Experience of Living with Diabetes for Low-Income Canadians

Introduction

Living with diabetes requires a strict regiment, healthy diet, and medications in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Contrarily, achieving a healthy lifestyle rarely exists for individuals that retain a low income and are not able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However, this is a rising problem throughout Canada in areas of poverty where diabetes is prevalent and comes with many complications. This is due to inadequate resources like exercise facilities and the ability to access healthy nutrition. The most prevalent determinant of health causing this issue is poverty, and little to no attention has been paid to this rising problem. Though some measure has been taken through community-based health centers, roughly 48 percent of low-income diabetics do not use any (Pilkington, et al., 2010). Therefore, measures to aid Canadians living on a low income maintain good health while living under difficult circumstances requires public engagement, to insure the low income Canadian can maintain long-term health.

Discussion

In Canada there is a direct relationship between diabetes and poverty. Type two diabetes “demands a regimented routine that is very restrictive” (Pilkington, et al., 2010), and poverty causes a person to often weight their needs between food, living costs, and even their child’s needs in comparison to maintaining that restrictive regiment. The article shows that It is known, throughout the low-income environment, that careful management of diabetes is needed to prevent harmful outcomes. Even so, it is hard to keep up with the exercise, diet, medication, etc. when there are other priorities especially for the homeless. Having to focus on finding shelters, and places to find meals can often trump the need to monitor glucose levels. The article argues the difficulty low-income citizens in the Toronto area have when trying to manage their health. It brings to light daily struggle of staying afloat of all the concerns and worries, as well as the constant need to prioritize other aspects of life over someone’s health. Though some may say there are clinics and other resources to aid in the fight against diabetes, it often isn’t enough. Many people have been able to notice the certain bodily cues of high and low blood glucose but still don’t have access to the extensive knowledge healthcare professionals have to stay healthy.

There are many social determinants of health that is being discussed like income, education, living conditions, gender and many more, but the most prevalent is income and social status. The article says itself that “ little attention has been paid to the social determinants of health and their effects on poverty” (Pilkington, et al., 2010). For the Reason That higher income is directly linked to better health, the opposite can be said for a low income. Income is one of the largest social determinants of health, it determines living conditions, education, and living condition. The lower the income, the more one needs to balance priorities. Choosing between medications and feeding children is less of a problem in high income diabetes patients and low-income ones. This social determinant explain why mortality rates in diabetes patients are much higher in ones with less money, poorer living conditions and more on their plate to balance. The experience of type 2 diabetes is one much harder among low income Canadians than of higher income ones.

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
Find out more about our Essay Writing Service

This is and issue because the lack of social status is affecting the health of many Canadian citizens, and in extreme circumstances lead to death. As said many times before type 2 diabetes is a strict and precise illness that needs constant monitoring. This becomes hard when other life aspects out weight the need to monitor one’s health. Poverty should be seen as a health-risk. Some may see that the open clinics are enough, but the wont help vast majority of problems being faced. Looking at the results from the article, a common problem, especially in women, was the deciding between feeding their children and buying their insulin. This is due to the lack of income that they have, and shows how costs is a large factor in the problems the diabetics face.

Conclusion

In conclusion, more should be done to help lower income Canadians manage their diabetes, the constant struggle under the circumstances leads to many complications that can be life threatening. The article covers many different problems low income citizens face, there needs to be a step taken to start the chain of aids these citizens need to live a safe and healthy life. This will lower the need to juggle different necessities in life and prioritize other aspects over their health. By understanding how social status affects health will help change the perspective and care of type 2 diabetes patients.

Work Cited

Pilkington, F. B., Daiski, I., Bryant, T., Dinca-Panaitescu, M., Dinca-Panaitescu, S., & Raphael, D. (2010). The Experience of Living with Diabetes for Low-income Canadians. Canadian Journal of Diabetes, 34(2), 119–126. doi: 10.1016/s1499-2671(10)42008-0