Trajectory of Chronic Illness and the Ethical Challenges Medical Social Workers Face

Singapore Social Work and Healthcare
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Singapore Social Work and Healthcare
Question 1
a) An Understanding of Chronic Illness
A chronic illness lasts a considerable amount of time, often months or years, and cannot be healed. Constant medical care is necessary, or experts must restrict daily activities. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma are some chronic ailments (Stewart et al., 2020). In some cases, chronic diseases might even be fatal. They also play a significant role in raising healthcare expenses nationally. Disabilities and functional impairments may result from some chronic illnesses, while others may be treated and controlled. Chronically ill individuals' families may suffer financially and emotionally (Stewart et al., 2020). They may have to handle medicine, treatment, and the healthcare system while supporting loved ones.
b) Chronic Disease Management Program
Comprehensive, patient-centered, and evidence-based chronic disease management programs (CDMPs) improve regular illness care quality and coordination. CDMPs emphasize proactive maintenance, continuity of treatment, interdisciplinary teamwork, patient education, self-management, and health information technology (Kim et al., 2021). CDMPs improve patient outcomes like quality of life, hospitalizations, and symptom and comorbidity control while cutting healthcare expenditures and enhancing system efficiency. CDMPs empower, self-manage, and share decision-making with patients and their families. CDMPs promote community resources and support services to address social determinants of health and health equity (Kim et al., 2021). CDMPs help people with chronic diseases improve their health and quality of life and reduce the burden of chronic illness on individuals, families, and healthcare systems.
Question 2
a) How the Person-in-Environment Paradigm has Contributed to Social and Environmental Disease Factors Research
The Person-in-Environment (PIE) paradigm examines how social, cultural, economic, and physical elements affect health. This approach has helped social and environmental illness research by revealing how individual and contextual factors affect health (Johannesdottir et al., 2019). The PIE paradigm emphasizes the intricate interaction between environmental and personal factors in social and ecological illness studies. This paradigm recognizes that biological, genetic, social, cultural, economic, and physical circumstances impact an individual's health. The PIE paradigm helps academics understand how social and environmental factors affect health by concentrating on persons and their settings. The PIE paradigm emphasizes socioeconomic determinants of health in social and ecological illness research (Johannesdottir et al., 2019). The PIE paradigm recognizes that social variables, including poverty, education, and social support, influence health outcomes, heredity, and behavior. This acknowledgment has enhanced public health programs and policies that address socioeconomic determinants of health and promote a more holistic view of health and disease.
b) The Whole-of-Nation Approach to Health and Disease Prevention
The whole-of-nation approach to health pr...