Multi Culture Models of Health and Social Inclusion - Essay Example

Introduction: This paper analyses the concept of social inclusion, giving it a multicultural approach. Multiculturalism refers to a cultural diversity of communities, and the various policies aimed at promoting this cultural diversity. Lovett (2008) explains that multiculturalism is able to encourage policies as well as ideologies that help in promoting this cultural diversity. For instance, people living with disability are always viewed different within the various communities that they reside in. Popperwell (2007) explain that amongst the Indian, Hispanic and African communities, people living with learning disability are believed to be cursed, and they are shunned by the community. On the other hand, the most Caucasians belief that learning disabilities are medical conditions that negatively affect a child and it is not a curse (Roth, 2007). Because of these negative cultural values, it has been very challenging for the UK government to effectively implement policies aimed at promoting inclusive health amongst the minority population in the United Kingdom. However, various laws, such as the equality act of 2010, have been developed for purposes of addressing challenges that would help in ensuring that people with learning disability are able to access social services, including health without discrimination in the United Kingdom. PART A: Concept of Inclusion: MacLachlan and Swartz (2009) argue that learning disability is able to affect the manner in which an individual is able to understand information, as well as the manner in which an individual is able to communicate. MacLachlan and Swartz (2009) manages to give an explanation that approximately 1.2 million people living with severe, mild or moderate learning disabilities in the United Kingdom. This therefore implies that these people experience difficulties in learning and acquiring new skills, understanding complex or even new information, and coping independently with their learning programs or duties (Parsons, 2008). It is important to denote that because of their physical inability, these people are always discriminated when it comes to accessing some important health, as well as social services. This therefore brings us to the concept of inclusion. Inclusion refers to the ability to allow people irrespective of their physical conditions to access the various social services within a state, a community, or even a location (Monheit and Cantor, 2004). It is important to understand that people with learning disability are always faced with a lot of difficulties when accessing health care in the United Kingdom. One major source of difficulty is that they are unable to access relevant and adequate information regarding their problems, and the various health care agencies that have the capability of solving their problems (Lovett, 2008). For instance, people who are deaf are unable to get an access to certain health care advertisements, basically because these advertisements are not able to use languages that deaf people can understand. On this note, these people might not gain an access to the health care information being passed, and thus it may compromise their health status. Life expectancy of people with learning disability is also short. For instance, in the year 1929, the life expectancy of a child who was born with a learning disability was 9 years. In the periods of 1930s, the average death of a person living with learning disability rose to 22 years for women, and 15 years for men (MacLachlan and Swartz, 2009). However, in the current years, the average death rate for a person living with learning disability has risen to 35 years. This is still a very low age, and hence this health issue has to be tackled. Others include low expectation of services, mainly because of a previous bad experience when they went to seek medical attention, and certain problems or diseases only associated with learning disabilities (Monheit and Cantor, 2004). Literature Review: Inclusive health is a concept that the government of the United Kingdom fully supports. In the year 1995, the government introduced the discrimination disability act (MacLachlan and Swartz, 2009). This act makes it illegal to discriminate the disabled in accessing social facilities based on their physical conditions. The disabled were therefore able to access medical facilities without any discrimination or bias (Hills, 1998). To strengthen this policy, and practice, the government initiated the valuing people policy. One of the health issues identified under valuing people is that people living with learning disability are unable to access health screening services. This makes them vulnerable to diseases such as cancers. Furthermore, they suffer from inadequate diagnosis from diseases such as heart diseases, thus negatively affecting their lives. To improve on these situations, the valuing people policy advocates for the registration of all people with learning disability, so that an adequate health care plan can be provided for them (Hills and Mullett, 2002). Furthermore, the policy advocates for an improvement on health care facilities, so that they may have the capability of serving people with disability. This helped to improve the social lives of these people, as it facilitated their inclusion within the society. Furthermore, the government of UK advocates for a person centered approach in valuing people living with learning disabilities. Through these approaches, Hayward (2009) explains that British institutions both private and public are able to allow people with learning disabilities to control their own destiny by developing plans which have the capability of identifying issues that are important to them. For instance, Dutton (2007) maintains that it is from these practices, that the drafters of the 2005 mental capacity act were able to come up with the provisions of the legislation. For instance, the mental capacity act is clear on who has the capability of making decisions for mentally incapacitated individuals (Nicholson and Cooper, 2012). Hayward (2009) maintains that this law has been very effective in protecting the rights of the disabled, and as such it has played a role in promoting social inclusion of the disabled people within the community. Furthermore, the equality act of 2010 was able to provide a single framework that could be used in tackling discrimination and equality in the United Kingdom. Since the implementation of the equality act of 2010, Denham-Vaughan and Clark (2012) explain that people with learning disability and problems have been able to access social facilities without discrimination in the United Kingdom. For instance, Denham-Vaughan and Clark (2012) maintains that these people schools are able to admit both people with learning disability and normal people in their programs, health care institutions serve these people