Study on the Relationship Between Stress and Illness

Study on the Relationship Between Stress and Illness Symptoms of stress can be evident in different ways including physically, emotionally or mentally. This is dependent on what is causing the stress to occur. Physical A stressful situation can cause the body to display various symptoms including tension headaches, inability to sleep, raised blood pressure, problems with the digestive system, nervousness, alopecia, and strokes. A cause of physical stress could be a car accident or starvation such as that associated with eating disorders. Emotional Stress which affects the mind can cause emotional responses such as anxiety, depression and irritability, inability to cope with day to day situations, memory loss and an inability to concentrate. Emotional stress could be caused by a bereavement. Mental A person who experiences long term stress may develop psychological problems. This can manifest as social isolation, phobias, compulsive behaviours and eating disorders such as over eating for comfort. Mental stress can be caused by the person having a bad day at work. Stressors, the cause of stress, can be described as situations that are experienced as a perceived threat to ones wellbeing or position in life, when the challenge of dealing with which, exceeds the persons perceived available resources. When a person experiences stressors the body responds with fight or flight. This reaction triggers the release of adrenaline and cortisol which increase the heart rate and decrease the digestion rate. The bodys blood supply is diverted to the large muscles providing a burst of energy and strength. The reaction lasts for the duration of the perceived danger and the body returns to normal. The reaction may not completely diminish in someone experiencing chronic stress which can lead to long term health problems. The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) was described by Hans De Selye during the 1920s. It is the short and long term reaction of the body to stress and is a three stage process. The first stage of GAS is called the alarm reaction. During this stage the fight or flight response is activated within the body as an immediate reaction to the stressful situation. This response can lead to the person being susceptible to illness due to their immune system being suppressed. The second stage of GAS is called adaptation. Continued stress causes the body to adapt to the cause of stress to reduce the effects on the body. This could be the situation for someone with an eating disorder whose body adapts to absorb the maximum nutrients from the food eaten or to conserve energy. The third stage of GAS is called exhaustion where the body has been exposed to a stressor for a prolonged period of time and is no longer able to deal with the stress. The result in the body could be severe limitation in the ability of the immune system to fight disease and the person may experience cardiac arrest. The general adaptation syndrome identifies three stages of reaction to stressful situations an individual may experience. This theory identifies that the more prolonged the exposure to stress is the more severe the reaction is in terms of their health. A strength of GAS is that if an individual is aware of the processes involved they will be able to seek help before their symptoms become life threatening. This would rely on the person being able to identify that intervention is needed at the earliest opportunity. A limitation of the theory is that whilst identifying the stages a person may experience it does not offer any solutions to alleviate the stress. Friedman and Rosenman (1974) identified two types of personality relating to how individuals respond to stress. Type A personalities were identified as being impatient, competitive, ambitious, aggressive they may also experience difficulty in relaxing. A person with Type B personality was identified as being less driven, more easy-going, patient and able to relax. Friedman and Rosenman carried out research over 8 years monitoring the health and lifestyle of 3500 healthy men. The study concluded that a person with Type A personality had a significantly increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. This study showed that the population can be divided into two distinct groups of personality traits. A persons reaction to stress is according to this study directly related to the personality type the person has. This theory is limited by the need to know the personality type a person is in order to identify if they are at an increased risk of developing health concerns related to stress. An advantage of this theory is that by being aware of the personality type strategies can be put into place to prevent stress from causing health problems. Brady (1958) conducted a behavioural stress study on monkeys. The monkeys were paired and strapped into chairs before being given electric shocks every 20 seconds. Each monkey had levers and lights which warned them of the imminent shock. One monkey the executive was able to use a lever to prevent the shock from being administered. The other monkey yoked was not able to control the shock. The executive monkey experienced stress in having to press the lever at the correct time. Brady found that over a period of time the executive monkeys developed gastric ulcers and may have died however the yoked monkeys did not develop ulcers as they did not experience the same level of stress due to their behaviour not influencing the administration of the shock. This study was conducted on monkeys not humans who may have reacted differently to the stressor the executive monkeys were exposed to. The response in humans might not have been so severe in that they may not have died. The study was not concerned with the welfare of the monkeys used. The limitation of this study is that by conducting it on monkeys it is not necessarily accurate to relate the results to human stress as the results could have been different. An advantage of this study could be that forced behaviour has been identified as a cause of stress which can cause health issues. Marmot et al (1997) conducted research into a cognitive approach to stress. The aim of the study was to establish if a lack of control in the workplace caused an increase in the occurrence of stress related illness. The research was conducted over a period of three years using over 10,000 civil servants. Self report questionnaires were completed to assess the level of job control the participants had. There were also assessments carried out by personnel managers. The researchers then compared the results to incidence of stress related illness. The study found that workers with less work control were at a significant increased risk of dying from a heart attack than those with more control. The workers with less control were also found to be more likely to have other stress related illnesses. A limitation of this research into a cognitive approach to stress is that the study focussed on one specific group of workers whilst the results indicated that stress related illness increased among those with the least control in the work environment the study does not identify if this is true for the entire population. An advantage is that the study could be applied and repeated in other workplaces to identify if there is a lack of control felt by employees. This would allow employers to increase the level of control with the aim of preventing stress related illnesses. In conclusion it is possible that all areas discussed show how stress can affect us and can cause illness as a result. Stress caused through a combination of cognitive and behavioural factors creates physiological symptoms which in turn have a harmful effect on our body. The human body is able to adapt to a certain level of stress however if the stress continues long term it can have a disastrous effect on the body.

