Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care

Introduction

The contemporary issues related to health and social care are the modern problems and issues of the healthcare field that are mentioned through public opinions, discussion of views and communication of information. In the contemporary world, the media has a key part to be played as they deliver information regarding healthcare to wider audience to influence the attitude and behaviour of the population. Thus, in this assignment, ways in which health and social care information are disseminated is to be discussed. Moreover, the way media influences people and their perspectives regarding healthcare are also to be evaluated and discussed. Lastly, the contemporary issues of healthcare have influence at the local level is to be discussed.

Explaining the way information reaches the public domain regarding health and social care

The prevalence of diabetes is seen to be at a rising rate in the UK. This is evident as NHS mentions that in 2009 2.6 million people in the UK are found to be suffering from diabetes whereas in 2018, 3.7 million people are seen to be diagnosed with by diabetes and 4.6 million people in total are seen to be living in the UK who are suffering from the illness (NHS, 2018). In addition, the Diabetes Organisation in the UK mentions that 12.3 million people in the UK are seen to be at increased risk of developing Type-2 diabetes (Diabetes UK, 2018). The information regarding the prevalence and awareness regarding diabetes are mentioned by the Diabetes Organisation UK and NHS, the UK to the public through the use of internet services. This is evident as the NHS through their website as well as social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and others deliver information about the illness. The internet facility is used by the NHS and other national organisation as it helps in delivering information within less time and cost-effective way to wider population without geographic barriers (Tan and Goonawardene, 2017). However, in some cases, false news may be provided through the internet which creates panic among the population regarding the illness (networks.nhs.uk, 2019). The national organisation such as Diabetes Organisation in the UK uses print media apart from internet services to reach information regarding health and social care about diabetes to the public domain. The print media being used are newspaper, journals, articles and others. They are beneficial to reach information regarding healthcare to be public as they are regarded as reliable information source (Franca et al. 2017).

Analysing different techniques to disseminate information in health and social care

The different techniques used for disseminating information regarding health and social care about diabetes include:

Audio-Visual: The audio visual technique is used by the online news websites and social media to inform current occurrences in health and social care to the public through visual images and information audios (Madathil et al. 2015). The audio-visual technique is beneficial as attractive images lead the public to pay better attention to listen and get informed regarding healthcare intervention and condition about any illness (Bickmore et al. 2016). For example, the newspaper such as The Guardian, Daily Mail and others along with NHS, UK and the national agencies uses audio-visual technique to disseminate information regarding diabetes to the public (dailymail, 2019; theguardian, 2019).

Information Leaflet: The informative leaflets are brief information sheets regarding certain health issues which are provided to the public free of cost (Munsour et al. 2017). They are printed by the Diabetes Organisation UK, NHS, British Nutrition Foundations and others to provide brief information about diabetes to make the public aware regarding it so that early intervention and prevention strategies can be taken by them.

Evaluating the ways in which information of health and social presented influence attitude, behaviour and thoughts of individuals

The way information is presented by the media has great influence on the attitude, behaviour and thoughts of the public. In the UK, young people are seen to lead a sedentary lifestyle with less time invested in doing exercise due to commitment to work. However, with awareness regarding the way sedentary lifestyle leads individual prone to develop diabetes through the media has influenced people to develop change in attitude and behaviour to involve in exercise (Dias et al. 2018). This is evident from the study of Arambepola et al. (2016) where it is mentioned that delivering automated health awareness messages regarding diabetes among the public is changing their attitude towards lifestyle. The information, as well as awareness regarding weight reduction and intake of healthy diet, has resulted to create changes in attitude towards the dietary intake and weight management among the population. This is evident as people being aware through media about the way increased weight and unhealthy foods affect them to develop diabetes has led the individual to create change in their behaviour so that the illness can be avoided (Heisler et al. 2016).

Explanation of ways in which media is to be used for influencing attitudes and behaviour of people

The issue selected to be discussed in diabetes which is an illness that results individuals to have high blood sugar level as the glucose produced from the food cannot be used by the body cells to create energy (Mozaffarian, 2017). At present, 1 in 16 people in the UK are regarded to be living with diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes and this represents 6% of the total population. It also informs that over 4 million people in the UK are suffering from diabetes (Diabetes UK, 2018). The keywords such as type-2 and type-1 diabetes, the prevalence of diabetes and others are used as search terms and the search is executed through Google Scholar, Google, CINHAL and others.

