Friday, November 12, 2010

Child Development and Public Health

Choose one public health topic from the list above (or one that you think should be added to the list).
Describe in what ways this topic is meaningful to you.
Access to adequate healthcare and healthcare insurance:
It is important to include adequate healthcare and healthcare insurance because without access to this aspect of the public health sector, many of the topics listed (Nutrition/malnutrition, Immunization, breastfeeding, etc), would not, and in some instances, are not available to the poor people in society. With the funding cuts in healthcare over the years, it has been, along with education, the string politicians have used to draw constituents to the polls to vote. With an overwhelming concern for the state of healthcare for the very young and the very old, this issue must be addressed with urgency. Without adequate healthcare, children have died from infected teeth due to lack of dental care as well as illnesses that could have been treated given the proper medical attention.
Find information about this topic from a different part of the world, and include this information in your Blog.
According to internationalliving.com, “Costa Rica has universal health care, one of the best health systems in Latin America. As always with nationalized health care, expect red tape and long waits, but the quality of Costa Rica’s health care is excellent” (International Living, 2009-2010). I chose this country because my daughter will be visiting Costa Rica soon and I have been researching the country and its healthcare. She has asthma and I want to make sure that they will be able to provide quality healthcare in the event of any emergency.
Share ways the information you have learned may impact your future work.
I read a book entitled, “Lantern: Memoirs of Mentors”, by the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Marian Wright Edelman. CDF is a national advocacy project dedicated to improving childhood development by improving conditions in education, healthcare, and other aspects of human life. One of my favorite quotes of Marian Wright Edelman is,” if we don’t stand for children, then we don’t stand for much.” She and many other child advocates continue to make my experiences in this course exciting and inspirational.
I intend to provide workshops and seminars for the parents in my center on the importance of healthy living, which includes healthcare insurance. Some parents are not aware of the just how accessible healthcare insurance is for women and children. I want to be a part of an organization that advocates for family healthcare. It is shameful that in our society, in some cases, women have to declare that they are single or separated in order to receive long standing healthcare without being pregnant. And just because a family has a two income home, does not mean that they can afford the insurance offered by their employer or even the independent insurance policies.
References:
Edelman, M. W. (2000). Lanterns; A Memoir of Mentors. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
International Living. (2009-2010). Health Care in Costa Rica: Costa Rica offers good-quality healthcare. Retrieved November 9, 2010, from International Living: http://internationalliving.com/countries/costa-rica/health-care/

7 comments:

  1. Kali, you chose a great topic. My 25 yr. old daughter has a good job in Manhattan with a small company. It does not provide health insurance. I am able to cover her on my plan up to the age of 31. This comes with a significant cost of $466 per month. We keep thinking that her company will get insurance soon, but it is not looking hopeful. She is a single girl with considerable expenses. I have been footing the bill for her. Her boss is now splitting it with me, which is helpful. I feel for families that don't have any options or coverage. For childen, most NJ counties provide well child care, but if the child is sick or injured, they have no other resource but to go to the hospital ER. Some hospitals have clinics, but they have a long list of people waiting to be accepted. It's scarey!

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  2. Health insurance is so important for all people. It is just really sad that it costs so much money. I feel for families that have several children and can barely afford to pay for the insurance for the kids not much less to be able to afford it themselves.

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  3. Hi Susan,

    I absolutely agree with your post concerning healthcare. Many low-income people are left without insurance. I had a child who did not have any health insurance due to the lack of income and therefore does not receive adequate healtcare. Although their is governmental insurance plans that assist with low-income families, some children are still without. I feel that the controversy surrounding this issue needs to be stopped. The people of the U.S. should have healthcare regardless of income.

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  4. Kali,

    You chose a great topic to add to the discussion. Universal healthcare is a hot topic for me as well because there was a time in my life when I was working and my job did not provide healthcare and I could not afford it, so I had to go without. On the other hand, I knew of people who were not working at all and were able to receive the state's medical insurance.

    I believe everyone in the US should have access to some kind of heathcare. Especially, wellness, preventative, and routine visits. Having access to this type of care would probably save the government a lot of money in the long run because then maybe people would not wait until they need urgent care to run to the emergency room (which is much more expensive than allowing people to have wellness or preventative visits).

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  5. Thank you ladies!

    It is one of the many things I am very passionate about.

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  6. Kali, Great topic. My husband is currently a third year medical resident and he is appalled at the lack of health care available for the average person. A situation he talked about was about the single woman who needed medical attention but didn't qualify for any medical insurance and no one would cover the procedure she needed. My husband later told me that the social worker told him the only way she would be covered would be if she was illegal (another hot topic).

    It is a very difficult issue but children should never be pawns in political hot topics. I live in NYC and i believe ALL children are covered.

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  7. Hi Johan,

    Sorry for the late response. Thank you and it is so strange that citizen are not eligible for state healthcare insurance unless your separated/divorced, having a baby ( which at least, we have access to), or have a disability (which is also a good thing.) You're right, another hot topic.

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