Please read the rubric and RESPOND TO 2 OF YOUR PEERS’ POSTINGS. (I will label Peer #1 and Peer #2)
Peer Responses: Minimum of one (1) peer-reviewed reference. WEBSITES are NOT considered peer-reviewed.
Words Limits
Response posts: Minimum 100 words excluding references.
Peer #1:
Social determinants are factors in life that have an influence on healthcare outcomes. Examples of social determinants of health include economical stability, education, accesss to quality health care, neighborhood and built enviroment, social and community factors. For families living in poverty, it is very challenging to afford nutritious food, housing, quality education, and health care( Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Education Access and Quality – Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. Health.gov. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/education-access-and-qualityPreventable). This simulation made it very clear that economical stabilty can directly effect other key social determinants of health.
I attempted the spent game twice. On the first attempt, I was fired from my job for trying to unionize and ran out of money within eight days. On the second attempt, I cut expenses that were seeming to be wants rather than needs. In order to save money on rent, I chose to live in a community further from my workplace. This led to spending more money on gas, which would be a very challenging decision to make for an individual or family living in poverty. This caused more wear and tear on my car and led to an expensive repair. Grocery shopping in the game was eye opening because I ended up choosing quantity over quality. It was cheaper to buy items like bread and hotdogs than it was for fruits, vegetables, and chicken. Decisions made at the grocery store can directly effect health because we know the cheaper options usually are laking in nutritional value and can lead to obesity and development of other comorbidities down the road. It was difficult to make certian decisions when it felt like I couldn’t afford to meet basic needs. I felt things were the most unfair when I started making decisions that would usually be out of character for me, to make sure I had enough money. I ignored a few bills, declined to donate money to a coworker in need, and ignored health concerns. Ignoring health concerns due to inability to pay for health care can lead to missed routine exams. Preventable illness and chronic condtions could be left undiagnosed and untreated( Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Education Access and Quality – Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. Health.gov. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/education-access-and-qualityPreventable). Education can also be impacted by economical status.I discovered this when I didn’t have enough money to enroll my simulated child into an adademically gifted program. It became clear that living with a low monthy budget would directly effect a person’s health over time, due to the lack of health care resources, nutritional habits, and the emotional stress this could cause.
The “Spent” game me think about my experiences at work. I have heard many families being labled as “non-compliant” because they have difficulty attending scheduled appointments. Instead of making these statements, we should be focusing on why families are not able to attend appointments. It is extremely important to screen patients for possible social determants of health so that we can provide them with resources and a plan to overcome these barriers (Tiase, V., Crookston, C. D., Schoenbaum, A., & Valu, M. (2022). Nurses’ role in addressing social determinants of health. Nursing, 52(4), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000823284.16666.96). At my current job in a pediatric clinic, we screen all new patients for social determinants of health by assigning questions on an ipad. This allows the process to be more discrete for families, leading to more accurate answers. This is because most parents do not want their children to be aware if they are struggling to make ends meet. The questions ask about housing, food, transportation, and utilites. They are asked to rate how difficult each category is from a scale of not hard at all to very difficult. If they answer “very difficult”, community resources will automatically print on their after visit summary. The RN can find a moment to talk to the parents alone and see if they would like to discuss additional resources with our in-house social worker. After a patient is established, we will repeat this screening once a year. We will often provide gas gift cards to families who have further drives or have identified gas expense as a barrier to attending appoitnments. For patients who do not have reliable transportation, nurses can consult our social worker, who can them in booking rides through insurance. She can also schedule a cab ride (free of charge for families).
How do you assess for social determinants of health in your workplace? Do you feel it is effective?
References:
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Education Access and Quality – Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. Health.gov. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/education-access-and-qualityPreventable
Tiase, V., Crookston, C. D., Schoenbaum, A., & Valu, M. (2022). Nurses’ role in addressing social determinants of health. Nursing, 52(4), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nurse.0000823284.16666.96
Peer #2
Poverty affects more than bank accounts. (Murray, et. Al., 2023) I received a culture shock while playing the assigned game. With only a fifteen dollar per hour income, making ends meet was quite a task. I tried to keep my financial balance in the positive by selling valuables in a yard sale, working while ill, bypassing entertainment, ignoring collector’s phone calls, and live on a steady diet of Ramen noodles. These decisions brought feelings of anger, frustration but were manageable as they seemed to only affect myself. There was a moment however when I felt unmanageable guilt and unfairness set in. Forcing my child to remain at school while his class was enjoying a field trip sent me over the edge. My child is in this situation by no fault of his own. This situation is heart wrenching to say the least.
This assignment stirred up many feelings from bygone days. In 2008 my wife and I clawed our ways through LPN school while raising two toddlers. We took a second mortgage on our home, accumulated debt for tuition and scraped up money to pay for necessities. Those times were difficult, but I now have empathy for those fighting poverty.
Poverty and health go hand in hand. People with consistent employment are less likely to live in poverty. (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2021) It is easy to understand the cyclical effect that can occur after an injury. An injury leads to poverty by way of employment hardships problems which in return leaves a lack of finances to afford healthcare. This creates a perfect storm for a person’s health to fall further into demise.
Murray, S. (2006, March 28). Poverty and Health. Retrieved October 23, 2023,.
Zerwekh, J., & Garneau, A. (2021). Nursing today: Transition and trends(10ed.).
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