Modern Health Care: Improved Facilities for Global Well-Being - Essay Sample

Introduction

Modern medical institutions have developed in the recent past and accommodate the increasing rates of illness in the global world. Good health is central to human well-being and happiness and, therefore, maintaining high standards of medication demands for improved and better health care facilities. The theoretical models connect health to various scientific revolutions. According to the Germ Theory of Disease, health indicates the absence of disease. Medical sociology has supported the existing power of the current health systems in the world (Bauman & May 2014). The social experiences are interconnected through work, media, family, and religion. Through the structural-function theory, society is a complex system and functions to enhance and promote social stability and solidarity (Jenner, 2008). The norms and values through which a society survives help understand the moral deviations and changes in the medical hub.

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

Save 25%

Medical establishment motivates health experts through the foundation of sociological knowledge. The idea to study medical issues or illness helps individuals to understand how medical sociology has evolved today (Bauman & May 2014). Even though sociology explains the medical beliefs, norms, and moral characters, there is criticism behind the functional theory. For instance, social class, gender, and ethnicity can challenge medical sociology since it can bring tension and conflicts.

In the modern world, the Canadian and US medical organizations have formulated critical norms and policies that guide the operation. Over the decades, the issue of neoliberalism, such as the market rule, which includes the unregulated market as a way to increase economic growth, also impacts medical developments in many countries (Jenner, 2008). Factors such as privatization and deregulation have critical effects on medical systems and demand for in-depth characterization. Through sociology, medical institutions understand society's policies and work under moral norms and beliefs.

Journal 2 DD, June 2020

Medical knowledge depends on sociological science. Medical sociology is influenced by human, social, and cultural factors. The medical and scientific expertise through cross-cultural context consider medical science not to form part of both culture and social structure; Instead, it is connected to the positivist science (Bauman & May, 2014). The sociological research shows the critiques and assumptions of medical science and how they impact the global health care system. Through social constructions, most global countries have devised significant mechanisms to control the health sector or programs.

The Canadian Medicare is a government-funded universal health program, established in 1957. They have focused on the founding principle: the ability to pay in their own healthcare system (Jenner, 2008). The federal government share cost and this was harmonized through the federal laws, the Canadian Health Act of 1994. Over the years, the health care system in Canada has focused on combating the spread of diseases through drugs and surgery (Bauman & May 2014). These approaches were considered to present different results when the condition was under treatment. Relatively, allopathic medicine was again introduced in the 19th century to help the practitioners or doctors to treat diseases through radiation, drugs, and surgery.

Allopathic medicine is a science0-based medicine that buses medications to suppress the ill-effects of diseases. For example, integrative care is a type of allopathic medicine that combines western medicine with alternative medicine. Besides Canada, most cancer-related canters in the US have adopted this approach to treat cancer. The idea to understand medical science led to the establishment of medical institutions, thus leading to state interventions in 1832. Medicine formalizes consisted of enforced policies, which included building hospitals and asylums. As the world becomes diverse, there are significant discoveries and advancements made through the sociology of medicine, helping healthcare professionals combat emerging illnesses or diseases.

Journal 3. DD June 2020

The sociology of illness and health is a particularly exciting topic of our daily lives that encompasses sociological pathology and treatment. Generally, this branch of sociology explains the causes of various diseases and illnesses. It reveals the multiple reasons why patients seek particular types of medical aid, patient compliance, or non-compliance with therapeutic regimes (Clarke, 2012). Sociologists use various perspectives or constructs to study the social world and include conflict theory, structural-functional theory, interpretive theory, feminist and antiracist theories (Clarke, 2012).

There are a set of theories that caught my attention. The first one was the feminist theory. The others include antiracist and intersectionality theories. These theories are particularly crucial to me since they help to explain and describe the social world concerning societal imbalances or inequalities so that any inequities and sources of oppression are kept in focus (Bury & Gabe, 2013).

However, inequality is like a part of the current world we live in, especially here in the United States, where some people's gender or race is dominant over the other. In other words, even though we're all human beings and living according to our society dictates, some are mightier and more superior than others. These theories are aimed at expounding the fact that despite our multiple identities and roles, specific categories of people tend to dominate, and others tend to be oppressed in our world (Bury & Gabe, 2013).

