DNP 825 Compare prominent health concerns in developed countries with prominent health concerns in underdeveloped countries, and explain how factors such as the economy, politics, and natural resources contribute to global health disparities
Re: Topic 8 DQ 1
Power is exercised everywhere in global health although its presence may be more apparent in some instances than others. In global health there are structural power at work in the existence of a cadre of individuals medical professionals, development economists, advocacy experts and others who offer advice to governments of low-income countries presumed to be in need of their input. There is ample evidence that social factors, including education, employment status, income level, gender and ethnicity have a marked influence on how healthy a person is. In all countries whether low-, middle- or high-income there are wide disparities in the health status of different social groups. The lower an individual’s socio-economic position, the higher their risk of poor health (Shiffman J. 2017).
Health inequities are systematic differences in the health status of different population groups. These inequities have significant social and economic costs both to individuals and societies. The underdeveloped country includes many problems in which there are low standards of living, rising level of poverty, low per capital income, low consumption levels, poor and old health services, high death rates, high birth rates and these types of countries depend on foreign countries aid. While the developed countries use the technology imposed to them in medical services to treat the patients and the level of treatment is high as compared to the underdeveloped countries (Rifkin, 2018). The medical practitioners also have high level of knowledge. In underdeveloped countries, access to universal healthcare is deemed while in developed nations, government focus on increasing access to additional private healthcare coverage to supplement government run universal coverage. In underdeveloped countries there is lack of resources which make it difficult for people to access healthcare, while in developed countries, there are adequate resources for the medical practitioners and the environment they are working in is conducive thus the services they provide are good for their patients.
Politics being a determinant in health, it means how different institutions affect health within different political systems and culture and at different levels of governance. It contributes to global health disparities in that if there is no social justice, the nurses will not be able to protect health care access for vulnerable populations and they may end up suffering a lot or even dying. Economy being a factor which contributes to the global health disparities, its effect is that with low income or even lack of employment affects one’s ability to make healthy choices and affordance of medical care (McCauley et al., 2020). Natural resources contribute to global health disparities in the way that if people are not able to access food and water it may lead to increase of diseases and death as people must access food and water to live.
DNP nursing personnel acts as leaders in the public and advocacy strategies of State health ministries, ensuring the reliable, quality, and productive implementation of programs and resources and the amount of workforce dimensions/education required to meet the State’s nursing needs. Leadership in the formulation of strategies that promote public health requires the use of scientific expertise to take policy decisions. Creating policies, creating action plans, and developing approaches to health equality it will collaborate with other departments, institutions, nurses and other stakeholders (McCauley et al., 2020). The nurse should also examine the underlying cause of illness and disease in the community. Through reviewing the various root causes of adverse health outcomes, nurses may help to peel back the layers of health inequities.
References
Rifkin, S. B. (2018). Alma Ata after 40 years: Primary Health Care and Health for All—from consensus to complexity. BMJ global health,3(Suppl 3), e001188.
Shiffman J. Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2017;3(6):297–299. doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.120.
McCauley, L. A., Broome, M. E., Frazier, L., Hayes, R., Kurth, A., Musil, C. M., & Villarruel, A. M. (2020). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Degree in the US: Reflecting, Readjusting, and Getting Back on Track. Nursing Outlook
