Essay on Social Inequality of Health Example For Students

Essay on Social Inequality of Health The United States reportedly spends over $8,000 per person on healthcare annually. This amount is two-and-a-half times greater than any other developed country in the world (Kane, 2012). However, this is not reflected statistically in the morbidity and mortality rates of its citizens. Many may ask why and what are we missing. To answer these questions, one may need to look no further than their own town and community. In 2013, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported health disparities as a causative factor for the unchanging morbidity and mortality rates in the United States. The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as â€Å"conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age†, and also identify them as the main cause for health inequalities worldwide (WHO, 2013). Health disparities affect people of all ages. The risk of dying before the age of 65 is over three times greater for citizens at the socioeconomic bottom of society than those at the top (Alder Stewart, 2007). The youngest citizens are not immune to these facts. Infants born to mothers with less than 12 years of education are twice as likely to die during their first year of life compared to those born to mothers with 16 or more years of education (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2008). Healthcare is a continually evolving and changing with aims of improving patient care, cost containment, and research that advances medications and procedures beyond expectations. The majority of focus is on disease processes and treatments. Therefore, the effects of lower economic status on personal health may not be receiving the attention it deserves. The nursing profession is in a unique position to assist in providing the advocacy, education, caring, and community involvement required to both look for causative factors and to identify possible solutions of social inequality of health (Lathrop, 2013). Nurses such as Florence Nightingale and Loretta Ford long ago worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork for correlating health and socioeconomic status (Lathrop, 2013). Outline1 Health Reform Goal and Cost Reduction2 Limitations and Barriers3 Role of the Advance Practice Registered Nurse4 Conclusion Health Reform Goal and Cost Reduction The idea of improving social determinants by expanding the role of nurses coincides with one major goal of health care reform, which is preventative care. Addressing social determinants through education provided to the community outside of an acute care setting along with the expansion of preventive care in the health reform policy both have the common goal of increasing the wellbeing of the community. Also, to increase access to healthcare and preventative care, â€Å"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will bring substantial changes to the U.S Health care system over the next several years including a new emphasis on prevention and expanding coverage to 32 million currently uninsured Americans.† (Lathrop, 2013) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will also allow for a federal investment in a variety of preventative services and public health. Specifically, â€Å"A grant program will support community-based prevention services focused on reducing rates of chronic diseases and addressing health disparities† (Baker Institute Policy Report, 2012, p.3). While focusing on social determinants to health status through increased educational programs and community-based programs can decrease the cost of Medicare and Medicaid within the acute care setting, it can also increase the cost of Medicare and Medicaid in the community based setting (Baker Institute Policy Report, 2012, p.3). The ACA increases Medicare and Medicaid with an expansion of preventative services in hope of improving overall health. Improvement of overall health will in turn decrease the need for acute care facilities and therefore decrease the need to utilize Medicare and Medicaid coverage within an acute ca re setting. The expansion of preventative care will increase access to community-based programs and also increase job opportunities for health care workers. Crime and Social Inequality EssayTo alleviate health disparity, APRNs must go beyond traditional patient care and health promotion roles. Expanding scope of practice is essential to discover both where the inequities arise and how also to diminish these disparities (Williams et al., 2014). APRNs must become involved in community outreach and education to discover where services fall short for. This will also allow the APRN to know where to begin to advocate for changes in policies that create inequality among social ranks. According to the Dakota Nurse Connection (2012), collaboration with homeless shelters, social workers, and government benefits experts can also broaden the knowledge base of health care workers and aid in directing care. We must also become experts in local resources to direct our patients to available services. To ensure positive change, APRNs must familiarize themselves with the legal process and lobby for laws that will ease the burdens of lower income familie s in hopes of diminishing life stressors that cause an increase in health problems. We must also advocate for equality in public school quality for all children, and champion legislation that enables lower income students to achieve higher education (Lathrop, 2013). To provide quality care to all patients we must recognize that social status has a direct correlation with health. As APRNs, we will need to evolve and expand our scope beyond direct patient interaction to better advocate for our low income patients to ensure equity in care (Lathrop, 2013). References Adler, N., Stewart, J. (2007). Reaching for a healthier life: Facts on socioeconomic status and health in the U.S. The John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health. Retrieved from http://www.macses.ucsf.edu/downloads/Reaching_for_a_Healthier_Life.pdf Baker Institute Policy Report. (2012). James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy of Rice University, 51,1-13. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2014). Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm on January 15, 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (November 22, 2013). CDC health disparities and inequalities report – United States, 2013. 62(3) p 3. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/other/su6203.pdf on January 19, 2014. Domrose, C. (2014). Gannett Healthcare Group. Nurse.com. Healthcare reform will make life busier for some NPs. Retrieved from http://news.nurse.com/article/20140113/NATIONAL05/140110003#.Utyo43l6jox on January 15, 2014. Kane, J. (2013). MacNeil Lehrer Productions. PBS Newshour. Health costs: How the U.S. compares with other countries. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/10/health-costs-how-the-us-compares-with-other-countries.html on January 19, 2014. Implementing the IOM Future of Nursing Report-Part II: The Potential of Interprofessional Collaborative Care to Improve Safety and Quality. (2012). Dakota Nurse Connection, 10(1) 1-8. Lathrop, B. (2013). Nursing Leadership in Addressing the Social Determinants of Health. Policy, politics nursing practice, 14(1), 41-47. doi:10.1177/1527154413489887 Mahoney, D., Jones, E. (2013). Social Determinants of Health in Nursing, Research, and Health Policy. Nursing Science Quarterly, 26:280. Mogford, E., Gould, L., DeVoght, A. (2011). Teaching critical health literacy in the US as a means to action on the social determinants of health. Health Promotion International, 26(1), 4-13. doi:10.1093/heapro/daq049 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (RWJF, 2008). Overcoming obstacles to health: Report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the commission to build a healthier America. Retrieved from http://www.commissiononhealth.org/PDF/ObstaclesToHealth-Report.pdf Williams, S. D., Hansen, K., Smithey, M., Burnley, J., Koplitz, M., Koyama, K., Bakos, A. (2014). Using Social Determinants of Health to Link Health Workforce Diversity, Care Quality and Access, and Health Disparities to Achieve Health Equity in Nursing. Public Health Reports, 12932-36. World Health Organization. Social Determinants of Health. (May 7, 2013). What are social determinants of health?. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/social_determinants/sdh_definition/en/index.html on January 16, 2014.