Essay Planning/ Refining Question

Development

The research that I have undertaken since the beginning of the project has shaped the content of my essay question into a clearer subject to explore rather than a vague, open-ended statement.

It has developed from:

• How are people with ‘avoidable medical conditions' viewed by society?
• 'would the NHS be more cost efficient if the government were to subsidise more valuable health education?'

To:

What measures can we implicate as a nation to efficiently utilise the NHS’ resources and ensure its future is secure?

This question has more structure and more scope to research into different areas, rather than just an opinionated, subjective argument or a question with a simple 'yes/no' answer.

Essay Plan

Introduction

• Outline NHS issues
• How external pressures in society are affecting our health
• Potential solutions; sugar tax, more money being spent on health education

Paragraph 1: Figures

• How the recession has affected the NHS budget
• Recent Government electoral promises and how they plan to change things for the future (and if it will work)
• Back up with quotes and predictions from Panorama documentary 

Paragraph 2: Current Action to save the NHS

• 'Healthy Liverpool' scheme
• Logical theories on where money can be utilised to the most efficient standard
• 'Change4life' social marketing campaign

Paragraph 3: The negative affects of advertising

• Power of the food industries
• Subliminal messages portrayed, different types of advertising
• How the food industry targets children
• Product placement and timing of television adverts
• Food labelling

Paragraph 4: Is society making us unwell?

• Stress and mental health
• Ageing population, increased pressures on all aspects of life
• How we are vulnerable, insecure and easily influenced by the power of these adverts which will make us more likely to take up bad habits/poor lifestyle choices

Conclusion

• Persuasion in the means of comfort is more powerful than persuasion in the means of positive change
• It is impossible to un-do the 'comfort' that technology has bought us
• If more money was spent on educating the nation about health (raised by sugar tax?) this would be an effective solution.

Reflection

I think that at this stage, I am in an ~okay~ position with the direction of my essay and the appropriate quotes and images that I am planning on referencing, although I know that there is a lot of room for development and refining. 

In the net few days I plan on writing up the draft for my essay to the best of my ability, and continuing to carry out further research in the mean time in case I need to (I definitely will need to) add further amendments when I receive feedback.

Visual Journal

My visual journal got off to a relatively slow start due to struggling where to start. I have decided that the best approach will be to find related articles to my subject and produce visual responses for them in a kind of editorial format. 

The end to the free vasectomy (to help save the NHS money) would contradict itself in the way that there would be more unwanted pregnancies as a result, which will defeat the object in terms of cost. 

This article emphasises the threat that obesity imposes on women's health, and the increased risk that certain conditions could arise such as type two diabetes, heart disease and cancer. In these simple drawings and paintings I have shown daily processes that women will have to go through if their health deteriorates, including having to take daily medication, going for checkups on a regular basis and simultaneously being judged by others. The measuring tape acts as a metaphor for strangling the internal organs due to pressure of being overweight.

Reflection

Although basic, I feel like this is a good starting point to begin to explore imagery in synthesis to my topic. Editorial process help to visually unpick and bring together important aspects of a topic and summarise them in a visual way. I will continue to read the news daily and keep myself updated on the state of healthcare and obesity.