Reflective Essay 1: Disciplines of Health Studies and Health Policy
During this course, I have learned about the various disciplines that help us critically
think and understand the complexity of health and illness. I had the opportunity to discuss such
disciplines through the meaningful discussions that took place in one of the tutorials, where my
peers and I examined the concept of disciplinarity and the way in which different disciplines can
play a role in establishing health policies for non-communicable diseases, such as obesity.
Health studies aim to understand health and illness in depth by gathering knowledge and
insight from critical disciplines including psychology, sociology, geography, and ethics. As a
neuroscience major, I was already aware of the contributions of the psychology field towards
health by examining the link between the mind and behaviour, and coming up with
psychological assessment tools to modify these behaviours in order to treat stress, anxiety, etc. In
addition, the biomedical ethics course I took last year helped shed light on important aspects of
healthcare practice beyond the biomedical perspective, such as the patient’s right to autonomy
and informed consent. However, I was not aware that the discipline of geography had impact on
health until taking this course. I found out that by focusing on one’s environment, we can
analyze the different geographical factors that influence their well-being, from healthcare
provision to migration and globalization patterns.
What I found really interesting was the tutorial discussion that revolved around the types
of disciplines that can help inform health policies. Coming into this course, I could only think of
the biomedical discipline as the main discipline for establishing such policies. When a classmate
brought up the topic of obesity and the reasons behind why one neighborhood might experience
increasing obesity rates, I approached it from an individualistic point of view by emphasising the
poor lifestyle choices made by citizens themselves. I was surprised when I found out how there
are more disciplines other than the biomedical one that can attribute the problem of obesity to
geographical and socio-economic factors, rather than just physical ones. Each of the disciplines
approach and explain this topic in a unique way – this is known as disciplinarity. The geography
discipline can explain this concerning issue by examining the physical area around the
neighborhood and determining whether it lacks gyms or open spaces like parks, or if the area has
many fast-food chain restaurants that contribute to citizen’s unhealthy eating habits. The
sociology discipline, on the other hand, can justify this problem by collecting the neighborhood’s
demographics, and determining whether their job types or the number of hours spent working
pose a limit on their ability to stay active. Finally, the psychology discipline approaches this
matter by assessing residents’ mental state and whether they are overeating to manage certain
conditions such as depression. Other factors that were discussed was the level of income, as
residents could potentially not generate enough income to afford healthy eating on a daily basis,
causing them to resort to fast-food restaurants as a cheaper alternative. By having this discussion,
I was able to shape the way I think about and approach health and illness and expand my thought
process about what goes into establishing health policies. Considering all these different
disciplines can eventually help us understand the multiple factors that caused such high levels of
obesity and can allow us to create plans that will help alleviate these levels, including but not
limited to building exercise facilities, increasing payment, and making healthy food affordable to
all residents.
One of the things that the geography discipline aims to achieve is drawing a link between
the environment and socio-economic and socio-cultural developments, as well as the health
inequalities that might be present within that environment. This makes me question whether
there are specific socio-economic and ethnic groups that are more affected by illness than others.
It also makes me question whether the health policies put forth by the Canadian government is
inclusive to all groups, including the marginalized ones. Are the health policy makers
representative of the Canadian population? And how can we make the decisions regarding health
fair to everyone it concerns? By tackling these questions carefully and providing equal
healthcare to everyone regardless of their income, race, gender, and educational background, we
are capable of meeting the basic human right of having health care, achieving equity, and
progressing as a society.
Since I am interested in pursuing the medical field in the future, I would like to learn
more about the Canadian healthcare system and the process by which health policies are formed.
I would like to explore how the different social, economic, and cultural factors are considered
when establishing these health policies, and how as a future healthcare provider can I aim to
provide best quality of healthcare while maintaining equity among all patients.