According to the documentary Sicko, almost 50 million people are uninsured in America; and although 250 million people are insured, insurance companies often make it difficult for clients to receive money for their treatment. With costs of coverage being so high, it is difficult for most Americans to afford health insurance; because of this 18,000 uninsured Americans will die this year. In this paper, I will talk about how the healthcare system, culture, and the physical environment can affect health and wellness. In the U.S., having health care does not guarantee you will be covered during your time of need. Falling victim to insurance company fraud or red tape, many people are unable to afford the cost of treatment. Left untreated or buried …show more content…
Not all environments are conducive to people’s health; like a desert. Lack of resources can limit food, medications, and the doctors available to treat illness. Environments can also affect the career chosen. If a career demands working long days and nights, a person may not have the time to focus on his or her health. Health and wellness can be affected by many factors. The lack of sufficient health care needs to be addressed; to give Americans, rich or poor, a chance of a healthier lifestyle. The definition of health may never be universally accepted, but every culture deserves equal opportunity to better healthcare. Environments will always have an affect on health, but with proper education, people can be taught more effective ways to live in an environment that can’t sustain a healthy lifestyle. As Americans, it is our responsibility to protect our own, and we should begin with our health care system. Question …show more content…
Established by Elton Mayo and associates while conducting a study in 1933, it recognizes the importance of human interaction and that social factors are significant in accomplishing organizational goals. The research showed that technical rationality such as, procedures, processes, and structures, were not sufficient enough to guarantee maximum productivity. They concluded, social factors, were as important, if not more important, than technical factors. They based the findings off of the observation that productivity seemed to be connected to worker morale and the sense of social responsibility to their co-workers (Hutchison 2011). The theory suggests that the nature and quality of the company’s leaders is an important factor of the performance and job satisfaction of their subordinates (Glisson 1989). The theory implies that managers while in control need to be capable of maintaining cooperation from his or her employees. In this type of leadership style, the employees would be encouraged to share opinions and ideas. Staff would feel engaged in decision-making and creativity would be rewarded. The leader would be flexible, open to communication, and respectful of new
Last week was a good demonstration of how a culture can significantly influence its nation’s health outcome. The Japanese, by being Japanese, have enhanced their mortality rate making them the best nation in the world for health outcomes. (Bezruchka, 2011) Not all cultures are so egalitarian however and require more programs or impetus to effect change in their health status. As we look at Europe, two countries which stood out to me were Sweden, a relatively wealthy country, and Slovenia; much poorer and agrarian relative to other European nations.
On a global scale, the United States is a relatively wealthy country of advanced industrialization. Unfortunately, the healthcare system is among the costliest, spending close to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards funding healthcare (2011). No universal healthcare coverage is currently available. United States healthcare is currently funded through private, federal, state, and local sources. Coverage is provided privately and through the government and military. Nearly 85% of the U.S. population is covered to some extent, leaving a population of close to 48 million without any type of health insurance. Cost is the primary reason for lack of insurance and individuals foregoing medical care and use of prescription medications.
The health-care system of Japan and United States are vastly different in terms of their approaches to provide health-care to their citizens. The documentary, “Sick Around the World”, describes how Japan is a capitalist country, yet, they only spend approximately half the amount as the U.S. does on health-care. In the U.S., the government provides health-care for the elderly with Medicare and health-care for low-income families with Medicaid. The U.S. also favors private and for-profit insurance. In order for the citizens to have access to health-care, people in the U.S. would have to rely on different ways optimize their health insurance because premiums affect the costs of deductibles, copayments, as well as coinsurance. In addition, Steven E. Barkan, the author of Health, Illness, and Society, suggests that U.S. health-care is detrimental for people under the age of 65 because “before Obamacare took full effect, 13.4% of Americans lacked health insurance; this figure rose to
In the 2007 movie Sicko, filmmaker Michael Moore examines America’s health-care crisis and why millions of citizens are without coverage. Moore spotlights the cases of several ordinary citizens whose lives have been shattered by governmental red tape, refusal to pay, and other health-care disasters. He explains how the system has become so challenging, and he visits countries where citizens receive free health care, such as Canada, France and the U.K. This movie shows the struggles of people with health insurance that have to pay an arm and leg to cover co-pay or the cost of the medications that are not covered under their health insurance. Within the first 20 minutes of the movie, you instantly become angry at what some of the people had to go through with their health insurance companies.
spends about 15% of its gross domestic product on healthcare, thereby making it the largest sector of the economy” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Americans are not healthier than some of the other developed nations, regardless of these extensive costs” (WHO, 2010). “Almost 40 million Americans are uninsured and about 18% of Americans under the age of 65 receive half of the recommended healthcare services” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005). “Though, quality of care was noted not to vary much in cities with respect to lack of insurance, poverty, penetration of managed care and availability of physicians and hospital beds” (Goldman, D., & McGlynn, E., 2005).
