The Most Important Health Determinants

Question 1 

Health status refers to a state of being mentally, socially and physically fit, and not just the state of being free from infirmity or disease. Health status defines the health of a person or a particular group at a given time as assessed by an individual or more objective measures. There are various ways in which the health status of a population is measured. Some of the measurements include monitoring of the life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, years of potential life lost, physical and mentally unhealthy days and sometimes chronic disease prevalence. Life expectancy is an overview summary mortality measure that is used to explain the overall health status of a population. Health status can also be measured through ways like the use of pathological and clinical measures. These measurements are commonly observed by clinical officers or the use of instruments where necessary (Brooks, Rabin & De Charro, 2013). In these measurements, there are many types of disease measurements that are performed to determine the health status of a person. They include; signs (temperature, sugar levels, blood pressure), co-morbidity (bleeding, pain, complications) and symptoms where in most cases they check disease-specific checklists. 

Question 2 

The government plays a critical role in improving healthcare safety and quality across many countries. One of the methods governments use to safeguard and advance the public’s interest is through controlling the healthcare industry by implementing measures that provide high-quality healthcare service delivery. Free market, especially in the health sector, cannot guarantee quality healthcare, and the government has to intervene to protect the interest of its people. The state controls the market to eliminate unfairness and inefficiencies and supplements it where gaps exist. 

Providers have a greater advantage over healthcare consumers due to the asymmetry of information. Such monopoly power leaves patients more vulnerable to manipulations if not regulated, and the providers may set prices beyond the cost. Moreover, providers may influence patient preferences by subjecting them to an unnecessary amount of treatment programs than the clinically recommended plans, leading to inefficiencies which are compensated by consumers. The government has to take an active role by determining the right price for both the consumers and providers. For healthcare to achieve its goal of providing quality care, there must be a strong and robust collaboration between the private sector and the government. 

Question 3 

One of the ways used by healthcare providers to make sure that the patient's health status will improve is promoting more well-informed diagnoses. For a treatment process to be successful and positive depends on the correct and timely diagnosis. This is a critical moment, and the doctors must be cautious to make sure they provide the patient with the best treatment and reduce the cost as well. The second tactic used by the doctors is, supporting optimal treatment planning (Karimi & Brazier, 2016). After they have made a correct and successful diagnosis the second step is to make sure they use the correct treatment decision. Approaching the treatment is the right way ensures a significant impact on the results. All these methods are instrumental especially if done correctly by a qualified health provider. These measures are not related to government actions since they only concern the clinical officers. 

Question 4 

The most important thing that can be done is to make sure that everyone working at the health facility is qualified and positioned in their specialized areas. Yes, indeed the government should continue playing a huge role by making sure that the funds are well distributed to the health facilities and they should also make sure that increase and build more health centers to make medical treatment available to every citizen (Karimi & Brazier, 2016). The health providers should also make sure that they report immediately whenever there is an emergency. The citizens should also play a part in improving their health status by going for regular checkups every time to make sure that they are well and if anything suspicious is detected, it will be noticed early and treated. They also must make sure that the overall health status of the nation is improved by playing a part as well and make sure that they participate in health campaign programs. If everyone is playing their role well, then the health status of a nation will improve. 

References 

Brooks, R., Rabin, R., & De Charro, F. (Eds.). (2013).  The measurement and valuation of health status using EQ-5D: a European perspective: evidence from the EuroQol BIOMED Research Programme . Springer Science & Business Media. 

Karimi, M., & Brazier, J. (2016). Health, health-related quality of life, and quality of life: what is the difference?  Pharmacoeconomics ,  34 (7), 645-649.