In our society, especially in our country, white people, men, and heterosexuals tend to dominate every circle of society. The imbalance of power is caused by the fact that such people tend to have more power, better access to resources, and have more money. The sociology of health and illness has historically reflected whites as well as male dominance over the subject matter in an attempt to make the society aware of the disparities in the latter (Clarke, 2012).

Journal 4 DD June 2020

Medical tourism in the world has been a practice that dates back a long time ago during the ancient periods of Greek civilization. However, over the years, it has grown and developed as the world has continued to become a global village. Today, medical tourism is very prominent in the United States of America as it tries to cater to the health needs of its over 300 million citizens (Bookman, 2015). Medical tourism has grown in scope and popularity among Americans. The numbers, flow, and direction of medical tourists has begun to change due to various reasons. I am going to discuss the reason for the increased cases of medical tourism by most Americans and the detrimental effects that it is having on the users.

In the past, most patients in the United States who opted for medical tourism practiced it within the boundaries of the country. Only a few Americans chose to fly outside the country for medical reasons. However, those seeking treatment out of the country have increased more than those seeking treatment within the country (Bookman, 2015). The most probable reason, as discussed and established in this journal, is that most employees and patients are beginning to see medical tourism as a way to cut on healthcare costs (Stolley & Watson, 2012). The USA has the most expensive health care system in the world, and it is not difficult to find countries that offer the same treatments or procedures as in the USA at a 30-65% less cost (Ormond, 2011). The lure for cost-saving health care is a primary reason for the increasing cases of medical tourism.

Some of the countries popular with American medical tourists are the Philippines, South Africa, Cuba, India, as well as Turkey. Despite the surge of American medical tourists, the concerns raised are based on the quality of care that the Americans are likely to receive from the overseas hospitals (Bury & Gabe, 2013). The Centre for Disease Control, CDC, explains that despite the reduced costs of the treatments abroad, there is no enough proof that the hospitals visited to provide the same quality treatment as required in the USA (Ormond, 2011). Besides, there are concerns of poor follow up on treatment for the patients after they return to the USA. This is essential because of the geographical distances between the USA and the countries where the treatments are sought

Journal 5. DD June 2020

The social experiences are interconnected through work, media, family, and religion. Through the structural-function theory, society is a complex system and functions to enhance and promote social stability and solidarity (Jenner, 2008). The norms and values through which a society survives help understand the moral deviations and changes in the medical hub. In that manner, allopathic medicine is a science-based medicine that uses medications to suppress the ill-effects of diseases. I noted an example that is evident in real-life practice. For example, integrative care is a type of allopathic medicine that combines western medicine with alternative medicine. Besides Canada, most cancer-related centers in the US have adopted this approach to treat cancer.

Some issues need to be incorporated to enhance therapeutic approaches while considering the sociological perspective. Issues surrounding the language barrier have been cited as well as the possibility of exploitation due to the weak or non-existent consumer protection laws in such countries. The best way to curb medical tourism is by making healthcare affordable and accessible to everyone, whether rich or poor.

Some issues need humanitarianism, legal ethics, and healthcare interventions to find a reasonable step. As a heated topic, the decision to end one's life through the concept and idea of euthanasia has always called for debates (Bury & Gabe, 2013). In that manner, such instances require the victim to make their decisions on whether to accept the step or not. It is a matter that involves applying utilitarianism, nursing, and legal concepts to make a decision.

Journal 6 DD June 2020

Sociology in healthcare and nursing practices is affected by various social issues. The law sometimes does not align with the ethics of life and human coexistence. One of the problems that I found to be uneasy to solve was the choice of abortion. The issue of abortion in our country is a heated topic that many people are divided about (Bury & Gabe, 2013). Some support abortion, whereas some oppose it. Most people do not want to accept the fact that abortion revolves around the health-being of a woman; hence, the issues around abortion should be left to a woman to decide what she wants with her body. You will find that in such discussions most opponents are men who do not wish to consider the fact that a fetus is carried by a woman and hence it is part of a woman's body and therefore a woman has a right to choose whether to abort or not (Bury & Gabe, 2013).

The same way men are not told on what they should do or not with their bodies or health, and then women should not be controlled by men on issues surrounding their bodies and health, especially on abortion. I find this as an excellent point about the theory of feminism and should be taken with a lot of concern to air how women are not given their rights to choose about their health.

On the antiracist theories, it is clear that white is superior to the rest of the races, especially in the USA. A black person is likely to be arrested 20% more times than a white person once pulled over by the police. In addition, more deaths of black people...