Introduction
The public health practices determine the health of populations living in a nation. Public health practices adopted by a nation focus on preventing of diseases and other healthcare problems in order to promote quality of health and well-being of communities and their individual members respectively. The Healthy People 2020 introduced a health agenda that came up with a strategic health plan aimed at improving community health practices (Healthy People 2020, 2014). The United States of America (USA) forms one of the nations where the issue of health care receives a lot of debate. Problems associated with violent in workplaces affect health care providers offering services to the community limiting the realization of Health People 2020 goals. The following paper will focus on social and economical health issues affecting the Dallas community in Texas. The paper uses current theories and empirical research to determine the violent in the workplace towards health care providers.
Certain type of behaviors experienced in workplaces today negatively impact employees’ output and the productivity of an organization at large. Physical assault and violence should be eliminated with the present management, especially in the health care setting where quality and efficiency play major roles. Different theories explain reasons why workplaces experience violent behaviors from different perspectives. Dallas, Texas faces a major health care problem associated with violence in the workplace against healthcare providers. Most psychologists argue that behaviors experienced in workplaces are more related to dynamics organization culture than any other aspect of the organization. Organizational culture and structure acts as crucial and complementary aspects of a firm that determines performance (Goić, 2013).
The Micro-institutional theory assists in understanding the relationship between dynamics of organization culture and behavior. According to the Micro-institutional theory, an institution governs the behavior of an individual. Organizations have shared rules that identify each employee’s characteristics and relationships with others depending on the organization culture. In addition, all institutions focus towards developing a common understanding about the most appropriate behavior for their employees (Kondra & Hurst, 2009).
Workers in the health care sector face a high number of violence cases compared to any other persons. The Bureau of Labor Statistics claimed that health care recorded more than percent of non-fatal injuries resulting from violence and acceptation assaults in the year 2001. The Micro-institutional theory explains how organizations use various innovations in overcoming legitimacy crises occurring within the institution. Moreover, the theory describes how institutions shape patterns of behaviors in order to fit the organization culture. According to Glomb and Liao (2003), an expression given by an individual in the workplace aggression directly relates to the aggression expressed by colleagues. A synthesize on the Micro-institutional theory and empirical research on violence in the workplace towards healthcare providers revealed that employees’ perception of organizational behavior is guided by the behaviors of their colleagues. In the healthcare sector, violence leads to poor delivery of healthcare by affected practitioners limiting the quality of health provided to patients (Nelson, 2014).
Social determinants of health
Health care sectors across the world should focus on improving the environments (social, economic, and physical) that have an adverse effect on the emotional well-being and enables communities cope with health care problems. Achieving these goals requires an understanding of social determinants of health in the community of interest (Dean, Williams, & Fenton, 2013). Dallas community experiences a number of health care issues related to the community and the society. Various factors contribute to the poor health care services and lack of understanding among health care providers resulting into violence in the workplace. The level of health and the mode of distribution to the population help determine the health of the population. Most public health programs help reduce morbidity and mortality but fail to do not address interventions that cope with social problems of diverse populations. Health institutions should come up with approaches capable of addressing the social determinants in order to reduce health disparities brought about by inequalities in the health services provision.
Understanding the dynamic relationships between behavioral, policy systems, clinical, occupational, and environmental determinants form the first steps in implementing actions on social determinants. The Dallas health care system requires an extensive transformation in order to allow every person in the population access quality and improved healthcare services. In addition, policy goals aimed at addressing social determinants of health form a critical aspect in facilitating wider action aimed at reducing health disparities. Policy-level intervention has an instant impact on social determinants of health when properly implemented. On the other hand, strategic partnership and capacity building play a role in establishing a high profile health care institution. The complex nature of social determinants of health requires that stakeholders involved show high-level of coordination and cooperation through partnering with other sectors (Dean, Williams, & Fenton, 2013). For instance, Texas health care should partner with health care providers from other states and engage in the decision-making process where they share ideas and solutions to the health problems facing United States.
Social and economic disparity
Population change in Texas contributes to diverse healthcare needs. Health services utilization are affected by low access and lack of necessary health care facilities to cater for the diverse population. In addition, economic, racial, social and environmental factors contribute to health disparities experienced in the community. According to Texas Health Disparities Task Force, the health status of the general population shows high disparities compared to the overall diseases prevalence, morbidity, mortality, and survival rates. The African Americans and Hispanics living in geographically underserved areas and low-income earners face the problem of health disparities in Dallas, Texas. The main social factors contributing to health disparities in the region include unemployment, teenage pregnancy, poverty, high rate of school dropouts, and lack of support systems. On the other hand, the economic factors contributing to health disparities include poor paying jobs, working conditions, and education helping jobs (Rubin & Hoque, n.d).
The Texas Healthcare Department ought to follow some of these recommendations in order to minimize cases of healthcare disparities experienced in the area. Discrimination against racial and ethnic of some employees and patients seems to contribute more to the problem. As discussed above, violence in the workplace has an association with health disparities experienced by the people in the community (Davis, Cook, & Cohen, 2005). Most nurse practitioners follow the institutional laid down procedures when it comes to offering healthcare services to people from certain community, ethnic background and race. Firstly, nurse practitioners should have cultural competences in order to understand the culture and beliefs of people coming from different environments.
Secondly, the health care sector should focus on educating the community on early identification and intervention of health disparities in order to minimize future effects. In addition, the health care sector should link service to needs of the community and avoid discriminating patients. Thirdly, the sector should come up with a strategy aimed at improving infrastructure based on the needs of the population and introduce policies that encourage diversity (Davis, Cook, & Cohen, 2005).
The way forward
After a close look at problems affecting vulnerable populations in Dallas, the question is where do we go from here? Health disparities and violence in the workplace towards health care providers have been identified as the basic contributors to poor health care services offered in the region (American Medical Association, 2009). The community requires access to improved and quality health where discrimination and lack of attention from nurse practitioners becomes a thing of the past. The most significance recommendation for such a problem involves the health care department introducing policies to cope with the issues. One of the policies that would streamline Texas health care department involves introducing education programs for health care providers. Health care providers attending these programs will be advised on how to promote interpersonal relationships in workplace and adhere to the organization’s culture. The main topics include the impact of violence in workplaces towards employees, the customers, and the community. In addition, they will receive education on how to avoid conflicts with colleagues and promote a good relationship in the workplace.
Conclusion
Vulnerable populations face higher risks of poor health lifestyle because of the discrimination they face from healthcare facilities. According to Tagoe and Dake (2011), improving healthy lifestyles in communities assists in promoting healthy living and leads to a reduction of health disparities among vulnerable population. The most affected by health disparities are the minority groups, the low-income earners, and the poor. The government has a role to play in ensuring every member of the community receives quality health care services irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, income, or culture. The following article concentrates more on the role of healthcare providers in improving health outcome to patients. Working in a violence-free workplace helps achieve healthcare objectives as highlighted by Healthy People 2020.
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