The effects of globalisation on healthcare

The increased movement of both goods and people increases opportunities for the spread of disease around the world. There are also concerns about the following: potential public health problems due to market liberalisation, the emergence of new diseases globally and worsening of existing ones due to climate change and governmental oversight over economic policies that can affect spending on healthcare. International cooperation as a result of globalisation has also had a great impact on health practices in many countries including Europe.

In this backdrop, as a ‘healthcare management consultant’ working for an international organisation, you are asked to examine the implications and effects of globalisation on healthcare management.

Identify the effects of globalisation on healthcare

Globalization in a general view is causing profound and diverse myriad of changes in the very nature of the society which can bring new possibilities and risks as well. The effects of globalization in healthcare are creating a growing concern on the health of the citizenry.

Globalization itself is an extremely complex phenomenon where there is the interactive and dynamic co-evaluation of multiple cultural, economic, technological m environmental and social norms and trends at various conceivable scales. According to Rennen and Martens

(Rennen W, Martens P, 2003) , globalization is defined on a contemporary notion as an intensification of cross-national cultural, economic, political, social and technological interactions that lead to the establishment of transnational structures and the global integration of cultural, economic, environmental, political and social processes on global, supranational, national, regional and local levels.

However, the identification of the possible effects of globalization on healthcare goes far and even beyond the current capacity of our mental ability to capture and decipher the dynamics of the global system that we are in. This may be due to the interdeterminacy and ignorance of what the global system itself is all about.

Globalization has both positive and negative effects to health care. One of the major concerns by which healthcare is primarily affected by globalization is through the increasing and worsening of internationalization of various health risks. However, if you will have to define the terms and other dimensions of the health risks such us technological, economic, social, political and cultural as well as scientific aspects. The linkages between healthcare and globalization are quite complex. Globalization itself is a multifaceted phenomenon which can affect healthcare in various ways.

According to Woodward et al, 2001 (Woodward D, Drager N, Beaglehole R, Lipson D ,2001), the consequences of globalization in health is that it can either be direct, at the level of the entire populations, individuals and various healthcare delivery systems, or indirect through the economy and other factors such as sanitation, water supply and education.

With the complex and complicated depth of issues concerning the effects of globalization in healthcare, it is a must that we focus on the risks to health and the delivery of health care to people which are strongly related to the central core of aspects of the globalization process which include travel, trade and exchange of ideas and information.

The liberalization of international trade policies has brought forth multilateral trade negotiations in the past 50 years which ended in the establishment of the World Trade Organization according to Bettcher et, 2000. (Bettcher DW, Yach D, Guindon E, 2000) We cannot deny that economic wise, increasing trade is highly beneficial. At the back of the economic advantages of globalization, the health risks of the people are highly magnified. The important examples of health risks are alcohol, tobacco and global epidemics, the development of non-communicable diseases as well as trade in health services.

Globalization poses a lot of risks to healthcare but on the other hand, it can provide a myriad of benefits. The improvisation of information technology has dramatically and effectively increased the speed in exchange of information thereby facilitating the ease of data flow. The medical discoveries in various countries can be made readily available to patients from other countries, Wassenaar,2003 (Wassenaar, 2003).

Globalization served as catalyst in hastening the links in medical researchers across the world who are working into one health concern. This was best exemplified by the response of the global community to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The internet served as the link between scientists working on global cooperation to impressively and rapidly identify SARS virus and the development of the diagnostic test. The rapid response of the global community to pandemics was a fruit if globalization, Gerberding,2003. (Gerberding JL, 2003).

Globalization comes with an ounce of responsibility. It is imperative that governments and other international institution should work into the improvisation of healthcare and the proper management of the negative effects of global mobilization.

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NOTE: the references are included in the body of the text. Please read and be guided.

Assess the influence of international institutions in healthcare settings

As international borders are dissolved, people and commodities are at its optimum mobility which can create challenges to healthcare. These challenges concerning healthcare are not to be addressed by national governments alone. Otherwise, these concerns brought about by globalization to healthcare should be dealt with international institutions and organizations.

The influence of the international institutions in various healthcare settings goes beyond the influence in the health practices among health professionals and providers. The government has made their step towards the achievement of their health goals towards international cooperation. Thus, it paved the way into the realization of health policies encompassing the various effects of globalization in terms of migration and social changes in norms and cultural practices related to health.

