Rural Healthcare Quality & Accessibility: Population-Centered Policies Essay

Formulation and implementation of healthcare policies aimed at enhancing the quality and accessibility of healthcare services in rural areas are of great importance. The primary intent of this is to ensure that population health focuses on the improvement of the health of communities within the scope of all ages, with the underlying aim being highlighting the social determinants of health. Also, the need for population-centered healthcare policies is vital because the government spends heavily on health. Still, there are no notable value desired outcomes in the form of the impact on general health. Besides, the incentives allocated towards offering health care services have poor alignment, which hinders their ability to attain the expected outcomes. Thus, interventions designed to regulate and enhance population health are fundamental in addressing the country's prevailing health concerns. Most of the caregivers have their focus on just taking care of the patients.

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In Sentinel town, many immigrants who are of Spanish origin do not have proper health insurance cover and immunization, which increases the cost they incur when seeking health care attendance. Besides, this population comprises mainly the elderly, who have various health issues that usually affect aging. More so, lack of immunization increases their susceptibility to most chronic illnesses (Finn, 2011). Some of the concerns faced by this population are the widespread escalation of poor management of chronic diseases, unhealthy behaviors, and uncoordinated care, which have contributed to the high costs of health and reduced accessibility of wellness and evidence-based prevention mechanisms. These issues have prompted the need for population-focused health interventions. Some of the mechanisms that would enhance the quality of health are healthy lifestyle behaviors, boosting the people's socio-economic capabilities, and maintaining healthy relationships between the community members and health care providers and other vital stakeholders.

Lack of proper health insurance cover and immunization among the immigrants has reduced their access to health care. Besides, they cannot get quality care due to the high costs involved. Seeking treatment and medication from health institutions is expensive, and most rural people have low economic power. The rate of poverty is high in this population, and financial capability is low as most of them cannot afford the regular daily meals. Thus, health care is not a priority (White, 2013). More so, most of the health facilities in rural areas are poorly developed where they lack the essential equipment and adequate medication. In some cases, some experience understaffing has resulted in the healthcare givers working for long hours, which lessens the quality of service delivery. Such occurrences result from the government failing to prioritize health care in the rural regions whereby the national resources allocated cannot meet the people's requirements. Besides, the health care policies formulated and executed by the government tend to sideline the rural areas and favor the urban sectors.

Health behaviors are another concern affecting this population as most of the people do not take a balanced diet, and there are little physical activities. Besides, increased alcohol consumption and usage of tobacco and drugs are some of the unhealthy lifestyle behaviors on the rise in this rural setting. These behaviors are detrimental to a person's health as they put them at risk of contracting several diseases such as liver and lung cancer, among other ailments (White, 2013). More so, poor feeding habits that do not adhere to the dietary requirements usually lower the immunity of a person, increasing the probability of various infections.

Additionally, social and economic aspects such as employment, family and social support, education, and income levels, impact the type and quality of healthcare services. The population under study comprises mainly older people who are not working as most of them are of retirement age. Besides, they are weak in body strength, and they cannot handle the heavy tasks at home and the community at large. Also, most immigrants have little education, as most of them fail to advance and grow in their careers due to a lack of funds. From the analysis, a good number of them perform the simple casual jobs where they get few funds to cater to their daily needs, and at times, they may lack. Besides, racial segregation occurs in some parts of the rural community. The minority population, such as Spaniards, has minimal access to the government's funds as a relief to the less privileged in the community (Stanhope et al., 2019). there are limited community safety and family and social support, whereby most of the elderly population live on their own without having family members take care of them. Thus, it is difficult for them to undertake most of the primary activities on their own.

