Assessing Areas of Greatest Need in the Community

Assessing Areas of Greatest Need in the Community
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Institution
As indicated in the preceding paper, 29.7 million non-elderly Americans did not have health coverage as of 2018 CITATION Tol19 \l 2057 ( Tolbert, Orgera, Singer, & Damico, 2019). The population is considered to be underserved because they do not have access to a reliable and efficient health care for a variety of political, economic, and social reasons. The Health resources and Services Administration defines underserved population/areas as areas with few primary care givers, high poverty, high elderly population, and high infant mortality CITATION HRS20 \l 2057 (HRSA, 2020). The underserved population consists of the economically disadvantaged, low-income children, the homeless, the elderly, racial & ethnic minorities, the uninsured, rural residents, and people living with HIV, chronic diseases, and mental health problems CITATION AJM06 \l 2057 (AJMC, 2006). This paper seeks to assess the areas of greatest need in the underserved communities.
The health domains of the underserved population are in three categories. These psychological, social, and physical. People suffering from chronic mental illnesses are categorized in this domain. Some of these conditions include bipolar disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia CITATION Sha15 \l 2057 (Shah, Luo, & Winterbauer, 2015). Moreover, this domain consists of people with a history of substance and/or alcohol abuse, homeless, and those with suicidal thoughts CITATION Van15 \l 2057 (VanderWielen, et al., 2015). In this aspect, the family discussed in the preceding paper (Family 2 henceforth) is underserved because the parents and the daughter have a history of substance abuse. The physical domain consists of people with physical health conditions. These include people living with HIV, chronically ill, the disabled, and high-risk mothers and infants CITATION AJM06 \l 2057 (AJMC, 2006).
In this aspect, Family 2 is underserved because both parents are obese and hypertensive while the mother has been diagnosed with diabetes. The father is also suffering liver ailments. The youngest child, a 14 years old son is asthmatic. Lastly, the social domain consists of the section of the population living in abusive or neglecting families, refugees, immigrants, and the homeless CITATION AJM06 \l 2057 (AJMC, 2006). In family 2, a history of substance abuse is informative because it paints a picture of the environment in which the two children were raised. With the 18 years old daughter having undergone two abortions, it suggests neglect from the parents. According to Garwood et al, CITATION Gar15 \n \t \l 2057 (2015), parental neglect and teenage pregnancy are closely correlated. Family 2 is a moderate-income family that depends on minimal health insurance. Thus, this family is financially disadvantaged.
The underserved population face many challenges in accessing care in the community. These challenges consist of factors that are intertwined into a complex political and social problem in the United States. Factors such as racial discrimination, immigrant policies, and poverty has formed a bedrock of difficulties for these ...