People with Chronic Conditions in Missouri - Research Paper Example

 Vulnerable Population: People with Chronic Conditions Focusing on Diabetes in Missouri Insert Customer Name Insert student name Insert Course Name and Number Insert Instructor’s Name 10 September 2012 Introduction Every society has a group of individuals who have higher chances of contracting health related problems. This kind of people are said to be vulnerable to the identified health care issues and they make up what is called vulnerable populations. According to Chesney & Anderson (2011), a vulnerable population is a group of people that might have a higher risk of developing health care problems compared to other groups of people in a community. The high risk might be contributed by their social-cultural status, inaccessibility to economic resources, and personal characteristics. This paper identifies a vulnerable population in Missouri and discusses the statistical information about the population. The thesis statement of this paper is that identifying and implementing a program that improves provision of health care services to the identified vulnerable population could be necessary. According to Shi & Stevens (2010), vulnerable population in the United States is given various terms like disadvantaged, underprivileged, medically underserved, poverty stricken, distressed populations, and the under classes. However, all these terms describe the key characteristics of such kind of people. The vulnerable population identified for this research is the group of African American people in the state of Missouri. This people have been proven to have a high susceptibility to chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. This particular case focuses on the susceptibility of this group to diabetes that has been a threat to the lives of people living in the state of Missouri. The reason why the identified group of people is more vulnerable could be indicated by their characteristics. These are properties like their population, economic status, social aspects, and so on. This is revealed by data that might be obtained from county or state health departments or other government agencies. The data could provide statistical information that could be used to indicate the major characteristic of this identified group of people. This could indicate why they are regarded as a vulnerable population. Vulnerable population has a higher chance of contracting the health care problem identified, thus, requiring intervention action to protect them from the problem. County and state departments, as well as other government agencies, provide statistical information about the vulnerable population selected for this research. One type of the information is the size of the population compared to the overall population in the state or various identified counties. African Americans in the state of Missouri make up about 11.7 percent of the total population (USCB, 2012). This is a small percentage compared to the percentage of the whites in this state. Therefore, African Americans are a minority group in the state of Missouri. However, the percent of African Americans is far much greater than the percentage of other minority groups, like the Asian Americans and the Hispanic Americans. This makes any health issues that affect this group of people to affect a significant part of the population of this state. The black people in this state range from low-level workers to firm owners. This indicates a very big difference in the economic status of the black people living in this state. According to USCB (2012), the African Americans own only 4.9 percent of the total firms in this state. This reveals that the majority of the African Americans living in this state are employees of these firms or other firms owned by the white Americans. State of Missouri charges very high taxes on employees. As a result, majority of them earns very little salaries. Moreover, the prices of products in this state are high due to tax charged on properties. This makes the dollar figures of the African Americans living in this state to be low compared to their white counterparts. As a result, majority of the black people in this state have low standards of living. African American population is scattered throughout the state of Missouri. Some areas in this state have higher population density of the black people than others. The areas in this state with highest populations of African Americans are Bootheel, St. Louis City, and Kansas City. Population of African American in Bootheel area is around 12 percent distributed within the three counties in the area (MDHSS, 2012). According to MDHSS (2012), around 48 percent of the people found in St. Louis City are African Americans. This is actually the geographical area with the highest number of African American people. The geographical area around Kansas City also has a high population of black people. In this area, African Americans make about 31 percent of the total population. Therefore, like in the other two areas, the size of the vulnerable population identified for this research is large in Kansas City. The population of people in the state of Missouri varies according to ages regardless of the races. According to USCB (2012), the ages with high population are between 45 to 85 years and the ages below 10 years. This population distribution is the same in white people, Hispanic people, Asians, and African Americans. Generally, people within these age brackets have high chances of contracting chronic diseases like the diabetes regardless of their race. However, the African Americans and other marginalized group within this age bracket have a higher chance of contracting diabetes compared to their white counterparts. This indicates that population of the vulnerable people in this state is actually very high, thus, calling for an immediate action. A major goal of the identified population is to reduce the effects of chronic diseases like diabetes, hearts disease, and cancer among them. According to JCDHT (2010), chronic diseases cause seven out of ten deaths occurring in Missouri annually. Majority of these deaths occurs to the members of the vulnerable population identified in this paper. As a result, the individuals in this population should know how to fight the effects of such diseases using the resources available. Moreover, they need to understand the steps that they can take to reduce their chances of contracting such diseases. This could only be achieved through passing necessary information on avoiding and controlling chronic illness prevalent in this population. Chronic illnesses that are common in the identified group of people are controllable, as well as avoidable, by adapting a healthy living. Healthy living is characterized by good eating habits and exercising. However, majority of people in this population do not understand what comprises a good eating habit. Moreover, majority of them believe that good eating habits are expensive and, thus, beyond their means. This makes these individuals not to practice the recommended eating habits in their lives. As a result, they increase their vulnerability to chronic illnesses. However, there are good eating habits that are affordable and could be practiced by individuals regardless of their economic status. Information on such habits is what should be provided to individuals in this population. According to CDC (2011), in 2009 22.9 percent of adults aged 65 and older were obesity prevalence due to physical functioning and physical well-being. Therefore, we could conclude that lack of physical exercises is a major cause of chronic illnesses. Moreover, chronic illnesses are common among the obese and the overweight individuals. This indicates that the vulnerability of the identified population to chronic illnesses like diabetes could be greatly reduced if the members of the population are encouraged to engage in physical activities. Information about the essentials