Question

• Discuss how social advantage and health advantage are transmitted across lifetimes and generations.
• Describe the implications for health care policy in addressing health.

Answer 1

Health and social effects through generations:

Social advantage means the favourable or successful social position. Social advantages of a person or a family means there better social status. That may include the good income , status , education , living standards etc.These social advantages   can influence their health and can influence their children's health.  

Health advantages refers to the conditions of good health or determinants that positively influence the Health of a person. Health advantages of a person refers to the Optimal functioning of body systems , absence of diseases etc. Surely the health advantages of a person can affect his offspring . A person who is having a Hypertension and Cardiovascular diseases are more likely to pass these hereditary genes to his children.  

Example: Diabetes and Hypertension are familial diseases.  

Children from a Family with a history of genetic disorders are at high risk to develop a genetic disorder such as Phenylketoneuria, thalassemia. Health advantages can transmit across lifetimes and generations.

Social advantages even though it can't pass through genes, but can surely affect the next generation or offsprings. A father with low socio-economic background may not be able to give good food and education to children , that inturn may affect the health of the children. So social advantages also can pass to generations and can influence the Health of the next generation.  

Implications of health care policy in addressing health:

Health policies are the plans , strategies, decisions or actions that adopted by the Government to achieve specific health goals.

Example : Health for all by 2020, Policies related to the prohibition of tobaco and alcohol at the work place.

Health policies can address health and Health issues. Health policies related to Immunization and vaccination prevented many communicable diseases in children and it inturn reduced the mortality and morbidity rate in children.  

Medicaid and Medicare Health policies, Affordable Care Act etc ensured the medical coverages for the citizens and it inturn facilitated the delivery if health services to the people. Many maternal and Child health care policies influenced the mother's and infant's health and improved the health services for mother and children.