One health concept which tackles both individual focus and aggregate view of a system is termed as vulnerability. Determining the vulnerability of individuals and populations can greatly help health care professionals detect certain epidemiological patterns which are necessary to be able to develop interventions that can provide higher quality of health care and services. Vulnerability is a term in health care which means “susceptibility” or one’s risk of developing or acquiring particular health problems. Vulnerable populations are known to be groups of individuals who are considered to be at risk for poor psychological, physical, and even social health. Individuals can be considered vulnerable at any point in time due to certain events and circumstances (Chesnay and Anderson, 2015). Currently, there are various theories and models for studying vulnerability. Some of these models include individual determinants model, individual social resources model, individual health behaviors model, individual socioeconomic status model, community environmental exposures model, community medically underserved model, individual and community interaction model, and sinners and victims social policy model (Shi and Stevens, 2010).
The two models which will be discussed in detail will be individual determinants models and community medically underserved model. Individual determinants model is a model for studying vulnerability which focuses on specific characteristics of an individual like age, gender, ethnicity and race, and even education and income. Individual determinants model is different from community medically underserved model because it clearly separates vulnerable from non-vulnerable populations using a number of personal characteristics which do not reflect the vulnerability of the society (Rogers, 1997). On the other hand, the community medically underserved model determines vulnerability of a particular population based on the availability of medical resources and care. Studies have suggested that poor health status within a community is usually a consequence of unavailability of medical resources within the community. The model shows that medical underservice has a direct impact on a population’s health status. Unavailability of medical resources include limited medical supplies, few health care providers, limited funds or financial barriers for health care, and even non-financial barriers such as unavailability of transportation and language barriers (Wright, et al., 1996).
When these two models are applied in the same population, the individual determinants model will mainly focus age, race and ethnicity, gender, and even income. In terms of age, studies have identified that the children, adolescents, and elderly are considered to be vulnerable groups. These groups of individuals are considered vulnerable because children are dependent on others for health care and comfort, adolescents are considered risk-takers especially when it comes to risky sexual behaviors, and elderly are considered to be vulnerable due to decreased physical ability and limited financial resources. Another aspect that can be considered when using the individual determinants model is the minority of a particular race or ethnicity. According to Miller and Paolisso (2015), the African Americans are considered as the most common vulnerable group because they have higher rates of morbidity, mortality, and poverty. On the contrary, when using the community medically underserved model, the vulnerable group will consist of individuals within a community which has inadequate medical supplies and resources, limited number of insured individuals, absence of transportation, and inadequate health care providers. Thus, individual determinants model mainly focuses on personal characteristics while community medically underserved model focuses on the circumstances and availability of resources within a particular community or population.
References
Chesnay, M. and Anderson, B.A. (2015). Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspectives in Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research. 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Publishers: Burlington, MA.
Miller, C.D. and Paolisso, M. (2015). Cultural knowledge and local vulnerability in African American communities. Natural Climate Change 5: 683-687.
Rogers, A.C. (1997). Vulnerability, health and health care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 26(1): 65-72.
Shi, L. and Stevens, G.D. (2010). Vulnerable Populations in the United States. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons: San Francisco, CA.
Wright, R.A., Andres, T.L., and Davidson, A.J. (1996). Finding the medically underserved: a need to revise the federal definition. Journal of Health Care Poor Underserved 7(4): 296-307.
