HSC210 Health Sociology 3 : Solution Essays

1.

What is multi-culturalism and how might health needs differ for immigrants and refugees to people who are born in Australia?

A high level response should identify what multiculturalism is along with reasons for what their health needs may be and why they might be different to people born in Australia. Response should also details possible implication on healthcare in regards to this and draw on the research and data to highlight your points.

2.

What are the social determinants of health and how do they help us understand the dynamics of globalisation and inequity?

Draw on examples in the Australian context to illustrate your key points. A high level response should identify what the SDH are and which ones are relevant to the context of globalisation and inequity in health (in Australia). The response should also explain how the SDH can help better understand globalisation and inequity and possible implications in relations to health.

Answer:

1.

Multiculturalism is the existence and acceptance of many cultural traditions in a single jurisdiction (Collins, 2013). Multiculturism can occur when jurisdiction is established or expanded by amalgamating regions with diverse cultures or through immigration from a different jurisdiction across the globe. Diverse policies and ideologies vary broadly, extending from support for equal rights to different cultures in the community to strategies promoting the conservation of cultural diversity.

The health needs of immigrants and refugees differ from those of people born in Australia due to various reasons. Culture, socioeconomic, lifestyles, and the environment are major social factors that attributed to the disparity in the health of refugees and immigrants (Levey, 2017). The immigrants and refugees have different social economic and cultural circumstances that account for their varying vulnerabilities in their migration process (Levey, 2017). The factors also contribute significantly to the inequalities within and between different cultures.

The process of migration is also a major influence on the health of the refugees and migrants, and it places the people in situations that may affect the mental and physical wellbeing. The refugees and migrants originate from regions that are faced with inadequate health systems, conflict, and poverty, and a high burden of diseases (Collins, 2013). These conditions put the immigrants and refugees at significant risk and poorer health outcomes making their health needs differ to that of the individuals born in Australia.

2.

The social determinants of health are the conditions and the envionment where individuals are born in, dwell, and work, which have significant implications in a broad range of an individual’s health, and the eminence of health results and threats (Marmot & Allen, 2014). Social determinants of health comprise of the socioeconomic, political, and cultural constructs and place base conditions.  The circumstances are shaped by the various determining factor, for instance, the dispersal of resources, power, and money at international, state and local levels. The social determinants of health are generally accountable for health disparities, the biased and inevitable disparities in health outcomes experienced in different countries across the globe (Garg, Toy, Tripodis, Silverstein & Freeman, 2015).

Learning about the community health of the population is key to the reduction of health inequalities. Social determinants of health form the basis of the analysis of the needs of a given society. Social determinants of health analysis help in defining the resources that enhance the quality of life, which has a significant influence on the population’s health outcomes (Garg et al., 2015). For instance, resources such as affordable and safe housing, access to emergency health facilities, public wellbeing surroundings free of life-threatening contaminants, and access to education play an essential role in the health outcome of a population.

References

Collins, J. (2013). Multiculturalism and immigrant integration in Australia. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 45(3), 133-149.

Garg, A., Toy, S., Tripodis, Y., Silverstein, M., & Freeman, E. (2015). Addressing social determinants of health at well-child care visits: a cluster RCT. Pediatrics, 135(2), e296-e304.

Levey, G. B. (2017). Multiculturalism on the move: An Australian perspective (pp. 162-182). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Marmot, M., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Social determinants of health equity.