Healthcare Grants Review

Part A

Healthcare grants are an essential part of global healthcare services. They assist in providing hospitals and patients with much needed financial reprieve. Doctors all across the world take an oath to care for patients no matter their lack of finances. This is possible to a degree and hospitals therefore do the bare minimum only preserving life or preventing immediate danger and then send the patients away. Even with this hospitals still become strapped for cash and health grants step in and provide funds for this hospitals to ensure they stay in operation.

For our review we will consider two grants. National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research fund. The NRHM was launched in India in 2005 to improve access to healthcare in remote areas. It mainly focusses on providing healthcare amenities in remote and poor areas in India.

The grant is sponsored by a financial aid collective that includes government and charity foundations (“Funds Under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM),” n.d.).

We shall express budget allocations in % form.

Salary and Benefits -20%

Administrative costs -10%

Healthcare services -70%

In specified areas the hardship areas tend to have very low cost of living hence an average USD  8 $ per day was more than efficient for the staff on the ground. Members of nearby nursing schools also take part in the day to day functions as part of their curriculum thereby reducing salaries and benefits. The areas however tend to have very few amenities hence the bulk of the budget being on the services. Deficits were however present in the 2016-2017 financial year therefore set objectives were not met. The second grant we shall look at is the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research. The NCCOR brings together four of the biggest research funders in the United States. The main objective of the NCCOR is to curb the obesity epidemic in the US and provide support for its research.

Salary and Benefits -50%

Administrative costs -40%

Healthcare services -10%

This grant is research oriented and does not count providing healthcare as a primary objective. This is because obesity is not really a disease in the traditional sense. It is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle and genetic traits being carried down. NCCOR uses employees to collect data and provide counselling to affected areas hence employees are their biggest assets (“NCCOR,” 2009). The NCCOR however is not given enough space and should spend more on finding control measures in this case medicines that will reduce obesity instead of concentrating its efforts on controlling it.

Part B

For our research we chose Hepatitis.  Hepatitis B is very contagious and spreads through contact with infected blood and other bodily fluids (Eliminating the Public Health Problem, 2017). There are six certifies methods of transmission. Direct contact with infected blood, transfer from mother to child during labor, being penetrated with  sharp contaminated objects, Oral, Vaginal and anal sex and using a razor or any other personal item with backwash of infected specimen (Maclin, 2017).

Hepatitis is treated through two main methods. One is vaccination and immune globulin. The second is the use of antivirals. In case it has severely damaged your liver, liver transplants are the only solution (Maclin, 2017). Sometimes acute hepatitis B however clears up on its own. There have been selective outbreaks of hepatitis B in the US. One such instance was in an assisted living facility in Virginia where due to non-adherence to safety standards by the staff almost all the population was found to have contracted the HPB virus. Primary prevention methods for Hepatitis B include promoting safe sex, vaccinations especially in doctors and health personnel and encouraging early testing. This helps in preventing infection of the disease in the first place (“Outbreak of Hepatitis B Virus Infections,” 2012).

Secondary measures include the use of Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin which is usually a 3 to 6-month prevention scheme. It is also given between 2 days after exposure to prevent infection. Secondary methods are usually treatments with antiviral medication which is not specific. In case of chronic situations liver transplants are carried out (“Outbreak of Hepatitis B Virus Infections,” 2012). Research by the CDC claims that around 3,000 people die from Hepatitis B complications and about 1.4 million people in America have chronic hepatitis B.

Part C

Obesity is a situation in which body fat has collected in the body in such a way that it affects the health of a person negatively. The main causes of obesity are eating a lot without very little physical activity, therefore not burning off the consumed energy which transforms into fat. Eating a lot of calories and poor feeding also causes obesity in the long run (“Causes,” 2017). Lack of physical activity and certain genetic predications also leads to inability to shed weight. Another reason which is less common is medical reasons such as thyroid gland issues or Cushing’s syndrome.

As a HCA one of the best ways to encourage employees is to have a sporting day once a week where employee compulsorily engage in a sport. All high calorie foods should also be banned from the workplace and the canteen stocked with healthy foods. Leading by example which involves eating those foods and always promoting the sporting events will help the employees engage in the process.

Part D

Mood disorder is a situation where your emotional state moves kinetically from one extreme to another regardless of the situation. Mood disorder symptoms include depressive disorders and major depressive disorders, Bipolar disorders where energy levels shift unexpectedly and can sometimes be dangerous. Substance induced mood disorders where medication or drugs withdrawals cause a change in the mood of a person (“Signs and Symptoms of Mood Disorder,” n.d.).

Unfortunately mood disorders among other mental illnesses are hard to collect information on. Most people think of mental illness as a weakness and therefore don’t seek help thereby making it harder to know the actual statistics. We can only work with estimates (“Signs and Symptoms of Mood Disorder,” n.d.).

Health personnel should engage in spreading awareness and emphasizing on mental health. At the moment most communities look down on mental illness and people suffering from the illness hide and result to drugs leading to even greater problems. The view on mental illness has to change for there to be change and it is up to us as a community and the government at large to stop the stigma.