04 Jan Post an explanation of how two social factors influence health outcomes.

SOCIAL WORK

SOCW 6205 – MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK II

Discussion 1: Social Factors and Health Outcomes response to 2 colleagues

Week 2 explored the interaction between the “bio” and “psycho” aspects of an illness. The third component of the biopsychosocial model is the focus of this week.

Social factors such as socioeconomic status, educational attainment, social interactions and support, and health literacy independently influence the development and progression of illness and health outcomes. Other social determinants of health or illness are race, ethnicity, occupation, geographic location, and religion. These factors influence health through direct psychobiological processes or lifestyle modifications (Martikainen, Bartley, & Lahelma, 2002).

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review this week’s resources. Consider social factors known to influence health outcomes. Select two factors of interest to you. Consider both macro and micro aspects of medical social work.

By Day 5

Respond to at least two different colleagues’ (see below1/2 a page each with 2 references each) postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Provide a constructive critique of your colleague’s post. Offer different perspectives on the social factors your colleague selected.

• Analyze your colleague’s post and expand on the interventions with additional insight.

• Share an insight gained from having read your colleague’s posting.

 

Be sure to support your responses with specific references to the resources and the current literature using appropriate APA format and style.. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references both within the text and on the referencing section. PLEASE ALWAYS INCLUDE THE REQIRED TEXTBOOK as part of the references and if possible some of the REQUIRED READING if applicable. Please always start by referring to THE TEXTBOOK, below

 

 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

Hospital Social Work 2006

Author: Beder, Joan

ISBN-13: 978-0-415-95067-1

ISBN-10: 0-415-95067-8

Edition/Copyright: 2006

Publisher: Routledge N. Y.

 

REQUIRED

Handbook of Health Social Work 3RD 19

Author: Gehlert, Sarah

ISBN-13: 978-1-119-42072-9

ISBN-10: 1-119-42072-5

Edition/Copyright: 3RD 19

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

REQUIRED

Social Work in Health Settings: Practice in Context 4TH 16

Author: McCoyd, Judith L.M.

ISBN-13: 978-1-138-92436-9

ISBN-10: 1-138-92436-9

Edition/Copyright: 4TH 16

Publisher: Routledge N. Y.

 

 

 

 

 

Required Readings

 

Learning Resources

 

Pietromonaco, P. R., Uchino, B. N., & Schetter, C. D. (2013). Close relationship processes and health: Implications of attachment theory for health and disease. Health Psychology, 32(5), 499–513.

 

Uchino, B. N., Bowen, K., Carlisle, M., & Birmingham, W. (2012). Psychological pathways linking social support to health outcomes: A visit with the “ghosts” of research past, present, and future. Social Science and Medicine, 74(7), 949–957.

 

Auerbach, C., & Beckerman, N. L. (2012). Locus of control and lupus: Patients’ beliefs, perspectives, and disease activity. Social Work in Health Care, 51(7), 613–626.

 

Barger, S. D. (2013). Social integration, social support and mortality in the US National Health Interview Survey. Psychosomatic Medicine, 75(5), 510–517.

Social Integration, Social Support and Mortality in the US National Health Interview Survey by Barger, S. D., in Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 75, Issue 5. Copyright 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

 

Liechty, J. M. (2011). Health literacy: Critical opportunities for social work leadership in health care and research. Health and Social Work, 36(2), 99–107.

 

Peltzer, K. & Pengpid, S. (2013). Socioeconomic factors in adherence to HIV therapy in low- and middle- income countries. Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition, 31(2), 150-170.

 

Optional Resources

Casale, M., Wild, L., & Kuo, C. (2013). “They give us hope”: HIV-positive caregivers’ perspectives on the role of social support for health. AIDS Care, 1–7.

O’Brien, K. M. (2012). Healthy, wealthy, wise? Psychosocial factors influencing the socioeconomic status–health gradient. Journal of Health Psychology, 17(8), 1142–1151.

________________________________________

 

 

Tomycina Frazier

RE: Discussion 1 – Week 3

COLLAPSE

Explanation of Social Factors

Social factors have a great influence on health outcomes. Often many people’s health conditions go untreated as a result of various social factors. Educational attainment is the one that I have seen a lot in the past. When you consider someone that has a limited education, they can’t understand certain medical terms and don’t understand what is being told to them regarding their education. Having this makes the person become uncomfortable in health facilities, and they feel like things are too much and this creates friction, and some people avoid health care altogether. Regarding socioeconomic status, this covers several areas that can be a cause for concern. One’s age or religion may come into play when considering health care. When a person is very young or very old it may be difficult for them to understand and be on top of their health outcomes. Social support reflecting the social resources that people perceive to be available or are actually provided to them represented the functional social relationship dimension (Barger, 2013).

