Vulnerable Population Essay

Define the term population at risk and indicate which of the elementary students are not at risk

The health of a nation plays an integral part in the overall success and economic well being of a particular country. The United Stated, while pouring more money into the healthcare system than any other country, still stands as a broken system with inadequate care for many citizens. One of the most marginalized groups of people, African American women, continually score alarmingly low on basic measures of overall health. The healthcare discrepancies between white and black women in the United States are alarming, and they reveal flaws in the American health care system as a whole.

Being a minority in the United States has and will possibly always been a struggle. With the economy being in shams and minimum wage becoming career, minorities have multiple issues that society is unaware especially in health care. A large percent of minorities are the majority of workers of America, in which requires the most of the health care distribution. But are they receiving the proper access to health care and prescription access based on their ethnicity/race? Discrimination and racism continue to be a part of the unbalancing inequality in society and have adversely affected minority populations, and the health care system in general. Analyzing some of the racial disparities in health care among Americans are modifications in both need and access. Minorities are most likely to need health care but are less likely to receive health care services, including proper drug access.

Barriers in health care can lead to disparities in meeting health needs and receiving appropriate care, including preventive services and the prevention of unnecessary hospitalizations (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012). In their 2008 annual report, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality lists several disparities’ in health care. They report that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States

. Addressing health inequalities and health care is not only important from the point of view of social justice, but also to improving the health of all Americans by improving the quality of care and health of their children. People. Moreover, the difference in health is expensive. An analysis estimates that about 30% of total direct medical expenses for blacks, Hispanics and Asians are excessive costs due to inequalities in health. The difference also leads to economic losses due to indirect costs related to loss of productivity and premature mortality. (Artiga,

three subjects that are going to be discussed are sex slaves, health disparities in LGBT

Vulnerable populations is a term that creates an image of distinct and narrow-minded minority though the vulnerability of every individual to illness, disease, and injury has made health insurance necessary and probable for a huge portion of the American population. Vulnerable populations in the United States includes parents and children of immigrants, race/ethnic minorities, the disabled poor, the elderly, foster children, families ineligible for welfare, prison inmates and former offenders, children with special care needs, and residents of rural areas. However, the uninsured population has developed to become one of the vulnerable populations in the United States because of the risks and dangers associated with the lack of health insurance. As a result of the increased of the number of the uninsured, they have a huge financial impact on the vulnerable population.

The disparities are around us every day and unless we educate ourselves and our communities these disparities will continue to wreak havoc on our neighborhoods and in the future, we will just be putting our kids and their kids in a continuing cycle of ignorance when we could have done more if it’s just educating the community we leave in, that alone could be enough to turn the tides in our people favor. In turn, I would hope this paper enlighten you on what is going on in our neighborhood and what we can do to correct this issue to preserve our autonomy. Racial and ethnic health disparities undermine what a healthcare system should stand for. Although the top three causes and seven of the 10 leading causes of death are the same for African Americans and whites, the risk factors and incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates for these diseases and injuries often are greater among blacks than whites (MMWR, 2005). Health disparities refer to differences in disease risks, incidence, morbidity, and mortality but most of all for the sake of this paper unequal access to quality health insurance amongst African American in the United States, which will also go hand and hand with the social and economic disadvantages. The disadvantages of health disparities usually affect people of African American descent who have systemically experienced a greater social and economic obstacle to health care.

The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the healthcare crisis of African Americans within the broader context of American healthcare reform. In order for one to appreciate the depth of necessity for healthcare reform in the African American community, he or she must have a general understanding of the history of healthcare for African Americans. As stated by the institute of medicine in a study assessing the health and mental health disparities of African Americans, “The sources of these disparities are complex, are rooted in historic and contemporary inequities, and involve many participants at several levels, including health systems, their administrative and bureaucratic processes, utilization managers, healthcare professionals, and

Because of the low income from African American are uninsuranced it makes it possible for them to quality for the Medicaid expansion (Medicaid and Medicare 2015). There are a lot of black that are insured by Medicaid while there are some who are adults. The important of African American children having medical insurance such as Medicaid or CHIP. (Medicaid and Medicare 2015). Many children come from families who income is at or under the poverty level (Children n.d.). Due to the fact that these children comes from a family who income makes them eligible to receive Medicaid will make it hard for them to receive necessary services. Children who have Medicaid are entitle to certain medical services such as early,

Women and ethnic minorities have been subjected to many inequalities in the health care system. Though there are efforts to “improving” the system, some women are still under represented. These under representations are caused by inadequate ways to receiving health care and restrictions of things such as abortions. According to the chapter “Navigating the Health Care System” in the text book Our Bodies, Ourselves; the author states, “Unfortunately, health care reform includes burdensome restrictions on insurance coverage of abortion care and unacceptable limits on access to coverage for certain immigrant women” (Norsigian, p.653,

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.

There are many variations that are often hidden within the special population. As of today, the health care system inhabits the margins by exposing impoverished individual. However, the individuals that are part of the special population each carries a unique set of needs. The special population can consist of the uninsured, minorities, children, disabled people, elderly, prisoners, pregnant women, students, and sadly to say veterans and military personnel. Furthermore, foundations of the special population consist of maintaining the self-perceived notion that fairness will apply to all individuals. In addition, it is important within the special population to distinguish the risk factors that are involved in health care. The best way to complete such a task is applying nonprejudice judgments. Individuals that make decisions for the special population often describe the services as insensitive in regards to understanding and accepting integration into health care. According to (Shi & Singh, 2015, p. 417) “to the framework, vulnerability is determined by a convergence of (1) predisposing, (2) enabling, and (3) need characteristics at both individual and ecological (contextual) levels.” Within the paper, I will discuss the factors that are attributed to the special population. The characteristic within the special population poses a weakness that stems from insurance coverage, and access.

Overall, the Health care system is highly susceptible to change in the years to come. However the vulnerable population of the elderly may only get worse. As the cost rises so does the quality which involves the level of care you are able to obtain. The possible solutions I posed to some of these challenges may not be permanent fixes but could help the outcome later in life. Social security may run out, nursing homes may be more expensive and Medicare may not exist later; these are all going to affect this particular vulnerable population as well as many generations to come.