Vulnerability Research Paper

The evolution of mental health treatment in America has been a long and arduous road with many ups and downs. In many ways, attitudes towards the disease towards mental illness help shape the evolution of treatment. In addition, trends in treatment and cultural understanding of mental illness influence national policy. In Mad in American author Robert Whitaker discusses the mental health care system its history, evolution, and the current state of mental health care in America. Whitaker explores the ethnicity of practices and questions the safety and efficacy of psychiatric

The community-based mental health programs are not only inadequate in relation to numbers, but also underfunded (Unite for Sight.org, 2013). According to Martin (1995), we live in a society that is increasingly becoming conscious of an excessive tax burden. Tax burden, on the other hand, provides for the realization of just how deinstitutionalization is directly related to politics and public policy. The pubic in America who account for the electorate, have a significant say in how policy is affected. To this extent the assumption in relation to deinstitutionalization is that due to increased public outcry in regards to taxation, the both federal and state governments have over the years been forced to cut down spending on some items in the recurring budget in order to free up additional funds. According to Treatment Advocacy Center (2011), the federal government in 1965 surgically excluded the payment of Medicaid for patients institutionalized in state psychiatric and other mental disorders institutions. The goals of this action, according to Treatment Advocacy Center (2011) was to foster deinstitutionalization, and the wading of care costs to sates, viewing them as largely responsible for mental care.

The introduction of new psychotic drugs can provide better or more thorough care for the mentally ill. Creating options rather than one solution may have been believed to do greater good for the mentally ill community. Furthermore, the economic incentives involved as long term care was and continues to be at such a high cost. Community resources cost little to nothing for the federal Government to support. As well as releasing the mentally ill to their families, in any case those with minor illnesses. Additionally, a shift from treating chronic patients to treating acute ones would generate basic sense into the minds of many. This modification states through actions that

In the book, Crazy, by Pete Earley, provides a detailed overview of the mental health system in the United States, as it presents a first hand narrative of Earley’s family journey through the system. The author’s major premise and arguments, in the book, is to highlight the history of mental health, navigation through the judicial system with mental illness, the bureaucracy and policies of hospitals, society views on human rights and client safety, and the impact on the individual, family, and community. The content suggests that human service workers and public health workers should extend their professional lens to advocate for change in the mental health system in the United States.

The United States has never had an official federal-centered approach for mental health care facilities, entrusting its responsibility to the states throughout the history. The earliest initiatives in this field took place in the 18th century, when Virginia built its first asylum and Pennsylvania Hospital reserved its basement to house individuals with mental disorders (Sundararaman, 2009). During the 19th century, other services were built, but their overall lack of quality was alarming. Even then, researchers and professionals in the mental health field attempted to implement the principles of the so-called public health, focusing on prevention and early intervention, but the funds were in the hands of the local governments, which prevented significant advances in this direction.

What is left is that we have many citizens who are mentally ill and are not receiving treatment. However the patients who are able to receive treatment are only able to have some treatment covered. Health insurers are responsible for covering the immensely large cost of substantial treatment, a mixture of medication and therapy; since therapy is highly priced, less reliable, and time consuming; patients typically do not receive treatment for therapy. Health insurers would much rather cover medication because it is cheaper, it heals patients faster, and it is more reliable than therapy. However, medication is not made to heal, but to only coax symptoms of a mental illness (Sandberg).

Social Vulnerability refers to risk as its primary element (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Every individual is exposed to risk factors therefore; everyone is potentially vulnerable to health problems (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Social vulnerability consists of various economic, democratic, and cultural variables in relation to an individual’s likelihood of becoming ill (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). The degree of social vulnerability is that an individual experience is greatly reliant on their personal capacity to tolerate adverse influences (Scanlon & Lee, 2007). Each individual will have different strategies and abilities in coping, resisting, and recovering from situations that could result in social vulnerability (Scanlon & Lee, 2007).

In 1965, there was a histrionic change in the method that mental health care was delivered in the United States. The focus went from State Mental Hospitals to outpatient settings for the treatment of mental health issues. With the passing of Medicaid, States were encouraged to move patients out of the hospital setting (Pan, 2013). This process failed miserably due to under funding and understaffing for the amout of patients that were released from the State Mental Hospitals. This resulted in patients, as well as their families, who were in dire need of mental health services. This population turned to either incarceration (jails and/or prisons) or emergency departments as a primary source of care for their loved ones.

ABC Hospital recently underwent a third-party assessment to identify gaps with the organizations compliance to the HIPAA Security Rule. One of the critical risks identified was the lack of existing process for addressing vulnerability management with connected IT assets in the environment. The resulting assessment report and recommendations were provided to the board of directors for review and approval to implement effective risk reduction. The board determined that this project be chartered in order to address the risks identified by the third party assessment.

Defining Vulnerabilities are challenging most of the time, because it is not known what to look for? What is the threat an attacker is interested to take in looking for vulnerability? Most of the cases, when attacker obtains a copy of software or OS they are targeting and conduct their testing in their own environment, there is very little risk in finding vulnerabilities. This situation happens most often, where attacker tries to replicate the real world scenario in lab. However, it is not always possible for an attacker to replicate as the real world scenario is too elaborate and

There are a variety of vulnerability identification factors that are seen as critical. The types of vulnerabilities associated with the Information Technology System depend on the nature of the system itself. Certain rules govern what action should be taken in this step. If the system has not yet been designed, the search for vulnerabilities should concentrate on the security policies of the organization, security procedures, system requirement definitions, vendor and developer’s product analysis. If the system is being implemented the identity of vulnerabilities should to expanded to include more specific information including security features described in the security documentation and results of the security certification test and evaluation. If the system is up and running, then the analysis of the IT system security features and security controls, technical and procedural should be used to protect the system. A table of Security Criteria can be found below:

Vulnerability assessment is to find weak points and take a more holistic view of safety. Penetration testing is a concentrated attack one or more vulnerabilities that are widely known already exist or are suspected of existing. Vulnerability scale now beyond technology operational processes such as patch management and incident management have a significant impact on the life cycle analysis vulnerability. Vulnerability can predict the effectiveness of the proposed measures and assess their actual effectiveness after they are put into use.

Vulnerability assessment refers to the process of identifying and classifying security loopholes and risks in a computer system, network or communication system. Through this process, vital aspects of data management are analyzed, the effectiveness of the current security software and measures determined and any reparable measures are taken or recommended. Vulnerability assessment is conducted against both internal and external threats and assist in highlighting the security posture of an enterprise/organization.

Vulnerability: A weakness in the security system, procedure, design or implementation that might be exploited to cause loss or harm.

Once the probability of each successor is calculated, the vulnerability at the output of the current gate can be computed.