Healthcare Policy Issue

Table of contents

TOC o “1-1” u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc353146926 h 3

Literature Review5

Methodology PAGEREF _Toc353146928 h 7

Dissemination PAGEREF _Toc353146929 h 9

Conclusion9

Bibliography11

IntroductionSocial policy refers to a set of principles, legislation, or guidelines that have an effect on the welfare of human beings. It usually acts as a public policy that lays the foundation against which people’s interest shall be represented through established systems and institutions. It has been noted over time, that social policy tends to focus on issues such as, health care, criminal justice, labor relations, and all matters that pertain to elements of unfair treatment. Social policy in general is designed to deal with equity issues in the society. It serves as a platform through which wellbeing of members of a society is addressed to ensure equal access to resources for the equal benefit of every member of that society. This paper seeks to provide information on an issue where a research was conducted and a case study was used. The selected research activity therefore is one which was done on health care as a social policy issue. This paper will therefore provide

Healthcare refers to the diagnosis, cure and prevention of diseases and other mental and physical impairments in human beings. The process of treatment is offered by practitioners in nursing, pharmacy, medicine and dentistry. Across the globe, the right to use health care differs from one country to another depending on the administration of the nation in question. The aspects that are taken into consideration in regards to health care include: health policies, economic and social conditions in a country. There are policies that govern every nation in regards to population and personal-based health care objectives. This gives a clear impression that in each nation, there are rules that guide the system when it comes to health matters. This is basically controlled by the management of the every nation.

Healthcare is a policy issue that is sensitive to countries globally. This is because it is an issue that affects human beings and should be taken into consideration has it has many impacts on the society at large. The projects in this case, will have a discussion generally basing on the issue of health. In this case, the geographical regions to be discussed will be the United States of America and the Great Britain. The major issues to be discussed in this project will include the causative agents of diseases in both nations, individuals who are infected with various diseases and the effects of rising cases of diseases in both countries. Other issues that will be discussed include financial positions of both nations in the healthcare field. This will include how administrative bodies of both nations contribute to handling issues that affect the health of the public. That is the steps taken by each management to make certain that the citizens in each nation live comfortably without the fear of diseases. The level at which diseases strike a region and the diseases that are mostly known to affect the two geographical regions are among the issues that will as well be discussed.

A health care issue is one of those factors that bring about many changes to the society. This project will also give an illustration of how health care as a policy issue has brought about changes to the nations of Great Britain and United States of America. These changes include, economical changes, social and at some point physical changes when it comes to a personal level. The project will also mention how the countries take care of patients and how prevention is done in order to prevent the healthy people from being infected (Kongstdevdt, 2010). This is majorly because there are diseases which are known to be airborne which means that patients suffering from such diseases are not supposed to come into contact with those who are not infected. The methodologies implemented by the nations to avoid spread of diseases will therefore be discussed.Literature review Social policy in countries that have stable democracies such as the United States and Great Britain operates like legal policies. Most of the existing policies are consistent with the UN Charter on Human Rights. This clearly explains why healthcare is considered to be a social policy issue. There are many researchers who have done investigation in this field though many of them have studied different sub-topics in regards to many illnesses that affect the world. Freid is one of the researchers who have taken part in such research activities whereby in his case, he generally talks of children and diseases that mostly affect the kids with the ways of treating and preventing such diseases (Freid, 2010). American medical association is an example of an organization among many that has taken the initiative to research on health care. In this case, this union basically discusses on the ways in which patients can be taken care of from home (American medical association, 2009). As an American organization, it clearly shows that this is one practice carried out in the United States of America where patients who do not require admittance in the health centers or have been discharged can easily get care from home. This also includes older people who can take rest at home and get care from there (Munson, 2009).

Other diseases that have widely been researched include cancer (Wingo, 2008) Dermatologic diseases (Sugarman, 2009). Marcell is another researcher who has done an investigation of health care but basically discussed about how male adolescents use healthcare services. This is one research which helps men in that category to know how to use health care services effectively (Marcell, 2008). There are racial differences in hormones and Marsh is one researcher who has investigated in this specific area providing information on how to handle such an issue (Marsh, 2009).

All these investigations show that there are various researchers who have dedicated their time to taking up research on health issues in order to come up with information that can help the society at large. The researches conducted apply both in the United States of America and the Great Britain as they are also part of the globe. Research is an ongoing activity in the contemporary society as there is no perfection due to new issues that come up as time goes by. This is one factor that makes research new everyday and new information even on previous researches are discovered. This applies generally to health as an issue in general as discussed by McCaig (McCaig, 2009). Looking at health as a general issue there should be cleanliness and in this case, the Great Britain has contributed in providing information on how to dispose waste from health centers in order to keep the environment clean and conducive for patients (Great Britain, 2008).

Statement of General Aims and Specific Objectives

The aim of the research which was carried out was to compare and contrast healthcare issue in the United States of America and the Great Britain. This paper seeks to research various matters around health care and every detail that affects the healthcare field in general The results collected from the study were used to analyze the changing of global trends to observe how much administration of various nations globally, remain loyal to the needs of its citizens. Data obtained was also be used to analyze whether there is a need to readdress health care as a social policy issue. Besides, the results obtained were also used to analyze how much the two concerned governments have remained agile to represent the interests and aspirations of the people as is enshrined in their constitution. The study also enabled assessment and evaluation of how the two countries safeguard certain provisions of United Nations Charter on Human Rights. The research also aimed at viewing the effects of healthcare research findings if they have contributed to improving outcomes as explained by Young’s expectations in his manuscript (Young, 2010)

Research Questions

Has the administration of the United States shown concern to health care issue in any way?

