Health Care

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Institutional Affiliation

Health Care

The life of human beings depends on several factors. These may include the health status of the individual, the economic as well as social status of such an individual. Above all, the health status is the major determinant of any condition of an individual. A healthy person is free to participate in all activities with which he may have the requisite ability (Blas, 2010). The economic well being of a prison is always critical in determining the comfort and peace with which someone spends his or her life. When someone is poor, the nature at which such a person views life is quite different from the way in which a rich person views life (Blas, 2010). Poverty, being one of the social determinants, has several influences in the life of human beings. Poverty may act as a potential cause of stress in life. This may lead to several repercussions in the life of such an individual. Poverty may hinder one’s availability of accessing food and medical services (Blas, 2010). This may be one of the causes of premature deaths evident in most poor families on global basis.

There are several social determinants that affect the life of human beings. Such social determinants may have varying degrees of influence in the health status, as well as the overall well being of a person (Marmot et al, 2003). Some of these social determinants in life include poverty, food and employment. The employment determines the economic circumstance of any individual. This also contributes to health status of an individual in certain ways. In addition, other social determinants of health include social support and exclusion, early life as well as addiction to certain products. This paper is going to discuss how the written journal review is relevant to two of the social determinants from document report provided. The two social determinants chosen include food and social support.

The relevance of the written journal review to social support as detailed in the pdf document

Social support has been depicted as one of the social determinants of health in human beings. Social support may come in a number of ways. Some of the elements of social health include friendship and good social relations (Raphael, 2009). Social support may also be evident in the form of supportive networks that form part of an individual. Social support is depicted in the Pdf as a critical tool in ensuring an improvement of health at home, work places as well as within the community. A good social relation is critical in giving people the emotional resources necessary for a healthy life. This follows the feelings of care, love and high esteem that are always coupled with such relations (Raphael, 2009). In addition, it is more prudent to note that good social relations is core in encouraging a healthy behavioral pattern in human beings. Good relations may make someone change from bad eating habits to more appropriate ones. In addition, good social relations may lead to elimination of stress (Blas, 2010). Individuals who receive little or less social and emotional support always stand a chance of experiencing more depression caused by stress. In addition, such people may also experience poor mental health as well as poor physical health (Marmot et al, 2003). It is quite prudent to acknowledge the fact that the amount of emotional and social support people derive from such relationships vary with regard to social, educational and economic status of the friends (Blas, 2010).

The review of the journal has been relevant to the details enclosed within the document in several ways. The review explores the role of friendship in imparting knowledge on the people. It has made the case of Patricia change in one way or the other. Patricia had lost hope in her health condition following the advices she had been getting from her doctors. This made her develop a sense of hopelessness in her condition. The doctors told her that there was no cure for diabetes. This made her lose hope and lose focus on food types that could worsen her health condition. However, due to the close social relations she maintained, she got encouragement from Nelson Campbell concerning the jumpstart. Nelson Campbell was just but a guest to the church that Patricia attended. Therefore, this form of social relationship imparted a sense of knowledge, encouragement and hope in the life of Patricia. This made her change some of her behaviors, making her start looking at her health status with lots of hope and optimism.

The relevance of the written journal review to food as a social health determinant as detailed in the pdf document

It is prudent enough to note that the nature of foodstuffs that people take relates to the rate of disease prevalence (Spurrell, 2007). The review details that in order to improve health, there is need to change the eating habits, as well as include plants in dietary menu. Several food products can worsen the health conditions of individuals suffering from various diseases as evident in the case of Patricia. Patricia even confessed that her teenage sons did not eat healthy foods and this shows that her family did not make any effort to include plant food in their meals. This was the major cause of the diabetes she was suffering from.

This is relevant to the issues discussed in the document in several ways. In the Pdf document, it is detailed that adequate food supply is critical in ensuring good health. In addition, bad eating habits are liable to cause deficiency diseases as well as malnutrition. However, when it comes to food, the most important factors are the availability and cost. Therefore, people with little money may fail to afford healthy and nutritious food. This may result to the disease related factors. The document recommends eating of more plant foods to improve the health status of individuals. This is also clearly discussed in the article review, making it more relevant to the information detailed in the pdf. The document also highlights that unemployed people, young families as well as those who get little income are more likely to experience contract certain diseases (Spurrell, 2007). This follows that they may be least able to take good diets owing to the high prices of such foods.

References

Blas, E., & Sivasankara, K. A. (2010). Equity, social determinants and public health programmes. Geneva: World Health Organization.

Marmot, M. G., Wilkinson, R., & World Health Organization. (2003). The solid facts: Social determinants of health. Copenhagen: Centre for Urban Health, World Health Organization.

Raphael, D. (2009). Social determinants of health: Canadian perspectives. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press.

Spurrell, J. (2007). Comprehensive school health, the social determinants of health, and the health status of children. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada.