Rural Southeast Research Paper

Tennessee is one of the states hit hardest by the nation’s opioid epidemic which began about 20 years ago and had a stark increase since 2009, now reaching unprecedented levels across the county with a 200% increase in the rate of deaths involving opioids (Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016; Fletcher, 2016). In Tennessee specifically, it is estimated that about 1 in 6 abuse opioids; the CDC estimates that for every one person who dies from an opioid overdose in Tennessee there are 851 others in the state who are in various stages of their abuse, misuse, and treatment; and the most recent statistics show that opioid overdoses alone make up about 7.7% of deaths in Tennessee, making them responsible for more deaths than car accidents in the state (Botticelli, 2016; Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016; Fletcher, 2016; ONDCP, 2016; Thompson, 2016).

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,

There is no question that the alarming rate of deaths related to opioid overdose needs to be addressed in this county, but the way to solve the problem seems to remain a trial and error approach at this point. A patient is injured, undergoes surgery, experiences normal wear and tear on a hip, knee or back and has to live with that pain for the rest of their life or take a narcotic pain medication in order to improve their quality of life and at least be able to move. The above patients are what narcotic pain medications were created for, a population of people that use narcotic pain medications for fun is what is creating a problem. Narcotics are addictive to both populations, however taking the narcotic for euphoric reasons is not the intention of the prescription that the physician is writing. The healthcare system needs to find a way to continue to provide patients that experience chronic pain with the narcotics that work for them while attempting to ensure the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) doesn’t have to worry about a flood of pain pills hitting the streets by granting access to the population with a substance abuse problem.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight on health disparities seen within DeKalb County. The residents of DeKalb County are diverse in race, ethnicity, and income. Since the county is so diverse there are many health disparities seen amongst its residents. Health disparities occur within a county when one group of a population has noticeably better or worse health than another group within the same population. These groups of people can differ by income, education, sex, race, location, and even sexual orientation. This Paper will discuss the health disparities that exist within DeKalb County, and explain why these disparities exist from a historical, political and social aspect. Furthermore, this paper will give background information on health outcomes from national, state, and local epidemiological perspective in order to support the claims that disparities actually exist within this county.

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

As consumers utilize smartphones, tablets, and other devices for other functions like social media and email, they are starting to look at these features to assist them with their healthcare. Mobile body area network devices will be a growing trend in the coming years as a way to get patients engaged in their healthcare and also to give providers routine updates on the status of patients with chronic conditions. As DeGaspari (2014) indicates, these devices can lead to improved functionality for other devices used in hospitals, such as sensors for monitoring patients that might get up and wander or be a fall risk. Telemedicine will continue to grow as payers, providers, and patients all start to realize the mutual benefits that can be

Health care professional, patients, families, and policy makers all struggle to understand how health is affected by behavior, economic and social structure and provided the knowledge to improve the health status of individuals and populations. Our health is affected by behaviors, economics, and social structure. Many behaviors and lifestyle patterns affect our health, such as: exposure to violence, vehicular accidents, alcohol, drugs, and infectious agents (Williams/Torrens). According to our textbook (Williams/Torrens), alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use creates several of problems that affect our health and society.

Summit County has several factors leading to poor access to comprehensive, quality health care. The poverty rate is 16%, the unemployment rate is 7.2%, and the uninsured rate is 14.1% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). There is also a high obesity rate of 28.4% . (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). According to Milio's framework for prevention (2014) the people that make up these statistics show that lower income, uninsured individuals have a poor health status compared to employed, insured individuals. Therefore, they are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. It is also interesting to mention that in Nancy Milio's research she found that most people, whether low, middle, or upper class, will choose the easiest option available the majority of the time (Nies & McEwen, 2015). People making unhealthy choices such as smoking, abuse of alcohol and/or drugs, eating poorly, and remaining physically inactive, pose the greatest risk to heart disease. These lifestyle choices lead to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol which are the main causes of cardiovascular

The author feels that rural areas are drastically underserved by addiction treatment centers. The surgeon general said, “If you focus on prevention, some programs get up to $64 in return for every dollar invested” (Wolf, 2016). Medicaid-assisted treatment with guidance and counseling programs would greatly help rural areas. The government spends $27 billion in health care expenses. The author feels with prevention and addiction treatment centers specifically placed in rural parts of America, will help save government spending, reduce insurance costs and save many

Opioid abuse in Tennessee is a statewide epidemic affecting both rural and urban cities. One thousand two hundred sixty-three deaths related to opioid overdose occurred in the state of Tennessee in 2014. More people died from opioid overdose than the number of gunshot and motor vehicle accident deaths combined. Known as “Hillbilly Heroin,” the opioid of choice are Hydrocodone, Percocet, Oxycodone IR, and Oxycontin with street values ranging from $5 to $80 dollars per pill. Currently, Tennessee remains the leader in the number of pain pill prescriptions per person (Fletcher, 2015). The misuse and abuse of opioids in Tennessee has resulted in legislative bills proposed and supported by Governor Bill Haslam, as well as local district representatives Senator James R. “Randy” McNally (R-Tenn- Dist. #5) and Representative John Ragan (R-Tenn Dist. #33).

S. average. Insurance coverage in this region is somewhat improved compared to U.S. average primarily due to high Medicare Disability enrollment and high Medicaid participation. With the documented poverty levels in West Virginia given the number of individuals on government assistance, there are correlations found related to poverty levels and poor health. Poverty levels can be caused by a variety of reasons, but the results tend to be similar. Healthcare, particularly preventative healthcare isn’t a priority or obtainable in most cases. Nutrition from a balanced diet and the education to provide proper nutrition is often absent. (Lane et al., 2012, January)

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, &

According to Healthy people, health determinants is the range of personal, social, economic, and environment factors that influence health status.1 The overall health rank of Virginia health status is 21. Virginia has improved over the years but there is still room for improvement. The strengths of Virginia health status includes: low rate of drug deaths, low violent crime rate, and low percentage of children in poverty.2 The challenges of Virginia health status includes, low immunization coverage among children, low immunization coverage among teens, and high infant mortality rate.2 These challenges that Virginia faces can conclude the reason for the percentage of the overall health status not rising dramatically.

The campaign will take place from October 1st-7th. The theme is “Preventive Medicine and Health Maintenance.” Topics will include lifestyle medicine, nutrition education and wellbeing, student and physician burnout, diversity in primary care, and rural medicine. More specifically, today’s topic is the state of rural health in the nation. Two expert guests present how telemedicine is applied in healthcare in the countryside. One example in the case involves A Johns Hopkins University drone transported dozens of human blood samples across 161 miles of Arizona desert. The research findings have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology (Amukele, et al.,

Remote healthcare delivery requires a plan to incentivize medical professions to come to a particular location. In order to accomplish this some sort of infrastructure needs to be established, including basic medical tools and portable apparatus. Once the personnel and the minimal infrastructure is in place, the final component for the effective provision of healthcare is medication. Once a diagnosis has been provided and the population of a particular location has been examined and recorded in detail, their health maintenance may become reliant on stead supplies of medications. Whereas individuals, robots, and bulky equipment will require a transport via planes, trains, automobiles, and even motorcycles, medication is generally very compact and light, and a different form of delivery could be utilized. With drones becoming a household toys, there are limitless applications for this technology, and Keller Rinaudo recognized this five years ago, and this summer his company will begin to deliver medication to remote areas of Rwanda. (5)