equally, and other social agencies have facilities and resources that make it possible to serve these people without discrimination. To help in protecting the needs and health care interests of people with learning disability, the government of UK has also initiated a policy referred to as reasonable adjustments (Monheit and Cantor, 2004). This involves giving the special privileges to the disabled, such as an alarm system that is audio-visual, allowing people who suffer from social anxiety disorder to use their own desk, etc (MacLachlan and Swartz, 2009). In a report prepared by Sir Jonathan Michael, he acknowledged the fact that people with disability still face a number of problems in the United Kingdom, this is specifically in accessing social services, but through the enactment of anti-discriminative laws, and promoting social inclusion, chances are high that this problem will be tackled in the United Kingdom (Michael, 2014). The Health Care for all is a policy that the government tried to introduce reasonable adjustments policies, but it was not successful. This included advocating for the hiring of health care officials who could speak more than two languages for purposes of solving the problems of language barrier. The NHS care of 1990 on the other hand helped to making it mandatory for health care officials to identify the health care needs that people with learning disability needed, and thus address those needs (Parsons, 2008). This helped in improving the accessibility of health care facilities to these people, hence improving on their health. PART B: Potential Challenges: Kasser and Lytle (2013) explain that despite efforts to introduce social inclusion in the United Kingdom, there are a number of challenges that the government of United Kingdom faces. One such challenge is communicating the available policies and practices to the disabled people. It is important to understand that most communication between the disabled and the government will occur through relatives, or even friends. Kasser and Lytle (2013) argues that this is because these people are not able to effectively access channels of communication such as newspapers, the internet, television programs, etc. In defending this point, Stickley and Basset (2008) argues that because of the physical limitations of people with disability, they are unable to use and access these channels of communication. This therefore makes it difficult for effective communication to occur between the service providers, government institutions, and people living with learning disability. Furthermore, Stanbridge and Burbach (2007) assert that communication amongst various agencies responsible for providing services to the disabled is always difficult. This is because these agencies have different objectives and goals, and hence aligning these goals to serve the disabled might be difficult. Implementing reasonable adjustments might be difficult, because of lack of finances or money to initiate such changes by health care institutions or other social institutions (Hills and Mullett, 2002). Language barrier is also a problem in fighting social exclusion, and this sis specifically because these people are slow learners, and those that emanate from minority ethnic groups are unable to speak effective English (Spicker, 2008). Based on this fact, it is difficult to know the needs of these people, and hence develop a policy of program that will effectively satisfy and serve their needs. Furthermore, training of experts and personnel who are required to handle the disabled is an expensive process, and it normally takes a long period of time. Yates (2012) further asserts that there is a dilemma on whether certain services should be specialized within a given community or not. However, this is uncalled for, for it will be a breach of the 2010 equality act. To overcome these challenges, there is a need of developing a policy that would entail training more health workers in a method that would be very effective in communicating with the disabled (Dutton, 2007). These would improve communication abilities of health workers, as well as the problems that are brought forth by language barriers (Spicker, 2008). Regarding money, there is a need of the government to liaise with all stake holders in the health industry, for purposes of raising money to carter for the health needs of people with learning disability. The government should also increase its funding of the health care industry. Evaluation of the Best Practices: The government of United Kingdom is well aware that the minority groups suffer the most when it comes to accessing social services. To help them access these services, the government has managed to partner with these groups (Spicker, 2008). This is by identifying their needs and hence coming up with policies and programs aimed at satisfying these needs. For instance, one of the principles contained in the person centered approach is to identify people with learning disability, and hence ask them to make decisions and provide information that will carter for their needs. Corcoran (2011) explains that this is an important aspect of social inclusion, as the disabled manage to take control of their destiny. In Ireland, the health and safety authority has developed a series of guidance, that will guide employees, and all health institutions on the manner in which they can handle people with learning disability. The welfare, safety and health act of 2005 makes it mandatory for employers in Ireland to ensure that there is a reasonable health, safety, as well as welfare of all workers in Ireland. This is irrespective of their physical ability. Bureau and Shears (2006) explain that this law has been effective in improving the manner in which people with disability are able to access social services in Ireland, and this includes health services. In developing a health care policy that will carter for the needs of people with learning disability, the government of Ireland always includes them in the decision making process. This is an effective method in gathering information for purposes of developing a health policy that is inclusive. For instance, in developing an inclusive policy, the government of Ireland will conduct a risk assessment. This is for purposes of identifying the various risks associated with the policy, as well as how the policy will serve the needs of all people within the community (Campbell, 2010). The second step is developing control measures for purposes of addressing the identified risks. The last step is consulting with physically disabled for purposes of identifying whether the health care policies developed are effective in serving the needs of the physically disabled. It is important to understand that Ireland has initiated a series of measures and laws aimed at protecting the health care needs of the disabled. These measures include ensuring that employers have initiated a variety of actions aimed at protecting the disabled while they are working. This includes supervising employees with disability, to ensure that they are efficient in whatever they do, training those with learning disability on how to use the various first aid kits, as well facilities belonging to the company. Based on these facts, Campbell (2010) explains that the health inclusive policies of Ireland are not only restricted to the access of health care facilities, but it involves the specific measures employees and the community have introduced for purposes of protecting their health care conditions. Furthermore, the reasonable adjustments policies implemented by these countries has been efficient have been efficient in ensuring that the health care needs of the disabled are well catered for. