Evaluating Health Information Dissemination

Introduction

The corresponding research study would be delving into the evaluation of the significance involving the provisioning of accurate and appropriate information related to health as well as social care services to the general populace. Apart from these, the value of timely sharing of such significant information to the deserving personnel for the purpose of prevention of the formulation of misunderstandings as well as confusion would also be assessed. The research discussion would be centring around the evaluation of the methods and techniques through which healthcare associated information could be disseminated amongst the general as well as the patient populace of the United Kingdom. Additionally, this analysis could also benefit from insights gained through healthcare dissertation help. Furthermore, the study progression would be taking into consideration the impact of the imparting of such information on the general behavioural attitudes of the recipients of such information which would be further reflective of the general perception about the validation and reliability measures of such information. Ultimately, at the conclusive stage of the study, the discussion would involve the analysis of the contemporary generalised perspective regarding the issues of healthcare so that proper development of the associated services could be performed.

Task 1 (LO1): Health and social care information giving rise to issues of concern to the public

According to Betancourt et al (2016), the significance of providing adequate information to the general populace to enhance their awareness levels regarding healthcare aspects is primarily reflective of four different functionalities. These could be identified as the prevention of diseases, instilling habits of healthy lifestyles, availability of proper and qualitative healthcare services and ensuring of the legalised individual rights and entitlements for the patients. The purpose of such an endeavour is thus comprehensible to be the objective of promoting effective healthcare in the society. Boulware et al (2016) have suggested that it is of utmost necessity for the general populace to be updated regarding their awareness concerning the issues related to public health services such as maintaining of existing standards of care, financial issues, resource management problems and their solutions, propriety of care and often occurring incidences patient abuse and various other mismanagement related incidents. Brownson et al (2017) have highlighted the aspect of enabling the healthcare service seekers to avail necessary and accurate information for the purpose of claiming qualitative healthcare services within a relatively secured environment of care to be the most important aspect to be looked into while having to ensure proper standardisation of healthcare related administrative policies. According to Carr and Luth (2017), such essential an endeavour of providing information could be performed by the general health practitioners through multiplicity of media. These could be identified as the print media such as newspapers and journals as well as books, leaflets and magazines, pamphlets and posters, published research or thesis documents, through the electronic media such as the televisions and radio, films and documentaries and through the Internet based news sharing platforms including the Social Media. Checchi et al (2017) have outlined that dissemination of the healthcare related information to the general populace is also the responsibility of teachers, social workers, nurses and hospital public relationship officers. Certain organisations and institutions such as Health Protection Agency, Centre for Disease Control and World Health Organisation also bear the responsibility of dissemination of health awareness amongst the general populace. Such information, according to Cherry and Jacob (2016) would be required to involve the latest modalities of terminal disease treatments and accurate directions of complaint lodging steps against perpetrated abuse on patients.

According to Cieza et al (2019), health information regarding emerging epidemics such as Bird and Swine flu could be swiftly circulated through the television, newspapers (including the tabloid such as the Mirror, the Sun and others) and through the social media networks and government information sites. However, exaggeration or inappropriate interpretation of such sensitive information and related events could contribute to general panic situations and thus, it is always necessary to present the actual events and situations in the most factual manner with adequate statistical evidence and with the additional information and advisory regarding the probabilities which could become actual situations related to public health concerns. Conklin, Morris and Nolte (2015) have outlined that Social Media based dissemination of information could be particularly prone to misinterpretation since more often than not, such information is only based on rumours and could be blown out of the actual proportions involving such contentious issues such as AIDS and Child Abuse based conditions. Thus, it is of utmost significance that alternative sources of healthcare information should be available and public health related messages have to be created with, the particularities of impact of such reportage on the general attitude of the public, in mind. Dyson et al (2018) have acknowledged that the method, manner and sources of providing healthcare information are to be accurate and measured enough so that the targeted messages and their actual implications could reach the intended recipients. The behavioural attitudes and thoughts of the people who are the recipients of such information are impacted profoundly with the targeted health information provisioning systems. According to Gagnon and Sabus (2015), the demographic factors such as the education, gender, age, social class and others are responsible for the institution of necessary changes in the preferred methods of providing healthcare information including those of modes of information circulation. For instance, the younger generation could be better reached through Social Media sites while for the elders, the utilisation of newspapers, books, journals, televisions, pamphlets and other traditional methods could be utilised. Furthermore, the presentation of information is of equal significance as Gradinger et al (2015) have clearly outlined that the colours, sizes and fonts of the visual information such as the images related to healthcare information telecasted on the television networks could be could have definite impacts on elderly audience. On the other hand, the children could be called to attention through animated images and bright visual effect based presentation of the health information such as the essential qualities of maintaining hygiene.

