The Healthcare Reform Movement

857 Words4 Pages

The current healthcare reform movement is calling for health institutions to evaluate and redesign the historical approach to healthcare in order to reduce costs and improve outcomes for the population. Unfortunately, “the health sector itself has little or no direct control over most of the underlying conditions required for health” (Braveman & Gruskin, 2003, p. 541). These underlying conditions can best be described as the social determinants of health (SDH) defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work [and] age,”. The Ottawa Charter (1986) further defined the prerequisites for health a bit more clearly as peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable eco-system, sustainable …show more content…

539). Taking the cyclical nature of the poverty-ill-health-poverty model into account, it is arduous to recognize where the cycle began and identify the root cause of health inequality. It could be in some cases that preexisting health conditions instigate poverty and as a result initiate the cycle. Alternatively, the cycle could originate from poverty which lead to poor health status stemming from the inability to care for oneself adequately without the necessary resources. Nonetheless, it imperative for health institution to evaluate programs and interventions that can identify and address health disparities regardless of the root …show more content…

These inequities in health can be linked to poverty, inequity, and violations in human rights that should be address by health institutions in a collaborative manner with government, charity, and social organizations. These inequities should also be assessed in a holistic comprehensive manner in order to identify the root causes behind the social determinant(s) contributing to poor health. In many times, this can be the result of a violation of human rights as is the case with LGBT persons. Alternatively, it can be attributed to poverty and social determinants caught in a cyclic