Essay Sample on Social Disparities: Impact on Health & Cultural Backgrounds

Introduction

Social and health disparities are some of the most common issues affecting populations from across the globe. These disparities prevent individuals from achieving the required health status and needed health progress. In most cases, the people who come from poor social class or poorly developed geographical regions suffer from these health disparities (Arcaya, Arcaya, and Subramanian, 2015). Nonetheless, health disparities are significantly caused by different cultural backgrounds. The social beliefs of people can stand in their way of getting treatment. Such cultures have been held in societies form many generations. Cultures have a massive role to play because It deals with the beliefs that have been accepted by the people, some of which prevent them from receiving the type of care that they should have. Additionally, in societies where people still believe in gender imbalance and domestic violence, huge social and health disparities exist, and people recognize how big a problem the problem is. These are issues that affect many people in many societies, and traditional theories and cultures are still the major concern in healthcare.

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Domestic violence is one of the most concerning issues in modern society. Despite several campaigns and gender promotions, may societies be still suffering from domestic violence. In this case, a 46-year-old woman has been living under domestic violence in a marriage that has lasted for more than 16 years. Having grown up in a society where people appreciate male masculinity and male dominance, Winnie has been facing domestic abuse for a long time and does not share her case with anyone because of the social issues in the society. Winnie had witnessed her mother go through the same abuse and did not see many people bothered about it. Such a situation is mainly contributed by several cultural, social, institutional and economic disparities. One of the major concerns for many societies that are still faced with domestic violence is the inherent social, cultural, economic and social disparities; this paper will analyses these factors based on the issue faced by Winnie.

The History of the Issues

Historically, Winnie has lived in cultures where women are not appreciated, and they are not held in the same category as men. As a result, domestic violence against women is a common activity, and nobody or institution sib pothered about the significance of the problem. The women are always abused, and it seems normal to the entire society. Sometimes the violence and abuse n result in serious health concerns. Despite various attempts that have been made by several non-governmental organizations, stopping domestic violence in such a region, the local people are not prepared to abandon their long-held belief and culture of possessing women. This makes it difficult to address this problem, and the women have accepted this culture for a long time (Wemrell et al., 2016). Various theories can be used to explain the existing social and health disparities in such regions (Williams and Mann, 2017). Some of these are based on the cultural background of individuals and beliefs that have been held for a long time by the people. For instance, they are cultures that will not believe in medical care and would rather use their traditional methods to seek than seek medical attention

The Current Social Challenges

The main social challenges that exist in this case is the acceptance by the community of the ongoing domestic violence. Marital abuse is an idea that is seen as normal in such a culture and therefore, it is difficult to address. Such social beliefs are rooted in society and women are prepared for them (Lee, Fawcett, and DeMarco, 2016). She was brought up in a society where wives respect and appreciate their husbands. It is difficult for women to stand for their rights and to advocate for what is fair and right for them. Social beliefs also prevent women from seeking justice in case of abuse. This is contrary to the social beliefs in other regions where people believe in the Independence of a woman and the right that have to be obeyed by their husbands or their partners. Such a contrasting disparity makes it difficult to address the measure of avoiding health disparities.

Economic Challenges

Economic disparities have been attributed to several health disparities among various communities. This is because the challenges make it difficult to do away with the health disparities. The main cause of economic challenge presented to the people like Winnie is their inability to access the needed care. They are not in a position to afford Healthcare services on their own. They have to rely on the provision of their husbands for economic survival. Such economic challenges promote the ongoing perception and the beliefs of the man who is responsible for every responsibility. As a result of the ongoing economic situation, the victim is not in a position to advocate for her health status. The economic burden placed on them is a factor to the health disparity.

Institutional Challenges

The government also contributes to the challenges of health disparities. The non-governmental organizations have the responsibilities of educating people on the dangers posed by domestic violence. However, the victim, in this case, suffered from the institutional problems as they also advocate for the ongoing violence. Despite being aware of its existence, the government do not want to act or to encourage families to stop violence against women. Promoting social understanding through education can help prevent or eliminate these disparities. However; in this case, such institutions do not take initiatives of correcting the ongoing problem of domestic violence and abuse. Such health care disparities will continue until the institutions intervene and put laws against such acts (Fertmanand Allensworth, 2016). The government have to understand that it is their responsibility to protect their citizens from anyone, including their partners. Without this understanding, such problems will continue to exist in society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ongoing problem of health disparities is caused by numerous problems in different societies. Some of these problems come from the long-held beliefs and cultural understandings that have being used by members of the community for several decades. This makes it difficult to implement the rules in societies that are not willing to accept them. In this case, a woman constantly suffers domestic abuse because of the long-held social beliefs and cultural understanding of domestic violence. It is a society that believes that a man should possess a woman and therefore, there are no initiatives accepted to help solve this disparity. Other social, economic, and institutional challenges also contributed to this problem. Since society does not take the issue seriously, domestic violence as normal to them. Hence, it is difficult for women to raise their voice against the suffering that they are going through. Additionally, economic challenges present women with the other challenge as they have to depend on the men for their survival. Such societies rely on a man as a sole provider. It makes the woman in a vulnerable position to seek for her rights because she depends on the man. Institutional challenges come when various governmental and non-governmental institutions fail to recognize the existence of domestic violence. It is the responsibility of the government to enlighten the people on the dangers presented by domestic violence and why it should be stopped.

References

Arcaya, M. C., Arcaya, A. L., & Subramanian, S. V. (2015). Inequalities in health: definitions, concepts, and theories. Global health action, 8(1), 27106. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v8.27106

Fertman, C. I., & Allensworth, D. D. (Eds.). (2016). Health promotion programs: from theory to practice. John Wiley & Sons. http://iums.ac.ir/files/hshe-soh/files/Health_Promotion (1).pdf

Lee, H., Fawcett, J., & DeMarco, R. (2016). Storytelling/narrative theory to address health communication with minority populations. Applied nursing research, 30, 58-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2015.09.004

Wemrell, M., Merlo, J., Mulinari, S., & Hornborg, A. C. (2016). Contemporary epidemiology: a review of critical discussions within the discipline and a call for further dialogue with social theory. Sociology Compass, 10(2), 153-171. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12345

Williams, S. L., & Mann, A. K. (2017). Sexual and gender minority health disparities as a social issue: How stigma and intergroup relations can explain and reduce health disparities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(3), 450-461. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12225