SHM 100 Sample Essay – 26th September 2019

SHM 100 Sample EssayExplore (look around) how health and social care agencies, organisations and practitioners (keep coming back to this and you know your answering question) can help families with specific needs (supporting, caring, how can they be helped)Focus of this essay:- Describe the issue and why they need support in the first place.Where do they get the help from.Define what health and social care is (like task 2)Library – source of help – information within the last 10yearsMaximum 1 DIRECT QUOTE PER ESSAY (Paraphrase everything else)Write the main body (discussion) of essay first !!Intro (200words)Discussion (1600 words)Conclusion(200words)Introduction In the United Kingdom (UK) a range of organisations and agencies help families with all aspects of family life. Grabs the readers attention! Health care agencies provide advice and support with health promotion, treatment of illness or accidents, and screening and prevention of common diseases. Social care agencies provide support with all aspects of social life, including child development and wellbeing, elderly care, family care and mental health and living support. Some individuals have many needs and will have input from multiple sources of support. Others may only access such support for a specific need at a certain point in time.The focus of this essay is on supporting families with fertility issues. Announcing the topic The topic is a complex one, as fertility is not only a personal issue but one with social significance. Families seeking help with fertility and reproductive health need care and support that is not only physical but also psychosocial (Gameiro et al, 2015).This supports This essay will look at definitions of fertility, factors that affect fertility and the impact of infertility on families, considering the range of agencies and professionals who might be involved in supporting people affected by it. Answered the questionCan raise a question in intro that will be answered in the discussionThesis – 3 points (add to intro)Tell them what your going to tell them – read thesis statement in todays teaching (26/9)Sequence so the discussion makes senseWhy is this an issue, what are the needs, what can the support do to help these needsUK Guidelines (can discuss outside sources worldwide)Discussion1Fertility is an emotive issue in the developed world and is seen as a vital part of reproductive health; (This is the issue) the World Health Organisation views it as a worldwide challenge for public health (Macaluso et al, 2010). To get pregnant, an ovum is released from the ovary of the female, which must be fertilised by sperm from a male. This happens after sexual intercourse or sperm donation, in which semen from the male is introduced into the female reproductive system. However, pregnancy does not occur every time this takes place. According to https://fertilitynetworkuk.org/, infertility is the failure to conceive a pregnancy after regular unprotected intercourse (Gameiro et al, 2015). Zegers-Hochschild et al (2009) suggest that the WHO define infertility as the failure to conceive after twelve or more months of intercourse. In the UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2013) have provided a guideline on fertility and infertility which agrees with the timescale suggesting that after a year women should be offered clinical investigations and available treatments. This of course needs to be expanded, as infertility might also be the failure to conceive after regular use of a sperm donor. Considering this, it would be worthwhile identifying how many people are affected by infertility. (linking sentence)Defined what infertility is :- backed this up with articles and referencing2 What the incident is global – male and female issuesAccording to Mascarehnhas et al (2012) globally, around 48.5 million couples experience infertility. In the UK, it is estimated that one in seven couples will experience infertility (NICE, 2013). Infertility can be caused by a number of factors. There can be abnormalities in the reproductive system of the woman trying to conceive. Hormone imbalances and other conditions can lead to anovulation (failure to ovulate) or other challenges. Structural abnormalities can also make it difficult for women to conceive. Scarring in the reproductive system, and particularly in the fallopian tubes, can lead to the ovum and sperm never managing to cross paths. S (uch scarring can be caused by a number of different things, such as previous surgery, but most the most common cause is infection, including sexually transmitted infections. Thus for some individuals, specialist genitourinary medicine nurses and doctors might be involved in their care journey. However, fertility issues are not solely because of challenges with the female reproductive system. (Linking sentence)3Men can also experience conditions which make it harder to father children. Male infertility usually relates to either low sperm count (low numbers of sperm), poor motility (sperm that do not move as they should) or a combination of the two (Hamada, Esteves & Agarwal, 2011). Infertility in males can also relate to sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction and other structural abnormalities (Hamada et al, 2011). This can then make it very difficult for men to produce the sperm needed to fertilise the ovum. But biological factors alone cannot explain why so many people experience infertility. There are other challenges to fertility which relate to social trends, particularly in the developed world. 4 (Balanced argument/discussion- Male and Female) – always bringing it back to health and social care (The Question)by using words like Care, Support, people involved A significant challenge for fertility is the trend towards women putting off fertility until they are older (Shaw & Giles, 2009). Factors which contribute to this include women engaging in further and higher education (Ni Bhrolchain and Beaujouan, 2012) and the fact that women are more likely to focus on their careers in the current context (Morris et al, 2011). Since women can and should make choices about their lives that are about all aspects of life, childbearing is not always a priority for some women earlier in their lives. However, as women grow older, their fertility declines (Mills et al, 2011). Social trends and financial issues can make women feel that they should wait until their careers are established before having children (Balasch, 2010). Delayed childbearing may also be associated with difficulties in finding the right person with whom to have children (Proudfoot et al, 2009). Women who are older are known to be much more likely to look for support in becoming pregnant (Wilkes et al, 2009). There is also quite a significant increase in people’s awareness of the availability of fertility treatment which factors into reproductive decision making for older women (Dhalawani et al, 2013). It is interesting to note these factors as this would suggest the kinds of people who might be more likely to experience infertility. 