Healthcare for the Underprivileged
More and more people are living longer lives today. Thank you to advancement in medicine and progress with healthcare. However, not all people enjoy the advantages and benefits of having easy access to healthcare. Is healthcare a privilege? Is healthcare an entitlement? Why is there a healthcare disparity between the disadvantaged and the upper class? These are some of the things we will consider and reflect on. We will take a look at the impact of being underprivileged in a society that wants to eliminate the healthcare disparity on socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity.
Population
The homeless population in any community suffers from considerable unmet healthcare needs. Baggett, O’Connell, Singer and Rigotti (2010) conducted a research using a national sample to assess prevalence of unmet healthcare needs for the homeless. Their results showed considerable needs were not met for different types of healthcare.
Steps to expand the healthcare system may have enhanced healthcare coverage, however, there are other distinct challenges specific to the homeless that must be addressed. The homeless …show more content…
The homeless have inadequate access to housing, which correlates to their mental and physical conditions. The lack of proper hygiene and nutrition and a high incidence of substance misuse and sexual health problems contribute to infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis. There are also other health problems that correlate to their housing and lifestyle. This varies from cardiovascular health problems to hypothermia (Power et al., 1999). This article from Power et al. (1999) is beneficial as they include the assessment needs of the homeless population and the appropriate health promotion needed to address the issues presented. What lacks in this article is a research study to summarize and measure how effective the planned health promotion
More and more people are living longer lives today. Thank you to advancement in medicine and progress with healthcare. However, not all people enjoy the advantages and benefits of having easy access to healthcare. Is healthcare a privilege? Is healthcare an entitlement? Why is there a healthcare disparity between the disadvantaged and the upper class? These are some of the things we will consider and reflect on. We will take a look at the impact of being underprivileged in a society that wants to eliminate the healthcare disparity on socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity.
Population
The homeless population in any community suffers from considerable unmet healthcare needs. Baggett, O’Connell, Singer and Rigotti (2010) conducted a research using a national sample to assess prevalence of unmet healthcare needs for the homeless. Their results showed considerable needs were not met for different types of healthcare.
Steps to expand the healthcare system may have enhanced healthcare coverage, however, there are other distinct challenges specific to the homeless that must be addressed. The homeless …show more content…
The homeless have inadequate access to housing, which correlates to their mental and physical conditions. The lack of proper hygiene and nutrition and a high incidence of substance misuse and sexual health problems contribute to infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis. There are also other health problems that correlate to their housing and lifestyle. This varies from cardiovascular health problems to hypothermia (Power et al., 1999). This article from Power et al. (1999) is beneficial as they include the assessment needs of the homeless population and the appropriate health promotion needed to address the issues presented. What lacks in this article is a research study to summarize and measure how effective the planned health promotion