Community Paramedics : Intervention Paper Essay

An extended care paramedic are experienced clinical practitioners that specialise in patient assessment and a deliverance of quality care. Extended care paramedics treat mainly low to medium acute patients in a variety of community and clinical settings. ("Department of Health | Boosting Productivity", 2017. Their role is primarily to treat those in low need of care to take the strain off high running facilities such as hospitals and first responders. Extended care paramedics are most beneficial to those living independently and also those in aged care facilities. ECPs provide alternate care pathways for patients and assist in reducing unnecessary transport to hospital. Attendance by an ECP reduces the disruption to

Transportation is one of critical social determinants of health and the availability of convenient transportation impacts individuals’ ability to access quality healthcare (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2011). One of the major challenges that rural Canadians face is the lack or limited of public transportation which results in delaying access to health-care services (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2011). Canadians who reside in rural communities or small towns generally have to travel long distance to get the health care they need. Transportation is a significant issue for access to health care services, particularly in rural areas where travel distances are required and access to substitute means such as public transit or taxi services is limited or lack (Rural Assistance Center, 2015). Transportation services play an essential role in assisting residents in rural communities, particularly those who are vulnerable and most in need of this assistance to maintain their health and well-being.

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

Transportation is one of the largest barriers to health care access in rural communities. Fortunately, many interventions

While implementing Primary Health Care models, identical to those in metropolitan areas, in a rural setting is not practical, I feel there is an obvious need to improve primary health care in remote areas. This is due to the significant health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, in rural and remote areas

The underserved populations have increased exponentially. The Rural Policy Research Institute (2009) defines the medically underserved as, “the ratio of primary care physicians per 1,000 population, the infant mortality rate, the percent of the population with incomes below the poverty level, and the percent of the population age 65 and over.” By that definition, over half the state is considered to be an underserved population. With the demand and needs of the state, it is no surprise that the FNP has become a more utilized provider of healthcare is many settings. There has also been a recent emergence of nurse-managed health centers or (NMHCs), as a form of primary care delivery. According to Espirat and Debisette (2012), NMHCs reduce Medicaid costs, are a great Segway to community outreach and provide quality primary prevention.

To respond to these legislative changes, there must be an increase in the professional workforce of rural health. The existing workforce will need extensive training to deal with the new aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and new professionals need to be encouraged to practice in rural areas. The following are potential methods for increasing the health care workforce of rural and frontier America:

Mobile Integrated Healthcare, Community Paramedic (MIH/CP) is a nationally recognized program where local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have become involved in providing patient-centered care in partnership with local resources such as social services and primary care (Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Community Paramedicine (MIH-CP): A National Survey, 2015). These programs range in services from in-home consultation for chronic disease management to deploying telemedicine to connect homebound patients with offsite care givers. The author states: “From medical homes to care teams to accountable care organizations, the concept of collaborative, integrated, patient-centered care is a major theme of healthcare reform - and MIH-CP (p. 9)”.

People living in rural areas are experiencing highly limited excess to health care facilities either because they are not aware of the disease symptoms as a

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

The rural population is at great risk for poor physical, mental, and social health illness. Compared to the urban communities, there is a lack of equality in health care allocation due to a lack of resources, finances, and focus in the rural population. They are “more likely to report poor or fair health, having diabetes, having chronic disease, being obese, not engaging in health protective behaviors, and experiencing cost as a barrier to initiating or maintaining health care” (Teufel, Goffinet, Land, &

Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved

There are two principal conditions leading to physician shortages in rural communities according to Wright and colleagues. They are “demand-deficient”, meaning they have insufficient populations and resources to support a physician practice, they are “ambiance-challenged,” meaning they are isolated, lack quality services and amenities, and/or are in geographically unattractive settings, or a combination of the two sets of conditions. Inner-city physician shortages are a more recently recognized issue. They are affected by the same conditions, though the specifics are different (Wright, Andrilla, and Hart 2001).

Fort Frances only has one clinic and La Vendrye Hospital, both are situated close to each other and near the core of the town. However, waitlists for appointments to see a doctor range from four to six weeks and there are only two nurse practitioners located in town. Many medical needs are not met by the doctors and medical programs available for which patients are constantly sent to more urban areas such as Winnipeg or Thunder Bay for medical assistance. The article called Services for Seniors in Small-Town Canada examines the issue of medical resources or lack there of in rural communities. The article explains that“there was clear evidence of an association between quality of life and health status in rural Canada. The informants demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the underlying issue of rural health (Skinner, 92).” I believe that this is an issue that needs to be addressed promptly to ensure the health and safety of all members of the

Geographic maldistribution has creates barriers of care to people living in rural areas. Although there is an oversupply of physician specialists in many of the urban healthcare areas around the world, while the inner cities and rural community are struggling to attract healthcare physician professional to provide high quality care to the local population. “The supply of specialties has increased more than 100% over the last 20 years, while supply of generalists has increased only 18%” (Niles,2014). Any shortage of health workers can prevent good access to health services and is a barrier to universal coverage. The issue of the matter is that maldistribution of health workers between urban and rural is consider to be virtual concern around