or physical contact. To complete a life cycle or to replicate, the infective agent requires a host.