Gender Issues And Health Care Provider Knowledge / Communication

Everyone should have the opportunity to achieve a healthy life and have comprehensive health care services available to them. To achieve this healthy life, people need to have access to the health care system and to a health care provider with whom they can develop a trusting relationship. However, existing barriers to attaining health care services often lead to disparities which in turn lead to differences in life expectancy, health status and a higher prevalence of certain chronic diseases (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012).

While both medical care and public health work to improve the lives of many people, there are several distinctions between the two fields. Healthcare providers such as nurses and doctors are responsible for diagnosing and treating illnesses for individual patients. The care ranges from minor injuries to severe and chronic diseases. Meanwhile, public health strives to improve the well-being of a population. Public health advocates for the overall “promotion and prevention” of diseases before it even becomes an issue for healthcare providers. Public health encourages people to adopt healthy lifestyle choices and strives to control the outbreak of diseases. Although public health is often overlooked in the grand scale of medical care, it is undoubtedly the main aspect in ensuring that the overall health of a community is prospering.

Despite the countless advanced in technology and the abundance of health care organization popping up all over the place, whether they are free standing clinics, hospitals, urgent cares or etc, many people still lack the ability to receive quality health care. This has become a concern throughout the world, but especially a more vocal concern for residents of the United States in the past few years. In this paper we will discuss the reasons preventing access to quality health care and how we can overcome the many obstacles that stand in our way to provide quality health care to many who lack it today.

I assume that in today’s world, there is a lot of information and scholarly research available that shows factors such as economic status, income, social situations, education, ethnicity, employment, availability of affordable housing and geographical (place where one was born and lives) conditions have a tremendous impact on the health and well-being of individuals, countries and communities (Amaro, 2014). Inequalities in health and well-being are created by social determinants and economic conditions for many in our community (Brannigan &Boss). The people that are affected the most are people with low income and minority groups here in the United States. This creates health disparities and unequal care (Brannigan &Boss). In many developing and under-developed countries, the situation is dire: lack of modern health services, illiteracy, poor economic conditions has created a cultural situation of desperation and unhealthy behaviors. Corruption by African governments is rampant. To improve the health and wellbeing of communities, we need to start thinking of how we can create a culture of health.

Barriers to healthcare include factors that restrict or hinder people from receiving adequate and quality health care service. Health care disparities are those differences that negatively affects less advantaged group (Mehta, 2014). Health care barriers play a significant role in comprehending causes of disparities. This paper will discuss the obstacles and disparities that exist and affects healthcare.

Every individual in the world deserves to enjoy health and wellness. Maintaining or achieving proper health needs enables individuals to be productive at work and leisure. Traditionally, many people have had barriers obtaining adequate healthcare due to economic constraints or personal inconveniences. Despite impressive technological advances in medicine, the challenge of delivering quality healthcare to the Americans continues to be debated amongst the nation’s political and healthcare leaders. The aging baby-boomers and the increased number of uninsured people add to the equation of population growth which results in limited access to primary healthcare for the entire public. On the

One way that an individual’s intersectional identity can play a role in healthcare is the fact that women are not as prominent in healthcare as men thus making the health field more geared towards helping men and as an indirect effect neglecting women’s healthcare in the process. For instance, when a woman claims that she is in pain she might

The barriers to receiving effective public health treatment are nothing short of intimidating. Many people in the United States could die if they do not receive adequate public health that take care of their diseases. The government need to create available programs to deal with the increase of diseases and with the aging U.S. population. Invasive and debatable actions sometimes are needed it to find the causes of some diseases.

The government funds healthcare for many demographics in the U.S . . the access to healthcare ranges in care from racial background and ethnics. Hispanics are less likely to receive healthcare coverage because of the demographics. Hispanics may not be able to afford healthcare as to why they do not receive it. Language barriers between Caucasian’s and physicians may hinder diagnosis of conditions. Caucasians are less likely to get checked for colon cancer or high blood pressure from a healthcare provider. African American is usually checked for this disease. African Americans are more likely to have one of these diseases so being checked by a phycians is common. Individuals that live in neighborhoods that are less fortunate do not know information

Lack of doctors is only one facet to this multifaceted problem. Accessibility in terms of having the financial resources to obtain care is another. “Individuals in lower social status groups have the highest rates

In public health, as in many fields there are a set of conundrums that practitioners, leaders and law makers have to address in order to provide the most appropriate service to their populations. One of these conundrums is the battle between what is good for the community vs. what is good for the individual. This topic will be broken up to the community vs. the individual, and discussed based on research done by Kass et al, and Oriola, and will be concluded by presenting possible solutions.

Patient provider relationships play a pivotal role in the healthcare process. This relationship helps to bridge the gap between ailments of the patient and the diagnosis and care of the provider. The need for this relationship and its propensity to create the catalyst for patients need to be fulfilled is second only to the medical knowledge of the provider and the patient 's willingness to get better. As we have moved from a biomedical perspective to a biopsychosocial perspective the relationship between provider and patient has changed from physician centered modes of communication to more of a patient centered style of communication. And with the change of view we find that a strong and cohesive bond between patient and provider is the key to the advancement and overall quality of care for the patient. According to The Impact of Patient-Centered Care on Outcomes a patient centered approach to care has a correlation to a better healthcare outcome. Focusing on the patient increases compliance of the patient.

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States

The 21st Century has seen the healthcare system struggle with challenges such as an increase in chronic conditions, an increase in government spending on public health, and emerging threats such as global health security and antibiotic resistance. On the positive side, more people have gained access to care. To deal with these emerging issues as well as existing challenges, we need an effective public health workforce. The public health has the role of protecting the health of citizens. This could be through health promotion and lobbying for increased access to care. To address the problem of the rise in chronic ailments, public health has a role of creating awareness on chronic conditions, their symptoms and management. This is because these conditions are expensive to treat and drain the resources of patients and their families. Public health should therefore educate the public on the importance of screening and conduct these screening services for early diagnosis and prevention of chronic diseases. Another role of public health in the 21st Century is to provide and use evidence based practice in providing clinical services. This would help in addressing some of the emerging challenges such as antibiotic resistance.

Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being not just the absence of disease (Barr, 2014). Persons of lower economic status, minorities and women tend to have lower levels of health due to social constraints. Also, over the past thirty years America has become increasing medicalized. Medicalization is the process in which nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical problems in the form of illness and disorders which has led to the increase in medical professional dominance (Conrad, 2007). Due to social constraints and medicalization in America, we see health disparities among persons of lower socio-economic status, minorities and women.