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how socioeconomic factors affect health
how socioeconomic factors affect health
lack of healthcare health disparity
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Throughout this class we have talked about how various disparities can influence both how and when you need health care, be it for physical or mental reasons. Basically if you aren’t a middle class and above white male with a good job you’re basically fucked. Things such as race, gender, education, the environment you grew up in, who you know, and of course your insurance and income play a huge role in how you experience all aspects of healthcare. As explained in the Link&Phelan article, certain social factors can cuase specific health results. As explained in the article the Fundamental Causes Theory “claims that new mechanisms arise because persons of higher socioeconomic status are able to deploy wide range of resources- including knowledge, money power, prestige, and beneficial social connections- that can be used individually and collectively in different places and at different times to avoid disease and death.” What this means is basically those who are better off are more suited and have more chances to combat sickness and to elongate their lives. One of …show more content…
In the film we watched in class The Medicated Child we saw several children who had been diagnosed with various psychiatric illnesses and were placed on various, often a large number of different, medications that effect their brain, mood a lot of other things. One of the doctors in the film even admitted it was a guessing game. In my opinion until your brain is done developing you shouldn’t be trying to change it. The only reason the kids had access to psychiatrist and could be placed on all the drugs were because their parents, or parents’ insurance could pay for it. As we learned in the article by Busfield the pharmaceutical companies are in it to make money if they couldn’t afford the doctors or the pills I personally think at least two thirds of those kids would have been better
Healthcare disparities are when there are inequalities or differences of the conditions of health and the quality of care that is received among specific groups of people such as African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or Hispanics. Not only does it occur between racial and ethnic groups, health disparities can happen between males and females as well. Minorities have the worst healthcare outcomes, higher death rates, and are more prone to terminal diseases. For African American men and women, some of the most common health disparities are diabetes, cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and HIV infections. Some factors that can contribute to disparities are healthcare access, transportation, specialist referrals, and non-effective communication with patients. There is also much racism that still occurs today, which can be another reason African Americans may be mistreated with their healthcare. “Although both black and white patients tended not to endorse the existence of racism in the medical system, African Americans patients were more likely to perceive racism” (Laveist, Nickerson, Bowie, 2000). Over the years, the health care system has made improvements but some Americans, such as African Americans, are still being treating unequally when wanting the same care they desire as everyone else.
Medications are a major part of treating bipolar disorder however, they can be dangerous especially in children. In the video Rebecca Riley died due to overdose of untested drugs. Many children who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder are put on multiple medications. This is because one medication may cause side effects that may need another medication to subdue that side effect. Many will need antipsychotics as well as antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Psychologist also can’t determine a proper dosage or treatment of medication without experimenting. Basically psychologist have to use their best guess and see how the child’s behavior changes. Many of the research on the effect medications have on mental disorders is based on results from adult trials. As stated previously many children with severe bipolar disorder are prescribed many medications at one time even without full research on the side effects. In the article, Medications Prescribed for Children with Mood Disorders: Effects of a Family-Based Psychoeducation Program, it explains the issues that are seen in the video we watched. The study however, noted a decrease in medication use when using psychoeducational psychotherapy programs. The goal of these programs is to inform and allow families to take a more active role in medication management. Based on the article it does state that medication is quite us full in treating mood disorders contrary to what was stated in the video. The video stated that medications may not work well or at all with children. At some point in order to expand research on medications drug companies needed incentive. Pediatric studies began during the Clinton administration and drug companies were awarded 6 months exclusivity and trademarking the medications produced for pediatric studies. Warning labels could soon be put on bottles to warn
Some facts about psychiatric drugs for children are that the drugs are prescribed with a false diagnosis. The children that are prescribed are not seriously impaired by their symptoms, they are merely becoming older and showing signs of adolescents; however, pediatricians see a small frustration in a child’s life and convince the parents or legal guardians that they need unnecessary medications to make the children docile and untroublesome. Little do the parents know, the drug given to the children means more money for the pharmaceutical companies and psychiatric research teams and may not even help the children at all.
A focus on the underlying conditions that create health and well-being reveals that many of these conditions are human rights issues. The most profound underlying condition is social and economic status. Lower socioeconomic status has been repeatedly linked to poorer health. Racial and gender discrimination are also underlying conditions which can negatively impact
There are so many factors that lead to health disparities some of them are: -
A particular challenge of chronic disease in an ageing population is not just the total burden, but its socioeconomic distribution socioeconomically disadvantaged are more likely to develop chronic disease than those who are more advantaged; they are also more likely to be economically vulnerable to the
In the article, “Medicating Young Minds” author Jeffrey Kluger goes into detail about the problems of medicating children today. It is Klugers et al belief that it should not be happening; medicating the youth. His argument is logical to himself but, it may not be to everyone, especially people who need medication to survive. Kluger uses a sarcastic tone and is somewhat biased in his article. He believes that people today are just looking for the easy way out to feel better, when in reality they use medications to help them be successful in life. He states reasons for why he feels medications to aid ADD, ADHD, depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are bad, but does not give logical explanations to back it up. Kluger states side effects that he believes should help people determine that these medications are not worth taking. However, none of these side effects are worse than the effects some one may have with out the medicine. Kluger et al lacks evidence and does not have logic to their argument. His opinion is built into the article and less fact. He does no...