Has the administration of The Great Britain shown concern to health care issue in any way?

Have the implementations by the administrations if any, been in agreement with the citizens’ aspirations?

Have the implementations if any, been effective enough for the countries’ economy?

MethodologyThe methodology that was used in the research is data collection. This is because it is a methodology that makes it possible to get the numerical information of individuals affected by diseases in the two nations. It was an effective method for this type of research because the key points to be noted and information to be gathered mainly involved numeric information and it covered a wide area (Joos, 2010). In this general methodology strategy, two methods were used to for data collection for effective findings. The two methods that were used are sampling and questionnaires.

Sampling was used as it entails information on a part of the total population to be covered. This was effective as it is a method which provided facts about a certain percentage making it easier to understand the health situation of a specific region or a certain percentage of the population. There are various reasons as to why this method was chosen. They include saving time and money, for a reduction in the population which may be too large for complete remuneration and it is a method that allows more time to be spent on training and checking (Young, 2010). With this method of data collection, a sampling design was made where there are certain steps that were followed in making it, for the purpose of coming up with effective findings. These steps are

Type of inverse

This is the first step where the objectives to be studies are clearly defined.

Sampling unit

This is the second step which states the geographical area to be the area of study whereby here, it is the United States of America and the Great Britain.

Source list

This is a list that is intended to show the names of the items where in this case it included names of places where sampling was conducted.

Size of sample

It is the fourth step in making the sample design and it is meant to indicate the number of items to be selected.

Parameters of interest

This is where the main point of interest was determined and in this case, it was the portion of people that are affected by certain diseases since it is a health care discussion.

Budgetary constraints

The sixth step in making the sample design and it indicates the cost from a practical point of view. This therefore gave an indication of the cost that was incurred in the research process.

Sample procedure

The last step in making a sample design and it involves a technique to be used in selecting the samples.

The other method of collecting data which was applied is questionnaires. A questionnaire refers to a set of carefully selected questions used in sample studying, there are various types of questionnaires which are, open-ended, close- ended, multiple choice and declarative. In this research the type of questionnaire used was the open-ended one. This is because this type of questionnaires gives room for freedom of expression and it is convenient for studying a depth interview. Since health care is an issue which has to be studied in depth, this was the best form of questionnaire to be used. In this type of research the responses received were not biased and it is one that sets an interview at ease. This is another reason as to why it was used to collect data. Findings

It was noted that the administration of the United States has done all it can to make sure that the citizens receive the healthcare attention they need. Like the United States, the administration of Great Britain has also impacted this sector by making sure that all citizens are provided with effective health care services. In this case, the two administration bodies have shown concern for their citizens by ensuring that they receive adequate health care services. The implementations made by the two nations match the aspirations of the citizens. This is because the citizens are contented with what they are provided with.

DisseminationThe report from the conducted research was published and printed out in magazines in order for it to reach many individuals. This is because such information is important for the society at large and should be made available and reachable to many. Magazines are bought on a daily basis by several individuals and placing this information on them will make many individuals get to read about it. The reason as to why magazines were used is because they are affordable and are readily available to citizens who need them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it was found out that health care is a sensitive policy issue. This is because the changes that take place within this sector cause rapid changes in the economy as well. It is in this case clear that the health of human beings is important. This is the reason why there are efforts meant to ensure that the healthcare sector is well taken care of.

References

American Medical Association., (2009). Medical managing of the house care patient: Guideline for physicians, second edition. Chicago, Illinois.

Freid, V. M., Makuc, D. M., Rooks, R. N., (2010) Ambulatory health care visits by children: Principal diagnosis and place of visit. Vital Health State, 13 (137), 1-23.

Great Britain. Dept. of Health. Estates and Facilities Division. (2008). Safe Management of Healthcare Waste. United Kingdom: The Stationery Office.

Joos, I. M., Nelson, R. 2010. Introduction to Computers for Healthcare Professionals. United States: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Kongstdevdt, P.R. (2010). Essentials of managed health care. United States: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Marcell, A.V., Klein, J.D., Fischer, I., (2008.) Male adolescent use of health care services: Where are the boys? J Adolesc Health 30 (1), 35–43.

Marsh, J.V., Brett, K.M., Miller, L.C. (2009). Racial dissimilarity in hormone replacement therapy prescriptions. Obstet Gynecol 93 (6), 999–1003. 1999.

McCaig, L. F., Burt, C.W., (2009). National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1999 emergency department summary. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics.

Munson M., (2009). Characteristics of elderly home health care users: Data from the 1996 National Home and Hospice Care Survey. Advance data from vital and health statistics. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics.

Sugarman, J.H., Fleischer, A.B Jr., Feldman, S.R., (2009). C. Off-label prescribing in the treatment of dermatologic disease. J Am Acad Dermatol 47 (2), 23- 217.

Wingo, P.A., Guest, J.L., McGinnis L., (2008). Patterns of inpatient surgeries cancer in the United States. National Hospital Discharge Survey. Cancer Causes Control 11 (6), 497–512.

Young, P.L., Olsen, L., Institute of Medicine, (2010). The health care imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes. New York: National Academic Press.