HUS3570 SPC Psychology Discussion

Please respond to the following discussion posts. M.D Posted The social determinants of health (SDOH) are defined as the conditions in which individuals are born, live, work, learn, and play and can be split into five different categories (Healthy People 2030, 2022). The five domains of SDOH are economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and environment, and community (Healthy People 2030, 2022). Health disparities, inequities, and inequalities unfortunately run rampant in our health care system in the United States. The SDOH relate to all of these disparities as most inequities have to deal with some form of lack of access to care. For example, neighborhood and environment is a part of the SDOH because where someone lives directly affects the care they are able to access. If an individual lives in a low-income community where your socioeconomic status (SES) depends on the care you receive, they will likely experience inequality when it comes to receiving care because of a lack of funds.

A vulnerable population in my community are individuals that are experiencing homelessness. Those who are homeless typically do not have economic stability, or a stable paycheck. This impacts the health and wellbeing of homeless individuals because they may not have the funds needed to access basic care. Neighborhood and environment is another domain where those experiencing homelessness lack – they may not have a stable home that they can call their own. It is seen that recovering from an injury or illness is more difficult to obtain if one does not have stable housing (NHCHC, 2019). Access to quality health care is a struggle. Those in homeless shelters are often exposed to communicable diseases and poor living environments, exaggerating the health issues and concerns they may already be having. When trying to receive proper health care, this vulnerable community can run into issues because of lack of funds and accessibility to resources. The wait times for health departments are seen as longer, and the quality of care is seen as lower. Sixteen percent of the general population struggle with substance use disorder (SUD) while fifty-eight percent of the homeless population struggle with SUD (NHCHC, 2019). This can be related back to the main issue of homelessness: not having proper housing. Housing = health care! The community in which one lives plays a huge part in the care they receive. If communities invest in affordable housing, the homeless population benefits along with the community as a whole (NHCHC, 2019). More money can be put towards health care and ending homelessness when affordable housing is present.

Healthy People 2030. (2022). Social determinants of health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health

National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC). (2019). Homelessness and health: what’s the connection? https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/homelessness-and-health.pdf M.G Posted…. Social detriments of health are the conditions in the environment where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks (Social Determinants of Health 2022). Some factors that play a role in social detriments of health are safe housing, transportation, racism, discrimination, violence, education, income, access to nutritious foods, and polluted air and water.

Social detriments of health play an important role in a person’s health and are relatable to health disparities, inequalities, and inequality. For example, if a person grows up in an area with higher income and higher education levels they will know more about nutrition and buy healthier foods. Whereas people who grow up in an area with lower income and lower education levels will most likely buy foods that are not necessarily good for them. Not being able to buy healthy foods could potentially contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, which could lower life expectancy.

A vulnerable population in my community is the homeless population. Some social detriments of this population include addiction, lack of access to housing, job loss, and domestic violence. These detriments could all have a severe impact on their health and wellbeing. When someone is homeless and has an addiction, it is hard for them to get the help that they need because they are not able to afford rehabilitation and even if they go to rehab, they will not have stable housing to return to. With the current inflation, it will make it even harder for the homeless population to get back on their feet. The current price increases for groceries are making it harder for people who are not homeless to buy the nutritious food they need, and it is even harder for the homeless population. When people lose their jobs, this could cause problems mentally and could affect their overall well-being. Not being able to afford housing due to job loss could lead to homelessness and when being put in that situation the person can make questionable choices which could have long term effects.

Reference:

Social Determinants of Health. Social Determinants of Health – Healthy People 2030. (2022). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health Below, please find a sample discussion reply Discussion Replies

Responses must be more than a simple, “I agree” or “good post” and a rehash of your peers’ words. Do not simply mix up the words and restate them! When you respond to Discussions posted by other students, your post should be respectful, and add relevant new information to the Discussion.

It is not adequate to just say:

Devin, I agree with your post and I really liked your discussion about social determinants and how they may play a part in mental illness.

Here is an example of a more adequate student reply

Devin, I think many people do think there is something wrong with the way a person’s brain works, so it is a “medical” situation (Szasz, 2011). We think that we can just give medicines to help control the brain and “fix” the person’s behavior. It is just not that easy. I had never thought much about the social aspect of mental disorders, where maybe a person cannot control their behaviors because they are under a lot of stress, or totally overwhelmed with everything that is going on in their life – so they behave in ways that we do not see as “normal” or make us scared of them (Allen, et al., 2014). We rush to put a label on them which says that some sort of mental illness is to blame and that they do not fit in in our society. This seems like an example of “social construction of mental illness”. We want to name it so we either make it a medical problem so that we can throw some medicine at someone, or we call it mental illness because that person does not fit in our so-called normal society.I believe that this is one thing that happens when you have too many kinds of pills and ads on TV to push on people to make them act normal. It is scary, and I hope that I am never in such a situation!

Roberta

References

Allen, J., Balfour, R., Bell, R., & Marmot, M. (2014). Social determinants of mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 26(4), 392–407. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2014.928270

Szasz, T.S. (2011). The myth of mental illness: 50 years later. The Psychiatrist, 35, 179-182.Doi: 10.1192/pb.pb.110.031310