Assignment Task:
1. How do the Social Determinants of Health impact an individual's learning needs?
Social determinants of health affect how much you may need to learn to act as a contributing member to your society, based on the distribution of resources and circumstances in your society. The World Health Organization describes social determinants of health as, "non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life" (WHO, 2023). The circumstances under which an individual is given determine the necessity of and availability of resources to acquire knowledge. For example, an individual in a society that does not worry for basic physiological needs such as food or water may have greater opportunity to learn other skills as an individual born to a family struggling for these basic resources.
2. What are some ways to overcome social determinant barriers to promote the health and wellness of patients or clients?
On the Healthy People 2030 website, the Social Determinants of Health section breaks down into five sections respectively titled as, Economic Stability, Education Access and Quality, Health Care Access and Quality, Neighborhood and Build Environment, and Social and Community Context (U.S., 2020). These sections break down to describe ways to improve in these arenas such as to "Improve access to comprehensive, high-quality health care services" (U.S., 2020a). To overcome these barriers found in our society, we must work together and focus on specific and measurable goals to make a difference.
3. As a professional nurse, fully describe 2 ways that you can be an advocate for policy change to improve the health and wellness of those effected by social determinant barriers.
As a registered nurse, I can be an advocate for policy change to improve patient health and wellness by working on change in my workplace. As I have been working, I have seen that there are policies and procedures that can be improved to greater benefit both staff and patients. I can raise these concerns with my manager and potential solutions that I envision to hopefully effect change and create a better work environment. Another way I can advocate for policy change is by attending participating in city hall meetings to listen and participate in discussions of issues that my community is facing that may affect the health and wellness of my community members.