Introduction
Economic stability is a factor that significantly affects the accessibility of healthcare services to different individuals. As a domain and part of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), this factor plays a significant role in accessing healthcare services. I have witnessed situations through which finances have been a major challenge and obstacle to individuals accessing the quality of services they require. Through my experience, I have realized that economic stability is directly proportional to the health services individual access. Therefore, I aim to evaluate the economic stability of objectives and the available policies that can help to promote access to healthcare services.
SDOH Domain
Economic stability refers to the ability of an individual to support themselves in terms of accessing crucial resources such as food, shelter, clothing, and education. In healthcare, this revolves around the ability of the individual to afford quality healthcare services and maintain a healthy lifestyle (Lyeonov et al., 2021). This indicates that factors such as employment, poverty, housing, and food security are directly related to economic stability. In an ideal situation where an individual is stable, they are more likely to access better and healthy food, live in good neighborhoods, and get better education, improving their health. The vice versa is also true as it limits their access to quality healthcare services. Issues such as poverty, lack of employment opportunities, and disabilities affect the individual’s capabilities to achieve economic stability (Lyeonov et al., 2021). Therefore, through this workgroup, we aim to ensure that individuals can achieve economic stability through various services. The workgroups aim to create employment programs that will help individuals navigate searching for employment. Another objective is to ensure that affected individuals have access to the necessary insurance and social services to assist them in accessing health and other necessities.
SDoH Workgroup Objectives
As a group, the main objective we have is to ensure that affected populations have an opportunity to improve their economic status. This goal can be achieved through advocacy measures on the different challenges limiting this domain. In this case, advocacy on limited employment opportunities and the rise in the cost of living is a key measure as it sensitizes policymakers on the plights of the affected population and pressures them to implement effective policies (Jain et al., 2022). Employment programs are an objective that aims to link the affected individuals with employment opportunities. Currently, the global employment market is significantly affected, and there are limited opportunities for employment. However, through this workgroup, we hope to connect with unemployed individuals, determine their skills, and guide them in the job application process, interviews, and other assistance to help them acquire a job to sustain themselves. Employment is necessary to achieve economic stability, and this will help to create a healthy society as most people would access the resources they require to improve their lives.
Insurance and social services are essential to improving individuals’ lives. While achieving economic stability might be challenging, measures put in place by the government can help alleviate the situation by providing crucial services (Jain et al., 2022). Therefore, in this workgroup, we ensure that every individual has access to insurance, especially the homeless and the poor. The insurance will ensure that they have access to community healthcare services that address any imminent danger or conditions the population has. Through this objective, we also ensure that any social services such as feeding programs, shelters, and community hospitals can access the locals and provide them with crucial services that will help address the challenges they have. Focusing on these objectives has helped the workgroup in trying to improve the living and health conditions of all individuals affected by this domain.
Policy
Policies are necessary for addressing social determinants of health and making healthcare accessible to everyone. The ability to deal with this challenge comes down to the policies that have been implemented to promote access to health services. Currently, the state and federal governments need to fund more healthcare organizations by providing the necessary infrastructure to help provide services (Whitman et al., 2022). An increase in budget ensures that crucial services are offered at a chaperone rate and makes healthcare services accessible to all who require them. Implementing such a policy will ensure that the workgroup identifies the resources available and guides individuals to access healthcare services.
Healthy People 2030 is among some of the programs that show some possibility of dealing with SDoHs and ensuring that individuals’ health standards are improved (Gomez et al., 2021). The Healthy People 2030 provides a framework that the workgroup follows to help individuals, especially with employment programs and insurance. Additionally, the move to community-based care aims to ensure that the people within the community have access to necessary services at a more affordable rate (Whitman et al., 2022). The workgroup benefits from this as it can sensitize more people towards accessing these services.
Conclusion
Economic stability is a significant domain that determines the quality of one’s life and health. An economically stable individual is more likely to have a higher quality of life compared to one who is unstable. Therefore, through the workgroup, we aim to show that this has been addressed through employment programs, advocacy, and helping affected individuals access insurance. The policies available also support this by providing the public with a means to access better healthcare services.
References
Gómez, C. A., Kleinman, D. V., Pronk, N., Gordon, G. L. W., Ochiai, E., Blakey, C., … & Brewer, K. H. (2021). Practice full report: addressing health equity and social determinants of health through healthy people 2030. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 27(6), S249.
Jain, B., Bajaj, S. S., & Stanford, F. C. (2022). All infrastructure is health infrastructure. American Journal of Public Health, 112(1), 24-26.
Lyeonov, S., Bilan, S., Yarovenko, H., Ostasz, G., & Kolotilina, O. (2021). Country’s health profile: social, economic, behavioral and healthcare determinants. Economics & Sociology, 14(3), 322-340.
Whitman, A., De Lew, N., Chappel, A., Aysola, V., Zuckerman, R., & Sommers, B. D. (2022). Addressing social determinants of health: Examples of successful evidence-based strategies and current federal efforts. Off Heal Policy, 1-30.