SOCIAL HEALTH NEGLECTED

A mentally impaired man roaming the streets

Health, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) definition is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Social well-being or health is a term that refers to the health of a person in reference to his or her ability to interact with others and thrive in social settings. It can also refer to the health of a society in general, and how the members of that society are treated and how they behave towards each other. Along with physical health and mental health, social health is vital for the health of a person.
Physical and mental health typically deal with an individual and how well his or her body and mind are functioning and keeping his or her various systems running properly. Social health, on the other hand, often indicates how that person interacts with other people, as well as the consequences or benefits of such interactions in relation to the well-being of that person.

  Here in Ghana, the major concern is health and safety. By the definition of WHO, people have the right of access to decent accommodation. Here is the case where people live in slums, have poor drainage systems, poor sanitation, food sold near drainage and due to the high cost of renting houses, a couple with three or more kids share a single room. Also the head porters locally known as “kayayei” who do not have decent places to stay and are abused sexually by men just to pass the night in front of shops in markets. Hence a social health issue. Another issue is the transportation systems and the health side of it. 
Vehicles are supposed to have adequate leg room and sitting space but most commercial vehicles especially the “trotro or troski” do not. People are packed and sometimes good ventilation in the vehicle is not assured.
In the past, all family members lived in the same house and there was the existence of good interactions and things were done together. This kind of togetherness and interactions helped reduce depression. But what do we see now? There is the degeneration of African culture. The switch from a compound house concept to a nuclear family house concept is on the rise.  That is where a couple of two or three kids live in a live in a big walled house. Marriage related issues are not interacted as compared to the stay in compound houses. The risk of depression goes higher. And when people get frustrated, suicide cases can increase. According to Citifmonline.com, over a year a total of 1,556 suicide cases were recorded in the country and surveys conducted shows that more than five people commit suicide daily in Ghana. Mostly these suicides are due to social and economic problems.

A man begging

However, there was the department of social health which was to take care of social health. Now the coming in of Women’s And Juvenile Unit (WAJU) and Domestic Violence and Victim’s Support Unit (DOVSU) that deals with domestic violence and other criminal activities. Social health goes beyond domestic violence and most social needs are not taken care of. There can be good hospitals but without a sound mind, the health of a person is not secured. Stress levels going up due to economic problems such as debts and financial institutions repossessing houses or other properties used as collateral rendering families homeless. These sends some kind of trauma to the families and with the absence of income support from the government as compared to the western countries where one can have at least a day support from the government. So there is the need to take care of the social aspect of health so as people will not go into prostitution and other social vices.

Thus, Social health should be considered of great importance in regards to individual health and the society at large, especially as further information and research has established how social interactions and care can assist in improving other forms of health.

PROFESSIONALISM OF HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS

A profession requires acquisition and application of a body of knowledge and technical skills. The individuals in a profession are bound together by a shared commitment. Members of a profession regulate themselves. In health care, health practitioners regulate themselves through state medical boards, as well as hospital committees and other peer-review groups. Those in the profession practice it in agreement with a code of ethics. Finally, a profession has a contract with society.

Health care has been the prevention, care and treatment of diseases not forgetting the aspect of the professionalism. Professionalism is defined as the skill, competence, or character expected of a member of a highly trained profession. It is also the use of professionals instead of amateurs.                                                                                 

In healthcare, professionalism addresses the special skills and attitudes that a worker must possess to be recognized as a healthcare professional. The health profession is to heal. In a patient encounter, they consider a right and good healing action for that patient in his or her particular circumstance. A right healing action is one informed by the scientific and clinical evidence. A good action, in contrast, takes into account the patient's values and preferences and is consistent with the physician's own clinical judgment.

With professionalism, everything matters. From one’s overall appearance to professional use of equipment. The use of personal protective equipment should be used appropriately when necessary. Some personal equipment such as lab coats, goggles, gloves, face masks and so on are important.

Now, how is professionalism in Ghana perceived at health centers? How best do they behave? Do they observe the right hygiene in respect to washing of hands?

Some health workers on their way back from an immunization assignment

Professionalism in Health care is important because it shapes the public perception of today’s physicians. It also brings people together and helps both the patient and health practitioners get along. Again, patients are satisfied.

Thus, professionalism is an important component in health care delivery. Not only do health practitioners need to make good decisions for patients, but need to apply those decisions in a way that is professional and ultimately helps  patient and the society at large.

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY CITIZEN JOURNALISTS AND HOW IT AFFECT TRADITIONAL MEDIA

  INTRODUCTION

We seek to begin our discussion on the topic by first of all briefly talking about citizen journalism, social media and the traditional media. After, we would discuss how citizen journalists using the social media have impacted the traditional media production and some measures the media houses have taken to blend with or meet the current trends in mass media.

