Journal entry #1
There are many ways to think about health such as, the Oxford dictionary definition, the etymology of the word health, the ancient word, the WHO definition etc. Firstly, among all these various ways of thinking about health in general I would lean more towards Ottawa charter approach to health where health is seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living, where health is seen as a positive concept that emphasizes both social and personal resources along with the physical capacities. Secondly, definition of health is also based on the biomedical and social model of heath where I would say that my answer is weighted more towards social model where more focus is towards living and working conditions that affect health such as public health infrastructure, social services and community action and which also implements different ways to prevent illness and reduce health inequalities to aim for an equality of health outcomes.
Lastly, to the conclusion my thinking have evolved so much after participating in this class where I started thinking about health more than it was before to me where I have learned that health in general is not only based on just the physical outlook but there are also many approaches that contributes such as biomedical and social approaches where things such as once’s own life for example: gender, race, income and disability also plays a major role.
Journal entry #2
In the tale of two smokers both the people Joe and Jane are facing the same condition of high blood pressure where Jane has a choice where she can stop overthinking and make some changes in her life such as not worrying too much about downsizing and montage, but in the end she has to think about herself and her family, therefore she has to work hard. Joe is facing difficulties at job and he also thinks about his family, so according to me both Joe and Jane doesn’t have much choices that they can make because they have to work hard for themselves and their family as that’s a necessity. The different social determinants that’s shaping the choices they have available are the money factor and the job burden that they face, for example: change in joes schedule, need of getting a second job etc. I totally agree with the stories conclusion that “It takes more than will power and discipline to change unhealthy habits and behaviour because unhealthy habits are directly connected to the social determinants that are shaping the choices that’s available. If a person doesn’t go to job they can’t provide their family so they have no other choices left. Social determinants are the reason why people are facing many heath issues these days, for example: there is a lots of competition and burden at job, workplaces, schools etc
Lastly to the conclusion, as I have mentioned in the first journal entry that definition of health is also based on the biomedical and social model where more focus is towards living and working conditions that affect health such as public health infrastructure, social services and community action and which also implements different ways to prevent illness and reduce health inequalities to aim for an equality of health outcomes. Therefore, Jane and Joe also faces same social issues where living and working conditions affects health. This activity has made me think more about the question that health is not just a choice it’s based on many other factors that contributes and one of them is the social approach.
Journal entry #3
This weeks game “Choices or Chances” was a very good activity to understand more about health in terms of choice and chance perspective where there is no doubt in saying that our personal choices absolutely impact our health, but there are also some life choices that are the basic assumptions in this process such as: poverty, equality, education etc, that impact our health in general. When I played this game called “Choices or Chances” by “Dr wade” in the class I felt that my health journey is not fair and it not always depends on the choices that I have made, as it also depends on the chances as well, for example: being born in a rich family, being educated etc. Therefore, health is not only a choice it is also a chance which we have no control over.
Anne andermann (2016) article “taking action on the social determinants of health in clinical practices” that was done in this week gave me more insight on the values of social perceptions where health equity needs to be given a major priority in order to improve populations health and that requires collaboration of many sectors such as, education, equality etc. The game played in class is very relatable to this article where characters that we worked with will benefit from a social perception, for example: if provincial and federal level of government, physicians and other front line health care workers are willing to support their patients and population in dealing with social challenges, creating awareness about the sufferings that are caused by poverty that will create a huge step towards populations health in general. I think there should be a place for social perception by family physicians as they are the only once that can address these values of social perceptions to their patients and population as it is very necessary to better understand and address the underlying cause of poor health.
Journal entry #4
Medicare is basically a Canada’s health insurance facility funded by the government of Canada. Some of the national events or factors that shaped how the Canada’s health system unfolded were that during the First World War the crisis that took place in canada eventually led to the creation of special federal health care program to provide the necessary health care services for all the ill or injured veterans. Furthermore, 1930s crisis was also a very hard downfall on Canada, rural hospitals and doctors where they started needing help from provincial governments financial protection. In 1989-1992 recession has a worst effect on Canada and its people where many people were unemployed, hospital staff was very affected that led them to move to the US which has a negative affect on Canada as a whole. Hence, these crisis resulted in destroying Canada’s economy where pays started raising and the billing’s were limited.
Thus, to the conclusion these crisis has led the finance minister Paul Martin to start this national hospital insurance program facility and improve the medical care system in Canada which was very successful and is very helpful towards everyone even until today. Therefore, I agree to the fact that these values are widely shared in Canadian society even until today and are very beneficial among the people living in this country.
Journal entry #6
Implicit bias is basically a behaviour or our own action which is unconscious that can affect our understanding. In implicit association test (IAT) developed by Harvard university there are many categories of test available on that website but I chose to do the test named “skin colour” which is based on dark and light skin tones. I was very surprised to see the results that I got at the end of the test which says that I have strong automatic preference for light skin compared to the dark skin but in my mind I think I am very neutral and equal towards both dark and light skin people but I chose those answers because of my unconscious mind as I wasn’t even aware of it. The exercise done in class today known as the mirror theatre also depicts the same situation where our unconscious mind makes any type of judgment or assumptions based on what we see and we’re not even aware of it.
There are many different types of implicit biases that takes place in health professions where patients are considers as “inferiors” or “lower” such type of behaviour or biases can impact the way medical professionals treat and behave with patients. According to the activity done in class, IAT test and the readings from this week I think that I should spend some more time getting to know myself better and being aware of my own implicit biases before becoming a professional in health science as I want to be physician being aware of my own implicit biases will help me to be impartial toward my patients and even towards everyone else as I don’t want anyone to receive poor treatment or inaccurate diagnosis which can even worsen their health.
Make up Journal entry
In this weeks class Dr Michaelson presented ten ideas that could be important to create a more equitable health care system in Canada and among all those ideas “Evidence based advocacy and action” is the one that I found to be most interesting and effective. I chose this idea because I have lived and worked in Canada and I believe that living and working conditions are the root cause of the health conditions faced by Canadians. As living and working conditions are implemented by the public policies and government and these implemented policies have created disparities among the income of Canadians which then has an adverse effect on the health of Canadians and the people living in Canada. Therefore, if these living and working conditions could be improved by government it can contribute a lot in creating a more equitable health system in Canada.
Barriers in implementing this idea should be to change the thinking of people and showing them the bigger picture of what is the actual reason that is affecting their health because most of the people believe that health is achieved by exercising daily, eating healthy food etc but they are unaware of the fact that living and working conditions also affect their mental health. Lastly, I think this approach will be beneficial towards everyone living in Canada and can contribute in creating a more equitable health system in Canada.