Private and Public healthcare do exactly the same thing, yet people view them differently. I, for one always felt that private healthcare and Public healthcare were equal in terms of getting the job done. I haven’t lived all that long, but I still managed to injure myself just as much as a blind tightrope walker. I have broken my fair share of bones and racked up a fun collection of concussions over the years. Needless to say, I have been in and out of both public and private healthcare systems since I was 4.
The one thing I noticed about private healthcare, was that you got a lot more space and everything seemed so much more presentable. The service you get from nurses and doctors is less rushed but the food still tastes awful. That’s all I could come up with in terms of differences between the two systems. Private healthcare looks nicer but it does not fix you up any better than its public counterpart.
And the thing is, I am not alone in my perception. According to a study done by M Young (2016), it was shown that public healthcare was underfunded compared to the private systems that were in operation at the time. As a result, longer waiting times, poorer disease control (compared to private healthcare), old facilities and rushed appointments were observed due to the lack of funding towards public healthcare.
In another study done in 2017, it was discovered that most people viewed public healthcare as “bad” and private healthcare as “good” among people in Johannesburg (Harris and Maseko, 2017). This is largely because of the differences in price and presentation between the two. The one thing people fail to notice is that when you leave a hospital, whether private or public, you are generally healthier than you were before. I sincerely hope that one day, people will realise this and give public healthcare the respect it deserves by putting it on the same level as the private system.
References:
Harris, B. Maseko, (2017). People-centeredness in health system reform. Public perceptions of private and public hospitals in South Africa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy.
http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajot/v48n1/05.pdf
Young, M. (2016). Private vs. Public Healthcare in South Africa. Western Michigan University. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3752&context=honors_theses
One thought on “If the shoe fits…”
Hi Amir,
Firstly, I really like the theme on which you have based your text. There are clearly differences and similarities in how the private and public healthcare system is organized and portrayed, both in South Africa and in Norway. Still, I’m missing literature to support your arguments. I would also like to point out that the text does have a fair point. There are probably prejudices tied to both private and public healthcare, connected to how they are presented in the social or political context. Nevertheless, your arguments seem to reflect your personal opinions in favor to objective facts and arguments. I believe that this text would be stronger if you supplied it with facts of what specifically is common and what seperates them.
Secondly, I like how you presented your theme through your picture. I think it reflects a nice metafore of how two things, in this matter two different healthcare systems, can have the same function, but be presented differently.
I can also see that you focus on the patiens point of wiew, wich I think is a nice perspective to write from in this context. Perhabs you could go even deeper into this subject. What other reasons could it be that the private healthcare system appeals to patiens, rather than the public? For example, what could it mean for a patient to have more space and be more prioritized because the health professionals have more time for each patient (or less time)?
considering references, there could be presented more evidence to support your opinion. Still the reference listed seem correcly formated.
Overall I think you chose an interesting topic to write about. I hope these comments can be helpful.
Sincerely,
Nora A. Pettersen