People with AIDS - a Special Population - Assignment Example

Special Population People with AIDS a Special Population Introduction What is a special or vulnerable population? Many people will ask. They are those people with moderated sovereignty also those people having compromised capabilities to give knowledgeable sanctions. When the term special population comes in mind, I can only think of the physically challenged, socio-economically disadvantaged, children, elderly, mentally disabled, homeless, and the people with AIDS among others. Assessments that have been carried out in the recent past of patients shows clues that designates these groups to be vulnerable populations. Different community settings in various regions have diverse type of populations like the middle-aged, single families, and retirees. Still in these communities there are the vulnerable population integrated throughout (Nyamathi & Koniak, 2007). The discussion will focus on people with AIDS, as a vulnerable population in the society. In this case, it will discuss this group in details, their description, and their social and health problems. It will also focus on a program that will enable this group have a better stay in the society, also focusing on the ethical and legal implications and present strategies developed to diminish the cycle of vulnerability in the society. People Living with AIDS The welfare of the people with AIDS may it be adolescents, elderly and young adults mainly depends on trail of personal developments, economic and social experiences of the society and stressors that may be distinct to the diverse age groups or to communities at different times. Several vulnerable groups in the society fall prey into abuses by the rest of the people may it be physical, sexual, mental, social stigma, and financial, and they can still happen to people with AIDS. They can be susceptible to influences that are devastating to their well fare. There are more reported cases each year of abuse of this population and more that often occurs and not reported. This is evident from the reports produced each year by the health care sector in several countries (Nyamathi & Koniak, 2007). Awareness of the abuses of people with AIDS is essential since this group comprise of the fastest growing population in America among others. Most of the people with AIDS abuses occur within cultural, economic, racial, and ethnic groups regardless of the religion and socioeconomic status. The abuse of the group goes back a long way to the ancient times when they regarded people with AIDS as outcasts and discarded after contracting with HIV (Aday, 2001). Reports published in the year 1970 showed that the abuse of people with AIDS was much more than first believed, this resulted to the People Living with HIV/AIDS Act enacted, and this formed the basis for potential federal programs that protected people with AIDS populations. In the year 1982, the government of California also passed a legislation that required the health care to offer better and affordable services to people with AIDS population (Aday, 2001). People with AIDS population have risk factors that come with age and other factors, on the other hand, they can affect a person’s health like; increased incidence of diseases, decreased mobility, financial decline, nutritional needs, social isolation and a host of AIDS related illness and changes that affect this vulnerable population. According to Nyamathi & Koniak (2007), this population has had major emotional losses such as of a home, spouse, and other changes that affect their past lives and the views of their own self. This population is likely to suffer from discrimination, social isolation, abuse, and diseases if there are no people to support them such as healthcare facilities, friends, institution for the people with AIDS, relatives among others. Nevertheless, there is lack of resources that help them deal or manage these issues; these risk factors can have an effect on one’s quality of life while they can manage or prevent these risks with enough resources at their disposal. The key issue is to provide optimum care to the vulnerable population by recognizing the main risk factors and tailoring healthcare and quality education towards people with AIDS patients (Aday, 2001). Therefore, it is essential to recognize these risks and concentrate on them while also acknowledging biases. Research done recently identified different risks and challenges that this vulnerable population face and the important solutions always identified are the significance of offering better healthcare, resources, and education for this population (Nyamathi & Koniak, 2007). It is obvious that one’s quality of life is a complicated idea solely not based on the number of years some has lived. The treatment the health facilities offer to the other citizens should be equal to the services offered to people with AIDS. Recommendations are that provision of the best education be available by the healthcare providers to the people with AIDS population, at the same time as they also identify resources that can help the patients when they are out of the healthcare facilities continue to gain support by the health sector in America. This will help this population in curbing the barriers they face such as financial challenges and discrimination as they feel part of the society. This notion and practice need advocacy to all healthcare providers also quality and appropriate care to the people with AIDS and this will result to overall health to the people with AIDS population thus living a healthy and gratifying life. The proposed program for people with AIDs This section will provide the continuum of care level of the proposed program. In this case, it will entail of the preventive, treatment and the long-term strategies in the program. It will also comprise of the delivery modes of the health services recommended in the program. United States has a small number of countries that are industrialized that do not have a general healthcare system. People can obtain Health insurance in many ways; through employers and others purchase it individually. The United States bureau reports that 60.4% of the population is covered by employment-based insurance, 26.6% purchase insurance individually and the rest have no health insurance (Lindsay, Reddy, 2002). The program that I would suggest for the vulnerable population of people with AIDS is health insurance that the government covers. This will help the financially disabled to access health facilities easily since the health insurance will cover for their medical costs and access to ARVs. Though the government has invested largely in the healthcare sector, it has not gone to an extent of providing insurance covers to the people with AIDS who cannot afford the services. The government should transfer funds to cover this program for individuals not covered to purchase health insurance. There are changes that have occurred in the health sector and what conditions them is the change of attitude to healthcare providers to people with AIDS population. Recommendations are that the private sector to include healthcare