CNA151: How Stress is a Social Factor that Impacts on Health & Well Being - Case Study Assignment Help

Case Study Assignment

The case study provided requires you to use the information presented in the lectures, tutorials and readings in weeks 1-5 to analyse the issues.

The case study is designed to provide an opportunity for you to apply and demonstrate the knowledge that you have gained. Therefore ensure that you show that you understand key concepts in the answers that you provide. For example, instead of stating “Stress is a social determinant of health in the case study” – provide a definition of a social determinant, and explain how stress is a social factor that impacts on health and wellbeing.

You are also expected to read widely and to accurately reference the sources of information that you include. You might find it useful to jot down the details you need for your references as you go, or better still use a referencing library such as EndNote (see your friendly UTAS librarians for assistance).

Useful sources of data for this case study include (but are not limited to):

• Australian Bureau of Statistics www.abs.gov.au
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare www.aihw.gov.au
• METeOR https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/181162
• Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network https://aurin.org.au/
• Public Health Information Development Unit https://www.adelaide.edu.au/phidu/about/
• UNICEF https://data.unicef.org/
• Whitehall Studies https://www.ucl.ac.uk/whitehallII/research/main-findings
• World Health Organisation https://www.who.int/healthy_settings/en/
• Brotherhood of St Laurence (social exclusion) https://www.bsl.org.au/research-and- publications/social-exclusion-monitor/who-experiences-social-exclusion/

The key questions you need to address are listed below with some prompts (hints) as to the kinds of information that you might include in your answer. Please be guided by the weightings in the assessment rubric and suggested word counts in response to each question.

You may use the questions as headings but you need to write in sentences and paragraphs, not dot points. You do not need an introduction or conclusion for the paper or for each question.

Case study questions(and prompts):

What are the characteristics of the individuals in this case study?

• Who are they? Where and how do they live?
• What evidence can you find that supports this?
• Information and statistics about household incomes, family structure, education,employment, housing

What are the social determinants of health that are evident in the case study?

• What are the specific social determinants that apply to this case study?
• How do these social determinants impact on the health and wellbeing of the individuals inthe case study?
• Refer to evidence that links social determinants to health issues

Select one of these social determinants and describe the best way(s) to address this issue in order to have an impact on the whole of population?

• This question requires you to think beyond the level of the individual to the community orpopulation level
• You may choose to focus on one strategy or discuss a range of strategies in your answer,however, please ensure that you discuss the strategy(ies) in enough depth to demonstrate your understanding
• What strategies can you identify that relate to addressing the wider social determinants inyour case study?
• Are these strategies upstream, midstream and downstream?
• Why are these strategies likely to work? What is the evidence to support this?

What roles should health professionals play in addressing this issue? (200 words)

• This question requires you to consider the broader role of health professionals – beyondproviding individual care or treatment.
• What is the role of health professionals in addressing social determinants of health?

Characteristics of individuals

The case study has a total of five characters that have different characteristics. The key character in this case study is Carla, who happens to be a single mum of two kids, a boy and a girl. The other character is Carla’s husband who divorced her immediately after the birth of their second born child. Other characters include their two children, her auntie and her daughter’s boyfriend. Some of the characteristics of Carla include being hard working, being determined and forgiving. Despite her being an orphan, she struggled hard and made it through her education before being married with her husband at an early age and living in a small coastal mining town.

Carla is also caring as she tries her level best to visit her sick daughter in her farm home and she is also seen saving for the sole purpose of visiting her daughter frequently. She worked in different places, including in a grocery and as a retailer around their small town. On the other hand, her husband is seen to be hardworking as well as a caring father. After parting ways with her, the husband used to financially support the family until he lost his job. Again, after the mine business job collapsed, he went ahead to work for a casual employer where he sustained a head injury but could not risk reporting the injury for fear of losing his job and the love that he had for his family.

