Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

Poverty causes stress and mental health problems. Adults that live in poverty have high chances of developing psychological problems compared to that are above the poverty line (Watson 2010). Poverty also promotes obesity and infectious diseases. Once diseases attack people living in poverty, they spread very fast and affect many people. The development of children at their early stages or ages affects their later health status. Poor people do not have enough money to treat their children when they develop some illnesses and vaccinate them for some diseases which make them vulnerable to many diseases at later dates that would have been prevented (Danziger 2009). Poverty also promotes unhygienic conditions that promote health problems. For example, poverty makes people not to build toilets and pit latrines, therefore, become vulnerable to diseases caused by not depositing human waste in the right places.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

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The returns of health to education are higher than the financial returns. It is estimated that one year in education increases the net returns by about 10%. Lack of education also increases chances of developing health problems. Lack of education makes individuals not to practice hygiene in their homes as they do not know the benefits of hygiene. They also not take their children to hospitals to get vaccinated as they do not know the benefits of the practice or just ignore them thereby putting them at higher health risks later in life.

High rates of employment affect health as it increases earnings. It makes facilities that improve health such as gym affordable, improves access to medical services by increasing income or utilizing health insurance from employers, and reduces stress. According to Curtler & Lleras-Muney (2006), more educated individuals live in safer environments and interact with healthy fellows thereby reducing their risks of becoming unhealthy. Unequal distribution of resources such as health facilities, roads, and water greatly determines the health status of a place. Lack of health care facilities in a place  increases the time people take to reach the nearest facility to seek for treatment and increases the chances of people becoming very ill or the disease, in case it is contagious, spreading to many people. Lack of proper roads also increases the time taken to reach a medical facility, therefore, increases the chances of spread of the diseases.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

Poverty is the main determinant of health in Croydon London borough. Though it is a relatively wealthy borough, the large number of refugees and asylum seekers it has in its northern part indicates that poverty exists in some parts. It is ranked number 125 out of 354 of the most deprived boroughs in London. Health inequalities are seen within the Croydon in terms of gender, ethnicity, and location. Men living in the most deprived places of the borough are expected to live nine years less than those living in least deprived areas. Female in the same areas have a life expectancy difference of five years. However, the borough has developed ways of curbing the health inequalities in the region. The Joint health improvement plan prioritizes various issues relating to health inequalities and provides direction on the effective ways to solve them. The borough has put in place effective leadership who work close with the Public Health department to identify health inequalities and develop strategies and plans, which are reflected in the budgets and plans of the Council, to solve it. The borough has also put in place the Local Strategic Partnership and Health Croydon Partnership which include people from all over the borough to device and implement strategies that solve the inequality issue. The borough recommends engagement of all parties involved with local businesses to identify the root causes of health inequalities and device ways of reducing them.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

Health and Social Care Policies and How They are Implemented in London Borough of Croydon

London Borough of Croydon has put different policies to safeguard their people. The second part discusses the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG) 2011 policy and how it is implemented. The Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG) 2011 policy is a policy that guides the way residents should pay for the accommodations they receive for residential or nursing care. It provides that the local authority should access a person’s ability to pay for the treatment and services he gets using The National Assistance Regulations 1992 designed for the purpose in case he is unable to pay (Department of Health 2011). It provides the charging of full costs of accommodation by local authority in local authority managed homes. When a person is unable to pay for the standard rate, the local authority should assess his ability to pay and provide him with a lower amount that he can manage to pay. In case the local authority makes a contract with independent homes, there should be a contract between local authority and independent home to pay the home for the accommodation, including the amount to be paid. The person is thereafter required to refund the money to the local authority. In case the resident is not able to fully refund the money to the local authority, the local authority assesses his inability to pay just like that in homes managed by local authority and decide a lower amount that the resident should refund.

No assessment is done by the local authority regarding the ability to pay for the services offered to a resident for a period of up to eight weeks. In this case, local authority performs a financial assessment and decides on an amount that is reasonable for the resident to pay. The local authority charges standard amount to residents who stay for more than eight weeks and assesses their ability to pay.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

During treatment of couples, local authority does not assess them in relation to their joint resources but allows each individual to enter a residential care individually. All local authorities are moving to implementing a self-directed support in Croydon that provides more choices for people to choose the way they lead their lives. After local authority assesses financial status of people, they come up with the amount of funding that is suitable for their support. It enables people to seek for the support they are able to pay for with ease. Social care manager talks with people about their needs, allows them to fill a supported self-assessment questionnaire, and the works out suitable personal budget amount.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

Health and social care policies are implemented at London Borough of Croydon with the help of various agencies and professionals. Health and social care professionals go through such policies and use them as a guide while undertaking their daily duties. Different agencies also assist in the implementation of the policy. The local authorities, for example, ensures that it uses the policy to disseminate its duties and guides residents on what the policy says and updates them on any changes that are made. Some agencies oversee the implementation of the policy by ensuring that the policy directions are followed to the latter and giving guidance on any issues that might bring confusion. They get to the people and identify flaws that exist in the policy and provide recommendations to relevant bodies to make changes to ensure it serves people well. Citizens also help in the implementation of the policy; those who understand the policy guide others and educate them on what the policy stipulates.

Health and Social Care Provisions at London Borough of Croydon

The last part discusses various health and social care provisions at London Borough of Croydon. The borough provides support and medication to its elders who have dementia. Dementia is a condition where the ability of the brain to process information deteriorates. Various social care provisions have been put in place to control the disease and take care of affected patients; Alzheimer’s Society assists dementia victims by providing outreach support to them and those who take care of them through telephone calls and visits; Forget-me-not Café creates an environment for social interaction with those affected and provide support such as guidance and medication; Information and Advise provides advice to people with dementia, their families, and friends through telephone; Singing for the Brain helps the brain through singing; and Safeguarding Adults Board and Sub-Groups ensures that elderly people are not physically, emotionally, financially, and sexually abused.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

Alzheimer’s Society

Alzheimer’s Society respects people with dementia and ensures that they are respected as they are still valued members of the society. It ensures that people with dementia are reassured and supported by carers, health care professionals, and friends and families so that they feel they are worthy in the society. It provides support to people assisting dementia patients by making them to be tolerant and flexible to them, listening, talking, loving, and socializing with patients.

Alzheimer’s Society supports those who care for dementia patients by ensuring that they have enough background information of the patients’ and information about what they undergo. This makes sure that they see the patients as whole persons instead of that with dementia. They also teach them to have more topics to converse with the patients and suggest more activities that patients may enjoy. Alzheimer’s Society spearheads research that is aimed at developing various treatments to dementia. In response to the results of a systematic review published in The Cochrane Library about a possible treatment for vascular dementia using Cerebrolysin drug, Alzheimer’s Society commented that there was lack of research concerning vascular dementia and recommended that more research to be done (Smith 2013).Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper

The society provides telephone and online services to people with dementia and those assisting them. It campaigns for equal rights to people with dementia through analyzing various policies in place and raising awareness concerning the disease. It also ensures that people with the disease are treated well by providing training to health care professionals.

Forget-me-not Café

Forget-me-not Café creates an environment for social interaction with those affected and provide support such as guidance and medication. It understands that taking care of dementia patients can be very tiresome and organizes periodic social events for interaction of both patients and carers which promotes reduction of stress and anxiety.Social Determinants of Health in London Borough of Croydon» Essay Paper