Essay on Equity in Health and Social Care

Introduction

Health is the essential requirement for any human being. The distribution of this primary need has become an issue in the current world. Most of the relevant bodies and individuals have failed in considering the virtue of equity in delivering healthcare and other related social facilities to people. The absence of avoidable differences among people in social, geographical, economic and demographic features has created discrepancies in the distribution of healthcare. The differences in the quality of healthcare across different populations and how it differs from one population to another is what creates disparity in healthcare. Equality means everyone has equal access and opportunities regardless of their social, economic backgrounds and abilities. This paper will conduct a study on equity in health and social care issues by analyzing three different essays and finding out the different ideas.

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This source is a book written by Erick Blas and Anand Sivasankara and commissioned by the department of ethics and Human Rights in the World Health Organization. Many other sources are touching on the same topic, but this one is the most concise and detailed in terms of research because the World Health Organization has certified it (Blas, Erik, and Kurup, 84). The source starts by analyzing various reports compiled before and responses with regard to health gaps within and between countries. According to the report, the main causes of the differences include income level, life expectancy, opportunities and access to healthcare. The report recommended a genuine way improve equality of healthcare among populations is to device lasting ways, which are based on the understanding and addressing of the main causes. The findings of the commission had abundant evidence that the true drivers of inequalities reside in political, social and economic environments. Additionally, these environments are shaped by policies, and that makes them responsive to change. The source further claims that new challenges keep presenting themselves in terms of disease resistance and other social and political setups that hinder the provision of health amenities (Blas, Erik, and Kurup, 112). Another set of reasons for the failure according to the source is the fact that relevant parties have not sufficiently dealt with the inequalities originating from the given health statistics, leaving other regions and parts of the world behind when overall progress is made. Erick Blas suggests that most of the public health challenges facing the world today ranging from communicable diseases, maternal and nutritional conditions are related to how people organize themselves in society and how they live. Inequities in health care facilitate the emergence of new challenges and at the same time result from them. Blas further agrees that equity is a moral principle, and it has both political and value opponents. Blas acknowledges the value-based equity and defines it as a way systematic differences are esteemed avoidable by a reasonable action (Blas, Erik, and Kurup, 218). The source summarizes by talking about priority as the major gradient that can be used to tackle the issue of equity. Priority can be used to reach out to most needy areas and at the same time address issues in a matter of urgency. From the source, it is clear that the delivery of universal healthcare is an entitlement to everyone regardless of their social, economic or region.

This source is written by Fran Baum and is talking about changes in the healthcare systems towards achieving health equity. Fran Baum acknowledges the use of action on the social determinants of health. The author also states the understanding of the key obstacles that hinder the improvement of healthcare sector on the social determinants of health. Baum is keen in a fist trying to establish the main determinants by studying the living conditions and other structural drivers of these conditions (Baum et al.,1971). The article focuses on stewardship to describe the roles that can be taken by stakeholders in the health sector and the government to eliminate the social inequalities as main determinants of health equity. Baum links another determinant which is life expectancy to improved living conditions than the improved healthcare services. Through this evidence, the author blames most countries' investments through the health sector who are still focused on providing a cure in hospitals rather than channeling the same energy towards creating health promotion. The source states that low and middle-income countries experience social and economic inequalities, which in turn translates to massive inequities in healthcare distribution (Baum et al.,1969). Another problem as per the source is the dominance of biomedical imagination in the in the healthcare sector. As a result of this, there is bias in individuality that dictates what care one choses, additionally, it tends to view healthcare as a commodity that can be privatized. The author has also emphasized reforms and professional education to enhance the social determinants in theory teaching.

Equity in terms of the vulnerable population's access to healthcare services is elaborately written by Lauralie Richard. The source talks about improving access of vulnerable populations to primary health care. The article was written in 2017 and gives clear analysis on ways of making health available to at-risk populations. Lauralie Richards states that a primary healthcare system is vital to optimizing the health of populations, and yet the services are not readily available. The author further acknowledges the fact that the populations with the greatest need are the most marginalized in terms of healthcare, which creates poor utilization of the services (Richard et al., 156). The author agrees that the PHC access is some basic social health determinants and can be used in addressing health inequity. Richards argues that the varying conceptualization of the diverse and complex systems is the reason as to why there is lack of equal opportunities for all to access healthcare. From this article, I was able to learn that misconceptions can also be the causes of poor access to healthcare for all populations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all the three sources have clearly analyzed the causes of inequalities in the distribution of healthcare and other related facilities. From the sources, the major determinants of equity in healthcare include social and economic status, which have been described by all sources as major areas to be addressed to enhance equity. Additionally, some issues in the healthcare sector have been created by poor policies that have been condemned in hindering the provision of universal healthcare. This would be made possible if everyone was exposed to various basic services without considerations of their region, social, and income status. Therefore, achieving the universal healthcare, which can be used as a measure of equity in healthcare can be made possible through the creation of right policies and addressing the social determinants that hinder equity in health provision.

Works Cited

Baum, Fran E., et al. "Changes not for the fainthearted: reorienting health care systems toward health equity through action on the social determinants of health." American journal of public health 99.11 (2009): 1967-1974.

Blas, Erik, and Anand Sivasankara Kurup, eds. Equity, social determinants, and public health programmes. World Health Organization, 2010.

Richard, Lauralie, et al. "Equity of Access to Primary Healthcare for Vulnerable Populations: The IMPACT International Online Survey of Innovations." International Journal for Equity in Health, vol 15, no. 1, 2016. Springer Nature, Accessed 19 Apr 2018.