Who is responsible for your health?

[jcasablanca]

This question came up during a class discussion. In light of diminishing health care resources, who is responsible for one's health. Is health care a "right" or a "privilege". I would really appreciate your reply, the answers will be used during a debate.

Thanks

[Flo., BSN, RN]

I think it is a right. How can you value one person's life higher than anothers simply based on their ability to pay a bill? I find for profit health care to be sickening.

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Thread moved to Nursing Student Assistance forum.

What have you come up with so far? What are you opinions on this?

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

I am hesitant to say that it is a right. I know for sure that it is not, currently, a Constitutional Right. On the other hand, to merely say it is a "privilege" makes it sound very elitist, and it implies that it can be taken away from us at any point for no good reason.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I am responsible for my own health--after all, the decisions I make can affect whether I am healthy or unhealthy.

[karamarie91]

I believe healthcare is a right but at the same time that doesn't mean we should bear responsibility when our health tumbles. Some things that go wrong with your health can be out of your control. So because you can't afford to pay, you should be denied for something you couldn't really control???

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

"in light of diminishing health care resources, who is responsible for one's health."

this begs the question, meaning, it makes an assumption that diminishing resources have anything to do with responsibility and expects the respondent to think so too when formulating a response. diminishing resources have nothing to do with responsibility, as stated this way.

if you mean to discuss healthcare finance, that's one thing. personal responsibility is another.

are you thinking about a societal responsibility to make a tax-funded baseline level of healthcare available to all members of society?

are you talking about a cut-off for services, as oregon did, based on their overall budget for public healthcare funding?

are you talking about making public funding or insurance coverage being limited or restricted for people who don't follow someone's idea of healthy behavior for self-care?

or... ?

choose your discussion terms, but don't think you can have a talk about your initial sentence and get anywhere substantive, because it's meaningless.

so.... what do you think?

[Aurora77]

As individuals, we are the only ones responsible for our health. We all make choices that can help or hurt us physically.

There is always going to be a finite amount of medical resources. The idea that everyone can get all the care they ever need is a dream. Money, doctors, nurses, drugs don't just magically appear.

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

I think that healthcare should be a right, but I feel that each individual is responsible for his/her own health. Doctors and nurses are a lot of things, but they aren't mind readers, and they don't know that something is wrong with you unless you let them know. For instance, unless a patient comes to the hospital, or the ED, or the MD's office, I, as a nursing student (and future nurse), would never be able to look at them and tell that they had hypertension, CAD, diabetes, etc. Doctors and nurses can't magically look at a patient and determine that they have health problems which need to be treated.

The decision to seek professional medical attention, and begin treating chronic health problems, is up to the patient. If a person begins to experience extreme thirst, slow wound healing, frequent urination, weight loss, blurred vision, and other symptoms of diabetes, it is up to that person to make an appointment with their primary care physician (or seek some form of medical care if they don't have a PCP). Neither doctors nor nurses can look at someone on the street and say, "excuse me, ma'am, but I think you may have type two diabetes. You should consider scheduling an appointment with your physician, or going to a free clinical for follow-up."

Also, once a person has been diagnosed with such a chronic illness, it is up to them to take their medications, schedule routine follow-up visits with their physician, and have all necessary routine lab work done. We, as healthcare professionals, cannot require compliance, and we can't force patients to do anything. It is up to the patient to want to live a healthy lifestyle and manage their disease or condition.

So, to answer the question, yes, I believe that healthcare should be a right. With that being said, however, healthcare cannot be forced on anyone, and each person must make the decision to pursue healthcare. In the end, it is up to the individual to find a PCP, have routine exams and screenings, and maintain their health. While I believe that healthcare should be provided to those who want it, I don't believe that everyone will take it, nor do I believe that you can force everyone to be compliant and live healthy lifestyles. For some reason, some people simply don't care what happens to their bodies. Some people would rather lose a foot to diabetes than check their blood sugar, take insulin, follow up with their physician, and care for their body.

[SwedishOmorfia]

As already stated, one's personal responsibility and what society should be responsible for, are two separate things. In my opinion (as shared with most of Europe) adequate health care is a basic right for all people and it's provided for by the government and funded by taxes. However, the government isn't, and can't be, responsible for you to make good decisions in your life. If you don't comply with your treatment, you can't blame the doctor..

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

"in light of diminishing health care resources, who is responsible for one's health."

this begs the question, meaning, it makes an assumption that diminishing resources have anything to do with responsibility and expects the respondent to think so too when formulating a response. diminishing resources have nothing to do with responsibility, as stated this way.

if you mean to discuss healthcare finance, that's one thing. personal responsibility is another.

are you thinking about a societal responsibility to make a tax-funded baseline level of healthcare available to all members of society?

are you talking about a cut-off for services, as oregon did, based on their overall budget for public healthcare funding?

are you talking about making public funding or insurance coverage being limited or restricted for people who don't follow someone's idea of healthy behavior for self-care?

or... ?

choose your discussion terms, but don't think you can have a talk about your initial sentence and get anywhere substantive, because it's meaningless.

so.... what do you think?

beat me! :heartbeat

what she said!!!!

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I think everyone is responsible for their own health, but I don't think anyone should have to go bankrupt or drain their kids college funds in the event of a tragic event like an auto accident or a major illness diagnosis. I think healthcare should be about taking care of people and not about making money for hospital CEOs and pharm companies. I think that it is sad that the US is among the only industrilized nations who does not "take care of it's own" when it comes to healthcare.