HRSA Impact On The Community

Homelessness has become an evolving epidemic of our time, and the health implications associated with being homeless makes it that much worse. Homeless people are at major risk for premature death and a wide range of health problems such as HIV, skin blemishes, and much more. It is very difficult for homeless people to fix their health issues due to the difficulty of accessing health care possibly because of missing health cards, or simply because of the stigma placed on them when they enter a public facility. Whatever the problem may be that is forcing more people to become homeless, it must be solved, and quickly before our world turns into a travesty.

The most recent survey of homeless individuals conducted January 29, 2014 revealed 958 homeless adults with no dependants, 70 of which were completely unsheltered, and an additional 130 homeless adults who also had dependent children with them. 208 of these homeless adults are chronically homeless (HUD’s 2014 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Populations, and Subpopulations, 2014).Wayside Christian Mission reaches approximately 7,000 homeless individuals annually (Wayside Christian Mission, 2007). In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a majority of homeless individuals surveyed stated that they felt discriminated against or that they received lesser care because of their poverty or homelessness (Wen, Hudak, & Hwang, 2007). Homeless and impoverished individuals suffer from high rates of depression, psychiatric illness, alcohol and or substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, TB, Trauma, preterm birth, COPD, low birth weight, musculoskeletal problems, decreased access to care, foot problems, malnutrition, and high Emergency Room utilization (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Not only do homeless persons have a high rate of illness, but they are also less able to appropriately treat health problems. Many homeless individuals have limited access to care, cannot afford medications or nutritious food, and may have difficulty with managing a strict

Operation Safety Net is a local program for the city of Pittsburgh that strives to better the lives of individuals who are homeless. As described on the program’s website, Operation Safety Net provides its consumers with necessary health care and an increase of hope and self-esteem (Operation Safety Net, 2015). This program has proven to help close the critical health inequity of homeless individuals living without healthcare. Healthy People 2020 define a health disparity as, “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage.” (Disparities, para 6, 2015). This includes individuals having access to safe housing, culturally aware health care professionals and the opportunity to have health insurance. Therefore, there is a clear rationale for the Operation Safety Net program to be assisting people in Pittsburgh experiencing these inequities.

The United States of America is the place known to many as the land of the free, home of the brave, and the place to start a better life. With any place that has good qualities, some have not so good qualities. The homeless population in the United States is at a staggering high, and many individuals are suffering because many lack employment/financial resources, housing resources, support from family and friends, and others negligence; such as natural disasters or fires. Homeless individuals may have no other choice than to live on the streets, trains, and alley ways to name a few places where homeless people seek shelter. The history of homelessness, social problems, demographics, common clinical

HFA targets a specific population of people. They look to help families that need it the most, the ones who are currently facing challenges, or have in the past, which is the result of their life now. Some of the challenges are, single parenting; low income; childhood history of abuse; current or previous issues with drug use, mental health issues, and/or domestic violence. When parents, or parents to be reach out to HFA they must fill out a survey in order for the program to understand their situation better. However, there is one guideline

“Health disparity: A higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one population group relative to another group” ("Disparities in Health," 2012, para. 7). There are many factors which contribute to the disparities in health among certain groups here in the United States. The low income populations seem to be at the greatest risk when it comes to health inequality. Whether this is due to lack of education, access to services, or even neighborhood safety, the divide between the higher income populations and that of lower income populations are growing at an alarming

The Department of Health and Human Services and their partners continue to strive to meet the needs of all people regardless what the socioeconomic statuses are. DHHS focus is to encourage all people to become healthy. As many believe, that being healthy starts at home, schools, community and your workplace. Studies suggest that being healthy consist of one taking good care of themselves and their health needs, eating healthy, and not smoking or drinking. With the available resources that all will be able to have access to social and economic opportunities that consist of resources. Healthiness also consist of the cleanliness of your surroundings, water, air and nature. Through various partnerships of DHHS, the continuous of

Certain screening tools are highly underutilized by providers everywhere. “Despite the high prevalence of mental health and substance use problems, too many Americans go without treatment – in part because their disorders go undiagnosed” (SAMHSA-HRSA, n.d.). Perhaps part of the problems is that providers may not have enough time with the patient to discuss current medical problems as well as screen appropriately for an underlying mental illness. “Diagnosis and treatment of alcohol-related problems are time-intensive procedures that often are difficult to implement in busy clinical settings” (SAMHSA-HRSA, n.d., para. 13). This time constraint may make providers more apt to shy away from figuring out a patient’s underlying mental illness. Currently,

Resources for Human Development (RHD) is a national human services nonprofit founded in 1970. The company currently oversees and supports more than 160 programs in 14 states. The programs fall under the following categories: Intellectual Disabilities, Behavioral Health, Addiction Recovery, Homelessness, Women & Children, Family Health & Counseling, Youth Development, Returning Citizens, Economic Development, Employment & Training, Veterans, Nonprofit Incubator, and Outsider Art. Within the Behavioral Health program, there are two Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams. The ACT Program provides community-based services to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The mental illness may also be accompanied by a substance abuse disorder and/or a developmental disability. The program is an outpatient agency and each ACT team has about 100 clients.

One issue with underserved populations is an increase in health disparities, not only race and ethnicity, but also gender and age. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2014) list a number of key findings from a report on underserved populations and health care. Mortality rates from certain diseases and different types of death were higher in different racial groups than Caucasians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Morbidity of asthma, oral disease, tuberculosis, obesity, and diabetes were also higher in minority groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Preventive screening for the over-50 population was just over 60%

Throughout history there has always been a portion of society living in disadvantaged conditions. With the current high cost of living, global issues, unemployment rate on the rise, and low wages, many Americans are finding themselves homeless. One would think that in this advanced century, there would not be individuals living without the basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, there are millions of people with nowhere to sleep. Besides the many problems homeless people face daily, one of the leading problems is health care. Being homeless with limited access to health care or shelter in conjunction with mental illness or exposure to harmful diseases can lead to poor health, or

Vulnerable population means a group of population that at greater risk of developing health problems due to their less awareness, availability, and access to needed resources to fulfill their healthy wellbeing requirements. Elderly population, pregnant women, homeless person, population with suicide or homicide prone behavior, substance abuser, persons living with infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, disable and chronically ill patients fall under vulnerable population group. “vulnerable populations are those with a greater than average risk of developing health problems by virtue of their marginalized sociocultural status, their limited access to economic resources or their personal characteristics such as age and gender”(Chesnay, M. &. Anderson, B. 2012). People with lower incomes and less education tend to be at higher risk for health problems.

These vulnerable populations according to Shi and Stevens (2005) experience disparities in access to care and have poorer health status than the population as a whole.

Vulnerable population is not limited to a specific disease, race, income, or gender. There are different situations that can cause an individual to be classified into this category. A Vulnerable population can also include the neighborhood where an individual resides because healthcare resources may be limited. The focus of this will include the understanding of how the different biases affect the delivery of healthcare to individuals. It will also include a self-reflection of the learning prior and post about the population. It will identify a character and describe how he or she may be identified in a vulnerable population.

However, these contemporary views of the function of HR were considerably different during the Twentieth Century.