Vulnerable Populations and Healthcare Policy
Compare and contrast the concepts: individual vulnerability and vulnerable populations
According to De Chesnay and Anderson (2012), the concept of individual vulnerability deals with an individual in a system context. This implies if an individual is exposed to certain multiple risks, he or she has the ability to develop health related problems that are because of the multiple risks. Vulnerable populations on the other hand deal with a much broader collective perspective. Consequently, vulnerable populations are certain groups of people that are highly likely to suffer from exposure to certain multiple risks. Since cost of health is high, approaching vulnerable populations rather than dealing with only individual vulnerability is recommended.
In individual vulnerability, different types of risks may affect the individual. On the other hand, a vulnerable population represents a group that shares the same or common risks factors or a combination of these risk factors. In individual vulnerability, the individual feels being vulnerable. However, in vulnerable populations, the individual within a certain group may or may not be aware of their vulnerability. Individual vulnerability concept may be applied in cases where the researchers want to narrow down to a specific condition or disease (De Chesnay and Anderson, 2012).
Discuss the theoretical and practical problems related to the concept of vulnerability in the context of research
According to Hurst (2008), defining vulnerable populations has presented a theoretical problem in the sense that there is a certain ambiguity as to what precisely vulnerability covers. The strong pull that vulnerability draws is very hard to justify and define the limits. Vulnerability in the context of research can be quite challenging. Evidently, there is a lot of literature that is related with vulnerable populations. A researcher needs to research previous literature on vulnerable populations prior to developing research questions. The researcher needs to ensure that he or she does not duplicate questions that have already been asked. Consequently, this becomes hard and complicated as the large number of vulnerable-population studies may take a lot of time to go through and summarize.
Problems of practicality may arise in situations where it becomes had to decide who needs to be awarded protection because of vulnerability and the level of protection. Additionally, these practical problems may develop when a researcher, makes certain assumptions based on his or her own culture, which is different from the research group in question. Chesnay and Anderson (2012), refer to this type of bias as ethnocentric bias, which may limit the investigators ability to interpret data from the participants’ point of view. Because of the regulations in research, informed consent forms a major part of research. In cases where persons cannot speak for themselves or do not understand the language of the consent forms, there is bound to be denial of consent. Consequently, denial of consent means that the vulnerable group cannot benefit from the research (De Chesnay and Anderson, 2012).
According to Hinshaw and Grady (2011), several aspects of nursing research can be used in the policy development regarding health of vulnerable populations. For instance, through nursing research critical public health issues that affect the vulnerable populations can be identified. Furthermore, the policymakers will respond to experiences and perspectives nurses provide on health. In cases where the research has focused on families and the community, policy makers will respond to such cases. Hinshaw and Grady (2011) also note that through research there is integration of several complex health issues such as biobehavioral concepts. The policy makers pay close attention to the wide perspective on issues of health and illness experience that nurses provide. Additionally, this is also supplemented by the interdisciplinary approach the nursing research takes.
Discuss how your population of interest meets the rationale Shi and Stevens (2005) provides
One of the rationales provided by Shi and Stevens (2005) involves is the prevalence escalation towards the population. Healthcare providers continue to experience violence from patients. Additionally, healthcare providers form a critical element in the nation’s health. Healthcare providers are part of the resources that are necessary and if they are vulnerable, they directly affect the quality of healthcare. Since vulnerability is a societal issue, violence towards healthcare providers becomes a societal issue.
Does poverty contribute to the vulnerability of Healthcare Providers and Violence in the workplace?
Poverty can contribute to the vulnerability of healthcare providers. According to Nyamathi et al., (2007), certain issues such as lack of proper incentive to healthcare providers can contribute to healthcare disparities. Lack of funds to cover the health and safety of the healthcare providers may make the healthcare providers vulnerable. Poorly paid healthcare providers may lack enough finances to cover their health insurances. As such, they may less likely have access to healthcare and in then end the exposure to risk increases while working.
Discuss how research is the foundation for health policy
According to Hinshaw and Grady (2011), research carried out by scientists provides results that are beneficial in addressing the increasing health needs of the nation. Nurses’ experiences with dealing with illnesses have caught the attention of policy makers who take the nurses experience seriously and consider their input the formation of policies. Research can then be translated into effective wide based practice that can help shape and implement policies that will transform healthcare. As long as the research studies provide good results, they can provide a foundation for the implementation of evidence-based practices and policies.
How has nursing research influenced health policy related Healthcare Providers and Violence in the workplace?
Violence in the workplace towards healthcare workers has resulted to development of policies that require healthcare workers to be trained to handle aggressive behavior of patients or clients. Incident reports of healthcare workers experience in terms of violence, whether verbal or physical has provided policies makers with resources to work with when formulating the way healthcare workers need to handle the different situations. In psychiatric facilities where aggression is high and most cases of violence are reported, healthcare providers are required to be trained in violence prevention and verbal and physical de-intensification, which helps to reduce cases of injuries.
According to Nyamathi et al., (2007), previous nursing research studies on vulnerable populations provides information on the relationship between psychosocial variables and relative risk and what levels of intervention can be applied. Vulnerability of the healthcare workers may be due to the lack of resources in the healthcare settings. Policy makers can be able to develop policies that will be used to handle different situations in the healthcare workers and these may include educational efforts towards the patients. As such the continued nursing research for this vulnerable population can continue to address the social challenges the healthcare providers face and in the long run will help improve and increase healthcare providers retention especially the nurses and the nurses’ aides.
References
De Chesnay. M., & Anderson, B. A. (2012). Caring for the vulnerable: Perspectives in nursing theory, practice, and research. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Hinshaw, A. S., & Grady, P. A. (2011). Shaping health policy through nursing research. New York, NY: Springer.
Hurst, S. A. (2008). Vulnerability In Research and Health Care; Describing The Elephant In The Room?.Bioethics, 22(4), 191-202.
Nyamathi, A., & Koniak, D. (2007). Vulnerable populations. New York: Springer Pub Co.