One of the most effective ways of influencing the healthcare setting of a specific country is through the promulgation of various policies related to health. It is through the ratification and strong implementation of policies and guidelines which will foster the health and wellness of the citizenry.

Global governance is said to be the act of giving more importance in the formulation of health related policies. The most important body or organization in the implementation and governance are the Wirkd Bank (WB) and World Health Organization (WHO). These are the most important figures in carrying out global governance regarding health. World Health Organization assumes the important roles of health in the economic development in reference to the Millennium Development Goals (UN Millennium Development Goals)

The protection of the citizens against a myriad of health risks remains a daunting task. Though the health standards and practices are formulated, the growing number of public- private partnerships for the promotional of health related policies.

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Evaluate the impact of European Union membership on workplace health practices.

A healthy citizenry is one of the major requirements for the prosperity and productivity of the economy. The fact is that the key factors into achieving economic growth include life expectancy, morbidity and mortality rate and the general health state of the population.

It will be a major burden for a society to spend too much on health related problems. Thus, it will be logical enough to set health expenditures as the priority in terms of investment to promulgate the prevention and protection of the general health of the population.

The European Union has significant impact on the health services delivery in the members of this international body. EU laws can have significant impact on the health care delivery system though the major attempts of national governments to keep their health care services. Moreover, infections and illnesses know no borders at all.

Through the European Union, boarders across European countries have been considered non-existent. There is more room for doing business and travelling into other members of the Union. With active across the borders activities, people are more prone to pandemics.

The laws pertaining to medical practices and healthcare settings across European countries are all based on the fact that the members of the European Union must provide added value most especially on the major health threats, issues which have a cross -border or international effect. Questions related to the free movement of services, people and goods should be addressed in order to get rid of possible development of diseases across countries.

The common values on health care policies are more adopted towards the rights of the patients in terms of participation in their care and decision making as well as literacy in their own health. The health policies of the members of the European Union are geared towards the delivery of health to various age groups, race or social status.

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( Word count :1300 )Total Word Count – 1322

Question 2

You are employed by Sahara Oil Company based in Qatar as their Occupational Health expert. The company produces and refines oil; it also explores gas deposits. There has not been a recent review of the environmental effects of the company’s operations. You have responsibilities for the environmental health issues of Sahara Oil’s operations in Qatar. As well, one important responsibility you have been given is to be conversant with the impact of environmental legislation, directives and guidance and the processes that organisations need to adopt in order to provide health protection to the employees of the company, their families and the members of the local community who are affected by Sahara Oil’s operations in Qatar.

2.1 Identify the economics of adopting a policy of environmental awareness in heath care settings.

The healthcare industry has underwent tremendous momentum in the attainment of sustainability trends. Environmental policies are of utmost values to the health care facilities across the global community. Green health care settings have sorted out their resource to incorporate environmentally friendly practices into the health care delivery system.

The appeal to health care providers and institutions are for a myriad of reasons related to the awareness of the environmental responsibilities of their profession. Eco-friendly health care settings shall evolve to become a requirement rather than an option for those who are responsible enough. As environmental awareness and the advantages of environmentally friendly facilities and equipments in the health care sector start to spread and so the health care professionals are learning on how to adapt with their work environment.

Green Health care offers the most potent way to safeguard and protect the welfare of Mother Nature. This is a compelling challenge especially those from the health care sector. However, through the promulgation of environmental policies in a health institution, it provides a new avenue for the exploration of leadership in the community. It is very cost efficient when you deal with the greening of health care settings more specifically its long term effects on the overhead expenditures. All of these rationales was brought to the attention of those who have attended a green health care workshop by the Institute of Medicine.

The most compelling reasons why environmentally friendly policies and awareness campaigns in health care settings shall be done for the fact that most of the healthcare providers themselves believed in its potential to directly and indirectly promote and protect health. ( Institute of Medicine, 1999).

The health benefits of environmental policies can operate in three scales: the locality, the entire community and the global communities around the world. The local scales shall include the walls of the hospital, facilities for research studies, clinics, construction of green structures, and the protection of visitors, workers and patients alike.

According the Office of the Federal Environmental Executives, green building can be best defined in a myriad of ways – “green or sustainable building is the practice of designing, constructing, operating, maintaining, and removing buildings in ways that conserve natural resources and reduce pollution” (OFEE, 2003).

