Posted: February 27th, 2023

Vulnerable Populations

After reviewing

Module 6: Lecture Materials & Resources

, discuss the following;

How effective are the resources in your community for the vulnerable populations we have discussed over the past 2 weeks?  In which areas is there room for improvement? 

Submission Instructions:

• Your initial post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 8 points.
• You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 2 points (1 point per response.) 
• All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.

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You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts.

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All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.

Post 1

Vulnerable Populations

Chabely Tapanes Prado

St. Thomas University

NUR 420

Dr. Tina Roberts

02/14/2023

Vulnerable Populations

Vulnerable populations include racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, the economically disadvantaged, the homeless, low-income children, people with chronic health disorders, and unsecured individuals. People become vulnerable when there are things that they are unable to do, like other people, and these things affect their daily living and quality of life. Some factors are considered in identifying vulnerable people. The vulnerable population has resources that help them have an effective living just like other people. Resources for the vulnerable in my community have helped to some extent, but more is needed regarding equality, funding, and accessibility.

It is good to note that millions of vulnerable Americans have hospitals as an important source of their health care. Although the policy of universal health care has been applied, some hospitals for vulnerable groups risk losing the resources needed for improving health care and access to health services. Additionally, according to Bhatt & Bathija (2018), healthcare inequalities persist in America despite the actions taken to ensure equality.

Although federal funding is limited and regulation can act as barriers to delivering good health, hospital and community collaboration have worked in my community. Many stakeholders have been involved in that collaboration, which addresses similar issues and provides opportunities and solutions. To improve healthcare services for the vulnerable, community stakeholders should ensure that the limited financial resources are used well, there is proper identification and selection of the vulnerable people, and a strong collaboration between the hospitals and the community is maintained. Moreover, the vulnerable need to be sensitized about the resources available to them and their rights.

Furthermore, several programs have been run in the community to address the growing problems of drug abuse. These programs have been effective because some youths have been transformed through the programs. Children from vulnerable populations are vulnerable to the use of drugs, and other people use drugs to manage stressors (Sussman & Sinclair, 2022). The programs have been achieved through the involvement of researchers and practitioners. The effectiveness of these resources can be improved by proper follow-up of the victims and connecting them to productive activities such as schooling and training, involvement in programs such as football, and provision of employment opportunities. Moreover, there is a need for more social networking.

Mental health has recently become one alarming health problem in many countries, which affects both children and adults. Many vulnerable people with mental disorders have limited or no access to high-quality mental health services. Moreover, mental disorders receive limited funding compared to the significant impact the disease is making in the life of many people. Many strategies have been applied in addressing mental health issues, and the world bank endorsed mental health as a priority. Again, World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Mental Health Gap Action Program Intervention Guide, which was to be used by unspecialized healthcare providers. The providers use these guidelines after analyzing the local and community needs (Wainberg et al., 2017). However, research needs to be improved because, over the past 20 years, research concerning mental health has been conducted, but significant challenges still remain. Moreover, mental health disorders must be identified and treated when children are young. Schools should also introduce programs that address mental problems among young people.

References

Bhatt, J., & Bathija, P. (2018). Ensuring access to quality health care in vulnerable communities. Academic medicine, 93(9), 1271.

Sussman, S., & Sinclair, D. L. (2022). Substance and behavioral addictions, and their consequences among vulnerable populations. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(10), 6163.

Wainberg, M. L., Scorza, P., Shultz, J. M., Helpman, L., Mootz, J. J., Johnson, K. A., … & Arbuckle, M. R. (2017). Challenges and opportunities in global mental health: a research-to-practice perspective. Current psychiatry reports, 19, 1-10.

Post 2

Name: Fabienne Jean Baptiste

Institution: St Thomas University

Professor: Robert Tina M

Class: NUR-420-AP1

Assignment: Module #6

            From a healthcare perspective, one of the chief strengths of my community is that it has a wide range of resources that cater to different needs. For instance, all three major health centers have facilities that cater to the physical, mental, and psychological ailments that tend to afflict some members of the public. In this context, people have significant access to healthcare. However, the society is also renowned for being diverse, incorporating people from a wide range of social, ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds. For this reason, a significant number of people cannot afford to access these healthcare facilities due to financial constraints. The people in this category often lack health insurance, which is a cheaper option for accessing experts in these healthcare facilities. Additionally, sickness is likely to find such people without the finances necessary to pay for much-needed healthcare services. For this reason, while healthcare facilities enable access to wide-ranging services, some people are financially unable to afford the access.

            Vulnerable demographic segments include children, the elderly, the disabled, and those with mental handicaps. The available facilities cater to the general public’s needs, incorporating services catering to the needs of different demographic segments. In this context, the community is restricted in the number of facilities that cater specifically to the healthcare needs of the mentioned vulnerable populations. The community has only two nursing homes catering specifically to the needs of older adults. However, these privately owned facilities are significantly expensive, which implies that their services are largely inaccessible to the massive number of older adults in the community that have financial constraints.

            Some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have endeavored to children’s hospitals and older adult facilities. Thus, they have provided cheaper options that can ensure that the most vulnerable demographic segments can meet their healthcare needs. For example, the facilities catering to the healthcare needs of the elderly are renowned for offering a safe and supportive environment and referring people to different like-minded institutions that provide services that are unavailable in the facilities. However, these facilities are primarily dependent on funding from donors (Stajduhar et al., 2019). The same is true in the case of facilities catering to the needs of children. For this reason, the quality of service fluctuates in alignment with the available funds. This aspect throws the reliability and consistency of the services provided in such facilities into serious doubt.

            The community boasts a wide array of facilities and organizations that cater to the needs of vulnerable populations. However, access to these services is determined by financial ability, which is often minimal among those in the targeted demographic segments. In this context, addressing the challenges requires formulating and implementing policies that can make the services targeted toward vulnerable populations cheaper. This aspect is crucial, considering the increase in the number of people in vulnerable demographic segments such as the elderly, children, and disabled from low socioeconomic contexts.

 
References

Stajduhar, K. I., Mollison, A., Giesbrecht, M., McNeil, R., Paul, B., Reimer-Kirkham, S. … & Rounds, K. (2019). “Just too busy living in the moment and surviving”: barriers to accessing   health care for structurally vulnerable populations at end-of-life. BMC 
Palliative Care, 18(1), 1-14.