Sociological Impacts on Heart Disease Treatment Assignment Sample

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Introduction

This essay examines the complex sociological dynamics contributing to treatment non-adherence, particularly focusing on the Impacts on Heart Disease Treatment in patients with chronic conditions. Guided by sociological theories of health and illness, the discussion explores how societal structures define, measure, and treat such illnesses, with critical implications for individuals and communities alike.

By evaluating current literature, this paper uncovers the multifaceted reasons behind treatment non-adherence, emphasizing the economic, systemic, and socio-cultural dimensions that influence patient behavior. Viewing this through a sociological lens enables a deeper understanding of healthcare decisions as socially constructed, thereby illustrating the dynamic interaction between societal frameworks and individual choices. Theoretical application is rooted in the specific context of heart disease in the UK healthcare system, using relevant data to promote practical insights. A comprehensive conclusion offers justified findings to inform policy and practice.

Analysis

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A. Critically engage in the sociological literature and evidence

In order to understand the sociological reinforcement of treatment non-adherence it is essential to evaluate fundamental concepts in different sociological literature on illness, treatment adherence and health. These concepts provide a theoretical framework that defines people and their larger socio-cultural context as a basis for analysis.

Medication adherence is demonstrated as the measurement that people accept their medication as per doctor's prescription. Adherence to suboptimal medicine was documented in several in as 67% of asthma, 52% of schizophrenia and 33% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Adherence minimizes the period from primary perception. In anxiety and depression, the report of adherence shows that it decreased by 52.6% from 95.5% within 1 month (Asamoah-Boaheng et al., 2021). Social relationships and psychological aspects can influence health outcomes. Stress level, emotional welding and patients' mental health are connected with social relationship quality. Positive relationships can lead toward holistic resonance and eliminate all stress on the other hand, negative relationships can exacerbate stressors.

The social relationship quality can have a long-term influence on present health. Supportive social circumstances can help to efficiently manage chronic conditions while strained and isolated relationships can lead to the progression of illness. Hence it can be stated that Non-adherence enhances the challenge of hospitalisation as well as premature mortality. Globally, suboptimal medication use accounts for 57% of medication non-adherence at an estimated cost of 500 billion USD. The annual economic influence of not adhering to five fundamental conditions such as high cholesterol, schizophrenia, diabetes type 2, Asthma and hypertension the National Health Service of England has determined at near about 930 million sterling pounds (Elliott et al., 2020). Around 500 million sterling can be saved in case adherence is improved. 

On another note, Medicalisation demonstrated as a process that helps to define non-medical challenges or elements of life as medical challenges. This sociological notion underscores the impact of pharmaceutical corporations, healthcare institutions and medical professionals in restructuring health and illness societal point of view. In a non-adherence context, this can lead to the patient behaviour oversimplification as non-complaint or complaint underestimates the union socio-culture element that impacts adherence (Anghel, Farcas and Oprean, 2019). Gaining knowledge about non-adherence via medicalisation lenses boosts societal tendency examination to medical lenses that may have larger social determinants. For instance, in case a patient's failure to adhere to the medication prescribed can be labelled as non-compliant. This medicalization concept may underestimate the external pressures and social determinants that influence adherence to focus on the larger group of people who make health-related decisions. This sociological notion underscores the impact of pharmaceutical corporations, healthcare institutions and medical professionals in restructuring health and illness societal point of view. It highlights that health and illness are not only biological phenomena however it are socially constructed (CARULLA et al., 2011). This point of view motivates people to raise a questionnaire about normative expectations on recognising social attitude impact and health behaviour on patient decisions.

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Additionally, symbolic interactionism contributes to emphasizing social interaction rules in framing people's behaviour. The aspect of non-adherence highlights larger Social networks and patient-health supplier interaction significance (Charmaz, Harris and Irvine, 2019). Patients may oppose the treatment plan in case there is understanding limitedness and a sense of judgment lack occurs from healthcare professionals. However, the relationship between patient professionals has a significant role in framing patients' overall experience and has a high impact on their treatment and condition. This social relationship has contributed to the larger sociological knowledge of illness and health emphasizing the significance of interpersonal dynamics within the healthcare aspect (Tjaden et al., 2021). In this aspect, effective communication is fundamental between patients and healthcare professionals. Open interested relationships can help in fostering adequate understanding the patient to the treatment plan. On the contrary Rodriguez-Saldana, (2019) opined that communication barriers or trust limitedness can lead to misconception and misunderstanding minimising sub-optimal health results and compliance. In healthcare, relationship power dynamics also play an essential role that helps in enhancing patient experience. Collaborative team initiative in which patients participate would actively take part in decision-making that guide toward additional positive results in chronic condition. Paternalistic initiatives in which healthcare professionals generate strategic decisions without taking any patient's involvement can guide toward non-adherence and satisfaction (Simuyemba et al., 2020).