insurance in the social package that they offer to their employees. This will help them cover their health services financially once they want access to health facilities for their drugs. American government should implement this program in companies that withdraw the health insurance cover once they discover a person has contracted the virus. These changes can gradually result to improvement of health for people with AIDS population since they have reduced the employment-based plan of funding (Nyamathi & Koniak, 2007). The largest percentage of general taxes funds most government programs like the state funded Medicaid and the federal government on the other hand funds the Medicare health insurance (Katz, Mezey & Kapp, 2004). These programs ensure that health professionals provide citizens with the best healthcare units. The proposed program also covers the compulsory healthcare insurance. Most of the European countries have implemented the this program and executing it in America that has a well established network of private health insurance, will enable better and long-term services to people with AIDS by choosing suitable insurance plan that will cover their illness. At the time, European countries implemented the program; voluntary health insurance met a lot of rejection from the American physicians, who claimed that it would ruin their incomes (Association of Nurses in AIDS Care & American Nurses Association, 2007). According to the American Medical Association, nationalizing the healthcare system would cater for a large number of people with AIDS population once the government implements the program (Lindsay, Reddy, 2002). Medicare has become the first program that covers people with AIDS, but has had limited resources to cover these population but once the government nationalizes the program, investments will be injected to the sector to cover the increasing rate of health care receivers. Though constructing the system with a sole payer will require much effort and time, it will be beneficial in the end to this vulnerable population in the country. The government should set laws and policies that restrict the private sector, which control the largest healthcare system, from making fierce treatment to their patients once the government implements the system. This is because this program will result to them loosing income but in turn, it will provide the required medical help to all citizens including people with AIDS population in the country (Katz, Mezey & Kapp, 2004). Multidisciplinary approach Through this improvement of health insurance covers, there can be improvement of quality of care to people with AIDS and their mortality. Multidisciplinary is where several professional from different department come together to find a solution or provide quality service and this provides better care more than individual plan where one professional interact with a patient (Van, 2008). In the effort to provide efficient and quality care to people with AIDS, the United State government should incorporate multidisciplinary approach in healthcare facilities. When the people with AIDS afford health insurance covers and when on the other hand the implementation of this approach is proper, there will be a positive measurable outcomes in well being and health of people with AIDS population (Van, 2008). With the diverse groups of experts, such as mental health providers, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, dieticians, social services and health educators, is more certain that this program will meet the needs of this population since the patient is the most important member of that approach. Through the introduction of government health insurance cover, there can be improvement of quality care in the residential care facilities and local health facilities since it will also comprise of a multidisciplinary approach because the patient can afford the services. There is greater possibility that the delivery of services in accordance to the national standards and clinical practice guidelines will increase thus giving quality care (Van, 2008). Legal and ethical requirements Ethical issues have in the past and presently pervaded our society. For people with AIDS, there is a great significance in ethical issues since they revolve around these population who are vulnerable than the rest of the citizens. It is for these reasons that these population has been in most cases taken advantage of by people whom people with AIDS have mislaid their trust. This program will also incorporate an ethical framework that discusses the ethical issues that are likely to arise when providing care to the people with AIDS. To give the highest quality of care to people with AIDS, the entire team of professionals needs to collaborate and provide loving, proper care to enhance their quality of life and happiness (Association of Nurses in AIDS Care & American Nurses Association, 2007). Code of ethics, which is a set of commitment for health providers, should be insisted on the professionals so that they can provide ethical treatment to their patients since it gives clear primary values, goals and obligations of their profession. The federal law and the state law showed considerable concerns in the effects that discrimination and social stigma have on people with AIDS. This was by passing the legislation and making the United States Department of Health and Human services give set of laws that protect the quality of care that they offer to people with AIDS population (Association of Nurses in AIDS Care & American Nurses Association, 2007). Conclusion With the changes in health insurance cover and education by the government to people with AIDS population, these previous assumptions and stereotypes will change. Medical and technological advances has in the recent past led to longer lives of quality lives and also gives the society a culture that emphasis quality of life and cerebration of these population in any circumstances. Through nationalizing health insurance, government covering and multidisciplinary approach, the quality of life for people with AIDS will improved. The societal government should implement these systems and it will help people with AIDS have access to better healthcare services from the professionals. References Aday, L. A. (2001). At Risk in America: The Health and Health Care Needs of Vulnerable Populations in the United States. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, & American Nurses Association. (2007). HIV/AIDS nursing: Scope and standards of practice. Silver Spring, Md: Nursesbooks.org. Katz, P. R., Mezey, M. D., & Kapp, M. B. (2004). Vulnerable populations in the long term care continuum. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Co Lindsay T, Reddy P (2002). Evaluating Information, Education andCommunication Approaches and Reviewing Knowledge, Attitudes andBelieves to AIDS.Cambridge: Cambridge University Publishers. Nyamathi, A., & Koniak, D. (2007). Vulnerable populations. New York: Springer Pub Co. Van, D. A. C. (2008). HIVAIDS care & counselling: A multidisciplinary approach. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa. Read More