For elderly immigrants living in urban areas, some may have unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as intake of large amounts of calories and fats, putting them at risk of getting cardiovascular ailments. Besides, such feeding habits may cause obesity, which further escalates the health risks of these ailments. The best health intervention for this is creating a balanced diet feeding plan for these people and encouraging them to engage in physical activities. The elderly in the urban setting may receive the proper social support as caregiving institutions are for the elderly. Most families take their aging family members to these facilities or hire a caregiver at home. Thus, they lessen the chances of the aged person getting into accidents when left alone. In rural areas, most immigrants lack the required legal documentation, which inhibits their eligibility for benefits from the government, such as those given by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (Stanhope et al., 2019). In the urban setting, the same population may not face racism and discrimination. Extensive awareness and several organizations advocate for equality and equity and are against the prejudice directed towards the minority groups.

Another technique would be regulating the environmental aspects such as the quality of air and water, proper housing, as well as boosting the socio-economic factors that determine the level of income, level of education, and employment of the people. These social aspects determine people's capability to afford health care, either preventive, chronic, acute, or end-of-life care (Rubenfeld & Scheffer, 2015). most of the elderly immigrants have low levels of education, and they face language barriers, which implies that they do not acquire and comprehend health promotion information offered to them. Creating strong linkages in the rural community between health care providers, local public health agencies, social service providers, learning institutions, and employers is crucial in enhancing population health by ensuring that allocation of resources is in line with the set objectives.

The limitation to access quality health care due to lack of insurance and funds results in this population having an increase in the number of mismanaged chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, the mortality rates increase among the elderly immigrants in the rural sector of Sentinel town. Also, the people living in this sector have inadequate access to self-care and health promotion mechanisms (White, 2013). For the same population in the urban setting, there is sufficient information from the media and other health groups who focus on creating awareness of the ailments, causes, prevention, curative and managing techniques. Besides, the fact that the rural health facilities are poorly equipped contributes to the mismanagement of the chronic diseases, unlike the urban sectors where most health facilities have adequate facilitation in terms of equipment, medication, and qualified personnel.

The government and national health policymakers should design a framework that encompasses long-term sustainable policies and allocates adequate resources to facilitate the attainment of the set health goals (Rubenfeld & Scheffer, 2015). The provision of quality healthcare requires upgrading the health institutions and equipping them with the proper equipment and medication. Also, the healthcare agencies should encourage the adoption of electronic health record systems in the hospitals to ensure that the medical practitioners keep proper and retrieval records of the patients for ease of evaluating their medical history. Such a record-keeping system facilitates the offering of the right treatment. An appropriate mechanism of managing chronic diseases in rural areas is vital in lessening the mortality rate. The substantial health disparities between the rural and urban sectors require that all the stakeholders involved in health care delivery focus on quality healthcare by formulating best practices that enhance health equity (Finn, 2011).

Conclusion

All in all, the adoption of health promotion and disease prevention interventions among elderly immigrants in Sentinel Town is essential in enhancing the quality and accessibility of health care. One of the mechanisms through which the stakeholders may achieve this is via communication through public health campaigns, mass media, or health fairs. Passing of information to the right party aids in lessening the prevalence of illnesses. Secondly, mechanisms such as training on health education and the use of support groups will augment the population's knowledge base and enable their behavior change. Thirdly, the government and all the health agencies involved in the formulation of policies should prioritize the allocation of resources in the rural areas. They can improve the legislation by ensuring that the resources allocated are adequate for achieving the set value-desired goals. Also, they must make the environment suitable for the people to make healthy decisions, for instance, by ensuring the quality of air and water and proper housing.

References

Finn, P. (2011). Critical thinking: Knowledge and skills for evidence-based practice, Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (42), 69–72.

Rubenfeld, M. G., & Scheffer, B.K. (2015). Critical thinking TACTICS for nurses: Achieving the IOM competencies (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Stanhope, M., Faan, R. D., Lancaster, J., & Faan, R. P. (2019). Public Health Nursing E-Book: Population-Centered Health Care in the Community. Elsevier Health Sciences.

White, D. (2013). Development of a rural health framework: Implications for program service planning and delivery. Healthcare Policy, 8(3), 27.