Disease Process Part 3-Obesity
Cate Teuila is a 19-year-old from Honolulu, Hawaii. Teulia has, in the last five years, put on a lot of weight. She has been having joint pains, especially in her knees, back and shoulder. Four months ago, she started having issues with falling asleep and developed problems with breathing if she got to sleep. Upon visiting the hospital to check these issues, she was diagnosed with obesity. Her diagnosis included physical observation, the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale, and waist circumference measurement. Her weight history showed an upward trend; her waist was large, and she had problems controlling her appetite. Her BMI was 42 kg/m2. According to the BMI classification, an overweight adult or teenager has a BMI score ranging between 25 < BMI < 30 kg/m2, while obesity scores a BMI of > 30 kg/m2 (Hernáez & Magnus, 2022). Her BMI score means that she is severely obese. Due to her severe obesity, Teulia has been diagnosed with acid reflux, threats of imminent type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome. She requires urgent access to necessary healthcare to prevent these fatal complications and other related diseases from further developing. Necessary healthcare is also essential to manage and treat her current obesity condition. Below is a socioeconomic analysis of Cate Teuila to determine her ability to access the required medical attention.
Socioeconomic Analysis of Cate Teuila
Cate Teuila is a 19-year-old female of Samoan heritage. She is a third-generation Samoan immigrant who settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the second born in a family of five siblings. Teulia has recently graduated from college with a diploma in the social community health field; however, she has not secured any work. His father works for a shipping company as a casual worker, while her mother owns a simple, fast food outlet close to their residence. Teulia has been helping her mother run the shop for the last two years. She claims to have an insatiable appetite for fried foods, especially chicken and sweet foods, such as cakes and fizzy drinks. Consequently, working at her mother’s food outlet has provided her with an opportunity to eat as much as she can throughout the day. She claims that she finds it hard to ignore the food and always picks up something to eat. Like her parents’ elder brother, she has gained a lot of weight. Her young siblings also show signs of gaining weight at a very young age.
Moreover, Teulia’s weight problems did not begin when she started working at the food shop. She has been having weight issues since she was young. The fast weight gain and eventual obesity can be linked to her Samoan social and cultural heritage. People of Samoan origin are prone to obesity (Qian, 2021). It is noted that obesity among adult Samoan people is at 59% for men and 81% for women (Lameko, 2020). In addition, obesity among the Samoan and Samoan American people is linked to the prevalence of high and fast weight gain from infancy throughout childhood. These obesity cases can be attributed to the Samoan nutritional transition due to modernization, limited physical activities, a sedentary lifestyle, and the current changes in cultural food practices (Lameko, 2020). Despite Teulia’s appetite for high sugar and fried foods, she has little physical activity, mostly accounted for by her walking to her mother’s food shop. She also has no social life, as she claims to have been bullied due to her weight.
Furthermore, Cate does not have an income of her own. She is dependent on her parents for her overall upkeep. On the other hand, her parents are low-income Hawaiians. Cate’s family depends on the money gained from her mother’s food shop and her father’s meager earnings. His elder brother has no permanent job and mostly depends on performances in entertainment spots across Honolulu. They all live together as a family. The family’s earnings are also responsible for supporting her young siblings’ education, of which one has recently joined college and one is in high school. It is hard for the family to meet its basic needs as her mother’s business has been down during the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to catch up. Due to the family’s social status, Teulia has no health insurance in place.
Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on the Ability to Access Healthcare Services
Obesity is currently a health condition of concern across the United States. However, the patient’s socioeconomic background determines access to healthcare services and healthcare expenditure (Hunter & Flores, 2021). The cost of illness from managing obesity, in the long run, is higher than other diseases (Hecker et al., 2022). Their socioeconomic status of Teulia creates barriers to her access to healthcare services due to her lack of insurance, the inadequacy of specialized medics to treat obesity who charge highly to offer care, and the unwillingness of insurance companies to provide coverage for obesity conditions. Therefore, the low-income social status can deny her access to much-needed medical attention.
