Essay Sample on Social Support: Key to Mitigating Stress & Improving Health Outcomes

Introduction

Social determinants adversely influence health outcomes, particularly for the vulnerable population. The health outcomes of the patient are affected with the combination of stress and social support. Many patients become stressed when they lack social support. Patients lack social support such as counseling, affection, acceptance, empathy, encouragement and caring. Stressed patients cannot easily realize the effects of the stress they are experiencing, and instead, blame on their illnesses. Stress can escalate to affect the body, such as headache, chest and, muscle pain, fatigue stomach upset, and sleep problem; thought and feelings, such as demotivated, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, restlessness, irritability, and depression; as well as behavior such as aggressiveness, overreacting or under-reacting, drug or alcohol abuse, tobacco use, social withdrawal. If not managed in time stress can worsen a patient's health condition leading to health conditions like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Also, other terminal illnesses can prolong to heal when the patient has stressed since the healing process includes the mind, spirit, and body.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The High Rate of Obesity in the U.S. Population

Obesity, especially among the American population, is a health issue of concern. Obesity is caused by combined factors such as genetic and behavior factors which include sedentary lifestyle described with physical inactivity, as well as poor dietary of foods with high sugar and cholesterol. Obesity has a devastating impact to an individual's health; some of the health risks associated with this include cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory problems like sleep apnea and asthma, Low self-esteem, Type 2 diabetes, psychological problems like depression, and without forgetting some cancer illnesses like prostate, breast, liver, ovarian, kidney, gallbladder, gallbladder and colon. Despite the increasing epidemic of obesity, health practitioners and relevant stakeholders are making decisive measures to have an effective health strategy to combat this health issue. Such measures include: advocating for regular physical exercise, follow a healthy meal plan, and regular health monitoring. In my own opinion, I believe that other strategies to manage the escalation of obesity epidemic include public sensitization of the disease, having healthy living lessons in school curriculum, launch routine community physical-exercise participation, have legislation measures to regulate the products with added sugar, ensure that the companies that sell junk foods and high sugar beverages are not selling within the school premises as a way to save the children from obesity; such companies include Coca-Cola and KFC.

Infant Mortality, a Social Problem with Health Consequences

According to the statement "Infant mortality is not a health problem, it is a social problem with health consequences" by Schneider, he implied that infant mortality depends on the up bring the condition of the infant which are asserted to be social problems. The social problems that affect the infants include malnutrition and congenital malformations (which is contributed by low blood sugar and malnutrition). In most cases, the affected infants are brought up in the conditions that make them vulnerable to stress and diseases such as pneumonia, malaria, accidents, and diarrhea. In most cases, the causes of infant mortality are majorly brought by the environmental and psychological factors which are the social problem rather than the health problems. If the aforementioned factors among children are directly managed, then the reports on infant mortality will certainly reduce respectively.