Introduction
A special population is a population that has some unique features. Any population can be described as a special population as long as it has some distinct features or it is a subset that is different from the general population. In categorizing special populations, the presence or absence of some features are taken into consideration and one of the most common type of identification feature is based on the ethnicity of the group. Gender can also be used to categorize a population as special. Geographic location is also an important aspect when categorizing populations. Age can also be used in this kind of classification. In this study we are going to base our arguments mainly on ethnicity as a form of categorizing a population as special. Children who had acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated in the same way in a clinical trial. The differences that were obtained were therefore not due to differences in therapy. From the results obtained, Caucasian children performed better than all the other children including the Hispanic and African American children.
People with the greatest healthcare needs are the ones who often receive the least adequate healthcare services. This scenario is termed as the inverse care law and the treatment paradox. The market economies have a propensity of allocating resources for services like the healthcare based on means and not needs. The impoverished children and their families are the ones who have the greatest needs and should be in a position to access the best healthcare services on land. However, this is not usually the case as they are often granted access to the least resources. Lower socioeconomic status in the society is also closely associated with worse health, poor services, less experienced healthcare professionals. However, much the National insurance may help, the problem of inverse care law still persists and the poorer population is subjected to all forms of healthcare injustices.
There is a long history of inequality in the United States of America. Different forms of inequality can still be experienced in the US in the education sector, health sector, housing and other basic necessities. The groups that are affected by these forms of inequality are the African immigrants and other groups of immigrants moving into the US. There are increasing cases of disparities in the healthcare sector. There are major differences in healthcare service provisions between the whites and the Africans. The causes of the healthcare disparities are however not obvious as many people would tend to think.
In this study we are going to lay emphasis on immigrants into the US. The immigrants have been identified as a vulnerable group however; there is some form of heterogeneity in the extent to which they can be considered vulnerable to adequate healthcare. Some of the factors that affect the immigrants’ vulnerability include their socioeconomic background, limited English proficiency, local policies, marginalization, stigma and immigration status. Most immigrants have lower rates of health insurance, receive low quality healthcare than the US born populations and uses less healthcare. In as much as the immigrants can be considered a vulnerable population, African immigrants is the most vulnerable population in the US receiving sub-standard services and often being looked down upon.
Statistical information
Most of the African immigrants came to America as students in the early 1920s. Later on in the 20th century, some immigrants came to the US as refugees who were seeking better places to live in. In the 1970s about 80,000 immigrants entered the US legally and the number grew even further in the 1980s to about 176,000. Most of the immigrants who went to the US in the last decade of the 20th century were running away from their countries due to political unrest that were in their countries. The African immigrants are often looked down upon and therefore do not receive the full healthcare insurance benefits that is entitled to other US citizens. Their income level is generally low as most of them are involved in casual jobs and are not able to pay for their healthcare needs. Therefore they receive substandard medical care while in the US. The graph shown below shows the population size of the African immigrants in the last century and the number of immigrants who have been entering the US in the recent past.
Source: Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2008.
This section involves a study on the type of healthcare services received by the African immigrants between the periods August 15th to December 31st 2006. In the study, three data sets were used to gather information for the study. The data sets that were used included all primary care visits, all visits to hospital emergency and the last data set covers all the patients who were admitted to the 5 University hospitals in the New York and Washington. In the study/analysis, 3658 primary care visits were recorded and there were a total of 1122 emergency visits to the hospitals. There were 111 patients who were hospitalized. In this study, it was realized that boat crossings of the thousands of kilometers greatly affected the health of the African immigrants. At the same time the socio-economic status of the African immigrants also contributed to a larger extent to the types of services that they could get from the healthcare institutions in the US.
When carrying out the study, a registry sheet was designed by the management of the healthcare institutions so as to be used as a source of data for the study. The registry sheets were completed weekly in the hospitals and in their respective emergency units. In the sheet, the following variables were collected. The identification number of the patients, age of the patients, sex of the patients, their origin, the name of the institution providing the healthcare services, reason for the type of assistance being provided, the type of care being received, the personnel involved in the provision of the healthcare and the recommendations made for the patients. The reasons for providing the care were grouped into 9 different categories. During this period when the analysis was conducted, a total of 19,845 immigrants were handled in the various healthcare institutions in the hospitals under study. Of the total population that visited the hospitals, 3,659 patients received primary care. There were significant differences that were observed in the distributions. A total of 2.4% of the patients’ population were referred to hospitals. It is evident from the study that the quality of services that was offered to the Africans was substandard as compared to the services offered to the Native Americans. This is due to the fact that most of the African immigrants are not aware of the types of services that they were to be offered. At the same time, even to the few African American immigrants, who were aware of the services, did not have sufficient funds to pay for the services being offered. The government has not been very keen to extend health insurance to the entire population including the African immigrants.
