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Introduction
Diabetes mellitus, simply known as diabetes, has the reputation of being one of the diseases most prominent among people in contemporary times. Genetic inheritance from relatives and a combination of risky lifestyle types and an imbalanced diet are among the notable causes that trigger a person to have high blood sugar. While there are not much controversial instances on the causes of diabetes, the fact that it does not have a definite treatment yet makes it a subject of concern in the study of public health. Facilitating proper treatment mechanisms requires a combination of factors pertaining to the social sciences such as politics and public policy, history, sociology and anthropology, among others, in order to streamline processes consonant to the enormous demand for treatment. Without due observance to social science disciplines, organizing efficient treatment for diabetes could become highly difficult.
In view of the aforementioned assertion, this study aims to establish that applying the social sciences is helpful for the cause of treating patients with diabetes efficiently. While this study does not answer the question of importance of every cited social science, it nevertheless emphasizes on the contributions of each. Four social sciences form the entirety of the study: politics and public policy, history, sociology and anthropology; all chosen disciplines provide constructive insights on upholding stronger measures to treat diabetes. The applied combination of the four social science disciplines provide for a better understanding on delegating treatment for diabetes using the most efficient ways. A careful perusal of various pieces of literature in the field engages the four social sciences in relation to the objective of this study, alongside possible recommendations shaped in relation to each cited social science.
Diabetes Vis-à-vis Politics and Public Policy
The World Health Organization (WTO) stands as the supranational body that provides policy recommendations and programs pertaining to various diseases. Diabetes has stood as among the major concerns of the WTO, as it has recognized that close to 200 million people suffer from the disease annually, with a strong indication that the rate will rise if there are no adequate measures to curtail the problem. In the United States (US) alone, around 15 million people or 8% count themselves as victims of diabetes, many of which remain undiagnosed (Rocchiccioli and O’Donoghue, 2004). Given the foregoing staggering figures, the role of politics and public policy is thus undisputedly important in terms of curtailing the spread of diabetes through the implementation of thoroughly deliberated public policies. Thus, the discipline of politics and public policy involves a downstream process, as it comprises the provision of highly efficient solutions aimed at delivering treatment for diabetes. Furthermore, politics and public policy incorporates the usage of findings under the discipline of sociology, while facts established under the upstream disciplines of history and anthropology could give due credit for future public policies.
The problem of the US in controlling the spread of diabetes lies on the premise that there is no standard federal measure that aims to resolve the issue. State-level efforts may be present for the cause, but the lack of uniformity among states reflects differences in the distribution of health care between states. Cultural appropriateness has also failed to emerge in state-level provisions on diabetes, considering that the lack of a standard federal approach led to the failure of instituting proper checks and balances on the matter. However, through a proper federal recognition in the form of an all-encompassing public health policy, the treatment of diabetes in the US could improve significantly. Emphasizing the importance of fair access to healthcare and cultural appropriateness could possibly lower down cases of diabetes in the US, given both could streamline treatment processes in the nation (Rocchiccioli and O’Donoghue, 2004).
The essence of public policy in treating diabetes also extend to cases in which patients do not have access to treatment due to lack of resources. For instance, the case of Canada has shown that many Canadians in poverty suffer from cases of type 2 diabetes – one obtained through unhealthy lifestyles and diet. In that wise, public policy is crucial for introducing anti-diabetes health programs suitable for poverty-stricken Canadians, apart from the separate duty of bringing them out of poverty. Doing so could enable Canadian diabetes victims living in poverty to become more productive towards improving their economic state and contributing to the growth of Canada as a nation (Raphael, et al., 2012).
Diabetes Vis-à-vis History
The discipline of history has a significant role to play in preventing the spread of diabetes, as it involves an upstream nature based on tracing origins of the disease throughout the medical histories of patients. When used together with anthropological findings, history could inspire recommendations from two downstream social sciences – politics and public policy, on one hand, and sociology on the other. Noting the origins of diabetes on a case-to-case basis requires particular skills widely used by historians, most notably through using a plan of inquiry in questioning patients. Medical doctors specializing in diabetes construct key points for their plans of inquiry when examining patients. Along the way, doctors pick specific points for analysis in establishing the causes of diabetes for every patient. Afterwards, doctors get to construct suitable guidelines for their patients that lead them towards proper treatment and management of diabetes. There may be a general understanding that diabetes has specific types, but the fact that not all patients have similar histories leading them to contract a type of diabetes necessitates the usage of methods utilized by historians. Verily, history has contributed to the treatment of diabetes through providing doctors with suitable measures for creating plans of inquiry for patients (American Diabetes Association, 2006).
