Paper Example on Impact of Social Class on Quality Healthcare, Good Health, and Education

Overview of the Case and Programs

The social class has a major impact on the lives of people and it affects their access to quality healthcare, good health, and education. The family history has many impacts on the social life of an individual and it affects the way people live and develop. In the case of Ta'esha, her family line is associated with poverty and diseases and this contributed to the current challenges. For example, Ronita, Ta'esha's mother, was exposed to formaldehyde in their trailer home and this contributed to her condition. She also used to smoke and did not get prenatal care. According to the doctor, these are the main reasons why she started bleeding early and gave birth six weeks early. The exposure to drugs in New Orleans is as a result of poverty and the social class of their family. The social implications of the social class history and the position in a family's life cycle can determine the quality of life that people have. For example, the poverty had led to the disconnection of the telephone services at Ronita's home and this way she could not communicate about her admission to hospital. It explains why she did not have any visitors because they did not know about her condition.

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There are several programs that can help children like Ta'esha and one of them is Children's Special Health Services (CSHS), a program in New Orleans that ensures that children with special needs get the necessary medical attention. It was started in Louisiana to assist the victims of the Katrina in and it improved the quality of medical home services in the area (Berry, Barovechio, Mabile and Tran 1950). The program serves all children and youths aged below 21 years and Ta'esha can get assistance from the program together with Donnell, Ronita's brother. The program can offer resources and guidelines, and a family resource center. The other program is Daughters of Charity Foundation of New Orleans. The foundation offers guidance and medical assistance to the people of the area to fight against heart diseases and diabetes (Borrell 273). Ronita's grandmother is diabetic and this could be genetic, which means it can affect Ta'esha too. The program can assist the grandmother and improve her condition, making it possible to assist in looking after Ta'esha as Ronita goes back to school. The pediatric hospital in the area can also help Ta'esha in offering medication assistance.

The Neighborhood and its Contribution to Stress

Ta'esha's neighborhood is a contributing factor to the stress that she experiences with her family. The first stressing factor is the congested and low quality of the housing they live in. Ta'esha's mother surrounding contributed to her health conditions because she smoked and was exposed to formaldehyde, a gas that comes from building materials and household products. Glues, adhesives, paper products and insulation materials around her home are the most likely source of the gas and this means their environment is not conducive for living. The diseases in her family, which include diabetes, cerebral palsy and disabilities, make it hard to work efficiently. Ta'esha's family has to rely on the insurance gains given to their grandmother and it is not adequate to pay for their bills. The disconnected telephone services is an indication of the poverty surrounding them and it increases their stress.

Her family lives in FEMA trailer park, where most of the people are unemployed. Ronita's father was murdered five years ago, probably because of the insecurity in their area, as a result of unemployment and poverty. Ronita's brother is involved in gang activities which adds to the fear of having him killed by the police in the future. The high unemployment, poverty, and social challenges have made it easy to access drugs and this is why Ronita was addicted to it. The schools in their region are overwhelmed by the high number of children displaced by Katrina and this has made it hard to access education. Ronita was also exposed to teen pregnancy at the age of 16 years. All of the above conditions in the environment create a stressing condition for Ta'esha and the rest of the family.

Financial, Occupational, and Social Network Constraints

Ta'esha's financial constraints are that her mother, Ronita, does not have a job, education or business to support her efficiently. Ta'esha may not have adequate resources like the basic food and shelter she deserves. Without financial resources, it is also hard to access and afford quality healthcare. Her occupational constraints are related to the type of housing her family lives in. The smells and conditions in the surrounding are not conducive. There are many smokers in the area, the houses are congested and the materials used to build them emit dangerous gases that are likely to affect her health negatively. Her social networks are poor because of the people around her. She is surrounded by poor people who are not connected to useful and helpful people like government officials. The fact that she will be brought up in the area where a large percentage of people are African-Americans increases her social problems because of the discrimination and poverty associated with these neighborhoods.

Works Cited

Berry, Susan, et al. "Enhancing state medical home capacity through a care coordination technical assistance model." Maternal and child health journal 21.10 (2017): 1949-1960.

Borrell, Luisa N. "Foreword: Addressing the Social Determinants of Health through Academic-Community Partnerships." Ethnicity & disease 27.Suppl 1 (2017): 273.