The best type of healthcare service that I would propose to the vulnerable population that is composed of the African immigrants is the preventive services. This will help in preventing the occurrence of the major ailments that could lead to death if timely solution is not sought. The preventive healthcare services also saves on the costs of healthcare services provisions as it helps in identifying a condition at the earlier stages and then helps in reaching a solution before the condition worsens. It is always better and easier to prevent than to cure a disease. The African immigrants are often not granted access to sophisticated medical equipments and examination especially when their conditions have worsened. It is therefore necessary to utilize the small available resources so as to prevent the occurrence of such complicated conditions. In this section we are going to take a consideration of a program that can be used to implement the use of the preventive services and analyze the savings in terms of costs that it can bring on board. Offering preventive services also play a very important role in saving the lives of the entire population. The provision of the preventive services will reduce the number of patients seeking medical attention in the hospitals whereby they are not entitled to quality services. There are several organizations involved in the provision of such services to the entire population in the US. In this study we are going to lay more emphasis on two community based organizations that offer the services to the African immigrants in the US.
Community based agencies
The community based organization under study here are the Habitat for Humanity and City House. Apart from providing preventive services to the communities, they also help in educating the population on the importance of being focused in life in order to achieve better goals in life. The two community based agencies under study in this section are mainly concerned with the provision of preventive healthcare services to the African immigrants and other vulnerable population. Both organizations are not run by the Africans themselves but receive sponsorship from American based NGOs and some part of the funding come from volunteer services provided by some Americans and Africans Americans in the US. These community based organizations were not established for the purposes of making profits. They are mainly aimed at providing their services to the vulnerable population. The employees/workers of these organizations are mainly volunteers who have a motto of “service above self” whereby they are completely dedicated towards service delivery without taking into consideration the gains that they will get from the services that they provide to the population. The two organizations work hand in hand in order to achieve the laid goals of the project. The organizations complement each other in a number of ways in order to ensure that the vulnerable population is entitled to proper housing and that sufficient preventive treatment is offered to the population as a big percentage of the population cannot access quality health care services from the private hospitals in New York and Washington. So far, they have been able to achieve their goals and a good number of the immigrants have received services from these organizations hence improved healthcare services.
Model
In order to reach the established goal of a disease free African immigrants population, the entire population has to be sensitized on the importance of seeking preventive healthcare services. The sensitization goes a long way in educating the citizens and provision of preventive drugs at a fairly subsidized price so as to encourage them to acquire the drugs. The entire population also has to be educated on the importance of having clean environment in order to prevent the occurrence of some communicable diseases as it was realized that hygiene play a very important role in the prevention of such ailments. This will help in reducing the number of hospital visits hence have a healthier population. The model proposed here involves the use of the two organizations providing preventive healthcare services to the African immigrants and each organization assigned to a specific task. After a specified period of time, an assessment is conducted in order to establish the achievements made and the improvements that can be made to ensure that everything is on course. One organization can be involved in the sensitization program while the other one provides the preventive services. If both organizations work hand in hand, the goals are likely to be achieved at a faster rate as compared to when each organization works independently.
Less than $ 1 billion in sensitization and administration of preventive drugs
The above mentioned program can perform very well in saving the US government trillions of dollars if properly implemented. It also helps to save lives since not all cases mentioned above can be managed.
Funding sources
There are several funding sources that are available and can provide the funds for the above mentioned program. Most of the funding for the organizations comes from the Non-governmental organizations and volunteer services provided by the local population. I would also propose for funding from the government as the organizations play a very important role in helping the government save on costs of managing different kinds of diseases that could have otherwise been a threat to the population. The two main sources of funding that can help these organizations achieve their goals sufficiently are the government and the non-governmental organizations. The funds can then be divided to meet different objectives of the organizations.
Conclusion
Inequality is present in every nation. No matter how much the government puts efforts to fight the vice, it can never be eliminated completely. In most cases the vulnerable group of individuals suffer at the hands of the ‘racial correct’ individuals without having a voice. The African immigrants are on the receiving end as they are exposed to various forms of inequality while in the US. They are not entitled to adequate and proper healthcare services. This study was therefore aimed at finding a solution for the African immigrants so that they can also enjoy the benefits of good health while living in the US.
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