What Are Social Determinants Of Diabetes?
Behavioral factors goes hand in hand with lifestyle factors. Individual lifestyle factors include, “body mass index (diet), smoking status, alcohol consumption and ability to cope.” (Maddigan, S. L., Feeny, D. H., Majumdar, S. R., Fa, 2006) A huge behavioral factor that surrounds my mom is diet. My mother is the type of person who loves to eat she thinks of life as we’re all going to die so why not eat what she wants. One of the pleasures of life is food. And being diabetic limits your intake on specific foods. Her diet now consists of starchy foods, dairy products, and lots of fruits, proteins and whole grains.
Environmental determinants of diabetes We constantly interact with our environment in which we live in and …show more content…
thus our environments contribute to our health and lifestyle. Our physical and social environments can include low income, low levels of education, employment status and poor living conditions which have a direct relationship on our health. For example data collected suggest that diabetes and other chronic conditions are prevalent in neighborhood with high poverty. “Residents of the poorest neighborhoods are more than twice as likely as those in the wealthiest neighborhoods to die from diabetes. And New Yorkers who live in the poorest neighborhoods are more likely to have diabetes, be obese, and report no exercise.” (N/A, Diabetes among New York adults , 2009)However the rate of diabetes in Queens is low compared to rates in “the neighborhoods in Fordham-Bronx Park, East New York and WilliamsburgBushwick in Brooklyn, Northeast Bronx, and the South Bronx where the prevalence of diabetes are the highest.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013) Thus our environments are important constituents of our health and wellbeing.
Social determinants of diabetes Social determinants of health includes both the social and physical environments in which a person is exposed to.
Social determinants are considered major influencers and indicators of health consequences at both an individual and population level. Social determinants include income, race, level of education housing and access to healthy food and health care facilities. Diabetes is more prevalent in certain groups, neighborhood and populations. Income tends to reflect on the level of health care one receives and thus being wealthy means better access to health care. “Racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes persist across levels of household poverty. Whites had the lowest prevalence of diabetes among the wealthiest New Yorkers and had a lower prevalence than both blacks and Hispanics among the poorest.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013) Before acquiring health insurance from her job, my mother was not a part of any insurance plan. That become a financial burden on her because to get her medication he had to pay out of pocket. Unfortunately some unprivileged people won’t be financially situated to pay out of pocket costs and thus fail to get medications to treat their conditions. Biological and genetic determinants of diabetes Researchers often link our genes to longevity or being resistant to certain diseases, in this case our genes is a determinant of diabetes. It is more likely if a person has a long history of diabetes in his/her family that person is an increased risk for developing diabetes. Take for example both my maternal grandparents were diabetic and as it turns out so is my mom. Which leaves me at a disadvantage position if I’m compared to another person who does not have a family history of diabetes.
2. Potential
intervention In the United States, type 2 diabetes is still an increasing public health issue. The United States aptitude to respond and treat diabetes is constantly challenged. Since type 2 diabetes does not have a cure, they are treatments that are combined with medical intermediations to minimize, manage and treat symptoms of diabetes. Some of these interventions include increasing physical activity, improving diet and medication control. The goal of these are to minimize diabetes and the possible medical complications that are being caused by diabetes which include heart diseases, kidney failures etc. which will in turn decrease the rate of morbidity and mortality rates of diabetes. However the success outcomes of these interventions are still unable to positively control and main the number of cases of diagnosed diabetes, the number of people becoming diagnosed for diabetes increases every year. In the epi brief data that was published in 2013 proves that “diabetes increased 150% in New York City since 1993-1995. Diabetes has increased significantly over the past two decades in New York City, more than doubling between 1993-1995 and 2011.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013)Thus even though there are current interventions to address the issue of diabetes, more should be done. The purpose of this assignment was to relate an issue and better explain it using the system perspective. Therefore I believe that to better assess type 2 diabetes or diabetes in general more emphasis should be placed on the social, environmental, physical, behavioral determinants of diabetes which should be in cooperated into the interventions that already exists. In other words, data should be collected based on an individual level which should include but not limited to income, living conditions, education levels and access to healthy food. These data will provide broader social support services available to health systems which in turn will be available to health practitioner. The physician for instance will use this information on social factors in one’s environment (home, community etc.) found in the patient’s medical file to prescribe a recommendation or treatment to the individual through income, employment status, living conditions and access to nutritious food. Therefore the physician will have information on hand to advice patients on tertiary and primary levels of prevention about diabetes.
3. Ethical concerns Violation of privacy is a big issue. Nobody wants their entire life out in the open for everyone to take a peak. And thus there is a limit to as to how far we can intrude on a person’s life before it is too far. Of course the government “spies” on us. They have records of us from the day we are born to the day we die. Our medical records is an example, in order to the proposed intervention above to work, agencies or governmental that engages in collecting data should expand their horizon to collect data on social, behavioral, environmental, physical determinants within a person’s life. “Addressing diabetes in vulnerable populations will require multidisciplinary teams of organizations and professionals working together to influence how communities are developed and managed (e.g., zoning, land use, community infrastructure, and public services). This perspective has been viewed as a systems approach that promises a deeper understanding of ways to effectively intervene on complex and multidimensional relationships underlying health disparities.” (Jack Jr., Jack , & Hayes ) In conclusion, to better assess and manage the condition of diabetes not only involves the individual input, but the community, doctors, family, and governmental interventions to minimize the number of diagnosed cases of diabetes.
