Summary of the Healthcare in Canada
Public healthcare depends on several factors most of are outside the healthcare system. Some of these factors include but are not limited to socioeconomic determinants, political factors, and lifestyle choices. The scope of this thesis shall however be limited to the social determinants of public healthcare and these determinants shall be specific to Canada. Canada is a world leader as far public healthcare is concerned and is a model for most countries in the world to emulate. As a result, the stakeholders in the Canadian public healthcare system have not only formulated and implemented some of the best practicable strategies to deliver healthcare to the Canadians but also these methodologies are base on comprehensive factors within and without the healthcare system. Below is a brief overview of the some of the known social determinants in the provision of public healthcare in Canada.
1. Education
Education is a key social determinant of health; generally highly educated people are healthier than the lowly educated ones. This is the case because education is positively correlated to income earned, job security and working conditions which are determinants of health and education enlightens Canadians on how they can generally improve their health. Canada has an enlightened population; at least 50% of the population have some post-high school education. The only health implication of education in Canada is the fact that some children have parents who do no have post-secondary education. Such situations predispose such children to intellectual and emotional development health disorders. In addition, the expensive higher education tuition fees make it challenging for children from poor background to access education at this level and thereby adversely affect their wellbeing as far as health is concerned.
2. Income and Income Distribution
Income is the biggest social determinant of healthcare not only in Canada but also the rest of the world. This is case the level of income that people command to a large extent shape “living conditions, affects psychological functioning, and influences health-related behaviors such as quality of diet, extent of physical activity, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol use” among other decisions. Basically, income levels in the Canadian perspective affect other social determinants of public health such as food security, access to basic housing and healthcare to mention but a few. Income affects public healthcare in two major ways; the level of income commanded per family or individual and the income distribution within the society.
Low income predisposes Canadians to both material and social deficiency. The greater the deficiencies the less likely individuals and families are able to afford or access basic requirements of health such as food, clothing and housing. In addition to this, deficiency increases social exclusivity within the Canadian society thereby making it difficult for the economically disadvantaged citizens to take part in educational, cultural as well as leisure activities which eventually affects the health status of individuals. The impacts on the public health system can be summed up as following. First and foremost, the level of income earned by individuals determines their life expectancy. Wealthy Canadians generally live four years more than their poor counterparts. In addition to this, the death rate in poor Canadian neighborhoods is about 28% higher than it is privileged neighborhoods. Second, the suicide rates among the wealthy are significantly lower compared to those among the poor. In addition to this, studies conducted in Canada have revealed that the likelihood of onset-diabetes and heart attacks is higher in impoverished neighborhoods than it is up market ones. Basically, the burden the low income people exert on the Canadian public healthcare system is generally higher and requires more specialized care compared to high income earners who do not only have healthier lifestyles but also can afford to pay colossal amounts of money for private healthcare.
As far as income distribution is concerned, Canada as a country has been adversely affected by inequalities income distribution especially in the past three decades. In fact the bottom 60% of Canadian families have experienced a decline in their incomes while the top 20% have done extremely within the same timeline. These trends have had hollowing effects on the middle class in two major ways. One, there has been an increase in poor families and secondly there has also been an increase in the numbers of the filthy rich in the North American country. The ultimate result is that the numbers of middle class families have thereby decreased over the past decades and this has serious ramifications for the public healthcare system in the country. This implies that the number of people who rely on government subsidized health plans has increased exponentially over the past three decades further exerting stress upon the public healthcare system.
3. Cultural Beliefs
As a result of cultural beliefs, women in Canada are subject to a lot of gender inequality. This is a result of their child rearing and house-wife responsibility. The likelihood of women getting full-time employment is lower compared to that of men. In addition, it is less likely for a woman to be eligible for unemployment benefits. Women are also considered for lowly paying jobs, are recipients of gender discrimination at the workplace among others. Basically the health of Canadians is based on the distribution social and economic resources and this is the reason why men are healthier than women in the country despite women 3years longer than men. In addition, it is extremely difficult for Canadian women to access quality affordable daycare services a situation that further worsens their situation.