There are a lot of ways to on how to inculcate environmental advocacy in the practice in various healthcare settings. In choosing cleaning agents, the limited use of pesticides can greatly reduce the potential harm and toxicity for those who are exposed in substances. The reduction of ecological footprints by reducing the hazards placed by the hospital in terms of the environment and the protection of the natural resources can greatly help in the promotion of environmental responsibility in health care settings.

The global community can help in the stewardship of scarce resources as well as the reduction of the degradation of the environment. A hospital which purchased food or supplies from the local sources are reducing the need for long distance transportation thereby results into the reduction of the associated green house gas emissions of vehicles. All of vehicular exhausts contribute to the climate change.

2.2. Assess the actions that need to be taken by organisations to maintain the environment.

The petroleum industry has stated above is one of the contributors of waste products in the world. The process of refining petroleum is dubbed to be one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States as stated by the DOE- OIT. (DOE-OIT, 2000, p. 1)

In reference to the EPA fact sheet, there are several reinforcement actions for companies comprising the 30% domestic refining capability and the engaged settlement and negotiations of companies comprising the 20%. (EPA-Office of Compliance Sector Notebook for the Petroleum Refining Industry, 1995)

Petroleum refining companies are dealing with the environmental impacts of their daily operations and responsible enough to regulate their impacts to nature. In the immediate future, the petroleum industry will most likely face pressures to seek the expansion of their capacity fast. What these companies should seek into is the management of potential regulatory consequences related to global warming. Eventually, the operations of this highly intense industry shall be strongly affected with the environmental advocacies they have in mind.

Organizations related to health care sector are dubbed to be another major contributor in the waste production. Given the increased and intensified awareness of the environment and the financial costs which are strongly associated with waste products and the impact to public health, a lot of health institutions are adopting environmental policies which are to be practiced and observed as well as the reduction of waste product. The offer for equally efficient and effective alternatives should be at a less expensive price. The reprocessing of medical equipments are practiced by the general populace over the years. This has led to a lot of cost efficient savings for the improvement of health care services.

Both the petroleum industry and the health care sector should aim on several things. The conditions were to construct high performance buildings at a consistent amount. There should be the application of shared scientific researches conducted by the hospital and the petroleum refining companies. To further strengthen the environmental advocacy, these industries and organizations shall seek to incorporate the green and environmental policies into their overall plan of improvement of communities and employees.

What hospitals and health care settings is to reduce the pollution coming from vehicles. The hospital can utilize a hybrid engine or non diesel parking shuttle as well as public transportations. Carpooling can be an option for those who work in these industries. Other strategies to regulate the environmental impacts may include use of bike racks and electric hybrid cars. It was said that the health care industry have environmentally related practices but most are still on the look for viable options on how to manage their waste products. (Diconsiglio J. Reprocessing SUDs reduces waste, costs. Mater Manag Health Care. 2008)

2.3 Specify the measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practices

As a method of risk reduction for employees, a lot of companies over the past several decades have paved the way into the existence of work place health promotion programs. These programs for health promotion and safety practices have resulted in the reduction of absenteeism and tardiness, increased retention of employees and the reduction of health care costs as well as the satisfaction of its employees. There are a myriad of evidence that health promotion and programs for wellness have proven successful for employees and companies alike.

When we speak about occupational safety, Occupational health and safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment (M.A. Farooqui, 2010)

Work related accidents do not just happen without a cuse. Oftentimes they are brought about by the unsafe acts done by workers themselves due to unsafe working conditions. An oil spill for an instance is a bad results of an unsafe practice committed by petroleum refiners around the world. The reasons behind this unsafe occupation related acts would include inadequate work experience, poor knowledge of the task at hand or poor attitude towards their work and nature of task.

Workers are not aware that they are continuing wrong procedures and work relatd activities due to the fact that they are not knowledgeable enough of what they do. The lack of enough knowledge primarily exists because of a myriad of reasons. An individual might do well on job routines under normal circumstances but when unusual changes and conditions arrive or they have been assigned to a challenging job , he person might most likely to make a mistake in his job that would lead to occupational related accidents.

What organizations should do is to revitalize their occupational and work safety policies. Perhaps it would be useful for them to make specific steps in addressing the health and occupational safety needs of employees on all sectors of the workforce. Moreover, Safety and occupational health encompasses mental, social, physical well beings of the working population.

To ensure the success of occupational safety and health practices of organization, it would require the participation and collaboration of the workers and employers alike in health and safety programs. It shall be brought to their knowledge that occupational health and safety policies are related to industrial hygiene, engineering safety, psychology, toxicology and occupational medicine.