Millions of Americans are without health insurance in the United States due to many factors such as unemployment, the cost of insurance and insurance companies denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The United States does not provide health care to its citizens the way the rest of the industrialized world does. Instead of providing coverage for all it institutes market-based options, in which some receive coverage from their place of employment, another options are purchasing individual plans and some can obtain coverage through public programs like Medicaid. The United States is the only westernized industrial nation without a universal health care system.
Most of these articles also argued that healthy policies by themselves cannot achieve the expected health improvement.1-3,7-13 This is why the US healthcare access cannot be improved without paying attention to the social and environmental needs of the poor Americans, who in most cases are at the receiving end. The social determinants of health can only be improved through actions targeted at the factors that improve life.1-3,4-5 Government policies should be translated into actions that are centered on enhancing the conditions in which people live, work, play, and grow.1,3,12 The situation that people are born into should not control their destiny, access to healthcare or other opportunities in life, because it will be then unfair and unjust. 1-3,7-13
The U.S. expends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we get fewer benefits, less than ideal health outcomes, and a lot of dissatisfaction manifested by unequal access, the significant numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans, uneven quality, and unconstrained wastes. The financing of healthcare is also complicated, as there is no single payer system and payment schemes vary across payors and providers.
Health status is a term used to describe a combination of issues that can affect a population comprising the accessibility and availability of health care services, the incidence of chronic diseases and/or illnesses, individual behaviors, contact with risk factors for disease and illness, and social elements such as income and education. Having the highest rates of certain health problems of all ethnic populations in the United States means that American Indians also have the highest mortality rates for certain associated conditions. Moreover, about one-fifth of American Indians have two or more chronic conditions. For example, American Indians have the highest prevalence of being overweight or obese of all ethnic groups and, as a consequence,
It is hard to imagine life without health insurance. If you have any type of medical problem that requires attention, and you have appropriate health care insurance, you can be cared for in the finest of private hospitals. You can get great treatment and your ailments, depending on the severity, can be treated as soon as possible. Doctors, physicians and surgeons are willing to put out a big effort if they know that they are dealing with patients who are insured and have the money to go under extensive medical treatment. But imagine life without such luxuries. For example, what happens if a relative requires much needed surgery, but does not have health insurance to cover the procedure? What happens if a lack of medical insurance prevents you or your family from seeing a doctor, which could result in health problems that had not been identified but could have been treated before they became life threatening? These scenarios may seem far-fetched, but these types of situations happen to people who lack health coverage everyday. There is a true story about a patient who was insured and diagnosed with treatable cervical cancer. Unfortunately, she lost her job and with it her insurance. She was then unable to see her private doctor, and was turned away from other hospitals because ?cancer treatment is not considered an emergency in a patient who can?t pay? (?Help for D.C.?s Uninsured?). The woman later died at her home without ever being treated. This example raises the question, since when are people with less money less deserving of health care or appropriate treatment?
Health insurance facilitates entry into the health care system. Uninsured people are less likely to receive medical care and more likely to have poor health. Many Americans are foregoing medical care because they cannot afford it, or are struggling to pay their medical bills. “Adults in the US are more likely to go without health care due to cost” (Schoen, Osborn, Squires, Doty, & Pierson, 2010) Many of the currently uninsured or underinsured are forced accept inferior plans with large out-of-pocket costs, or are not be able to afford coverage offered by private health insurers. This lack of adequate coverage makes it difficult for people to get the health care they need and can have a particularly serious impact on a person's health and stability.
In the event of an individual falling ill, we as a nation are very lucky to have such excellent Physicians. Sociology has a variety of different perspectives when it comes to the understanding of the honest purpose of healthcare. With the new era emerging with new technology, humans have become inattentive to the environment and health wellness. I will be explaining the importance of healthcare from the Functionalistic Perspective, targeting three main factors; sick role, gatekeeper and social class. Along with some interesting facts, and studies of the environments role in health within a community.
healthy is a major component in ones’ overall wellbeing, more so mentally, but being healthy
Hospital bills are very expensive and for the people that don’t have insurance will be stuck with a huge bill that they more than likely can’t pay and will be put out the hospital as soon as the doctors see fit. They won’t just be able to lay around in a hospital room.
Leadership, without doubt, is a significantly important function of management. It helps to aggrandize efficiency and to fulfil an organization’s goals. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence, determination, courage and zeal. It is also defined as ability to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders should have the capability of developing future visions, and to drive the organizational members to want to attain the visions. This paper states my points in which I duly believe, justifies the importance of an outstanding leader in any organization.