of physical exercises would be crucial in achieving this goal among the identified individuals. In addition, the information about physical exercises that do not require much time would be essentials, especially to individuals who do not have time for other types of physical activities. Achievement of the goal identified above required both resources and time. To utilize resources and time maximally in the efforts to achieve this goal, a model program is required. For this particular case, the model that would be used to provide information to the vulnerable population will consist of four major components. The components would include news articles by organizations, chronic illnesses campaigns, chronic illnesses education, and chronic illnesses testing and counseling. Each of these components would be appropriate for a particular situation. To maximize utilization of resources the components of the program would need to be employed only on their most appropriate situations. Medical professionals will undertake chronic illness education and chronic illness testing and counseling. These components would be administered mainly to parents with young children below the age of ten years and adults who would be visiting health care centers. For the adults, the components would be administered to them regardless of whether the persons would be visiting the health center for a chronic illness or just any other illness. These two components could only be administered to individuals who would have attended the health care centers located within this state who belong to our identified vulnerable population. On the other hand, the distribution of articles about chronic illness and the campaigns would be administered by the community organizations. However, medical professions must write the content of the articles distributed to individuals as well as those used during the campaigns. This could ensure that the individuals in the identified population are provided with adequate and reliable information. A partnership of the organizations involved in administering the components of this program is essential in the achievement of the identified goal. In this case, the partnership would be between the medical professional organizations, the public health and public safety organizations. The medical professional organization would be ensuring that the medical professionals would be providing the required services to the identified individuals. Moreover, they would be ensuring that the professionals do not violate the ethics of the profession when administering the services. The public community organization would be mobilizing the identified individuals so that the program could be administered to them. In addition, they would be the major distributors of the articles designed for the people in the identified populations. Public safety organizations would be ensuring that safety standards are met by all the other organizations involved in the program. Individual in the identified vulnerable population spend much of their incomes on health care services related to the discussed chronic illness. Majority of them do not have insurance cover, thus, relying on their earnings to pay for medical bills. Although not every person in this population has a chronic disease, majority of them are indirectly affected through having a relative or friend that is affected by such illness. Moreover, their chance of contracting the disease is high because of their living conditions and other factors in their population. As a result, these people would be spending most of their incomes on health care issues caused by the discussed chronic illnesses. However, successful implementation of the health care program identified above is likely to reduce vulnerability of the African Americans to chronic diseases like diabetes. This would reduce the cash spend on the medical services by the people belonging to the identified vulnerable population. Moreover, the cost incurred by the government to provide health care services related to diabetes to the identified population would be decreased. The generalized cost estimate of health care dollar saved by the identified program would be significant. It is estimated that the program will save more than a half of the health care dollar spent on health care services by individuals and the government. Both the states and the federal governments generate great revenues from medical services and other closely related services. Some of these resources are channeled to other less important programs. These revenues could yield better outcomes if channeled towards the program identified in this research. Therefore, government funding is one of the potential sources of monetary sponsorship to the program implementation. Government funding could be provided in large amounts. This makes them to be very effective, especially for the programs that require large amounts of funds. The program identified in this research is a large program that spans across several counties in the state of Missouri. As result, it requires large funding for it to be effectively implemented. This makes the government funding to be one of the most appropriate sources of monetary sponsorship. Another potential source of funds for this program is the funds from donors and well-wishers. The program designed in this research paper represents the interest of one of the marginalized societies in the United States. As a result, several well-wishers and donors would be willing to commit their funds to such a program because of the impact it could have to the community living in the identified places. Donors and well-wishers funding is not paid back. Moreover, it brings in other stakeholders in the process of program implementation. As a result, it could result to a great improvement in the implementation of the program identified in this paper. Therefore, this source of funding would be an appropriate source of funding for the program implementation. Conclusion Identification and implementation of a health services information-providing program would greatly reduce the vulnerability of the African Americans living in Missouri to chronic illnesses like diabetes. The identified vulnerable population requires information about healthy eating habits and exercises. This information would help them to improve their ways of living, thus, minimizing their exposure to chronic illnesses. To achieve this, a program needs to be designed and implemented. The program identified in this paper involves four components. These components are articles distribution, chronic illness campaign, chronic illnesses education, and chronic illnesses testing and counseling. The program would save more than a half of the health care dollar spent by individuals and government in the provision of health care services. However, the program is large thus requiring great funding where potential funding bodies have been identified as the government, donors, and well-wishers. References CDC. (2011). Enhancing Use of Clinical Preventive Services among Older Adults. Retrieved 9 September 2012 from: http://www.cdc.gov/features/preventiveservices/clinical_preventive_services_closing_the_gap_report.pdf Chesnay, M. D., & Anderson, B. A. (2011). Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspective in Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Ltd. JCDH. (2010). Chronic Diseases. Retrieved 9 September 2012 from: http://health.jaspercounty.org/news/newsletters/Chronic_Disease_Newsletter_June_2010.pdf MDHSS. (2010). African Americans and Asthma in Missouri. Retrieved 9 September 2012 from: http://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/chronic/asthma/pdf/AA.pdf Shi, L., & Stevens, G. D. (2010). Vulnerable Populations in the United States. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishing Ltd. USCB. (2012). State & County Quick Facts. Retrieved 9 September 2012 from: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29000.html Read More