Task 2 (LO2): Media presentation of health and social care related public issues

According to Guest et al (2015), issues of public concern are primarily presented by the media with the objective of modification of the behavioural attitudes of the information recipients involving particular conditions. The intended effects are formulation of awareness and prevention of diseases through better availability of the remedial methods and information regarding better lifestyle practices. Higgs et al (2019) have outlined the negative impacts of improper utilisation of health issue related information circulation by the media in the form of formulation of negative and improper public opinion regarding particular issues. Such impropriety involves misrepresentation, misinterpretation and inaccurate reporting of particular incidents of health concerns regarding their scope and impact. Hippisley-Cox and Coupland (2016) have suggested that the outcomes of such misrepresentation are instigation of general panic, stereotypical representation of certain sections of the populace such as the AIDS victims, sensationalisation of particular events or issues and over projection of certain information. Holt et al (2017) have specified the instance of consistent circulation of the images of the debilitating effects of Oral Cancer on patients and this could lead to apprehension generation amongst smokers. The research of Keleher and MacDougall (2015), thus, suggests that the impact of media representation of issues of healthcare could be defined from a multitude of perspectives. The measure of the impact generally depends upon the extent of interaction with the media platforms by the audience. Relatively gullible personnel such as the children or the advanced age elders could be influenced extensively through motivated reportage through the mass media. Modifications of the advertisement and promotion based activities thus quite often border on the illogical or the over exaggeration of issues rather than being specific and more nuanced. Martínez-Alcalá et al (2016) have opined that determination of reliability factors of the information becomes the primary concern involving unreliable and invalid media reportage. The impact of government regulated or pressure group modified information is profound since such information is sanitised and modified by the media platforms become publication or broadcasting to suit the official narratives of the government agencies or particular institutions with vested interests. Such interests could be political, financial and religious in nature. This leads to extensive behavioural changes in the perceptions and interpretation of the content of such information. Furthermore, Mein Goh, Gao and Agarwal (2016) have determined the policies of the media houses and the editorial groups which construct such narratives regarding the content of such health information, also shape the outcome of the impact of health information dissemination on the general populace of the UK.

Task 3 (LO3): Research into different perspectives on a specific health and social care issue

According to Mignerat and Rivard (2015), the different perspectives of the health and social care are formulated by the sum total of the multiplicity of issues related to public health management within the UK. The perspectives could be identified as service providing national agencies, the media platforms operating on the national level, regulation and administration institutions such as the NHS, local bodies of health and social care units such as the service groups, practitioners, local media and service subscribers. Murphy (2017) have stated that the constrictions imposed upon the health sector due to decreasing government expenditure have resulted in the serious perspective that contemporary attitude of the students have become negative in this context. Nelson and Staggers (2016) have monitored how the incidence of chronic disease of Diabetes, resulting from the elevated levels of sugar in the blood of the patient due to the decreasing glucose and insulin levels, regarding the changes which it had demonstrated over the previous decades. The initial change has been increment in the demands of care services in spite of the noted cases of abuses of patients in the care homes. The next change has been the crippling effect of budgetary constrictions. This change has resulted in the lowering of interest in the care responsibilities and decreasing opportunities of employment. The third change has been the negative effect of the correlation in between available social services and institutional living standards. According to Osborn et al (2015), the healthcare service sectors of the UK have been playing a crucial role in the provisioning of the care for diabetes patients. The latest developments in the fields of medication have provided ample opportunity for the development of Diabetes vaccines. The dissemination of information as well as the diagnosis of the conditions of Diabetes patients have been consistently assisted by the development of the data management technologies and portable devices for the analysis of Fasting and Postprandial glucose testing. Such advanced instrumentation and greater accessibility of Diabetes care services have contributed in the enhancement of service availability as well as quality improvement of the Diabetes care services.