American Well Case Analysis

Marketing I Assignment 2 14th August 2012 AMERICAN WELL: THE DOCTOR WILL E-SEE YOU NOW From: Group 1, Section B A Logesh (2012PGP001) Debraj Das (2012PGP101) Lopes Raoul Reginald (2012PGP187) Piyush Gulati (2012PGP253) Roshan Anand (2012PGP316) AMERICAN WELL: THE DOCTOR WILL E-SEE YOU NOW 1. Which of the new market opportunities do you see as the most promising? Various market opportunities available for American Well are 😕 Hospitals – Installing an online case kiosk in emergency room will allow patients to consult physicians’ online while waiting to be seen.Moreover, the physicians would already have preliminary information about the ailment of the patient, improving the hospital’s overall efficiency. It would also help the hospitals situated far-distance to improve their customer base as it improve them build relationships. ? Retail Clinics – Most of the retail clinic in US are walk-in and do not have any waiting period. Moreover, there are alrea dy established Retail clinics which would make difficult for any new entrant in the market. ? Pharmacy – By allowing pharmacists to use American Well platform, it would allow the patients to clarify all their queries.It would also save the customers from getting embarrassed to ask questions in front of other customers. ? International expansion – Expanding to new markets would require extensive changes to American Well organizational structure depending on the government regulations and online transfers of health information. Also, Ido and Roy have had limited or no experience of doing business outside US. So, these decisions could be delayed for the time being. Looking into the advantages and disadvantages of various opportunities listed above, we feel that targeting the hospitals would be most promising. 2.Using an appropriate method outlined in the reading, marketing analysis toolkit, Identify what is the value of online care to various stakeholders. How does this i nfluence the company in choosing an appropriate positioning? Using 5Cs analysis: Customer Insurance company: Health insurance companies in online care can save around 3. 36 $ per patient per month which amounts to 9. 3% difference on starting cost estimate of $36. 06. Health insurance offering online care can gain more by opening their physician network to non members. By offering a novel, affordable care services insurance company could build goodwill with their members.Patients: Patients need affordable, convenient access to quality care in terms of place and time of service. Service that eliminates geographical restrictions and linking excess supply is needed. A patient can log on to system, indicate what type of doctor she would like to consult and get the choice of currently available doctors and can consult. There is no appointment, no specific place or time but service can be delivered from any place at any time. This paves the way for treating medical conditions early becaus e of immediacy of receiving professional medical help.For patients this will lead to better health outcomes and for insurance company it will mean less cost. Context Political environment: In 2009, the healthcare environment in US was volatile owing to the recession and the commitment towards health care reforms shown by President Obama. It looked like that Obama would become the first to go ahead with the plans in decades but no decision had been taken for the first 11 months he was in office. Therefore a lot of insurance companies had gone into spending freezes and it remained unclear.HIPAA – Users of the new IT healthcare systems remained wary about HIPAA compliance and malpractice risk, therefore were more stringent of their requirements from IT service providers. Economic environment: 14% of Americans did not see the doctor due to cost concerns 17% paid out of pocket because of no health insurance schemes Socio Cultural environment: Patients sometimes hesitate to reveal embarrassing diseases or diseases with stigma attached to them. Technological environment: Internet has now become central to a lot of things people do People now prefer (74%) to get response from doctors over ails Company The entrepreneurial roots and previous experience of the Schoenberg brothers in providing healthcare related IT products gave them an advantage in terms handling the product. As far as the Online Care product is concerned, they had the first mover advantage which would give them immense value as far as selling the product in the market goes. Collaborators and Complementers Various complementary parties stand to benefit as a result of the online health care system. Doctors: Doctors also stood to gain vastly by the adoption of this system by insurance companies.They could earn more due to regular demand, avoid costs such as hiring of employees and leasing of office space and equipment. It could also benefit doctors who have retired from regular practice and those in regions where demand of healthcare services is very low. Hospitals and Health Clinics: These places could also be benefitted, because demand of a particular health service can be easily conveyed beforehand by the insurance companies, and accordingly doctors, patients and other medical practitioners can be scheduled to interact.It also includes more efficient use of the hospitals resources. Employers of Medium/Large enterprises: Employers could form tie-ups with insurance companies, and offer the benefit of online healthcare to its employees. The benefits of which include: – Higher employee retention due to satisfaction and ease of health care – Higher employee productivity due to reduction of illness. – Ease of access, through kiosks which can be installed at the workplace itself Competitors A number of companies were involved in health-related electronic exchanges in US with the objective of improving patient care.These companies provided interaction directly between the physicians and patients, for example- Medfusion’s Virtual Office Suite, a secure HIPAAcompliant web-based platform; Cisco’s TelePresence, which enabled live video conferencing. These companies focused their activities only between the patients and the physicians and didn’t involve Health insurance companies. However in 2009, Cisco was creating a nationwide network in collaboration with a large U. S health insurer to increase their reach in the market. The offline mode of involving in patient care have players like Nurse Practitioners, MinuteClinic, RediClinic etc. hich have their own retail- based clinics in areas where there are PCP shortages, overburdened emergency rooms or patients wanting less expensive treatments. The above analysis helps the company position the product in the following way: By targeting insurance companies, the company stands to benefit the most. Insurance companies stood to gain maximum returns out of the system, due to the f ollowing reasons: Reducing their annual expenditure of $2 trillion on health insurance services considerably, by reducing costs. A 2009 analysis reported that Online Care could save insurers $3. 6 per patient per month (Exhibit 9), which is quite a considerable cost. Reducing complications of scheduling appointments, payments, and coordination between hospitals and patients. Opening doors to people who have not taken the insurance scheme, but are willing to pay a premium Also developing a new customer base, with access to all health records, potential illnesses etc. – Also, besides insurance companies, as shown in the 5C analysis above, doctors, employers, patients and hospitals could also benefit greatly. Hence, the value provided to all these entities by use of American Well is significant. 3.What is the best course of action? As of now, only a handful of Health Insurance companies and employers have started using American Well’s platform. So, instead of developing n ew products or targeting new markets, American Well should concentrate on expanding its business using the current platform throughout US. They should try and collaborate with more number of health insurance companies and employers in US to use their platform. So by focusing their attention on these activities at present, American Well will take a significant step towards reaching their ultimate goal of becoming the market leader in Online Care.