Medial Social Work Interventions

As a medical social worker, one could provide in-home health services to the patient to aid in assisting with their medical concerns and help them get an understanding. Another one would be allowing them to be counseled by all parties prior to discharge and advocate for them any services and needs they may have upon discharge. These were chosen because if the client does not understand, it would be essential to get them the information needs to their level of understanding. Social workers in private practice, in schools, and in medical settings must educate themselves about the national, regional, and local community resources available to their clients to assist them in navigating and accessing the overwhelming maze of services that are available (Handbook of Health Social Work).

Tasks a worker needs to complete

A social worker would first have to establish what the client needs, and the client would have to share that they don’t understand if this is not obvious to the worker. Being open with the care plan team would be beneficial to not only the client but all parties involved so that everyone is on the same page. Allowing the client to be involved and help throughout the process would be a great way for them to be involved and learn information that they will need in regard to their healthcare. Upon patient admission in most hospitals and general medical units, social workers are expected to begin the work of patient needs identification and assessment to begin the discharge process (Hospital Social Work).

Barger, S. D. (2013). Social integration, social support, and mortality in the US National Health Interview Survey. Psychosomatic Medicine, 75(5), 510–517.

Gehlert, S., & Browne, T. (Eds.). (2019). Public health and social work. In Handbook of health social work (3rd., pp. 93-113). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119420743

 

 

 

Dahlia Gordon

RE: Discussion 1 – Week 3

COLLAPSE

Post an explanation of how two social factors influence health outcomes.

Social determinants of health are the conditions that we live and learn; These factors affect your ability to participate in healthy behaviors, which affects your health. A healthy lifestyle refers to a series of behavioral patterns. Individuals maintain and promote good health based on specific motivations, norms, abilities, and knowledge about what constitutes healthy, stress-relieving, or pleasurable behaviors (Cockerham, 2005). Economic Stability, health as not just the absence of disease, but instead in the broad sense of physical, financial, emotional, and social well-being at an individual, family, and community level. Health is thus affected by individual risk factors and behaviors and a range of economic and social conditions. In other words, these social determinants of health are the conditions under which we are born, grow up, live, work, and age. These create social determinants of health inequalities. They determine access to life chances and the quality of our health. Exploring mechanisms through which social determinants affect health (and life) outcomes and describe some policy approaches to improving health by addressing socioeconomic disadvantage. Social and economic factors can support or constrain healthful behaviors. For example, people with social or economic burdens may not quickly eat a healthy diet or provide this to their families if they live in a neighborhood where such food is not readily available or affordable. The work hours, sick leave policies, clinic hours of health care providers, and transportation and childcare issues also contribute to access to clinical care and the quality of care received.

Further, ample evidence shows that those with lower educational attainment, lower incomes, and people of color receive lower-quality health care (Laveist et al., 2011). Social determinants of health interact with other health factors. They influence access to (and the quality of) health care, confidence in maintaining healthful behaviors, and the quality of their environment, work in, and play in.

Describe medical social work interventions that target these factors to improve health outcomes and explain why you selected these interventions.

An intervention by a social worker involves a home safety review, assessment of psychosocial needs, medication reconciliation, review of discharge orders, and assistance in scheduling follow-up appointments with the primary care physician and Specialists, as needed. Further assessments included home safety, depression, and self-management of chronic conditions needs. Intervention goals included ensuring comprehension and compliance with discharge instructions, ensuring medication accuracy and physical therapy, and ensuring adherence to physical therapy assesses the patient’s ability to manage chronic conditions. Furthermore, the intervention utilized problem-solving treatment (Nezu, 2004) as a way of helping the patient prioritize needs and identify possible solutions. PST does not provide answers; instead, it teaches patients to approach those problems.

Social workers would be better suited than nurses who focus on medical care or advanced practice nurses. These interventions may better fit the role of arbitration within hospitals (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2004) since social workers are trained to identify and connect patients’ communities and health services.

Explain the tasks a social worker might need to complete to reach the desired outcomes.

Health care social workers contribute significantly to improving physical and mental health in the United States, especially in vulnerable populations. Social workers meet their patients at their most vulnerable and having the ability to alleviate concerns and find answers is a necessity in healthcare settings. Not only does education help keep minds at ease, but findings have also concluded that educated patients have better outcomes. The social workers are often involved at the policy level to address biopsychosocial factors responsible for poor health. When people obtain a good education, have stable housing, are in a safe environment, and have health insurance, their health outcomes will be better (Woodhandler et al., 2017)

 

References:

Cockerham W.C. Health lifestyle theory and the convergence of agency and structure. J. Health Soc. Behav. 2005;46:51–67. DOI: 10.1177/002214650504600105.

Health Resources and Services Administration. Preliminary Findings 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Washington, DC: Author; 2004.

Nezu AM. Problem solving and behavior therapy revisited. Behavioral Therapy. 2004;35:1–33.

T. A. LaVeist, D. Gaskin, and P. Richard, “Estimating the Economic Burden of Racial Health Inequalities in the United States,” International Journal of Health Services 41, No. 2 (2011): 231–238.