The first fundamental theory within sociology that evaluated health and illnesses' role in social life was developed by Talcott Parsons. That is also called the theory of the sick role that demonstrated societal described expectation and behaviour associated with human unwell. During sick role adaptation, people are relieved of some social responsibilities, and society anticipates vigorously pursuing and adhering to treatment to restore normal functioning (Milton, 2023). Through helping to evaluate non-adherence this theory permits querying whether societal perception and expectation of illness lead to reduced non-adherence. 

Health social determinants describe situations in which people grow, work, age and live. These determinants incorporated large factors ranging in the aspect of physical and social support, social economic condition, employment and education dynamics. Acknowledging non-adherence needs a significant evaluation of these social determinants intersecting influence with people's health behaviour. For instance, a person's experience in economic challenges can prioritize financial crisis over their well-being which affects treatment plan adherence (Davidson et al., 2019). The evaluation of social determinants supplies a nuanced point of view of the numerous factors impacting non-adherence.

Sociological Impacts on Heart Disease Treatment Assignment Sample

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Sociological literature's critical engagement on non-adherence demonstrated individuals' health behaviour interconnectedness with larger societal structures. Medication illness, social construction and symbolic interactionism collaboratively supply a robust and holistic approach to societal relationships. Interconnectedness is vital for acknowledging patients' holistic experience. Social relationships help in interacting with each other (Reach, 2023). For instance, the connection between healthcare providers and patients can spread out into their interaction with friends or family which affects their overall health. On the other hand, several cultural factors impact social relationships and patient healthcare experiences. Cultural norms beliefs and expectations can influence the patient and their families, gaining health illness and health care professional roles, and supply a theoretical structure for comprehending patients who oppose treatment plans or adherence. 

B. Apply concepts and theories to specific diseases, conditions, and/or healthcare contexts in the UK

A key focus in applying sociological concepts to the health context in the UK is to uncover the complex network of social factors that contribute to high levels of treatment non-adherence. The analysis will investigate the National Health Service, multiple other healthcare services and patient experiences that may provide a significant assessment of the sociological aspects of chronic condition as examples.

Healthcare attempts to enhance societal well-being and health. In the aspect of healthcare, political decisions can beneficially or detrimentally influence such well-being and health. NHS has a high contribution to supplying and defining healthcare Services within the UK. Additionally, prioritization of medicalization is noticed during discussions about how chronic condition is articulated within a medical discourse. Medical professionals influence the formulation of individualized treatment plans and have high expectations from the patient in terms of adherence to these treatment plans, which become essential considerations. The question that arises in the context of chronic condition patients is can patients influence their mechanism in treatment decisions relative to medicalization procedures in the chronic condition context? The NHS framework and medical professionals' authority restructure the dynamic within that patient leading toward treatment adherence.

However, the welfare state problem emerging consciousness incorporated NHS's failure to minimise health class inequalities that demonstrated as an emerging norm. In order to keep their commitment, NHS was weakened by the implementation of “NHS and Community Care Act 1990”. That transformed the boundaries between social and healthcare and the Health and “Social Care Act of 2012” abolished the “secretary of state's duty for health” to supply health services throughout the UK. The “HSC Act 2012’ generated general physicians' responsibility for authorizing secondary care services via “clinical commissioning groups” that are needed to eliminate tender in most of the services. However, the group needed to rearrange their services for individuals (England, 2022). Additionally, they pose no duty to supply services for entire patients within this region minimizing the service volume that they contract for. The act permits foundation trusts to enhance their revenue by 49% of their total income from the private patients. This helps to access based on their requirement and trust enhances their income gained from the private patient while non-paying patients are on the waiting list. In order to mitigate this challenge the Government of the UK included a "7-day NHS policy" that helps to supply adequate services by maintaining guidelines (Department of Health and Social Care, 2023). Additionally, the theory does not advocate complicated and multifaceted interventions to develop medication adherence, which leads to the word ‘adherent’ in people. Effective integration concentrated on promoting sustainable manner and self-management transformation. It is incorporated with additional acceptance regimens by removing financial barriers and transforming misguided beliefs about drugs and disease, motivating self-management, developing patient-provider connections, and including patients in the social world. Educational requirements over-emphasize several interventions another weakness. People who get new medicine for their severe conditions such as chronic disease or Mental Health day often face issues that lead to proportion evolving non-adherent (Harvard, 2022). In this aspect, NHS has developed an adequate intervention with a theoretical foundation in their self-regulator model that is grounded within individuals' points of view and frames individuals' experiences with the new medicine. This was utilisation as a beginning point for the entire pharmacist to reach patient particular requirements with advice and information. This intervention helps to minimise recorded non-adherence and issues cost-effectively.