Issues on occupational health are often given less attention because safety issues are generally more challenging by nature. However, a healthy workplace is a safe place to work with by definition. Both of the health and safety issues must be addressed to achieve a successful occupational environment for workers.

Awareness is the key to help in the promotion of occupational health and safety programs. Those programs must be visibile among workers and the active participation of employees will ensure the success of a program. Risk assessment of employees can be a beneficial strategy to safeguard the health of workers.

Increasing the knowledge of employees is very essential to make lifestyle modification a successful approach to address health related issues. The awareness and knowledge of employees on the procedures will reinforce their knowledge. Teach your employees to identify the warning signs of medical issues as reported by a doctor.

Wellness programs are important to make employees more active and optimistic at work. The entire being of a workers should be taken into consideration for occupational safety and health programs to be successful.

Question 3

You have been appointed consultant to a pharmaceutical company in Mumbai that sources clinical trial contracts from abroad, especially the United States of America and western Europe. Because of its international operations, the work force of the company is also varied with employees from various countries around the world. You are asked to explore the issues that affect the company’s operations in the current economic environment when implementing healthcare management practices.

Analyse the responsibilities of organisations in improving work place health and safety.

Employees in various occupations are being confronted with a myriad of hazards in their place of work. Safety and occupational health can address a wide range of workplace hazards from the insidious toxic fumes, noise, stress, heat and other accidents related to their job. The goal of all health and safety programs must be geared towards the attempt to solve the dilemmas related to the prevention of work-related accidents and diseases.

The workplace of today are experiencing a rapid change and growth due to the presence of multitude of factors such as diversity, advancing technology and global workplace all affect the safety and occupational health conditions of various industries. International level firms must understand the real meaning if diversity at work and how to deal with the dynamic nature of the work force brought about by the globalization.

Employers on the other hand, must be responsible enough to provide a safe working environment for all employees. This in accordance to the declaration made by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Good business and organizations must determine the hazards associated with the operations to protect their employees from being injured.

The role of organizations in the improvement of safety and occupational health is through the careful preparation of their strategies in order to address and meet their obligations to make necessary risk assessments, place measures necessary for the health and safety of employees.

The recommendations that organizations are making should be achieve on an action plan for the control or elimination of health and safety risks. There are specific things to consider when you want organizations to be responsible.

Organizations should commission, organize and coordinate the risk assessment procedures among their employees. This is to ensure that the needs of those who are on the look for a safer workplace and healthy occupational environment.

In order to ensure the absence of accidents among employees, they should demonstrate in their competency to show off their abilities, understand general team effort. It would not be too difficult to address these types of safety concerns.

Organizations must ensure the proper coordination between assessors and the involvement of management and encouraged the workforce participation. Risk assessments must be done to properly address the health needs of employees. The monitoring of preventive and protective measures must be maintained.

The essence of occupational health and safety is through the integrative model of management in the workplace. It must use a participatory problem solving approach in order to identify the promptly address the myriad of issues which are associated with disease prevention, health promotion, occupational hazard reduction and safety. The improvements of organizational and human resource management are ensured through the participation of both the employers and the workers themselves.

Review approaches to the management of diversity in healthcare settings.

Individuals can define diversity in various ways. The dynamic and changing demographics as well as the economics of the growing multicultural levels and the disparities in the health sector of the people who are from a myriad of diversity in terms of cultural background. The challenging diverse workforce has been one of the obstacles by which health care providers and institutions must address as a priority. However, health care professionals must then realize that the solutions on cultural diversity must go beyond the practices, customs, values and beliefs.

Diversity can be defined in a broader sense with multiple dimensions. This includes the discussions on ethnic, racial and gender identities. The factors of generation, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, family ,social status, political beliefs, professional background and a myriad of individual inclinations and affiliations. Moreover, each individual member of the healthcare team is unique. They have distinct personalities and temperaments which adds to the diversity of the health care settings.

Williams and O’Reilly has reviewed 40 years of research on this topic. They have concluded that

The consistent social categorization and attraction/similarity theories, the prevalence of the evidence has suggested that the diversity is most likely to impede the functioning of the group. This conclusion was shared in various focus groups on different venues. (Williams, K. Y., and C. A. O’Reilly III, 1998).

The proponents of homogenization on the healthcare setting can impact the team performance. Diversity must highlight the significance of competence in culture and diversified management skills in order to bring out performances of the demographically diverse health care team. (Williams, K. Y., and C. A. O’Reilly III, 1998).

