Foundations of Health Systems in Canada has been has led me to an empowering journey. My greatest take-away from the course were the gaps within the health system that has resulted in so many not meeting social determinants to living a healthy lifestyle. This course led to self-reflection. As a healthcare professional, it led me to reflect on my evolved definition of health. A reflection of my role in the healthcare system was our first assignment. “I’m a critical care nurse, I work to help people achieve better health, is that the answer”? But then when I reflected on my qualifications, work ethic and my motivations to be a critical care nurse, having found that my self-awareness had heightened. I was able to evaluate my connectedness to the works of my career’s regulatory body, government health provisions impacting my scope of practice. I found that I had to identify my definition to health and core values. The core values I was able to identify upon were backed up by an evolved definition of health, nursing and came as a result of clinical experience.
I was then able to connect this to my social media identity. An interesting term, I believed, however, necessary to identify. Surprisingly, my core values coincided with the core values of my governing body, the College of Nurses of Ontario. The self-reflection led to my analysis of my social media identity. Social media, being such a large part of people’s lives, is widely used by healthcare professionals. A conscious effort to understand the norms and digital competencies of posting on social media within the profession is just as important within the healthcare setting as is away from it.
I found it interesting that history is disparity continues into the current status of health for some individuals, such as the Indigenous population. This course has further my understanding of the contextual factors that continue to perpetuate poor living conditions and ultimately poor health of the individuals. There are numerous categories which people fall in to, such as vulnerable, at-risk, ignored, chronic, etc… However, the strategies may not be relevant to all categories and a harsh generalization posts an ad-hoc argument to justify its effectiveness.
It is important to understand the current and historical conceptions of health. This course not only presented me the historical description of health but facilitated inquiry into the contemporary definition of health and relevance of the traditional one. More so, the understanding allowed my investigation into the demographics and health of Canadians. I asked myself, does this definition still hold true for the illnesses and wellbeing of Canadians?
I found that our diverse population is backed up by widely diverse contextual factors that should be considered when defining one’s health.
The consideration of context illuminates disparities that people suffer and ultimately the contributing factors to their ill health. The Canadian Social determinants of health are part of the theorized construct of factors that will lead to appropriate health outcomes. The injustices, and human predicaments have made it such that theory does not reflect practice in a uniform fashion. I got to expand my understanding in regards to mediation efforts, treatments and facilities that address the disparities and advocate for better provision of services that will address the gaps.
My research led me to consider contexts and the also consider the diversity of demographics served in the nation. Surely, culture and social factors influence on individual definitions of health and wellbeing. However, my clinical experience and previous schooling has informed my knowledge of many social inequities, and disparities that prevent adequate utilization of resources and contextual factors that disable one’s ability to meeting social determinants of health. I also was critical of the whether the WHO definition of health (1947) still had relevance to justify as a definition to the health of Canadians. This course led me to research vulnerable population groups that are disconnected to factors that would enable healthy lifestyle choices.
As mentioned, the impacts of one’s health choices are the greatest indicator for one’s ability to meet social determinants of health and ultimately be healthy. As health professionals or anyone considering a patient of inequitable background, we would understand that addressing the contextual factors is most important in individuals meeting requirements to live a healthy lifestyle. My research on influences of health led to explore the Biopsychosocial (BPS) model of health. The model provides a framework for understanding what causes and sustains addictive behaviors and experiences and provides direction in framing both clinical and prevention practice (Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, 2000).
As a clinical application to using this model I decided to look into addictions and resources available to address the disparities in health equity felt by the demographic. Addictions always result from an interaction and interplay between many factors including the person’s biological and/or genetic predisposition, their psychological constitution (e.g. personality factors, unconscious motivations, attitudes, expectations and beliefs, etc.), their social environment (i.e. situational characteristics) and the nature of the activity itself. The inter-connectivity results in addictive behavior (Skewes and Gonzalez, 2013). This multi-level model of health influence has greater relevance to health status of Canadians than the WHO’s definition for its appreciation of of both the diversity and uniqueness of the individual as a result of the interplay between the variety of contributing factors. Addressing gaps in each of the domains of health and wellness will effectively reduce substance abuse and self-harm behaviors. For individuals that have vulnerable health status, compliance with treatment plans and sustaining healthy behaviors and maintain avenues to health resources are important (Ledgerwood, 2007).
A classmate of mine considered structural macro-social factors which are faced by elderly women. She used Kaplan’s framework for understanding social inequities while considering factors such as sex, age, institutions. The interplay of all these factors was demonstrated to have a profound impact on the health of elder women based on their personal views on health and lifestyle choices (Tan & Kraus, 2015).
Many Canadians suffer from chronic illnesses. The greatest number of chronic illnesses comes from the elderly population. Chronic illnesses are usually derived from the lifestyle choices. However, chronic illnesses may debilitate one’s health and sense of well-being but greater emphasis is on management of illness. Large amounts of burden and pressure are put on the healthcare system when patients have complications from the illnesses and they are statically at a lesser chance to improve and will likely require longer hospitalization. One’s definition of health, none most important than when managing their condition, as their views on health and wellness are motivation to manage their health status and foster compliance with treatment plans.
There are many outreach resources for individuals that struggle to meet social determinants of health, and many of them may be marginalized, leaving them vulnerable to poor health outcomes. The Indigenous population of Canada consists of a demographic that has historically been marginalized. Strategies are in place with government legislated programs to mediate the issues. Hospitals around the nation are consulting with First Nation healers to incorporate cultural safe practices for the indigenous peoples. A respect and of cultures will allow for greater use of service and perpetuate a motivation to manage individual health. Trends in healthcare are going towards increasing the self-managing capacities of individual’s health. Greater patient engagement is one such trend that will allow patients to be positioned as managers of their own conditions, while allowing healthcare professionals of required healthcare supports. As a healthcare professional, a shared understanding of health and values will gaps in care to be better mediated.
My journey through this course has furthered my understanding of patient needs and also illuminated my understanding of gaps that remain within the construct of our health policies.
The riveting forum discussions has shed light on the different provincial health focused endeavors and initiatives. The conversations are most enlightening because it has intrigued exploration of contextual issues impacting health at all levels of healthcare. The development of an E-portfolio and increasing my social footprint via twitter were satisfying. I believe the greatest benefit of increasing my social footprint is within connections that can be made professionally and to further professional discussion on both gaps and initiatives to improve healthcare topics.
References
Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. (2000). Biopsychosocial model. Manitoba. Retrieved from https://afm.mb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/BPS-FINAL.pdf
Ledgerwood, D. M. (2007). Understanding addiction from a biopsychosocial perspective. Psyccritiques, 52(43), https://doi:10.1037/a0008742
Skewes, M. C., & Gonzalez, V. M. (2013). Chapter 6: The Biopsychosocial Model of Addiction. Principles Of Addiction, 61-70. https://doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-398336-7.00006-1
Tan, J.J.X & Kraus, M.W. (2015). Lay theories about social class buffer lower-class individuals against poor self-rated health and negative affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(3), 446-461. https://DOI: 10.1177/0146167215569705