The Health and Social Care Inequalities-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Health and Social Care Inequalities in the Society. Answer: The cultural values and the upbringing of the people influence their perception and belief towards health and sickness. It can be critiqued that some diseases are more prevalent in some social classes whereas some diseases are more prevalent in other social classes. The education, life style and the family background also influence the manner in which diseases are perceived and responded. People belonging to different social classes have different kind of life style which creates several lifestyle diseases. The lifestyle diseases refer to the diseases which are associated with the way people live their life. The major causes of the lifestyle diseases are smoking, alcohol, drugs or the lack of the physical activity. The life expectancy and the health are different in the UK and the Northern Ireland. The present essay will try to identify the impact of the social class and the education on the health and life chances of people (BBC, 2013). The socialist theories and research are common ly employed to understand the impact of inequalities on the life chances of the individual. The present essay will also explore why these inequalities are still prevalent in the society. It can be critiqued that the people in the Northern Ireland and the UK have different kind of the lifestyle. The upbringing, education level and the social class of the people in both the territories is different. The culture and the upbringing of the people disperse in the future life of the people and develop their lifestyle or shape their attitudes towards diseases and the lifestyle. The lifestyle of the people also impacts on their attitude towards disability, diseases and the response mechanism. According to WHO (World Health Organization), the health of an individual can be defined as the complete physical, social and mental well-being and does not imply the absence of any disease (WHO, 2010; Collins Resources, 2013). The social class scale can be used to examine the impact of the education, household income and the employment status of a person on his lifestyle and approach towards diseases. In this scale, the society in the UK is divided into seven social groups and the Elite society exits at the top of this scale whereas the Precariat exists at the end of the scale. The income or the occupation of an individual also impacts on his lifestyle in several different ways. The occupation of a person influences their self-worth, personal development and may expose them to certain situations which can impact on their health. For instance, engineers have long sitting periods which can cause obesity or the people working in mines may be exposed to hazardous materials. Several researches have also indicated that the people in the higher income group drink more alcohol than the people in lower income group. The people in higher income group have more spare income to spend on luxury items; therefore, they are more prone for the consumption of alcohol. The people living in the lower social classes cannot afford to drink as they have low income. (Office National Statistics, 2017) It can be critiqued that the lifestyle of the people in lower income group is directed by their income and thy only have money to spend on the basic necessities such as food and shelter. However, it does not indicate that the people in the lower income group are leading a healthier lifestyle. Due to the shortage of the money, the people in lower income group are consuming unhealthy food. In order to save money, the people are consuming junk and fast food which is causing obesity related diseases in the lower income group. According to NHS report, it can be critiqued that the children in the lower income group are more likely to suffer from obesity due to the consumption of unhealthy food. Currently, there are two models of health present in the society, namely, bio-medical model and the social model. The bio-medical model is the most common method for evaluating the health of citizens. This model is commonly employed by the healthcare professionals and considers that the illness should be treated and cured by pharmaceutical drugs and surgeries (Mazzotta, 2016). The model elaborates that the impairments and severe diseases cause severe problem to the people and they must be dealt immediately. According to this model, the root cause of the diseases is the person suffering from the disease. Most of the diseases are caused by the lifestyle and the diet of the person. The Bio-medical model also guides the diagnosis, treatment and the decision-making of the physicians. All these steps are important in effective treatment of the patients (Naidoo Wills, 2015). The disease can be cured with the help of medicines or the surgeries; it cannot control the recurrence of the diseas e. This model tries to explain all the diseases with the physical or the organic components of the disease and emphasize less on the psychological factors. Several theories such as functionalism and Parsons Sick role align with the above-mentioned theory. This model prevents the people from opting out from the roles which can pose negative impact on their health. For instance, the nurses have to remain in the close vicinity of several patients suffering from contagious diseases which can create negative impact on their health. The health practitioners should always act in the best interest of the service users. However, caring for the patients becomes difficult when they are suffering from certain diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Schizophrenia which makes the patient physically and mentally unfit (Chrisler McCreary, 2010). On the other hand, the Marxist theory states that Bio-medical model tries to maximize the profit of the drug manufacturers instead of eradicating the diseases from the society. The Marxist theory states that the current society is capitalist in nature and developed due to the current state of the economy. The Marxist theory aligns with the social model which is focused on attaining the preventive measures for disease control rather than providing a cure to the patients. According to this model, the society should focus on minimizing or eradicating the barriers posed to an individual. For instance, it is beneficial to educate the people regarding the negative impacts of certain diseases to enhance their prevention. The people should be trained regarding issues related to overeating or under eating and how they can control it (Eating Disorders Association Northern Ireland, 2016). In the UK, several diseases are prevalent related to eating disorders such as Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder Effect. A significant amount of population is suffering in