Technological advancements from the 19^th and 20^th centuries affected various sectors of human development as well as journalism. The advent of smart phones which allow individuals to post images, texts and videos to social media sites introduces a new paradigm shift where any ordinary person who uses even the most basic phone can be a reporter or journalist. In the sense that mostly when there is any occurrence, the individual is able to take coverage of whatever happens with his or her phone and can publish it onto any social media site without going through any process that the traditional media would normally require.

According to Kelly (2009) “Civic journalism, or ‘public journalism arose in the early 1990’s and was characterized by involving readers both in the news-making process and the use of news.

Also, citizen journalism is the democratization of the manufacture of news information by making the once dormant audience an integral part of the news making process.

It can be observed that citizen journalism allows for the participation of any ordinary person who may not have any training at all to participate in the production and dissemination of news content. This individual would select an occurrence of his choice and report it in his own preference and may share it to his network of friends on the social media. Another point to note is that initially the audience were classified as dormant because in the traditional media, they only had to receive what had been prepared for them so do not partake in the creation of news or give their comments especially for the print news.                                                                                                                                                     “As daily Internet usage becomes increasingly ubiquitous, suddenly people have started going online, specifically to social media networks like Reddit or Facebook, to get their news and print media syndications have begun to die off as a result.” (Demers 2013)

The social media is now a platform which is more common to people and has afforded people the opportunity to share documents, images, videos and other relevant information. Some social media like Twitter limits users in the number of characters they can use per post but blog sites allow users to post as many words as possible.

Citizen journalism has spread widely in a short while and has become a great force the traditional media like television, radio and print have to deal with.

EFFECTS ON THE TRADITIONAL MEDIA

First of all, citizen journalists are almost always at the right place at the right time or at the wrong place at the right time so usually have enough insight about occurrences more than journalists who may get to a scene when everything has died off. Also, “Particularly in straitened times, journalists can’t be everywhere at once and often arrive after the news event has actually happened. In many cases, such as during the Arab Spring, journalists can be banned or censored by regimes and individuals that don’t want stories to be reported. So citizen journalists with camera phones can be our sole source of first hand information. Much of this then feeds into the traditional media, with TV news and national newspapers running stories based on reports filed by citizen journalists.” (Measures 2013)

Secondly, citizen journalism makes traditional media look more passive. Due to the interactive nature of the social media networks, members can create their own contents, send immediate feedback to available information and also give suggestions to posts. The social media which does not limit membership makes room for effective participation in whatever is being posted although there may be some regulations to abide by. On this note most people who used to rely on the traditional media for news now more often depend on the social media because they are not limited in their participation except for a few sites like twitter and so on. For example if a person wants to send his feedback to the print media, it may take a long time for it to get published and sometimes it is rejected but the social media where most citizen journalists are allows for instant reception of feedback.

Another effect is that the audiences of the radio, print and television media have reduced over the years after the advent of the social media and citizen journalism. The explanation of this point can be derived from the arguments above but also citizen journalists, because they are ubiquitous, get first hand news and readily and easily submit them social media sites before the traditional media journalists or trained journalists hear about them. Currently, some media houses depend on information produced by citizen journalists to make their news. It is also evident that sometimes citizen journalists create bigger news than the traditional media. A typical example is when John F. Kennedy an American president was assassinated, the first film was captured by Abraham Zapruder who was not a journalist. The social media has wider audience base which makes information posted onto it travel far. It has been proved that by 2007, Facebook had about 500 million active users.

Furthermore, citizen journalists’ ability to post information about several issues onto the social media platform allows members to have access to any type of information or programme that interests them at any time thereby making the traditional media seem obsolete. This is because programmes of the traditional media especially radio and television are broadcasted at specific times of the day and if the audience miss it, they miss it for good.

HOW THE TRADITIONAL MEDIA HAVE ADAPTED

Therefore, in order for the traditional media to meet the current trends brought about by the social media and citizen journalists, it is currently evident that most media houses including the newspaper have subscribed to social media sites and post information on them so as to reach the world wide audience. Examples of such media houses are CitiFm, Peace Fm, Tv3 and so on. They have also created websites where they can be reached using the internet and certain programmes can be viewed online through these sites.

Again, for the traditional media to be more interactive and make audiences active participants in its processes, platforms have been made available for the audience to call in to programmes to share their views on issues. Sometimes, comments from social media sites are read to draw the audiences’ attention and make them aware of their participation.

CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, it can be observed from the discussion above that citizen journalism and the social media has brought with them so many opportunities which has affected the traditional media in various ways. Most importantly, the traditional media has now been made interactive and provision has also been made to ensure audience participation.

