The links below will lead you to academic resources I have documented during my Masters of Health Studies
Marginalized Communities: Part Two
Public health and policies main goal is to promote and advocate for healthier lifestyles and behaviours, creating a universality concept of ‘one size fits all’. When conceptualizing public health policies, we tend to unconsciously build these initiatives around the demographic and populations that have access to resources that benefit their health. However, what one demographic might deem as ‘simple’ (ie., washing hands before meals/coming inside the home, being able to eat an adequate number of fruits and vegetables, participating in physical activity, getting enough sleep, etc) may not be as simple to a marginalized community. Marginalized communities can regrettably be disadvantaged by public health policy and practice by proposing unfeasible interventions that do not properly account for the individuals within that population Click here for the resources
Indigenous Health
The indigenous population in Canada makes up for one of the youngest populations in Canada, because of this, in a few decades, the indigenous population is projected to reach between 2.5-3.2 million (Anderson, 2014). Although this population is growing, it is obviously not homogenous in nature; the indigenous population is made up of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit, with their own distinct cultures, languages and histories (Anderson, 2014).The resources curated surrounding this topic, outline the mental health burden on indigenous youth. Considering that population has the least amount of medical resources, suicide and mood disorders are extremely prevalent and preventative measures need to be implemented.Click here to see the resources
Marginalized Communities
The term marginalization can be defined as a process where certain individuals and groups of people are unable to completely participate in society. Individuals within a marginalized community have limited or no accessibility to education, employment, adequate housing, clean water, health services, and other social determinants of health. Not only is individual health affected in marginalized communities, but overall community health as well (On-Marg, 2016).To further express, some may think of marginalized communities as a distant population as they may not be exposed to marginalized individuals often, however, there are marginalized communities scattered over Ontario. A particular group was studied in the Greater Toronto Area, named Regent Park. Regent Park is the location of the oldest and largest community housing environments in Canada with the lowest family income rates to follow (Gosine & Islam, 2014). The population at the time was 10,000 with 16.2% of it being youth aged individuals and out of the population, 80% are racialized minorities with ethnocultural backgrounds and nativity. However, a redevelopment initiative has been underway since the fall of 2005 – this will replace public housing structure with new market housing. Although this initiative is well thought out, it could displace the families who were able to afford that community housing.When it comes to doing research on marginalized groups, researchers need to be responsible and aware of what they are doing and how they are collecting data. Researchers need to understand that while working with these communities, the influence on their backgrounds and actions need to be reflected on (Moree, 2018). All in all, societies are not meant to built equally, and each society has conceptualized their own way to decipher their people, as some individuals push for more advantage over others (Moree, 2018). Click here to see the resources
Levels of Influence
Spheres of influence can relate to the factors of influence on our health. The term, spheres of influence means, institutions or individuals have more influence over and responsibility for, than others (Karches, 2021). For example, the source, Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Physical and Psychological Health: Lifestyle as a Mediatorexplains the sphere of influence on health in relation to the Flint Michigan water contamination. Physicians in Flint Michigan were realizing an increase in patients due to water contamination; the core sphere of influence to bring this issue to notice was the direct interaction the physician had with the patient. The healthcare provider was then able to influence at the community level by engaging with other healthcare providers within and around the organization (Karches, 2021). Many physicians and healthcare providers may feel an obligation to influence outside of their core, however, there are ethical matters involved when physicians try to accomplish this – going ‘ too far’ may result in losing the trust of your patients. Healthcare providers do walk a fine line between remaining professional and influence outside behaviours (Karches, 2021). However, concept assist physicians to strategize how they will influence and use their authority to better address the experts on societal or political cooperation within healthcare.Click here to see the recources
What is Health?
The term health has such a broad meaning that it is rather difficult to truly define the meaning. These resources look at health from the perspective of the World Health Organization, Public Health Canada, Marmot & Wilkinson et. al book titled 'Social Determinants of Health' and a few others. The original definition of health was created by the WHO, however over time, health was being viewed from different angles. The inclusion of health promotion and the Social Determinants of Health into the definition of health has allowed readers to get a better understanding of why some demographics suffer or benefit more than others. Click here to see resources
Health Promotion
The following resources curated consist of information pertaining to health promotion; what it is, the role of a health promoter, and how the Canadian Health Act needs to be modernized. These links have helped me conceptualize some key points in regards to the Healthcare system in Canada and the recent development of what it means to be a health promoter. The resources below have provided an immense amount of context surrounding why the introduction of health promotion into the Canadian Healthcare system has been beneficial. Click here to see resources
Professionalism and Social media
These resources were curated for the first assignment in my Critical Foundations of Health Disciplines course for my Masters. The context consist of working as a professional in a healthcare environment while being active on social media. As we know, social media as a professional can have both a positive or negative impact - being mindful of what is released on the internet is important. Literature reveals how healthcare professionals can benefit from the use of social media by sharing resources virtually with other demographics. The resources below give more context between the relationship between professionalism and social media. Click here to see resources