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the Equality Act of 2010 makes it mandatory for organizations as well as health agencies to put in place reasonable adjustments that will make it possible for the disabled to work efficiently as well as access the health care services in an effective manner. This includes provision of special facilities or equipments to people with disability, initiating flexible hours to employees with disability, etc. However, due to language barriers, cultural differences, the government and health care agencies are unable to effectively implement these policies. Language makes it difficult for communication to take place, while cultural believes makes it difficult for people to access medical services based on the belief that living with learning disabilities is a curse. Comparisons: Barton and Grant (2008) explain that in the United Kingdom, the government relies on policies and legislations to promote social inclusiveness in the health sector of the United Kingdom. For example the equality act of 2010 is an important law that promotes health equality in the United Kingdom. This law is a combination of various laws in the United Kingdom that are responsible for discouraging discrimination, and promoting social inclusion in the United Kingdom. It is important to understand that while United Kingdom constantly replaces its inclusion laws, Ireland on the other hand rarely replaces its inclusion laws. For instance, the United Kingdom now uses the Equality act of 2010. This is a law that has replaced various human rights and equality laws in United Kingdom, condensing them into one, and improving areas that need an improvement. For instance, the equality act of 2010 incorporated the 2003 race relations act, the 1999 sex discrimination act, equality pay act, etc. It is important to understand that this law promotes equality on virtually all aspects of the society, and this also includes on health. On the other hand, Ireland has relied on the 1871 lunacy act, which dress does not effectively address the current problems facing people with learning disability. Conclusion: In conclusion social inclusion is a concept that has gained ground after the emergence of civil rights movements in the United States, and the world. In as much as most countries of the world are seeking to ensure that everybody is included in accessing social services, this is not always the case. This is specifically because minority groups within the society are not always able to access these services in an efficient and effective manner. The most vulnerable people are people living with learning disability. On this basis, countries such as United Kingdom, United States, etc have enacted laws that guide the manner in which all people within the society will access government services irrespective of their status. Bibliography: Barton, H., & Grant, M. (2008). Testing time for sustainability and health: striving for inclusive rationality in project appraisal. The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 128(3), 130-139. Bureau, J., & Shears, J. (2006). Pathways To Policy - Developing Inclusive Mental Health Policy In Eastern Europe. Mental Health Review Journal, 11(4), 32-35. Campbell, C. (2010). Disability and international development: Towards inclusive global health. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 15(5), 622-623. Corcoran, T. (2011). Health inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 346, 1-14. Denham-Vaughan, S., & Clark, M. (2012). Transformation of payment by results in mental health: ensuring a recovery focused and socially inclusive system. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 16(3), 155-158. Dutton, Y. (2007). Creating inclusive learning opportunities. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 11(2), 14-18. Hayward, K. (2009). Creating inclusive disability communities. Disability and Health Journal, 2(1), e11. Hills, M. (1998). Women-centred care: working collaboratively to develop gender inclusive health policy : final report. Victoria, B.C.: Womens Health Bureau. Hills, M., & Mullett, J. (2002). Women-Centred Care: Working Collaboratively To Develop Gender Inclusive Health Policy. Health Care For Women International, 23(1), 84-97. Kasser, S. L., & Lytle, R. K. (2013). Inclusive physical activity: promoting health for a lifetime (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Lovett, F. (2008). Multiculturalism Without Culture and Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism. Perspectives on Politics, 6(01), 443-459. Nicholson,, L., & Cooper, S. (2012). Social exclusion and people with intellectual disabilities: a rural–urban comparison.. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 57(3), 1368-2788. MacLachlan, M., & Swartz, L. (2009). Disability & international development towards inclusive global health. Dordrecht: Springer. Michael, Jonathan. "Independent Inquiry Into access to health care for people with learning disability." Health Care For All. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2014. . Monheit, A. C., & Cantor, J. C. (2004). State health insurance market reform toward inclusive and sustainable health insurance markets. London: Routledge. Parsons, K. C. (2008). Industrial Health for All : Appropriate Physical Environments, Inclusive Design, and Standards that are Truly International. Industrial Health, 46(3), 195-197. Popperwell, I. (2007). The dynamics of social inclusion. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 11(2), 19-21. Roth, L. (2007). Multiculturalism. Sydney: NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service. Spicker, P. (2008). Social policy: themes and approaches.. Bristol: Policy Press. Stanbridge, R., & Burbach, F. (2007). Developing family-inclusive mainstream mental health services. Journal of Family Therapy, 29(1), 381-404. Stickley, T., & Basset, T. (2008). Learning about mental health practice. Chichester, England: Wiley. Yates, L. (2012). Young people with health conditions and the inclusive education problematic. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10, 1-12. Read More