History of Health Care Few Professions Offer

History Of Health Care

Few professions offer the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others on a daily basis. Health care is one of those professions. There are life and death situations, but there are also quiet moments such as routine office visits in which health care professionals can make a difference to someone with a kind and genuinely caring demeanor. Being a health care professional is more than a career. It is a choice one makes as someone who cares deeply about fellow human beings. Personally, I have always had a desire to make others feel comfortable, secure and cared for. I am interested in how this aspect of health care evolved. Health care professionals treat illness and injuries but it must be remembered that along with those are whole human beings who may be frightened, confused or angry. The emotional aspects of patient care have not always been accorded the importance they deserve.

I am most interested in pursuing a career in the field of psychology. Ideally, I would like to provide long-term care in a setting such as a group home for individuals who are mentally challenged and physically disabled. I have been told that it takes a special kind of person to do this work. I would agree that not everyone could do it. I believe it takes a person who is physically and emotionally strong. Working with this population requires a tremendous amount of patience and compassion. Some people might be frustrated by the poor prognosis they see for these individuals. They will never get "better." They do not have the kind of illness that can be cured. However, that does not mean the situation is hopeless. Progress with these disabled individuals is measured in tiny increments. Every accomplishment, no matter how small, must be celebrated. I firmly believe I have the capacity to do this.

According to Toronto-based physician Dimitrious G. Oreopoulos, "The human touch' has steadily decreased as science and technology has begun to dominate modern health care."

"Compassionate care…is not simplistically about taking away another person's pain or suffering, but is about entering into that person's experience so as to share their burden in solidarity with them and hence enabling them to retain their independence and dignity" (Dietze and Orb, 2000, cited in Kret, 2011, p. 30). Although compassion is often difficult to define, it is an attitude of caring that, as the literature shows, makes a difference to patients. Oreopoulus believes compassion is "a manifestation of spirituality and a way of walking through life." He quotes the monk Thomas Merton, who defined compassion as part of the "keen awareness of the interdependence of all living beings, who are all part of one another and are all involved with one another." Although Merton was a Catholic, one does not have to share that faith to understand what he meant. One does not need to be a Christian, or even have a belief in God. It is a recognition of responsibility to other living things. Again, it is not just the care of their physical bodies, but of their hearts and minds and souls. It may not always be easy to show compassion to individuals who are mentally challenged. Some people may not feel it even makes a difference with this demographic, but I believe it does.

One of the negative health outcomes that concerns me is the lack of access to quality care and medicine by people in low economic groups. Numerous studies have pointed to the inequity of health care delivery according to socioeconomic divisions. Sweet (2011, p. 260) reports that in the U.S. And other developed countries, "individuals lower on the economic scale have poorer average health than do those who are better off." It becomes self-perpetuating, as people with more money can get a better education, leading to better jobs that provide better health care benefits. Higher socioeconomic groups can avail themselves of preventative care, too, with gym memberships and the ability to buy most costly organic foods. They may be able to afford other kinds of care that may not be paid for by insurance plans and totally out of reach for populations who must pay for their own health care: chiropractics, massage therapy, mental health counseling, and even something as simple as vitamins.