5Datta et al (2016) found that infertility was more common in couples who were married or cohabiting. They suggest that this is because people in couples are more likely to want and try for children and so will be more likely to become aware of any issues with their fertility (Datta et al, 2016). Wellings et al (2013) suggest that people are taking longer to move into long-term relationships and to have their first babies. However, LIefbroer (2005) also suggests that delayed parenting may be linked to people’s greater awareness of the impact of having children on their independence. It would seem that childbearing is viewed as both a benefit and as a potential burden, and a decision that will be made by many in view of the resources they have to support them in their parenting journey. These resources include medical and health and social care professionals who might offer advice, guidance, health education and referral to fertility treatment. Individuals and couples who experience difficulties conceiving can access fertility treatment to try to help them with their goals of becoming pregnant. The access to such treatment is controlled in the UK by the law and by Government regulation via the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2009 ( HYPERLINK “http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/22/contents” http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/22/contents). The availability of treatment, and how much can be accessed free on the NHS, can vary from area to area; however, who is allowed to access fertility treatment is regulated by the Act http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/22/contents regardless of whether they are receiving it via the NHS or paying for it privately. Estimates vary in relation to how many people access fertility treatment, but Datta et al (2016) found in their study that 57% of women with fertility issues looked for medical help to conceive, while Boivin et al (2007) found that 56% of women in the developed world would seek help. It follows then that a range of different organisations and professionals might be involved in offering this help. 6The kinds of people who might be involved in supporting individuals and families who experience fertility challenges might include midwives, doctors, counsellors, social workers, nurses, embryologists and psychologists (Gameiro et al, 2015). However, this is only the case when such people access healthcare and social care services, once they have determined that they have issues with fertility. Prior to engaging with doctors and medical services, people who experience fertility challenges might first access social media and online support from a range of sources, such as https://fertilitynetworkuk.org/. They might also continue to access this support throughout their experience of trying to become pregnant. These kinds of supportive sites of information and peer support can be very helpful as people experience significant degrees of stress and emotional distress when seeking support with fertility or accessing fertility treatment (Karatas et al, 2011). 7Some of this emotional distress can relate to people’s expectations about fertility. The ability to bear children is closely associated with mature adult identities, particularly in Western society. Womanhood is closely associated with the ability to bear children, and manhood is closely associated with the ability to father children. These associations are derived from our social constructions of gender and relate to how we view men, women and the family. In the UK, we view families as typically being comprised of parents and children. The inability to have children is therefore something which carries a social stigma and can result in great distress (Cul, 2010). Thus, doctors, practice nurses, midwives and fertility specialist services are vital in helping people to get the greatest chance of having a family. (mentioning practitioners and the support and who can help)8Fertility services exist to support people who are having difficulties getting pregnant. However, some research suggests that around one third of those using fertility treatment are unsuccessful (Pinborg et al, 2009). This can lead to problems coming to terms with not becoming parents (Wischmann et al, 2012). Datta et al (2016) in their study found that women who were infertile under the age of 50 had high levels of psychological distress, including symptoms of depression. This issue also affected their satisfaction with their intimate relationships (Datta et al, 2016). Another study by Lund et al (2009) found that when people are unsuccessful in using fertility treatments, they can experience severe depression. Another study identified a higher risk of suicide in women whose attempts to get pregnant after fertility treatment did not succeed (Kjaer et al, 2011). This would suggest, therefore, that mental health services would be very important within the team of agencies and individuals who might support people with challenges to fertility. 9It could also indicate the need to change public attitudes about fertility and infertility. The stigma of being defined as infertile might affect people seeking treatment (Bunting and Boivin, 2007). Some authors argue that health services and governments should work to increase aweareness about reproductive health, and risk, and how to optimise fertility (Macalusa et al, 2010). There is also an argument that GPs should take every opportunity to discuss reproductive decision making with patients (Davies, 2015). This would suggest that fertility should be discussed as part of standard care and that promoting good reproductive decision making might form part of general public health and education campaigns, so that people are more conscious of the issues and can plan more effectively to increase their likelihood of success. There are also arguments that there should be better awareness of the impacts of infertility, both psychological and social, amongst healthcare providers (Hinton et al, 2012). This would suggest that there is a need for increased knowledge amongst all healthcare practitioners so that they can more effectively support individuals and families to make positive choices about reproductive health. ConclusionIt is clear that infertility is a personal and social issue, and that services exist to support people to address fertility problems. Infertility carries a social stigma and can result in significant challenges to mental and emotional health and wellbeing. GPs and practice nurses, midwives and other health professionals are involved in improving awareness of fertility and reproductive decision making. Specialist practitioners and agencies can support those who are infertile, offering fertility treatment where needed. However, this is not always successful. The impact of persistent infertility on mental health is becoming more understood. Thus the range of agencies involved expands to mental health services, voluntary agencies and peer support groups who also help couples and individuals come to terms with infertility and its longer-term implications. Health and Social Care agencies, organisations and individuals should work together to support individuals and families with challenges to fertility. The psychological and emotional impact of infertility needs to be addressed, and everyone needs a better knowledge of potential fertility difficulties associated with delayed childbearing and other health conditions, so that they can be confident and make informed choices about their intentions to become parents. Recommendation – DON’T FORGET TO ADD REFERENCE LIST