Environmental determinants of diabetes We constantly interact with our environment in which we live in and …show more content…
thus our environments contribute to our health and lifestyle. Our physical and social environments can include low income, low levels of education, employment status and poor living conditions which have a direct relationship on our health. For example data collected suggest that diabetes and other chronic conditions are prevalent in neighborhood with high poverty. “Residents of the poorest neighborhoods are more than twice as likely as those in the wealthiest neighborhoods to die from diabetes. And New Yorkers who live in the poorest neighborhoods are more likely to have diabetes, be obese, and report no exercise.” (N/A, Diabetes among New York adults , 2009)However the rate of diabetes in Queens is low compared to rates in “the neighborhoods in Fordham-Bronx Park, East New York and WilliamsburgBushwick in Brooklyn, Northeast Bronx, and the South Bronx where the prevalence of diabetes are the highest.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013) Thus our environments are important constituents of our health and wellbeing.
Social determinants of diabetes Social determinants of health includes both the social and physical environments in which a person is exposed to.
Social determinants are considered major influencers and indicators of health consequences at both an individual and population level. Social determinants include income, race, level of education housing and access to healthy food and health care facilities. Diabetes is more prevalent in certain groups, neighborhood and populations. Income tends to reflect on the level of health care one receives and thus being wealthy means better access to health care. “Racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes persist across levels of household poverty. Whites had the lowest prevalence of diabetes among the wealthiest New Yorkers and had a lower prevalence than both blacks and Hispanics among the poorest.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013) Before acquiring health insurance from her job, my mother was not a part of any insurance plan. That become a financial burden on her because to get her medication he had to pay out of pocket. Unfortunately some unprivileged people won’t be financially situated to pay out of pocket costs and thus fail to get medications to treat their conditions. Biological and genetic determinants of diabetes Researchers often link our genes to longevity or being resistant to certain diseases, in this case our genes is a determinant of diabetes. It is more likely if a person has a long history of diabetes in his/her family that person is an increased risk for developing diabetes. Take for example both my maternal grandparents were diabetic and as it turns out so is my mom. Which leaves me at a disadvantage position if I’m compared to another person who does not have a family history of diabetes.
2. Potential
intervention In the United States, type 2 diabetes is still an increasing public health issue. The United States aptitude to respond and treat diabetes is constantly challenged. Since type 2 diabetes does not have a cure, they are treatments that are combined with medical intermediations to minimize, manage and treat symptoms of diabetes. Some of these interventions include increasing physical activity, improving diet and medication control. The goal of these are to minimize diabetes and the possible medical complications that are being caused by diabetes which include heart diseases, kidney failures etc. which will in turn decrease the rate of morbidity and mortality rates of diabetes. However the success outcomes of these interventions are still unable to positively control and main the number of cases of diagnosed diabetes, the number of people becoming diagnosed for diabetes increases every year. In the epi brief data that was published in 2013 proves that “diabetes increased 150% in New York City since 1993-1995. Diabetes has increased significantly over the past two decades in New York City, more than doubling between 1993-1995 and 2011.” (N/A, Diabetes in New York City, 2013)Thus even though there are current interventions to address the issue of diabetes, more should be done. The purpose of this assignment was to relate an issue and better explain it using the system perspective. Therefore I believe that to better assess type 2 diabetes or diabetes in general more emphasis should be placed on the social, environmental, physical, behavioral determinants of diabetes which should be in cooperated into the interventions that already exists. In other words, data should be collected based on an individual level which should include but not limited to income, living conditions, education levels and access to healthy food. These data will provide broader social support services available to health systems which in turn will be available to health practitioner. The physician for instance will use this information on social factors in one’s environment (home, community etc.) found in the patient’s medical file to prescribe a recommendation or treatment to the individual through income, employment status, living conditions and access to nutritious food. Therefore the physician will have information on hand to advice patients on tertiary and primary levels of prevention about diabetes.
3. Ethical concerns Violation of privacy is a big issue. Nobody wants their entire life out in the open for everyone to take a peak. And thus there is a limit to as to how far we can intrude on a person’s life before it is too far. Of course the government “spies” on us. They have records of us from the day we are born to the day we die. Our medical records is an example, in order to the proposed intervention above to work, agencies or governmental that engages in collecting data should expand their horizon to collect data on social, behavioral, environmental, physical determinants within a person’s life. “Addressing diabetes in vulnerable populations will require multidisciplinary teams of organizations and professionals working together to influence how communities are developed and managed (e.g., zoning, land use, community infrastructure, and public services). This perspective has been viewed as a systems approach that promises a deeper understanding of ways to effectively intervene on complex and multidimensional relationships underlying health disparities.” (Jack Jr., Jack , & Hayes ) In conclusion, to better assess and manage the condition of diabetes not only involves the individual input, but the community, doctors, family, and governmental interventions to minimize the number of diagnosed cases of diabetes.