Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay

The influence of poverty on health is a problem that transcends national borders. This week’s readings discussed some of the political, economic, and ethical issues that lead to health disparities in developed and developing countries. In addition, in this week’s first media presentation, Dr. Mancuso and Dr. Huijer shared insights on working within political systems to bring about positive changes in health care. Think about the importance of nurses in addressing these needs and in bringing about change. To prepare for this Discussion: Review the case study “Improving the Health of the Poor in Mexico.” Then, prepare your response to the following questions: In general, how do politics and economics influence health and health care? What might the benefits be of awarding the mothers cash grants as described in the case study about the Progresa/Oportunidades program? What social problems might be created by giving the mothers cash grants as described in the case study? As described in the case study, do you think the resources were ethically distributed? (Think about stereotyping.)Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay.  What changes do you think should be made to the Progresa/Oportunidades program, if any? If the Progresa/Oportunidades program were to be discontinued for any reason, what could you, as a nurse, say that might help to maintain funding? Do you think a similar program, one like the Progresa/Oportunidades program, might work in your community? Why or why not? Explain how politics and economics may influence health and the health care system from your own perspective. Analyze whether the political and/or economic systems play a major role in your or your family’s access to health and explain why. Then, describe how government intervention using the program example described in the case study about the Progresa/Oportunidades program in Mexico, might benefit a health care system. Be specific and provide examples. Support your response with references from the professional nursing literature. A 3-paragraph (at least 350 words) response. Be sure to use evidence from the readings and include in-text citations. Utilize essay-level writing practice and skills, including the use of transitional material and organizational frames. Avoid quotes; paraphrase to incorporate evidence into your own writing. A reference list is required. Use the most current evidence (usually ≤ 5 years old). It has to be wrote in APA 7th edition and sources 5 years or less. I have attached the transcript from the media presentation, Dr. Mancuso and Dr. Huijer along with a copy of the case study and rubric

Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Through Government Actions

In general, how do politics and economics influence health and health care?

Politics and economics have an influence on health and health care. Firstly, the government decides how to allocate health resources based on anticipated political rewards. For instance, if setting up more hospitals would cause a government to be reelected, then the government is likely to use this in prioritizing policies. Secondly, economics has an influence on health and health care through determining the availability of health resources (Osypuk et al., 2014). Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay.

What might the benefits be of awarding the mothers cash grants as described in the case study about the Progresa/Oportunidades program?

Awarding mothers cash grants has three significant benefits. Firstly, it improves the health of family members by increasing the use of health services. Secondly, it reduces the number of sick days away from work so that the mothers can spend more time in economic activities to improve their financial situation. Thirdly, it ensures that they have more money to improve their nutrition. Finally, it improved education levels by providing money to pay for education (Levine, 2007).

What social problems might be created by giving the mothers cash grants as described in the case study?

The cash grants create a social problem by failing to address the root causes of poverty. They merely ameliorate the symptoms of poverty so that the recipients remain poor once the grants are used (Levine, 2007).

As described in the case study, do you think the resources were ethically distributed? (Think about stereotyping.)

The resources were not ethically distributed. That is because the population was stereotyped and certain demographics targeted to receive the grant while others were ignored despite their need. This resulted in some of those who required aid not receiving the grants (Levine, 2007).

What changes do you think should be made to the Progresa/Oportunidades program, if any?

Rather than offering cash grants, the program should offer income generating activities. This would help in ensuring that the recipients have a steady income that helps in improving health rather than being dependent on grants. To be more precise, income generating activities are more sustainable for the population than grants (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015).

If the Progresa/Oportunidades program were to be discontinued for any reason, what could you, as a nurse, say that might help to maintain funding?

If the program were to be discontinued, then supporters would present information on how the program has benefited recipients and how its absence would affect the population. Nurses would engage in advocacy and public awareness to show that the program improves the health of recipients and reduces incidences of illness (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015). Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay.

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Do you think a similar program, one like the Progresa/Oportunidades program, might work in your community? Why or why not?

The program would work for my community. That is because financial constraints have a significant impact on health care access. With money, the local population can access health care services and have more opportunities to earn money thereby improving their economic situation (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015).

Explain how politics and economics may influence health and the health care system from your own perspective.

Politics and economics influence health and health care systems. Politics impacts electoral behavior with regards to policies that voters care most about. This influences the employment policies that determine financial earnings. Consequently, this has an influence on whether the population can pay for health care services and eat healthy meals. Also, it determines public services coverage (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015).

Analyze whether the political and/or economic systems play a major role in your or your family’s access to health and explain why.

Politics and economics influence access to health. Politics determines government policies and whether they would be health-promoting or health-inhibiting policies. In addition, it determines whether inequalities would be addressed and the extent to which they would be addressed. For instance, politics and economics can determine whether government subsidies extend to prescription medication and insurance programs thus determining how much as paid for medical services. Also, it can determine availability of medical personnel and services in different parts of the country (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015).

Describe how government intervention using the program example described in the case study about the Progresa/Oportunidades program in Mexico, might benefit a health care system.

Government intervention can benefit a health care system through developing policies that lower health care costs and expand health coverage. This would ensure that members of the population pay less for health care and have greater access to medical personnel and services (Huff, Kline & Peterson, 2015). Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay.

References

Huff, R., Kline, M. & Peterson, D. (2015). Health promotion in multicultural populations: a handbook for practitioners and students (3^rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Levine, R. (2007). Case Studies in Global Health: Millions Saved. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Osypuk, T. L., Joshi, P., Geronimo, K. & Acevedo-Garcia, D. (2014). Do social and economic policies influence health? a review. Curr Epidemiol Rep., 1(3), 149-164. DOI: 10.1007/s40471-014-0013-5.  Nurses Working to Improve the Socioeconomic Status of Impoverished Citizens Essay.