According to Williams and O’Reilly (1998) and Maznevski (1994) , when there is proper leverage , health care diversity can really improve the performance of a group. (Maznevski, M. L, 1994)

According to Oetzel (1998; 2001) the significance of group interdependence as well as the strong group process skills in the performance of demographically diverse groups. (Oetzel, J. G. 1998)

Pelled, Eisenhardt, and Xin (1999) cited that those demographically diverse teams can work together over time the emotional conflict can triggered by interpersonal clashes lessened. (Pelled, L., K. Eisenhardt, and K. Xin. 1999)

A study conducted on the nursing care team performance conducted by Dreachslin, Hunt, and Sprainer (1999; 2000) cited that the leadership style was the key to reduce the emotional conflict which is oftentimes present in demographically diverse groups. Team leaders of nurses who have encourages the participated in the discussions about the group of identities and race. Those nurse team leaders who can validate the various perspectives were successful in the defused negative emotional distraught. (Dreachslin, J., P. Hunt, and E. Sprainer. 1999)

According to Hopkins, Hopkins, and Mallette (2001), the strategic diversity management was strongly associated with well grounded organizational commitment not only among leaders and managers of the same ethnicity and race but among those white male managers. (Hopkins, W. E., S. Hopkins, and P. Mallette, 2001)

There is an urgent need to manage diversity in health care settings. Otherwise, the diversity in the demographics can interfere the functioning of the team thereby affecting their efficiency in the delivery of health care to their patients. A common denominator among groups must be identified due to the fact that similarity can give the team members the opportunity to deal with others.

Health care leaders should invest in the professional development of their employees to help them manage their differences as individuals. There are a lot of elements to consider in order to improve the organizational and team decision approaches. The group-process and the enculturation of conflict -management skills, understanding of cultural difference, self awareness and the ability to validate their efforts towards the management of diversity.

The effective approach to diversity in health care settings must seek balance between customization and homogenization in order to fully explore the benefits and the lessen cots of increasingly diverse workforce and patient population. It was cited by Kochan and colleague’s (2003) on how important it is to manage diversity immediately.

Another approach to diverse health care settings is to utilize a research based cultural competence and diversity assessment tool. This can be used as baseline data for evaluation of the performance of diversified health care team.

Compare organisational approaches to ensuring positive policies of work place diversity.

Diversity in the cultural background of health care professionals can be an issue in the workplace. This will require people from various cultural and beliefs background to work together. The broader definition of diversity is through the negative and positive organizational approaches to this type of workplace related issue.

Chronic conflicts can result from every health care setting and workplace. A lot of health care organizations may have examined the culture in conflict. In order to discover these streams of conflicts may come from the multi-layered complex systems. This is to improve their own capacity for prevention of conflict, settlement, resolution and management.

Diversity is often the subject of argument and debate. This is one of the negative side of diversity. The term instills the political meaning of diversity. Not all members of an organization value diversity. As a rule, there are a lot of people who are most comfortable with themselves. Emphasizing diversity this may undermine the comfort level. Diversity itself can breed various approached to practices and long lasting problems. There are individuals in a myriad of organizations which may cause trouble. Moreover, there are persons who have strong prejudice against a specific group that would rapidly change the demographics of the various members of the workforce which can impose as threat to diversity.

One approach to diversity in health care setting can mirror the key business issues. It must include the implementation and development of a strategic plan which aims for the goals of diversity. The creation of specific methods to attain the goals and the identification of the resources can measure the impact of diversity in the organization.

The cornerstones of strategic planning to diversity may include the proper education of associates regarding the issues of diversity to the increased awareness and ability to manage the relationships among health care staff, patients and clients.

Organizations must learn on how to properly and effectively integrate diversity into the policies and practices of the health care organization. This is to help the staff in inculcating the significance of the goals towards diversity. The development of accountability among the organizations can support the diversity in all levels of the healthcare sector.

Diversity management is a type of human resource management approach which has emerged in the United States which aims to value diversity. The diversity management of the Scandinavian Model has emerged from the critiques of the US model.

Little research has been conducted on how to manage diversity which is enacted for health care organization. Healthcare institutions can implement the best practices in the management of diversity for various countries. Diversity should be developed to improve the quality of health care in order to meet the needs of multiple patient groups and ensure the efficient work of health care professionals.