Germov (2015: 87-93) states that the most common explanations of health inequality can be grouped into five main categories. These five categories are artifact explanations, natural/social selection explanation, cultural/behavioral explanation, materialist/structural explanations, and psycho-social/social capital explanation of the social gradient of health. Basically, health inequality has to do with what your status is as an individual, cultural, economic, as well as education level. In the textbook, Germov (2015: 516) defines the term social gradient of health “as a continuum of health inequality in most countries from high to low.” Meaning the poorest group has the worst health status, while each group above the poorest has a better health status. An example of this injustice would be the indigenous
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are increasingly becoming a major problem of Public Health around the World. The impact of resources and material deprivation among people and populations has resulted in an increase in mortality rate on a planetary scale. Social determinants of health are defined as the personal, social, economic and the environmental conditions which determines the health status of an individual or population (Gardner, 2013). Today’s society is characterized by inequalities in health, education, income and many other factors which as a result is becoming a burden for Public Health around the world. Research studies have shown that the conditions in which people live and work strongly influenced their health. Individuals with high levels of education and fall within the high income bracket turn to have stable jobs, live in the best neighborhood and have access to quality health care system than individuals who have low education and fall with the low income bracket. This paper is to explain different social determinants of health and how they play ...
programs in place in Canada (Wilson et al., 2013)] and help account for differences in access to
The Medicated Child exposed the problem of medicating American children for mental illnesses. Diagnosing mental illness has always been difficult and that problem is only exacerbated in children. Common and controversial diagnosis for children that are talked about in this documentary are ADHA and bipolar. Often children will be misdiagnosed which can be a real problem when medication is being prescribed. Before the 90’s children where being prescribed medicine’s that were completely untested in their age group. This was just one of the many problems that the health community, family’s, and the children with these illnesses faced. This was thankfully changed due to government intervention and there is now some knowledge on how these drugs affect
To some this may seem odd as to how there is a consistent decline in the health outcomes and life expectancies as you go down the economic hierarchy even though everyone has access to the same medical care. This is because the role that medical care plays in in the health outcomes in individuals is much lower than many would expect. Researchers believe that health outcomes are related 25% to health care, 25% to genetics and 50% to socioeconomic status with aspects including income, education, housing, physical environment and community engagement (Picard, 2013). The reasoning behind this phenomena is that as you move down the income ladder, the amount of day-to-day stress a person is under increases. Stress is the body’s way of dealing with immediate threats, it affects the functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, the neuroendocrine system and the metabolic system allowing for a fight-or-flight reaction to be made and after this reaction is made and the person is safe the stress levels will go down and their systems will go back to their normal functioning (Raphael, 2010). The problem for people of low income is that they are under the constant threats that accompany low income, such as insecure employment and food insecurity (Raphael, 2010). This results in their bodily systems to always be functioning whilst under
The nation's health is at risk. Stratification, cultural practices and social demographic have resulted in racial group disparities in healthcare. Social-demographic factors such as your environment, education, income and both the access and quality of care have determined the type of healthcare treatment received.
As Consumer Reports state, “Parents in our survey said medication helped equally—and most of all—with academic performance (very helpful for 35 percent) and behavior at school (very helpful for 35 percent). It also helped well with behavior at home (very helpful for 26 percent), and fairly well with social relationships (very helpful for 19 percent) and self-esteem (very helpful for 18 percent)”. What may appear to be serious illnesses or disorders, are very common to be related to improper diet and emotional problems. Parents would rather their child take medication on a daily basis rather than dealing with his or her child’s problems. Pharmaceuticals are proven to stimulate a child’s mind and make their problems “go away”. Overmedicating a child cannot solve his or her issues within one's self. Furthermore, prescriptions cover up the symptoms a child is having and lessens the symptoms to the point where their parents feel that they are “better” or “well”. When a kid takes medication, it only has its effect for a certain amount of time and eventually wears off, this is so that the parents or guardians do not have to deal with the child’s issues. When a parent/guardian or even doctors place a child on medication every day, it puts off a message to the kid that whoever is in charge of the individual cannot handle them or their issues. “Your teacher cannot handle you” and “I cannot handle you” are often comments made by parents who overmedicate their child. When a child receives this underlying message, he or she goes through an emotional course within themselves which can cause major issues for the child such as neglect, depression, anxiety, etc. If parents would be willing to deal with their child’s issues and problems in their everyday life, overmedication in today's society
To begin with, ability to get medical help correlates with the type of health that individuals have, and their well-being. “Researchers have found an inverse relationship between social class and health. Lower-class standing is correlated with higher rates of infant mortality, eye and ear disease, arthritis, physical disability, diabetes, nutritional deficiency, respiratory disease, mental illness, and heart disease”(Mantsios 198). So, the lower a person’s social class, the more health problems people in that social class will have. As well, Dr.Ranit Mishori of Georgetown University’s