Health care has many contexts. Health is always influenced by environment, economy and economic inequality, and public services. Thus different nations have different approaches to medicine. These approaches towards regulation of health care differ from each other in their efficiency.
The main factors which have impact on health policy are “political, economic, social, regional, national, and international” (Buse, Mays, & Walt, 2012, p. 11). These factors form the health policies according to society structure, political system, and economic situation. One of the greatest impacts of health care has culture. A lack of knowledge of the patient’s cultural values and customs, his abilities in language, can cause a bad quality of health care and, as a result, a threat to the patient’s life (Purnell, 2013, p. 4). Cultural diversity needs the cultural health care competence.
Health care policy depends directly on government policy and economic situation, as they control the health care costs and the provision of services to people without insurance. The government’s concerns are the reduction of the price increase, the distribution of the services and products, and the efficiency of the medical programs. Through analysis of the current situation, especially in economy, government determines the “consequences of a particular policy and which groups benefit and which groups wear the burden of that policy” (Feldstein, 2012, p.10).
Economic inequality is a big issue; it has impact on accessibility to the healthcare services and products. The high costs and the low salaries for the health care providers are the biggest problems and they must be resolved by the government in the first place.
Unfortunately, due to the bad economic situation and the inefficiency of the policies many countries experience the lack of the qualified health care personnel. The costs are high and many people cannot afford a good health care. Taking into consideration all the factors which influence health care, the measures must be taken to improve the policies and to provide the sufficient and cheap medical services for population.
References
Buse, K., Mays, M., & Walt, G. (2012). Making health policy. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.
Feldstein, P. (2012). Health care economics. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.
Purnell, L. (2013). Transcultural health care: Culturally competent approach. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.