Carla’s auntie is caring as she cared for her after her parents died and she became an orphan. Carla’s children are seen not to be good in school, although the boy tries his level best and completes Grade twelve. After some time, Carla’s daughter moves into her boyfriend’s tiny room where they live for some time. Her boyfriend is struggling to pay her college fees while taking care of her pregnant girlfriend. Despite having less income and being poor, the family structure in the case study is seen to be very strong. Carla is seen taking care of his sick ex-husband despite having not been together for a long time.

Evident social determinants of health

In this case study, some social determinants of health are coming out very clearly, and they are seen to be affecting the health of the characters. Some of the specific determinants that apply to this case study include the availability of resources to meet daily needs. In the case study, the house where Carla’s daughter lives is termed to be small, and this makes it one of the key social determinants of health 1. The other determinant is that of access to educational, economic, and job opportunities. In the case study, there seem to be job shortages and the closure of the mining company brings about a decline in the number of economic activities in the region.

The socioeconomic conditions of the people in the case study also play an important role in determining the health of those involved. Most of the characters in the case study are poor, which makes the concentration poverty and stressful condition in the community high. Carla’s husband is an example of those affected by poverty as he sees it appropriate not to seek medication and continues with his job until he loses his memory 2. As such, this can be greatly attributed to the high concentration of poverty that the individuals in the case study phase. Evidence has indicated that low levels of education are linked with poor health, excess stress and lower self-confidence. Again, high-income levels in a region are linked to better health and better living standards.

Dealing with Socioeconomic conditions as a social determinant of health

The socioeconomic conditions of an individual may affect his or her health well being. As such, effective strategies need to be developed to deal with issues that relate to the socioeconomic conditions of an individual that ultimately affects their health One of the best ways of dealing with socioeconomic conditions that affect the health of an individual is that of improving the conditions of their daily lives by improving the circumstances in which individuals are born, brought up in, and work in too. Improving these conditions will ultimately lead to an improvement in the life of those who are greatly affected by the condition. By improving the living conditions and investing in the education of members of the society, they will be in a better position to improve their living standards that will lead to better living conditions thus limiting their rate of exposure to illnesses.

Strategies for addressing social determinants of health

Some approaches can be applied to effectively address, a great number of social health determinants. Some of the most effective strategies include the use and application of health impact assessments in reviewing the much needed, proposed and existing policies for their likely impact on health. Reviewing these strategies will give an opportunity to deal with any flaws that might be noted in the existing policies. An effective review will make all the stakeholders to consider their positions and make any relevant amendments that will lead to addressing the social determinants effectively and efficiently. The other strategy is that of the application of a health in all policies that introduces improved health for all and the closing of existing health gaps as objectives to be shared across all governmental sectors. On introducing a health element in all the policies, the impact of social health determinants to the population will be reduced as health issues will be handled from all angles thus addressing most of the determinants both directly and indirectly 3.

Additionally, trying to close all the existing health gaps will be an effective way to deal with the social determinants as it will deal with most of the factors that are responsible for most of the social determinants in the society. Closing these gaps will consequently act to address most of the issues that are brought about by the social determinants of health thus leading to a decline in the impact of the determinants to the population. These strategies are downstream as they originate from the top management to the citizens of a given region. These strategies are likely to work, as it has been evident in areas where they have been applied in the past. Including the element of health in all policies is a sure way of dealing with social determinants of health, as they will be handled from different dimensions.

Role of health professionals

Healthcare professionals play some roles in the healthcare setting. Apart from providing care and treatment, healthcare professionals may also take part in creating awareness among the population that they serve 4. The professionals may also offer guidance and counseling services to the population to make it easy for them to cope with the situation that they are faced with effectively and without any side effects. Healthcare professionals may take several positions in addressing social determinants of health includes advising the population on different ways of eating healthy and keeping their diets out of harmful elements that may affect their health 5. The doctors may also volunteer and offer some training to the involved populations, which will contribute greatly towards improving the literacy levels of the involved people thus reducing the risk. As such, health professionals have a big role that they need to play in addressing the social determinants of health and they ought not to be ignored when coming up with effective strategies to address the issues that arise in the health care sector. Involving them will bring about effectiveness in the implementation stage of the strategies and this will effectively address the issues that tend to arise.