The media is used to inform about the rising prevalence and negative impact of any disease on the health of the individuals to make the public aware and develop urgency to act in taking steps to avoid the illness (Wang et al. 2017). This is evident as the ITV Channel in the UK is seen to be developing different contents and campaigns as well as assisting real people to share stories regarding diabetes to inform the public regarding the way diabetes may cause negative impact on their health if they do not take urgent steps in avoiding it (DiabetesUK, 2018). This nature of use of media influences to create change in the attitude of the people by making them develop a sense of urgency to take immediate steps in preventing diabetes. The media is used for informing about the prevention strategies to be taken by individuals to control diabetes through visual images and audio (Gruss et al. 2019). It is evident as the BBC News and NHS in their websites are seen to have published various contents that are to be followed by people to avoid diabetes (BBC, 2018). This is effective to create change in the behaviour of the people by making them adopt the specific strategies so as to avoid themselves from getting affected by diabetes.

Evaluation of ways in which public is able to assess the validity and reliability of information

The reliability is trustworthy quality related to any information and the validity is the factual as well as logical quality regarding any study (Saito et al. 2018). As asserted by Kitsiou et al. (2017), the reliability and validity of information by media sources about health and social care can be ensured if the sources have positive reputation and have shown authenticity in the past to disseminate facts and figures. This is because positive integrity, as well as reputation, ensures that the media source is providing proper quality content and right information to the public. For instance, the media sources such as BBC, ITV, UKTV and others are seen to provide information regarding diabetes to the public by publishing authenticated content with approved facts and figures as well as prevention strategies mentioned by healthcare practitioners (BBC, 2018; diabetesukgroup, 2016). As argued by Smith et al. (2018), reliability and validity of information by the media sources cannot be ensured if they are not supported by the government or registered under national policies. This is because the government acts for the betterment of the society and they are never going to support media sources to publish healthcare information which is unreliable and invalid. For instance, the NHS, UK is seen to support the BBC and they are working together to increase awareness and prevention of diabetes among individuals. Thus, BBC being supported by the governmental organisation ensures that the content to be published by them regarding diabetes would be authenticated and reliable.

Carrying out research regarding various perspectives

The study by Haimoto et al. (2009) informs that implementing low carbohydrate diet is found to have a positive effective in controlling presence of proper amount of glucose in blood among the individuals suffering from type-2 diabetes. This is evident as 33 outpatients with severe type-2 diabetes are put on low carbohydrate diet for 6 months and among them, a sharp decline in the HbA1c level was found as the level reduced from 10.8 to 7.8 in just three months and got further reduced at the end of 6 months. Thus, the study concluded that the use of low carbohydrate diet has a great impact on reducing HbA1c levels within 6 months without using insulin therapy or hospital care.

The study by Andrews et al. (2011) was executed to understand if only diet has potential effect on controlling blood sugar levels in type-2 diabetes patients or physical exercise is also reduced to for successfully reducing the levels. The researcher put 99 participants under usual care, 248 participants under diet regime and 246 participants under diet regime along with physical activity. After 6 months, it was found that glycemic control worsened among the usual care participants whereas improvement in the blood glucose level was found among the participants who were only under diet regime and diet plus physical activity regime. However, the researcher mentioned that they did not found any benefit on addition of physical activity along with diet in controlling type-2 diabetes.

The study by Steven et al. (2016) informs that very low-calorie diet along with physical exercise is effective to reduce weight among the type-2 diabetes individuals as well as helps them to lower their blood glucose to normal. This evident as out of 30 participants nearly 98% showed weight reduction and stability for 6 months, as well as their use of low-calorie diet, lead 13 out of 30 participants at the end of 6 months achieve normal and stable blood glucose level. The study concluded that sustainable weight loss program led to remission of diabetes for 6 months among the 40% of the participants who were involved in low- calorie diet.

Monitoring the way different perspectives are gleaned from different sources on specific healthcare issue change with time

The monitoring of different perspectives as gleaned from three different sources mentioned above informs that change in consideration of strategies for controlling and preventing diabetes has changed over time. It is evident as the study by Haimoto et al. (2009) informs that low carbohydrate meal is required to ensure proper glycaemic control among the individuals suffering from type-2 diabetes. However, with time at the present, it is mentioned by the study of Steven et al. (2016) that use of low-calorie diet is effective in controlling blood glucose level among the patients with diabetes. Thus, with time it is been seen that people are focussing on taking low-calorie diet rather than focusing on taking low carbohydrate diets only. Moreover, monitoring the researches informs that previously only use of proper diets was considered to be effective in controlling blood sugar level among diabetic patients (Andrews et al. 2011). However, at the present effective weight management program that includes physical activity and use of proper diets is considered to be effective controlling blood sugar level among type-2 diabetic patients (Steven et al. 2016).

