Healthcare Access to Rural Americans - Essay Example

Policy Paper: Healthcare Access to Rural Americans Introduction Healthcare and wellness are to issues that lie at the heart of the existence of humankind. The society can only function effectively when its members are healthy. Yet, rural Americans for a long time have found it difficult to access this important commodity (Ricketts, 27). The health centers and healthcare providers in rural America are not adequate to handle the exploding healthcare needs of individuals and families. If something is not done urgently, the situation will deteriorate and affect the rural societies in ways that will be detrimental to the whole country. It is on the basis of this background that I will discuss the need for the states and federal governments to adopt effective policies to ensure the rural Americans get medical care cheaply and conveniently. Problem Statement Access to quality medical care should be a fundamental right of every American citizen. The denial of this right is a matter of social justice and a serious abuse of human rights. For a long time, medical centers have been concentrated in urban areas, towns and cities of America. The rural people find it difficult to access and use the services of medical practitioners and healthcare facilities not because they do not want to, but because the facilities are located far away from their rich. Families have lost loved ones to conditions that could have otherwise been contained, had they access medical care in time (Ricketts, 17). Moreover, emergency situations cannot be handled due to the problems associated with distances and the expenses involved in access of quality. It is saddening that most insurance companies’ headquarters are also located in urban centers, far away from the reach of the rural people. Access to quality, affordable medical care is importance for a society that wants its members to have social happiness and individual well being. The state and federal authorities must, therefore, wake up to the realization that rural Americans, like the urban dwellers need convenient access to quality healthcare (Mason, 10). Objectives The objectives of this study include the following: To assess the current condition of healthcare access to rural Americans To investigate the causes of poor access to healthcare in Rural America To reinforce the need to provide quality and affordable healthcare to all Americans To find out the role of multidisciplinary members in providing access to quality healthcare to rural Americans To analyse various options available in the provision of healthcare to rural Americans as a matter of policy. To recommend ways of enhancing access to affordable healthcare without interfering with the quality. The current Condition of Healthcare Access It is worth noting that access to healthcare to the rural Americans is not encouraging. The poor access can be attributed to a number of factors. One of these factors is lack of awareness among some rural Americans on their rights to access quality and affordable medical healthcare. The state and federal governments have also been reluctant to invest in the medical facilities in rural areas. Furthermore, the insurance companies have a tendency of shying from providing medical insurance services to the rural populations of America. Options Tackling the healthcare access challenges facing the rural Americans can be done by taking deliberate steps to first sensitise them on the need to be conscious of their health above everything else. This is because staying healthy is an individual initiative. After the sensitization of the rural American communities, the federal and national governments must come up with viable and realistic options to help this significant component of the society (Thompson and Sparks, 11). One option is to build more health facilities in the rural areas to make it easy and convenient for the rural members to access the services quickly. There is also the need to open many health colleges and schools in the rural areas to empower many students in those areas pursue courses in medicine and health sciences (Kronenfeld et al, 73). Another option is to encourage private individuals and organizations to contribute towards a healthy course of providing access to healthcare to a suffering society. The federal and state governments need to enact legislations favouring accessible and affordable healthcare to the rural communities. There should also be training of more healthcare practitioners and employing them in rural areas to provide quality care to the rural community patients. The health facilities in rural areas need to be well equipped with modern facilities and technologies to help diagnose patients’ conditions accurately, effectively, efficiently and quickly (Kronenfeld et al, 73). While considering these options, the quality of care should not be compromised. Healthcare can be made affordable and accessible to the rural Americans without necessarily interfering with the quality. Analysis of the Options Legislations will give the policies the legal backing it requires in order to be implemented fully by the state and federal agencies. As such, it is what the rural Americans need to remain healthy and realize their dreams of accessing healthcare easily and conveniently. Private individuals and organizations can also play the role through providing funds and creating awareness among the rural communities on the need to demand accessible health care since it is a matter of human rights and development (Warden and Griffith, 228). Employing more healthcare practitioners will empower the rural community to have a high number of providers. Moreover, many of them will have the heart to go back and work in their rural communities and assist a great deal. Equipping the rural health facilities with healthcare facilities is important in that it will avoid the many referrals to equipped medical facilities in urban areas (Kronenfeld et al, 77).. Insurers should not abandon the rural areas, but invest in its potential and provide them with affordable medical covers to help in facilitating their access to healthcare. Recommendations There is need to have a rural medical access policy that is conscious of the needs and financial status of the rural population. In the policy, the state and federal governments should be compelled to subsidize on the health care facilities in the rural populations. The government must ensure the life of its citizens is healthy. The access policy favors construction of more health facilities in rural areas and equipping them with drugs and other technological resources. The state and federal government should offer friendly licence policies to insurers wishing to provide the rural communities with medical access services. The media should wake up to its role of sensitizing the rural populations on their needs to demand access to medical care. Accessible and affordable healthcare is a right of every American regardless of location or economic status. It is a matter of social justice that all the multi-disciplinary team members in hospitals and government must provide as a matter of human rights. Works Cited Kronenfeld, Jennie J, and Michael R. Kronenfeld. Healthcare Reform in America: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Print. Mason, D. J., Leavitt, J. K., & Chaffee, M. W. (2014). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care. Ricketts, Thomas C. Rural Health in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Internet resource Thomson,N.M, Bevan.J.L, and Sparks,L .(2010).Healthcare reform information-seeking: relationships with Uncertainty, Discrepancy, and Health Self-efficacy.Journal of Communication in Healthcare. 5(1), p. 56-66 Warden, G. L., and Griffith, J. R.. Ensuring Management Excellence in the Healthcare system. Journal of Healthcare Management/American College of Healthcare Executives,  2012 46(4), 228-237. Read More