Discuss four aspects of the social context of care Essay

Discuss four aspects of the social context of care - Essay Example Health is also affected by the kind of living and working conditions he enjoys and whether the people he is interacting with are having a positive influence on his life. (Wilkinson Richard and Marmont Michael, 2003) There was a previous school of thought which prescribed that the doctors along with the nurses should not get too involved in the social aspect of the patient. One tends to lose their level of reasoning and rationality of thought on such interactions. Making the correct diagnosis along with administering the drug by the nurses were the requirements of a doctor and a nurse. However the present school of thought introduces a social aspect into the medium whereby doctors and nurses are advised to have a more pleasant interaction with the patients. Even if the patient can afford the treatment the greatest barricade for ordinary people gaining access to proper healthcare includes class, gender, ethnicity and disability. Stigma Stigma relates to a psychological problem that is experienced by patients having Aids, epilepsy and other mental illness. This is characterised by a feeling of depression and low well being. (Brakel Wim, 2005) The literary concept of stigma is defined as the social rejection of an individual or a group due to a negative judgement made by the society at large due to a health problem that the individual or group is facing. Stigma is associated with the following actions 1. Discrimination- This entails preferential treatment given to some people over others due to a particular health issue a patient might posses. (Wilkinson Richard and Marmont Michael, 2003) Source: Brakel Wim, 2005, measuring social stigma 2. Participant Restriction- This involves the problems a patient might experience when intermingling with society in general. Participation is restricted from certain activities which can have a negative impact on his psychological well being. (Brakel Wim, 2005) 3. Stereotype- This occurs when the society at large perceives people suffering from a particular illness as all having the same personality traits and behaving in a certain manner. This can give rise to cliches with society not appreciating the individuality of the person. Stigma affects the mental condition of the patient adding to the illness or disability he is already experiencing. People tend to develop an inferiority complex. Stigma and discrimination is harmful in areas related to medical access to these patients. For AIDS patients the primal fear is total isolation since the general feeling among public is that it is contagious and can spread via contact. ( Brakel Wim, 2005) This fear causes them to hide their disease resulting in severe lowering of self esteem. Concealing the disease can also increase the risk of them aggravating it even further at the same time affecting the individuals around them. Indicators have been developed to assess the stigma that is associated with each disease like Aids and leprosy. The AIDS Attitude Scale develop ed in 1992 has been used for stigma assessment among health care professionals. (Brakel Wim, 2005) This has now been updated to include the attitude of the general public as well. One instrument called the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC) has been developed to measure stigma for different health conditions by creating a data base of the attitude of society at large. The answers to the queries are graded on a scale of 0-3. The answer ‘