Assessing the relevance of the findings

The use of low-calorie diet is better than low-carbohydrate diet for patients with diabetes as it leads them to take proper nutritious food along with assist them to reduce weight. However, adapting to low-carbohydrate diet may lead individual to skip certain important foods that are essential nutrient in turn leading them to lose weight as well as lack proper nutrition. Since the intake of calories is based on the BMI rate of the person thus the selection of food amount in made on quantity rather than the quality of nutrient helping individual have access to have different nature of foods (Sellahewa et al. 2017; Hayami et al. 2015; Feinman et al. 2015). Thus, the use of low calorie diet to control weight is required among people with diabetes to ensure their good health. The increased weight leads the individual’s muscles and tissues to become unable to properly use glucose present in the blood (Johnsson et al. 2015). The increased physical activity leads the muscles and tissues of the body become more active to use glucose from the blood as well as physical exercise contributes to lower weight (Colberg et al. 2016). Thus, use of physical exercise along with proper diet is relevant to control diabetes among individuals.

Analysing factors which have influenced development of different perspective over the time period

The factors that have contributed to influence development of different perspectives are as follows:

Social factor: The increased socialisation among the people has made them realise the importance of various nutrients and carbohydrates for their body to ensure good health and control diabetes. Thus, it has made them concerned towards taking in proper carbohydrates and checks the calories so that vital foods required by their body are not missed (Dunkler et al. 2015).

Education factor: The improved health promotion campaigns regarding the way to control diabetes has led people to understand the importance of weight loss through proper physical activity for their condition. Moreover, improved health education has led people to understand ways in which physical activity can help them to prevent diabetes (Chrvala et al. 2016). Thus, a change in perspective is seen due to which diet as well as physical; exercise is considered by people to control and prevent diabetes.

Analysing the extent to which local attitudes reflect at the national level

Diabetes is regarded as serious illness in which the blood sugar level increases as the body cells are unable to perform proper glycemic control due to resistance towards insulin. In Tower Hamlets, it is reported that 16,419 people are suffering from diabetes which is 6.8% of the total population suffering from the illness in the country. However, in England, it is 6.5% of the population being affected by the illness (eastlondonlines, 2017). This indicates that there is concerning number of individuals in the area who requires effective assistance to control and prevent diabetes. The Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is seen to working jointly with the NHS for arranging health campaigns and provides effective healthcare services to prevent diabetes prevalence. The group is seen to access feedback from the patients who are receiving care through them to understand the way their services are to be changed so that better can be provided to them (NHS, 2019). In respect to the national interest, the NHS also gathers feedback from their patients after providing them care services to control diabetes so that changes in healthcare programs and campaigns can be made to provide high-quality support (NHS, 2018). Thus, it indicates that the steps taken to control and prevent diabetes at the local level are equally being reflected at the national level and healthcare groups are working collaboratively to deliver improved services to the service users.

Evaluating the validity of public attitudes

The validity of public attitudes regarding diabetes is seen to have effective influence on the prevalence of the disease. This is evident as the presence of a positive attitude to inform the concerning healthcare bodies and group to make changes in care support so that improved care support can be achieved helps in better quality management of the disease (Al-Eidi et al. 2016). Thus, improved concern of people to make changes regarding diabetes care is effective to ensure them better health condition. As mentioned by Hussain et al. (2016), the positive attitude of the public to change their lifestyle and eating habits as well as involve into physical activity is effective to control diabetes. This is because the change in attitude would create better health condition for diabetic patients to control their illness. However, in the UK as well as in local surroundings it is seen that there is lack of positive attitude to engage in physical exercise which is leading many individuals to experience risk of getting affected by diabetes.

Justifying possible consequences of contemporary thinking regarding health and social care services

The contemporary thinking related to diabetes care is going to assist individual to adopt healthy diets and physical exercise to cope with the illness. This, in turn, would help to reduce the prevalence of the disease both in the local and national areas (Biddle et al. 2017). The contemporary thinking is important to help in taking early intervention and development of effective healthcare programs for control diabetes. This is because better awareness regarding the disease is established leading individual to attend proper care at the early in controlling the disease (Byrn and Penckofer, 2015). The contemporary thinking for diabetes is also required to avoid cultural and social stigma to prevent access to care regarding the illness.

Conclusion

The above discussion mentions that health and social care facts regarding diabetes are to be informed through internet, social media, print media and others. The techniques like leaflets, audio-visual, visual images and others are to be used for disseminating information regarding diabetes. The research informs that previously low carbohydrate diet is preferred to control diabetes but now low-calorie diet along with physical exercise is seen to be effective in controlling the disease. In Tower Hamlets, the CCG groups are involved in arranging care for diabetes and they access feedback like the NHS from patients suffering from the illness to make changes in care to ensure better quality healthcare support for them.

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