Improving Health Welfare for a Vulnerable Population Community Essay

Evidence-based nursing interventions that will provide quality care to vulnerable populations



There is evidence in innovative health programs whose outcomes are Hospice care with increased patient and caregiver satisfaction costs lower than the conventional care; programs with community-based care reduces the severity of symptoms and results in a rapid functioning; for the frail elderly, it results in improved satisfaction; Patient empowerment, especially with the frail elderly and disabled adults, brings satisfaction and knowledge about their care; for the mentally ill, it lowers the rate of homelessness and for patients with diabetes or congestive heart failure, it decreases the morbidity. Usually, the beneficial effects were limited to the duration of the intervention (Aday, 2001).



There is evidence for enhanced patient satisfaction in the health care that emphasize continual care, multidisciplinary approaches, patient empowerment, and innovative approaches. Health care providers should also practice evidence-based care as it demonstrates the effectiveness. Patients with chronic conditions should be recognized with individual needs. For example, a mentally ill person should be treated innovatively (e.g., medications, a variety of outpatient treatment settings, and effective modes of rehabilitation and support). Also, serious psychiatric conditions should be treated as with inpatient care (Aday, 2001).



Other than the chronic conditions, we should also address other vulnerabilities by designing health care delivery systems. These systems should assess care to the subgroups of the population, including women's health care, geriatric care, and pediatric care. For patients with communication barriers and for those with racial and ethnic minorities, culturally-sensitive health care system should be made available. For patients with the location as barriers, telemedicine technologies, programs with incentives for practicing in rural areas, pre-hospital emergency services are necessary to improve health care delivery (Aday, 2001).



Health care resources that serve vulnerable populations



Health care models that meet needs of the vulnerable population should be provided with additional investment to develop, evaluate, and to support effective health care. There is a lack of the research and innovation in the health care and rehabilitation programs for persons with chronic illness or disabilities. For those who face geographic barriers, avenues of telemedicine, incentives for those who practice in under-served areas and pre-hospital emergency services should be made available care (Aday, 2001).



There is a need to support the development and evaluation of health care quality measures and measurement methods for the vulnerable population. In addition, there should be a focus on the vulnerable population as it may provide new insights on a variety of problems. In the general quality measurement strategies, we should also integrate vulnerable population details to tailor the measurement methods (Aday, 2001).



Promotion of quality health care and payments to health plans should be functionally available to all patients including the vulnerable populations. Individuals with chronic illness or disability should be provided with adjusting payment plans such as Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers in such a manner that they receive incentives for such innovative models. For the safety of these community health care providers, especially, for community health centers, rural health clinics, and academic health centers, risk-adjusted payments are also critical. The Federal government should implement risk-adjusted payments by convening high-level stakeholders. To encourage coordinated care among the providers and the health care service givers, payment systems should be better aligned. They should also…