Diabetes Vis-à-vis Sociology
The fact that diabetes is a disease largely related to the lifestyles of patients requires the application of sociology for constructive insights. Sociological findings, gathered through a combination of upstream and downstream processes due to the exploratory and recommendatory nature of the discipline, have large bearings on recommendations based on politics and public policy, as the latter heavily concerns successful policy implementations based on insights on the possible reactions of diabetes patients and other benefiting recipients. History and anthropology intertwine with sociology on determining the reasons behind varying reactions of individuals and groups. On the part of medical specialists, the creation of proper treatment mechanisms in relation to the kind of lifestyles patients take is necessary. Examining the lifestyle components of patients, especially by noting entities open for adjustment and those that are not, is crucial for treating diabetes patients. For instance, if a patient has received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis due to his unholy work hours and unhealthy diet, the doctor would definitely recommend him to have a proper diet first than telling him to get a new job that has a more lenient duration for work hours (Bury, 1991). On the part of patients, compliance to the recommendations of doctors is essential towards treatment. When a diabetes patient does not comply with the recommendations provided by his doctor, he will definitely have little to no chances of effectively mitigating the incurable disease he is suffering from. Thus, sociology contributes to the treatment of diabetes by identifying the factors inducing patients towards noncompliance to treatment recommendations. Results of such studies could also become substantial material within public policies (Lutfey and Wishner, 1999).
Diabetes Vis-à-vis Anthropology
Medical anthropology contributes to the study of diabetes treatment in a manner close, but not entirely the same, with sociology. At the same time, the use of anthropology in analyzing the delegation of treatment for diabetes could come along the same upstream path of history, as both supplement sociological findings to help shape recommendations under politics and public policy. Anthropology, in general, regards the interactions between humans as important, as it aims to find answers to the general question of how humans have come together to build communities. With that, medical anthropology stresses that diabetes has induced the formation of particular community systems, as with all other kinds of diseases. Such has a significant bearing on public policy, which is largely responsible for triggering direct changes on the rate of diabetes domestically and internationally. Anthropology is thus useful for the cause of treating diabetes by analyzing how people have treated diabetes in relation to their culture and lifestyles (Lieberman, 2004).
Conclusion
Politics and public policy, history, sociology and anthropology both have significant effects on efforts to treat and reduce cases of diabetes. The introduction of proper public policies could induce government units to streamline treatment processes of diabetes while promoting the observance of healthy lifestyles and diet. History provides doctors with useful modes of inquiry in constructing recommendations for patients. Sociology is useful for doctors constructing treatment recommendations and analyzing causes for noncompliance of patients towards treatment regimens. Medical anthropology is crucial for identifying cultural and lifestyle components that has made the treatment of diabetes within different communities possible. Overall, the four social sciences contribute greatly to the cause of public health on treating and reducing diabetes cases. With that, it is recommendable for future studies on the involvement of the social sciences on treating diabetes and other diseases to emerge.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2006). Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care, 29 (supplement 1), 543-548.
Bury, M. (2006). The sociology of chronic illness: a review of research and prospects. Sociology of Health & Illness, 13 (4), 451-468.
Lieberman, L. (2004). Diabetes mellitus and medical anthropology. In C. Ember & M. Ember (Eds.), Encyclopedia of medical anthropology (335-353). Germany: Springer.
Lutfey, K., and Wishner, W. (1999). Beyond "compliance" is "adherence". Improving the prospect of diabetes care. Diabetes Care, 22 (4), 635-639.
Raphael, D., Daiski, I., Pilkington, B., Bryant, T., Dinca-Panaitescu, M., and Dinca-Panaitescu, S. (2012). A toxic combination of poor social policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics: The experiences of poor Canadians with Type 2 diabetes. Critical Public Health, 22 (2), 127-145.
Rocchiccioli, J., and O’Donoghue, C. (2004). Diabetes mellitus: Towards a federal policy. Policy Politics Nursing Practice, 5 (4), 237-242.