The NHS pharmacists provide the “new medicine service (NMS)”, the first national service framework to enhance medicine adherence, to individuals starting new medications for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, hypertension, diabetes and anticoagulant treatment. The framework is considered in the previous work and genuine international concentrated a large patient range in that the medicine posses for specified groups (Naidoo et al., 2023). The pharmacist supplied the original interventions through a centralised telephone service, providing the medicine either over the telephone or in face-to-face interactions. NHS community pharmacy put the agreement on this framework and can be supplied obeying proper accreditation. It was applied from the year 2011 and NHS developed guidance on NMS conduction and associated follow-up consultation. This guidance supplies a strict guide for the entire pharmacist (Elliott et al., 2020). According to the report, there are 91.2% of community pharmacists are recorded to have a minimum of 1 episode on NMS. This new medicine was initially started with a follow-up check-up for 14 days (Benbow, 2017). That medicine aims to supply adequate healthcare while minimizing non-adherence records.

On the other hand, investigating individuals' experiences concerning chronic condition guides to consider the capacity that people have to resist or adopt sick roles. Societal expectations in the aspect of illness and the theory of sick role can impact how individuals relate to and understand their condition. It also raises the question of whether are there any societal stresses that prevent individuals from completely accepting the sick role and prescribed treatment adherence.

Social determinant of health

Chronic conditions such as hypertension or diabetes supply a lens through which sociological theory applications are considered to understand treatment adherence. People with chronic conditions can struggle with economic barriers that hinder adherence. Transportation costs prescription costs missed work and health care facilities can impact an individual ability to obey a treatment plan. Therefore, SDH theory compasses that health results can be represented by individual manner, genetic, economic, social and environmental factors. It underscores opportunities and resource unequal distribution to health disparity (Paremoer et al., 2021). On the contrary Alcaraz et al., (2019) opined that Socioeconomic status is a fundamental social determinant that can influence medication affordability, access to significant healthcare and the capability to obey treatment plans. For instance, people who possess lower income or low socioeconomic status can struggle with accessing healthcare which leads to health outcome disparity. This highlights the significance of identifying larger social qualities to develop overall population well-being and health. Sometimes people with chronic diseases experience mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, stress, suicidal acts, and more, which create unique problems in adherence to treatment. The role of stress in this aspect highlights its impact on mental well-being and its potential to affect treatment adherence. In Mental Health stigmatization medicalization is crucial and non-adherence can impact mentally ill people's capability and fear (University of Minnesota, 2019). On the other hand Kvarnström et al., (2021) stated that Cultural factors such as practices and healthcare beliefs also have contributed to impacting people's points of view of chronic disease and treatments. These factors of exploitation help to discover the main reason behind treatment known adherence in the particular context of chronic disease.

Medicalisation of Society Theory

Medication has an essential role in cases that are pathology by certain types of lifestyle factors associated with severe chronic conditions. Intense physical activity and dietary selection level are medicalised shaping non-adherence as a treatment failure to serve to medical norm (POWELL, 2019). This theory investigates the human condition and societal issues evolvement treated and demonstrated. This procedure goes beyond the biological aspect and is incorporated into cultural and social dynamics. For instance, common life studies such as experience and ageing have been medicalised guiding toward pharmaceutical intervention development (Degerman, 2020). This theory helps to draw attention to individuals' power dynamic in demonstrating abnormal and normal considerations within the colony that raises the question about medical solutions appropriate for a certain situation. 

Overall the sociological concept application to chronic disease within the UK can help to eliminate the difference between practical implication and theory. This evolution helps to increase understanding of patients' reason behind treatment known as and also highlights societal and systemic dynamics that restructure healthcare decisions. The navigation via these sociological context, non-adherence comprehensive overview to chronic disease treatment appears and curving the path for more informed and holistic conclusion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be concluded that this essay supplies a composite answer to the quesry of the reason behind individual’s non adherence to treatments especially in the context of chronic disease. Through the application of numerous concept and theories in the context of chronic condition within NHS, UK, it discovered stigma influence social support health introduction and economic disparity in treatment adherence. Along with this it helps to identify the wider application of the findings to society as well as individuals. On the other hand, it also helps in exploring dynamics of healthcare relationships, the effectiveness of interventions in the context of the sociological perspective, and the changing dynamics of health disparities. Continuously exploring the sociological dimension of individuals' health and illness it help to develop a method for additional comprehensive, effective and equitable health care practices.

Additional sociological evaluation highlights that known adherence is not only an individual challenge; however it is deeply incorporated with larger cultural economic and social contexts. Identifying this contextual element is crucial for improvising effective policies and interventions within the healthcare system. This analysis implication extended to the identification of patient centre initiatives needed mitigation and understanding of societal barriers to Adherence. Incorporating Research and statistical data strengthens the sociological investigation by emphasizing the requirement for holistic approaches that identify health and illness social dimensions within the UK healthcare system.

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