Volunteering in a Physical Therapy Clinic in an Underprivileged Part of Los Angeles

Describe your experience volunteering in a community where location or socioeconomics limit access to health care, food, housing, or social services.

During my attachment, I worked as a volunteer in a physical therapy clinic that serves a low-income community in Santa Clara, Los Angeles. The exercise targeted an average of 3000 people who suffer from severe health conditions such as arthritis, concussions, carpal tunnel syndrome, vertigo, chronic pain syndrome, back pains, bursitis, together with workplace injuries. Most of the unfortunate people in that community suffered from the conditions for a prolonged period without receiving propped health care. They have imitated access to socioeconomics essentials such as proper health care, housing, food, and social services. Lack of these essentials deteriorates their social and health condition. The goal of the community health worker is to promote the well-being of the underprivileged community. The volunteering community program one week and took a 2-weeks break before resuming for another two weeks to check-up program to assess how patients were recuperating to the prescribed treatment plans. A productive and profession community health volunteers integrates the nurses, physicians as well as other clinical staffs. Community health volunteers work toward assisting in minimizing the caseload of the reduced number of rural healthcare professionals.

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The volunteering team established a connection between the vulnerable community and the healthcare system, as well as managing care and care transitions. The medical unit was equipped with the skills, knowledge, experience and healthcare equipment that will restore the clients' health status to full and abled functionality. The process began with collecting information about the gender, age, social status and health condition of the clients. Then the clients were diagnosed before prescribed for different remedies that will soothe the pains. The remedies ranged from physiotherapy, medicines and physical exercises. The health progress of the clients was monitored for 2 weeks to assess their progress.

Additionally, we conducted a sensitization program. It aimed to educate the health system providers together with the stakeholders on the community health needs. The main agenda was to enlighten them on issues related to physical exercise, disease prevention as well as nutrition balance and uptake which they will communicate to the whole community. Prevention tactics against the conditions that can lead to physical illness were the climax of the agenda. Also, the clients will collectively be taken through health screening, counseling, and medical referrals. We advocated for the humane services to be facilitated to the underprivileged community living in Santa Clara, outskirts of Los Angeles. The cleanup exercise was conducted with the support of the overall community to ensure that the environment that they are dwelling in is clean and cannot create a health hazard. One nursing homes and urgent care unit facilities were established, they were stocked with the essentials to serve the needy community that cannot afford the expensive treatment.

Conclusion

As community health volunteers in Los Angeles, we applied skills such as interpersonal, communication, assessment, cultural competence, professional knowledge, training, education, and facilitation. At the end of the volunteering program, the targeted disadvantaged community was able to benefit from health services, education, navigation, outreach and enrollment, advocacy together with social-emotional support. Strengthened care coordination was effective through the patient's connection with the available social support and healthcare services, consequently extending the reach of healthcare providers and service. The services delivered were suitable considering the patient's culture as well as language.