4. Food Insecurity
Food is not only a basic human need but also a key determinant of health in human beings. Presently, about 9% of Canadians are food insecure. In addition, 5.2% of families with children experience child-level food insecurity. Food insecurity is more prevalent in single-parent families and families on social welfare. This has the following implications on the Canadian public healthcare system. First, dietary inadequacies common food insecure households predispose such families to chronic illnesses and consequently impair the management of such disorders. Secondly, food insecurity increases the stress levels which as earlier mentioned has adverse health implications. In addition, malnutrition in children ha negative impacts on their physiological as well as psychological development. Finally, children from food insecure households are more likely to experience emotional, behavioural and academic challenges a situation which poses numerous problems to the Canadian government in general.
5. Housing
Sub standard housing and homelessness are a threat to health provision in Canada. This is because Canada has been experiencing a housing crisis for the past two decades. Rent rates have increased to the extent that Canadians are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. This implies that the risk of homelessness is extremely high in Canada a situation that comes with its own set health challenges. Basically housing insecurity is linked to income insecurity which implies that Canadians do not have a disposable income to spend on healthcare. This is especially the case when housing insecurity interacts with other social determinants of health.
6. Access to Public Healthcare
Canada has one of the most comprehensive public healthcare policies in the world; however a few discrepancies still exist within the country. For instance low income earners are 50% less likely to see a physician when they need one, 50% less likely to receive care during weekends and holidays and 40% more likely to wait for more than 5days to secure an appointment with a physician. In addition to this, Medicare only covers 70% of medical bills while the rest is footed by out-of-pocket payments or private insurance a situation which makes difficult for Canadians to access the care they need. This implies low and middle income Canadians are less twice less likely to buy prescription medicine or foot their medical bills. This is because hospitals and prescription bills account for the biggest proportion of a medical bill. Finally, dental care is only available 24% of low income earner unlike in the EU where dental care is an integral of national healthcare plan.
7. Factors Affecting Public Healthcare in Canada
Several factors affect access to public healthcare but the scope of the paper shall be limited to two factors. To be specific, we shall be limited to geographical location and primary care in Canada. Canada is unique in the sense that 90% of the country is rural while only 30%of Canadians reside in rural areas. Basically, in Canada place of geography directly relates to access to public healthcare. This implies that a disparity exists in relation to access between the rural and urban Canadians. In addition to this, rural populations are generally less healthy than urban ones and travel longer distances to access public care. In addition, there is a shortage of physicians in the rural areas a situation which limits access of the rural Canadian to primary universal care. To demonstrate this, it is estimated that the 30% Canadians who live in rural settings are served by 17% of physicians who practice in such areas. This can be blamed to physician training which is largely urban centric. Finally, the increasing centralization of government services in Canada is also to blame for the disparities in access to universal primary care in Canada between urban and rural Canadians.
8. Access to Public Health: Link to Social Determiners, Local, National and International factors
Second, the health status of a country is directly dependent on its food security. 9% of Canadians are food insecure and this too does affect access to public healthcare. This is because families are more likely to spend their disposable income on food. In addition to this, due to the fact that 5.2% of food insecure families experience the challenge at the level of children, this poses future challenges to public health. Finally, as a result of global economic recession, the housing sector was adversely affected hence the number of homeless Canadians have increased exponentially in the last five years. This presents a whole new set of challenges in relation to access to public health given the unique characteristics of homeless people do not allow them pleasure of seeking healthcare.
Definitely social determiners of access to public healthcare services vary from region to region in Canada but this does not mean that they are limited to the country. As earlier mentioned, already there exist great disparities in relation to access of public health in Canada based on whether the region is rural or urban. Social determiners of health are an international problem. For instance of all countries, the United States was worst hit by the economic recession and the housing sector is yet to recover in the country. This presents the challenge of homelessness as far as access to public health is concerned. Food insecurity on the other hand is perennial problem in the developing world and this affects how people in these countries access public health. Finally, the economic disparities common in capitalistic countries overwhelm the public health system as results of the fact a majority of the people are affected.
Works Cited
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