Gender Barriers in Communication Essay

Managers today have to face unique challenges while trying to manage a very diverse work force, and keeping communication lines clear and understood is one of these challenges. Remember that for any business, effective communication is an integral key to the success of any organization. No matter which way you look at it, communication flow is important at each and every level in order to function with focus, deliberate and accurate objectives, and controlled consistent results. Effective communication ensures that the communication contents are interpreted and understood in the way that it was intended to. Unfortunately there are barriers that have a negative effect on communication, and one of those barriers is called Gender Barriers in Communication. You are probably wondering just how do Gender Barriers affect Communication, and how did this Barrier develop? Well let’s find out. â€Å"D.E. McFarland has defined Communications as the process of meaningful interaction among human beings†(Jain, n.d., para. 1). We as humans are dependent on Communication in our everyday lives. To be honest, â€Å"the whole world is reliant on communication to complete even the most basic daily functions† (Braedyn, 2010, para. 2). It is the process by which we humans convey our thoughts and ideas verbally, with hope of being perceived and understood in the way the sender meant for it to be understood. With so many methods of communication in our modern day life, we are bombarded with Email, Facebook, Voicemail, memo’s, and phone calls. All of which are forms of communication. Why even the act of rolling your eyes and shrugging fall in as a form of communication. But even with all these forms available at our disposal, miscommunication occurs. â€Å"Gender Barriers are any misunderstanding or confusion in the intended message caused by male and female differences, which results as a communication barrier† (Braedyn, 2010, para. 4). Communication must be understood by both men and women in order to be effective, and in order to fully understand these differences we need to see just how they began. Gender communication differences begin in early childhood, as soon as a child is pegged as either female or male. Gender starts with the assignment to a sex category on the final basis of what the infants genitalia looks like. This sex category becomes the main defining factor as to how this child will be dressed, named, and spoken to. â€Å"The development of a gendered identity starts from the very moment babies are identified as male or female as they experience societal, familial, and cultural interactions† Both males and females are taught different linguistic styles. For instance our childhood is influenced by nursery rhymes that give subtle instruction on how different genders are and should be perceived. â€Å"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that’s what little boys are made of. Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made† (Rafael, n.d., para. 2). These subtle instructions set the stage, and are just the beginning fo r future gender differences. Zittleman states that â€Å"Gender stereotypes have a history that begins with learned beliefs of femininity and masculinity† (Zittleman, 2006). Learned beliefs that allow for reinforcing different behavioral types on our children. For example boys are allowed to have rough language, play loudly, and be rambunctious. They are also taught that it is not seen as being manly if you show emotion by crying, this behavior is reinforced by telling them to be tough and suck it up. Girls on the other hand are taught early on to behave like a lady and to use their manners. They are also told to play quietly, and that it is okay to show your feelings and cry. Crying is allowed on the feminine side. These gender differences have helped to create behaviors and patterns. Men usually are factual, direct, and honest, which explains why they only speak about 7000 words a day. Their communication behaviors that men display usually revolve around competition, rank, power, logic, and reason. Men build relationships as projects are being worked on, and they process information internally when working on making decisions. Female’s method of communication differs largely from that of males. Women are raised to be of the nurturing persuasion, indirect, and very respectful. They have a bad habit of apologizing excessively, and their style is more of a rapport type of talk, whereas males have a more report type style. Women build relationships in order to accomplish specific projects, they are comfortable in communicating about their feelings, relationships, and personal subjects like their feelings and emotions. No