Healthcare in Iceland
In
Iceland, there is a universal healthcare system. Healthcare is subsidized, and
the Icelandic Health Insurance system will automatically cover anyone who has
been a legal resident in the country for 6 or more months.
Not just
in Iceland, the healthcare system is generally public and offers universal
access for all inhabitants. In March 2018, the President of the European
Federation on Internal Medicine, Runolfur Palsson, MD FACP, was interviewed on
his perspective on the healthcare system in Iceland. He was asked about what other
countries can learn from the European healthcare system, which Iceland belongs
to. “In European countries, the healthcare system is generally public with
universal access for the inhabitants. However, in some countries private
medical clinics do exist and in some cases the services are reimbursed by
private insurance companies, whereas in other instances services provided by
the private sector are reimbursed by the national health insurance (single-payer
system). I believe that the universal access to care is an important feature
that others can learn from.” (Palsson, ACP).
By having
this perspective on healthcare, illness treatments and prevention are taken
seriously. By allowing those who are residents in the Iceland have access to
healthcare that is provided by the country, this allows those who are unable to
afford or access healthcare without it be then able to access and receive the
care that they need to live as healthy of a life as possible.
Death and Dying
For much
of history, the topic of death has been considered a taboo subject and was not
talked about. Iceland has been struck by pandemics, volcano eruptions, and many
other disasters throughout their long history. Due to this, death was a
constant in the lives of many. Death affected the way people thought, and their
position towards life.
There are
various traditions that occur in the death and dying process. A deceased person
was watched over for various periods of time, and clothes of the deceased were
washed in a particular way. The assets and bed of the deceased were arranged
with certain rules in mind. There have always been some sort of rooted or
supernatural belief in afterlife.
If you are
offered to work in some form of healthcare field in Iceland, and you are
working with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), you will probably deal with
some different forms of communication and perspectives on a different
healthcare system than in the United States. Healthcare in Iceland is universal
and is generally covered by the government. You will likely encounter people
who do not have to worry or stress on how they are going to be able to afford
medical bills. Therefore, you will likely encounter a variety of patients,
those with many healthcare issues, and those who may just be coming in for a
general checkup. They will likely come from all different type of financial
backgrounds, but they are all going to be covered underneath the health
insurance that is offered by Iceland. Therefore, you should just treat every
one with respect and try not to implicit any sort of bias onto your patients or
coworkers because they may not be as financially as well off as others. This is
a general practice anywhere in the healthcare field, but this will be easier if
everyone is offered healthcare for free or a cheap price, there should be an
easier way for any sort of bias about finances to be nearly eliminated. You
will also likely need to be comfortable with the idea of people being generally
blunt and straightforward to you. Sometimes this may come offensive, but this
is a common way that many Icelanders communicate. If you return this, such as
being straightforward about whatever healthcare issue that your patient may be
experiencing, you will likely gain the trust and respect of those that you work
with, along with your patients.
References and Sources
https://work.iceland.is/working/health-insurance/
https://anityadoulaservices.org/education/traveling-death-doula-series-iceland/
https://www.thenordicpsychiatrist.com/post/different-views-about-death
Image Sourced from My Medic Plus