Further, a patient’s socioeconomic status defines their relationship with medical relationships. Patients from lower social classes are more likely to receive low attention in healthcare facilities and less positive socio-emotional support (Allen et al., 2021). Further, a lack of knowledge of the diseases may influence the quality of doctor-patient communication (Chen et al., 2022). Subsequently, Teulia is more likely to express herself less and withhold information on her habits due to experiences in her past. The doctor’s ability to develop a treatment plan for Teulia will be determined by how she communicates. Therefore, she will require the physician to engage her and empower her to express herself openly.
Engaging in Self-care Practices
Teulia shows a lot of interest in overcoming her obesity problem and preventing the other conditions associated with obesity from developing. I suggest increasing her physical activity and improving how she thinks of herself. Fortunately, she is willing to join a gym and partake in morning and evening jogs with a friend. Her exercise tolerance will need to be increased gradually by observing her ability to tolerate the current training intensity. Besides engaging in extended physical activity, she needs to modify her diet and grow the will to overcome her appetites.
Dietary, food habits and lifestyles are critical factors in developing obesity and related illnesses (Verduci et al., 2021); therefore, Cate needs to modify her eating habits besides physical activity. A change of diet combined with physical activity will help reverse the weight gain and slow the development of secondary health conditions. Other than that, she needs to understand what obesity is, how it develops, the best approaches to treating obesity and tracking her gains against the condition. Understanding the disease will help to motivate her to continue with the current treatment and self-care programs. Currently, Teulia has no access to any healthcare services except the drugs she has been taking to manage the acid reflux, as they did not link it to her obese condition.
References
Allen, S., Rogers, S. N., Brown, S., & Harris, R. V. (2021). What are the underlying reasons behind socioeconomic differences in doctor-patient communication in head and neck oncology review clinics? Health Expectations, 24(1), 140–151. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13163
Chen, S., Guo, X., Wu, T., & Ju, X. (2022). Exploring the influence of doctor–patient social ties and knowledge ties on patient selection. Internet Research, 32(1), 219–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-07-2020-0403
Hecker, J., Freijer, K., Hiligsmann, M., & Evers, S. M. A. A. (2022). The burden of disease study of overweight and obesity; the societal impact in terms of cost-of-illness and health-related quality of life. BMC Public Health, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12449-2
Hernáez, Á., & Magnus, M. C. (2022). Reply: The utilization of accurate body mass index classification is imperative for grouping based on BMI. Human Reproduction, 37(3), 623–624. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deab277
Hunter, A. A., & Flores, G. (2021). Social determinants of health and child maltreatment: a systematic review. Pediatric Research, 89(2), 269–274. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-01175-x
Lameko, V. (2020). Obesity in Samoa: Culture, History and Dietary Practices. The Journal of Samoan Studies. 10(10), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.47922/gcri1637
Qian, C. (2021). Genome-wide association studies in Samoans give insight into obesity by investigating skinfold thickness. http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/40098/
Verduci, E., Bronsky, J., Embleton, N., Gerasimidis, K., Indrio, F., Köglmeier, J., de Koning, B., Lapillonne, A., Moltu, S. J., Norsa, L., & Domellöf, M. (2021). Role of Dietary Factors, Food Habits, and Lifestyle in Childhood Obesity Development: A Position Paper From the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 72(5), 769–783. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0000000000003075
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Question 
Instructions
In this week, you will continue to complete the tasks of the project topic selected in Week 1. Respond only to the Topic below that you have started in Week 1.
Disease Process Part 3-Obesity
Topic 1: Disease Process
For a hypothetical patient who has the disease you selected, create a socioeconomic profile of your choice.
What is the level of this patient’s income, education, work experience, and cultural influences?
How might these socioeconomic factors influence his or her ability to access the necessary healthcare?
How can the patient engage in self-care practices, such as modifying diet and exercise, and understand the nature of the illness, treatment, and prognosis?
What healthcare services for this disease does the patient have access to?
Submission Details
Support your responses with examples.
Cite any sources in APA format.
Post your response to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned.
Submit your answers in a 4- to 5-page Microsoft Word document. Support your answers with appropriate examples and research. Cite all references in APA format.
Name your document SU_HCM2005_W3_A2_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.