Why is it important to understand the social factors that make up a health care user’s background? Analysing two issues covered in class (socio-economic status/class, gender, ageing), examine the impact of social factors on health and wellbeing).
ANSWER
Impacts of Social Factors on Individual Health
The social factor is a primary issue that health care providers must understand while
providing care. Social factors are experiences perceived in the relationship between people and
social groups. The relationship between the social world of a person such as relations,
spirituality, as well as socioeconomic status plays a significant role in the health procedure
(Denny, 2005). The procedures are seen as an overall level of the process, for instance, the
available social support that then relates to the micro-level procedures such as genetic factors
that cause successive wellbeing or sickness. Thus, this essay will outline the importance of
understanding the social factors that makeup healthcare users' backgrounds and analyze
socioeconomic status and gender and age as issues that affect individual health. Besides, the
essay will examine the impact of social factors on health and wellbeing.
According to Lorraine and Simon (2001), health care providers should understand the
social factors that make up the background of a health care user. Social determinants, for
instance, negative early experiences, can impact how the brain of an individual develops and can
cause mental problems or illiteracy. Various users grow up in backgrounds full of domestic
violence and other childhood stressors, which cause long term issues such as suicide.
Accordingly, substance abuse in childhood is another factor that makes up a user's background.
Besides, Lorraine and Simon (2001) contented that substance abuse, for example, alcohol
consumption is common among pregnant women who cause optimal development of the fetus
and can, in turn, cause poor growth and behavioral issues linked to a weak immune system of the
kid. Scambler (2008) reported that cases of smoking among women mostly occur in single
parents, and they use this strategy to handle stress and social stigma.
Impacts of Social Factors on Individual Health 3
On the other hand, the type of education an individual has is another determinant that
makes up the user's background. When an individual receives good education, then one is forced
towards improving to secure a good job. In contrast, lack of proper education can make a person
have a negative perspective on schooling and may be willing to drop out of school as a result of
their negative perception. Besides, the health of an individual is also influenced by social capital,
which was outlined by Brown (2014) as the collective of the facts to the probable resources that
are associated with possessing a durable network of more or fewer relations of frequent social
contacts. An individual can use social capital to receive improved goods and services and can be
shared from one generation to the other. Social capital appears to be typical in the standard
societal class; nevertheless, it tends to be usual within the working class. Similarly, de Andrade
et al., (2015) claimed that religion is another social factor that makes up the user's background,
and people use it as a sense of belonging where people donate, volunteer, and promote good
health. Therefore, Keidser and Seeto (2017) said that it is essential to understand the social
factors that make up the user's background while providing care and the rationale for this is to
help health care providers understand how to handle and approach particular patients during care
provision. Individuals undergoing stressful time, for instance, bringing up children solely and in
poor condition will probably have negative health behaviors and must be carefully handled and
approached.
Scambler (2008) stated that the health and wellbeing of an individual are affected by
various social factors such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status. The gender of an individual
shows significant differences in both physical and social reactions to ill health. Physical
differences between males and females are believed to be the significant contributing elements to
the health of individuals. Clarke (2010) demonstrated that females who use substances such as
Impacts of Social Factors on Individual Health 4
cigarettes have higher possibilities of developing lung cancer than a male who is addicted to
smoking, although heart diseases affect more women than men after ten years because of the
protective impacts of high estrogen levels before reaching menopause. Besides, previous
research conducted by Watson (2012) showed that women have a higher life expectancy and a
biological advantage than males. Sex, the social distinction amongst males and females, is
currently considered to be the primary health and wellbeing determinant. Males have lower rates
of consultation that females and they appear to be extra lethargic when considering their health.
Thus, this permits illnesses to be detected earlier and cured before becoming severe among
women. Also, males work in dangerous professions, for example, firefighters, and they have a
higher possibility of taking part in unsafe behaviors.
Another social factor that affects the health of an individual is the age that cannot be
controlled, and no one can prevent it. Individual health is said to decline as one gets old and this
cannot be disputed. Nonetheless, health care deterioration associated with getting old is often
treated and can be treated if a young individual has them. Various researches conducted shows
that lack of urinary self- restraint can be treated among youthful generals but cannot be
prevented or treated among the elderly. Besides, Denny (2005) stated that older people
experience a decline in many body functions. The immune system of older people becomes
weak, which implies that it becomes hard to recover from sickness, and they also experience the
deterioration of nerves, which causes falls. Falls among older people affect both the physical and
psychological capability and patients' experiences decline in personal confidence and they
become fearful of leaving their homesteads for a long time. Ultimately, Watson (2012) asserted
that lack of social confidence causes mental problems, for instance, consistent stress that causes
depression when they realize reduced communication with companions and family members.
Impacts of Social Factors on Individual Health 5
According to Lee and Jackson (2015), the connection between socioeconomic status and
individual health has been widely documented. Although the general association of
socioeconomic status and death may increase among the elderly, the socioeconomic situations
seem to be directly connected to the frequency of disability and persistent illnesses such as heart
failure, cancer, and dementia. Reduced socioeconomic status causes psychological issues that are
caused by stress, social stigma, and poor control of senses, reduced self-esteem, and disparities to
get the necessary diet and health services. Individual health is affected by poor social and
financial situations (Brown, 2014). Individuals who appear to be neglected by society have
higher risks of developing stress-related diseases such as blood pressure and diabetes, and the
effects of social status affect the poor and the inclination in health runs within a society. Clarke
(2010) stated that stressful situations that make individuals to be fearful, nervous, and incapable
of coping, damages health, and can cause earlier death. Social and mental conditions causes
continued stress, and at the same time, continued anxiety, insecurity, reduced self-esteem, social
stigma, and poor work and home control can powerfully affect personal health. Accumulation of
mental risks in life increases the possibilities of psychological issues and early death. Besides,
nervousness, uncertainty, and lack of friends' support damage individual life when they happen,
and the lower individuals in the societal and economic ladder of developed nations, the higher
these issues occur (Galletta et al., 2016).
In conclusion, the question of whether social factors affect personal health is evident.
However, various factors have to be deliberated to ensure proper judgment of individual general
health because, every factor is caused by multiple elements that have to be recognized to
establish the significant cause of every problem. Different factors that affect health also build-up
Impacts of Social Factors on Individual Health 6
or interrelate, for instance, age can impact choices made by various individuals in life, as well as
the decisions made by a person, and the behaviors they show can determine how long one lives.