wonder women speak on average about 25000 words a day. Another difference in how men and women communicate is how the information they are receiving is being processed. The female and male brain process information very differently. Men process information on their left side of the brain, whereas women use both left and right hemispheres; men process analytically, and women process abstractly. Now that we fully understand the reasons and the differences behind Gender Communication Barriers, what can we do to bridge the differences and proactively improve communication in everyday life? â€Å"Men and women would need to make themselves fully aware of each other’s different communication styles, and be open in trying to break any biases or stereotypes† (Lieberman, n.d., para. 3). In conclusion, even though men and women process information and communicate differently, by working together and understanding each other’s differences they can begin to bridge the gap. Businesses stand to benefit â€Å"by committing to develop a firm culture that recognizes, embraces, and leverages individual differences, you will experience greater productivity, increased morale, higher recruiting and retention rates, and improved financial performance† (American Instritute of CPA’s, 2012, para. 3). References American Instritute of CPA’s. (2012). www.cpa2biz.com Braedyn, A. M. (2010, February 1). Improve Communication Skills. Suite 101. Retrieved from http://suite101.com/article/improve-communication-skills-a196668 Jain, R. (n.d.). The Barriers to Effectivce Communication. Ezine Articles. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Barriers-to-Effective-Communication&id=1210011 Lieberman, S. (n.d.). Gender Communication Differences and Strategies . Retrieved from http://www.simmalieberman.com/articles/genderstrategies.html Rafael, J. K. (n.d.). Why Don’t You Understand? Gender Communication Differences. Hub Pages. Retrieved from http://jillkrapfl.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Dont-You-Understand-Gender-Communication-Differences Zittleman, Karen. (2006). â€Å"Being a Girl and Being a Boy: The Voice of Middle Schoolers.†

How far was Britain a democracy by 1918 - 1370 Words

How far was Britain a democracy by 1918? At the beginning of the time period, 1850, Britain was not democratic. There was not a lot of choice concerning the political parties, there were only two parties: The Liberals and the Conservatives. Woman did not have any right to vote and were considered second class citizens. In England and Wales only one million and five men could vote and some men could vote twice. The distribution of seats did not take into account the migration of Britain. The House of Lords (HOL) were aristocracy that were their because of their ancestry. MP’s were unpaid and had to own property so the poorer classes could not be MP’s and therefore opinions not heard. A democracy is one which has universal suffrage, equal†¦show more content†¦This changed in the introduction of secret balloting in 1872 which allowed voters to vote in secret polling booths rather than public stands which gave the voters the anonymity that allows them to vote for who they want to which, in turn, made Brit ain more democratic than before but obviously bribery and corruption was still in existence. The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act of 1883 improved this situation more by limiting how much candidates could spend during election time, banning practices such as buying food or drink for voters and candidates had to account for all election expenses therefore flagging up if they were bribing. The law also stated how many carriages could be used to carry voters to the polls! By 1918 Britain was more democratic than it had been but it was still far from being totally democratic as the franchise favoured a MP that would make donations to their local teams, hospitals etc. MP’s were unpaid for most of the nineteenth century and had to own land, although the property qualification ended in the 1850’s but only wealthy upper class men could be MP’s. The working class could not afford to give up their job to be a politician and that meant that their views and needs were poorly represented compared to the ones of the wealthy. This is clearly not democratic and wasn’t changed until 1911 when MP’s began to be paid allowing the right to become and MP to everyoneShow MoreRelatedThe Bolshevik Consolidation of Power 1918-21 Essay2585 Words   |  11 PagesBolshevik Consolidation of Power 1918-21 The Bolsheviks under Lenin, when they came into power in October 1917, faced immense problems in trying to consolidate their hold over the ex-tsarist empire. 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