According to Platt, Jacobson and Kardia (2018) various factors such as religious and cultural backgrounds had influenced the healthcare related perspectives over the time. The most significant factors are the personalised beliefs and behavioural as well as lifestyle based attitudes of individual patients. Apart from these, the other factors which have so far influenced the differential perspectives could be identified as environmental, physical (different physiological conditions of personnel from different ethnic and demographic stocks and lineages), political (class lineage, general political conditions and integration measures regarding the cases of refugees and immigrants into the mainstream administration systems) and socioeconomic factors, awareness based issues and the general social condition as a definite unit.

Task 4 (LO4): Development of services under the influence of contemporary health and social care perspectives

Rolls et al (2016) have argued in favour of the correlation in between the attitudes of the local, regional and national levels when it comes to healthcare related issues and associated information. The perspectives vary as per the quality of available healthcare services and related information. According to Rushforth et al (2016), several NHS reports have outlined the fact that the measure of quality in the health care unit provided services at the different regions of UK could not be considered to be comparable with each other. Thus, the perspectives and attitudes of the people towards such services vary extensively. Simonet (2015) have assessed the developed strategies of addressing issues of obesity and have outlined the linkages of this particular health issue with the expansion in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes related complications at the local and regional levels within the UK. Thus, the primary significance lies with the NHS directed policies of public health management through providing accurate information regarding the beneficial effects of exercising and practicing health eating habits with relinquishing of hyper concentrated fat saturated food such as junk foods and high calorific soft drinks. According to Tan and Goonawardene (2017), it could thus be considered to be essential to develop holistic solutions to the problems of Obesity and unhealthy lifestyle which could involve every segment of the UK society so that the perspectives of the populace could be gradually but effectively be developed in the most positive manner. van Staa et al (2016) have specified that evaluation of public perceptions and behavioural attitudes determine the validity of the interpretation of provided healthcare information concerning particular problems such as Obesity related issues. Issues involving the available health and social care facilities which tend to the necessities of the general populace, have consistently highlighted the dearth of equitable measure of efficacy and quality in addressing the complications associated with Obesity. Viviani and Pasi (2017) have determined the underlying rationale of this to be the extensive prevalence of obesity within both UK and on the global scenario. The majority of the overweight patients within the UK could be identified to be urban dwellers and is comprised primarily by the children of early ages and adolescents. These patients are required to be convinced to adopt the most health and balanced dietary habits through methodically developed healthcare information dissemination campaigns. The validation of the changes in public attitudes in favour of healthy living, according to Wager, Lee and Glaser (2017) could be obtained from the media based health promotion campaigns, formulated through the collaborative efforts of health professionals and government agencies, urging the audience to practice certain specific lifestyle change methods. In this context, certain administrative decisions undertaken by the UK government could be considered to be vital such as imposition of sugar tax on soft drink manufacturers for the reduction of sugar levels to address diabetes related problems. The objective of such taxation, if properly promoted through the online and offline, print and electronic media, could lead to the intended changes in public attitudes towards consumption of high calorific diet. Rushforth et al (2016) have also enumerated the anti-smoking campaign of the UK governments to be another endeavour towards shaping the public attitude in the direction of better health awareness.

According to Dyson et al (2018) the consequences of contemporary psychological approaches regarding healthcare practices within the UK populace could be considered to be multifarious and mostly related to the prevalent thinking about issues of healthcare. In such a context, Hippisley-Cox, and Coupland (2016) have posited that lesser awareness and education involving healthcare issues and standards within the UK populace is the prime consequence of the thinking which could be acknowledged to be contemporary. The underlying rationale of this have been highlighted by Holt et al (2017) as the relatively lesser measure of time which is available to the common populace to invest in the health related information gathering and practices since most of the common people at the UK remain completely engaged in their daily routine and thus could spare little for this. The scope of development of the most effective and beneficial ideas and thoughts about the healthy living and behaviour is immense since it is paramount that the general populace of the UK are required to replace their contemporary perceptions with those of the modern and more scientific perspectives. In this respect, the reports generated by the media on inequalities of health and social care conditions often contribute to this purpose. Apart from this, the differentials in exposure to published health information in terms of rural and urban dwellers could be considered to be another consequence of the contemporary thinking.

Conclusion

The preceding task has provided an insight and overview regarding the various issues of healthcare which exist at the UK and the influence of media on the discourse of such issues. Particular effort has been invested in the determination of the methods of information provisioning regarding health and social care and the role of the media in dissemination of the same to the targeted audience.

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