Reference no: EM132437799
Review the following lecture:
- Determinants of Health and Health Policy Making
Determinants of Health
Current definitions of health emphasize that health is more than the absence of disease. Health is a state of wellness that hinges on proper function in a variety of dimensions. For example, good health is achieved only when there is a balance between health determinants: personal, social, economic, and environmental. These various factors that impact wellness must be addressed at multiple levels-individual, community, national, international-to ensure population level health. Blum pioneered a "force field" paradigm that posits that population health is directly impacted by four forces: environment, lifestyle, hereditary, and medical care. Dahlgren and Whitehead grouped the determinants of health into fixed factors, such as age and gender; and modifiable factors, such as behavior and access to products.
The most important movement to date is Healthy People 2020. This initiative aims to address questions about what makes some individuals healthy in comparison to others as well as healthy society where there is an equal opportunity to be healthy. It is a national agenda to promote health groups, the determinants of health, into the following categories: biology and genetics, individual behavior, health services, social factors, and policy making. The interplay between these different factors is what determines our health at the individual and population levels. Throughout this course, we will focus on policy making at the local, state, and federal levels as well as the impact of policies on individual and population level health.
Health Policy Making
Policies can be created in the private sector (for organizations and industries) or in the public sector (governmental) to guide decision-making processes. While both types of policies, private and public, can certainly impact health status, the focus of this course will be on public policy. Public policy is defined as the government activities that influence citizen lives. This includes the law, regulation, orders, decisions, etc. made by political leaders to promote social welfare. All three branches of our government are involved in making policies; the legislative branch is responsible for formulating appropriate public policies, the executive branch works to implement them, and the judicial branch interprets policy decisions if clarification or revision is needed.
Health policies are the public policies that specifically influence or impact health. There is a great deal of contention involved in the development of health policy as there are differing opinions on whether health should be viewed as a right or a privilege. But, while visions of a quality healthcare system are numerous, many can agree that healthcare requires access and affordability, as well as information exchange, which are important factors for consideration. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) proposes an improved healthcare policy; however, implementation and enforcement of such a policy are proving difficult. Only time will tell if this "grand experiment" is successful.
One of the primary reasons for underutilization of healthcare services is cost. However, Kullgren, McLaughlin, Mitra, and Armstrong (2012) comment that over 20 percent of Americans do not seek out healthcare service in a timely fashion due to nonfinancial reasons. These barriers have to do less with affordability and more with accessibility and acceptability.
Nonfinancial barriers to healthcare include lack of transportation, long wait times, and work or family responsibilities. Consider, also, issues such as health needs, language, and cultural norms.
Discuss some healthcare policies that could be adopted to overcome these non-financial barriers to accessing healthcare.
There is any policie healthcare that could be adopted to overcome these non-financial barriers to accessing healthcare.