Seeking Treatment for a Health Condition As you take more responsibility for your health, you need to know how to get help for medical conditions. You should also be able to recognize when you need routine or emergency healthcare. As you know, early detection and treatment keep many health conditions from getting worse. Regular checkups with your doctor can detect early signs of any health conditions and treat them right away. In addition, you should see your doctor if you have certain symptoms of common diseases. These symptoms include high fever, coughing, extreme fatigue, painful headache, vomiting, diarrhea, unexplained pain, and rashes. You should also see your doctor for any other symptoms that concern you. Certain symptoms and conditions require emergency healthcare. You need emergency healthcare if you experience any of the conditions or symptoms listed in Figure 2.15. If you need this kind of care, ask a trusted adult to take you to an urgent care clinic or emergency room. You can also call 911 or your hospital for transport by ambulance. emergency healthcare medical care that treats life-threatening health conditions Local and Global Health Challenges to Accessing Healthcare The World Health Organization (WHO), an international health organization, studies the availability and cost of healthcare around the world. Research by the WHO has found that certain countries have a shortage of doctors, hospitals, and healthcare facilities. If these services are not available, people cannot access them. Distance from healthcare facilities, transportation, and laws governing healthcare can also make accessing healthcare difficult. Even where healthcare is available, it may not be affordable. In most countries, people pay some amount for healthcare even if they have health insurance. In some countries, paying for healthcare drives people into poverty. The WHO recently found the following: ● ● More than one-half of the world’s population does not receive essential health services. ● ● Each year, 100 million people enter extreme poverty because of healthcare costs. ● ● More than 800 million people spend at least 10 percent of their household income on healthcare. Access to healthcare has a major impact on people’s overall health outcomes. It affects how healthy people are, how quickly people recover from disease, and how well communities cope. Practice Your Skills Advocate for Health Form a small group with your classmates and discuss the barriers to accessing healthcare in your community. During your discussion, examine the availability of certain services. Also identify challenges related to transportation, finances, and any laws. List all of these barriers and then discuss how your community can help people overcome them. Identify your audience, which should be a population that faces some of these barriers. Then, create a flyer, blog post, or social media post listing these barriers and organizations and programs in your community that can help people access and afford healthcare. Share this information at a health fair or online. Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 2 Health and Wellness Skills 55