silence or dealing with these diseases silently. It can be critiqued that these differences in the lifestyle results due to social inequalities and they impact on the education, accommodation and the employment of the people. Therefore, social inequality impacts on the health of the individuals (Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit, 2015). The inequality between different individuals can be defined as the state of nor being equal in rights or opportunities. In the present times, all the governments are making efforts to mitigate the societal inequalities; however, they still exist in the society .The financial status and housing conditions are the major reason for societal inequality and it impacts on the future opportunities granted to the people. In the North Ireland, Carryduff West can be considered as the least deprived location whereas Clonard cam is considered as the most deprived district in the location. The district of Clonard has a large population of approximately 4900 people whereas Carryduff has an approximate population of 3400 people. However, it can be critiqued that despite having smaller population, Carryduff is the least deprived due to the higher education of the citizens. Approximately 40% of the population in Carryduff has a high school diploma or higher degree in education. In Clonard, about 55% of the population has no or low level of education. In Clonard, there are a large number of people who seek unemployment or the job seeker allowance. A significant portion of population also does not have access to car and which is also a major hindrance in receiving higher population. The people may avoid getting admission to higher degree institutes as they do not have the vehicle to travel in faraway places. Other than that, there is significant portion of population are single parents which can impact negatively on the acquisition of the higher education. It can be critique d that the students may face lack of family support when going for higher education. The New Right Theorist Charles Murray is concerned about the government support and state that some people are comfortable living underclass and become habitual of dependency. People find it easy to accept the benefits of the welfare rather than work. It can be critiqued that thee people in Clonard have issues or hindrances in obtaining higher education which impacts on their employment and income level. When the people will have issues in entering well-paying employment, it will impact on the kind of food which they will consume as well as the future and the education of their children. It can also impact on the health conditions of their children as they are unable to provide healthy food to their children. It can be discussed that in the contemporary society, health inequalities are arising due to certain issues. The major factors leading to the health inequalities are educational differences, differences in the social class or the difference in the household income of different people (Haralambos Holborn, 2013). The health inequalities can be defined by class, gender and ethnicity with the help of four major theories, namely, natural and social selection, materialist-structuralism and cultural-behavioral. It can be deduced that the structural and the cultural factors are the major reasons for the health differences (Adams, 2007). The materialist-structuraist theory states that the life expectancy and the death rate can be associated with the living conditions in different social groups. According to this theory, the lifestyle of the people influences the manner in which the lives of the people will develop in future. The cultural-behavioral theory states that there exist differences in the health of people due to the personal lifestyle, choices and the behavior of the people. The people belonging to different social classes perceive different behavior as normal which impact their life. This theory states that the lifestyle is developed by the choice of the people; therefore, the people are needed to be blamed for their health issues. It can be concluded that in the present society, there exists a large number of inequalities which can impact on the health of the individuals and create health inequalities. The lack of educational opportunities and the lifestyle differences lead to different kind of diseases. Different sociological theories are used to explain the differences in the health of the individuals belonging to different sections of the society. Moreover, it can be concluded that the culture and the perception of the individual impacts on their attitude towards health, illness and the disability of the people Reference Adams, R. (2007). Foundations of Health and Social Care. Palgrave Macmillan. Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/drugus BBC (2013) Huge Survey Reveals Seven Social Classes in the U.K. [Online]. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058 (Accessed 19 June 2017). Chrisler, J.C., McCreary, D.R. (2010). Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology: Volume 2: Gender Research in Social and Applied Psychology. Springer Science Business Media. Collins Resources (2013) Social Influences on Health and Well Being [Online]. Available at https://resources.collins.co.uk/free/175966BTECHSCU4.pdf (Accessed 19 June 2017). Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit (2015) Concepts of Inequality [Online]. Available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wpcontent/uploads/sites/45/publication/dsp_policy_01.pdf (Accessed 19 June 2017). ealcoholandsmoking/bulletins/opinionsandlifestylesurveyadultdrinkinghabitsingreatbri Eating Disorders Association Northern Ireland (2016) Home: about us [Online]. Available at https://www.eatingdisordersni.co.uk/content/about-eating-disorders (Accessed 19 June 2017). Haralambos, M., Holborn, M. (2013) Sociology Themes and Perspectives, London, Harper Collins Publishers Limited. Mazzotta, C.P. (2016) Biomedical approaches to care and their influence on point of care nurses: a scoping review, Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, vol. 6, no. 8, p. 93. Naidoo, J., Wills, J. (2015). Health Studies: An Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan. Northern Ireland Statistical and Research Agency (2017) Populations [Online]. Available https://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/Theme.aspx?themeNumber=74themeName= Population (Accessed 19 June 2017). Office National Statistics (2017) Adult drinking habits in Great Britain [Online]. tain/2005to2016 (Accessed 19 June 2017). WHO. (2010). Social and gender inequalities in environment and health. Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health [Online]. Available at https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/76519/Parma_EH_Conf_pb1.pdf (Accessed 19 June 2017).