REFERENCES

·         Kelly, J. (2009) Red Kayaks and Hidden Gold: the Rise, Challenges and Value of Citizen Journalism. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, RISJ Challenges. University of Oxford – https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/Red_Kayaks___Hidden_Gold.pdf

·         How Social Media Is Supporting a Fundamental Shift in Journalism http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-demers/how-social-media-is-suppo_b_3239076.html

·         The Rise of Citizen Journalism – http://socialmediatoday.com/chris-measures/1430031/rise-citizen-journalism

                  Group 1 members

Sylvana Yayra Ayaovi              

Gabriel Addo   

Dorcas Oduru                 

Rita Bonsu                     

Priscilla Obodai             

  ACCESS TO HEALTH DELIVERY

 

 An audio record on view of accessibility of health care.

The delivery of health is an important factor in measuring the development of a country.  Patients who visit various health care centres have different experiences to share. The qualities of health care services they receive assess their satisfaction from the service.

Having access to health services does not only mean the availability of health facilities but having the necessary resources to render quality services to patients. For instance, a person seeking medical attention was rushed to a nearby hospital in his vicinity. The diagnosis of the patient is heart related and needs urgent care but was referred to another hospital that could be far from where he lives or where the hospital is. Here, there is the availability of a health facility but the patient has to travel long distances to have access to health care. Situations such as this can be far worse in the rural areas when health practitioners are not efficient and lack both the human resources and material resources. Another instance was in a rural community. A patient who needed help collapsed and died right before a nurse who seemed not to care when the patient needed it.

 The effectiveness of a health care system is best measured in terms of how well it keeps its people healthy and how fast it treats patients at least cost. Most Ghanaians have lost hope in getting quality health care delivery in Government hospitals hence, seeking the best in private hospitals. Thus, people have learnt to put their lives and trust in private hospitals to deliver quality services. The question is why? Considering the existence of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) yet most Ghanaians seek medical attention from the private hospitals. The NHIS exist to cater for medical needs of citizens yet does not cover all ailments. What then happens to a patient with the NHIS in such a situation? What also happens to the patient whose condition cannot be treated here in the country? There are instances where prominent people are sent outside the country for treatments. What about the ordinary Ghanaian. When the richest with many medical insurance policies needs urgent medical attention dies here in Ghana questions the accessibility of health care we have.

Looking at health is not only medical but the complete, physical, mental and social well being and merely not the absence of disease. Most cases of mental issues are treated by trained health professionals when they are acute some are left with no alternatives than to visit spiritualists and churches for help. Once a colleague visited a Psychiatrist hospital here in Ghana and needed help. The doctors available were only three and had to wait for almost five (5) hours only for the doctor to suggest his own hospital.

The issue of access to quality health care in Ghana should be the top most of discussions. The quality of health care delivery affects all sectors of the economy because every economy relies on a healthy population.

                  HEALTH DELIVERY

Health delivery includes the prevention, care and treatment of diseases. The article below and subsequent ones will delve into issues relating to the health delivery in Ghana such as patient-doctor confidentiality, access to health care in terms of affordability, professionalism of health providers, stimatisation of mental health and others.

PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY AND DIGNITY

How would you feel if your private confidential information is shared so casually with some total stranger? It is just simple. No one would want to hear their personal issues discussed by others. Well one would wonder why Patient confidentiality and what it is.

Patient confidentiality talks about the medical and personal information given to a health provider and will not be provided to others unless with specific permission for release. Such information should be available only to the doctor of record or insurance personnel if necessary. Patient confidentiality is also a part of the rules of evidence in many common law jurisdictions. It is a legal concept related to medical confidentiality that protects communications between a patient and his or her doctor being used against the in court.

There are legitimate reasons when a nurse or doctor has to tell a colleague health provider the diagnosis of a patient. When a nurse has to hand over the care of a patient to another nurse the diagnosis of the patient is shared. And when a doctor has to refer a patient or sign out a patient to another doctor it is important, for continuity of care, for diagnoses to be shared. Personal information is only disclosed to another person when the patient consent has been obtained.

Now, the issue of doctor –patient confidentiality here in Ghana is to be given the needed attention. This needs to be addressed. In some cases, this confidentiality is broken. An instance is the diagnosis of a person with the HIV virus. This patient overheard a discussed by some health workers who found out about his status. On another occasion, a patient’s wife was informed by a nurse about her husband’s diagnosis to protect her from contracting the disease. Some doctors after living and working in the western countries for some time have come to realize how serious this issue is and have become very much aware of the problem of the abuse of patient confidential information. It is serious and widespread and most healthcare workers are not even aware of its implications.

In view of this, health providers should know when necessary to disclose patient information and to be aware of the implications on both sides such as patients being exposed to ridicule and disrespect.