Vulnerable populations essay

Homeless population

It is safe to say that the homeless population as a social group is vulnerable since the homeless are usually at an augmented risk for unfavorable health-related effects. Comprehending the nature of homelessness and its actual affiliation between resource accessibility, relative possibilities, and health status is vital for nurses to detect and treat health-related predicaments in this vulnerable population. According to the Stewart McKinney Act, 42 U. S. C. § 11301, ET seq. (1994), a person is deemed homeless when one lacks a fixed, regular, and sufficient night-time dwelling; and has a main night time residency that is: a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter intended to offer temporary living housings. And or an establishment that offers a provisional residence for characters meant to be institutionalized, or a public or private place not intended for, or customarily utilized as, a normal sleeping accommodation for human beings.
Demographically, two drifts are largely accountable for the increase in homelessness over the past 20-25 years: a mounting scarcity of inexpensive rental accommodation and a concurrent augment in poverty. Individuals living in poverty are mainly at risk of becoming homeless, and demographic crowds who are more probable to experience poverty are more probable to experience homelessness. Age wise, Children under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population in 2003. About 42% of these children were under the age of five (National Law Centre on Homelessness and Poverty, 2004). The study also established that unaccompanied minors encompassed 5% of the urban homeless population (2004). Conversely, in other cities and particularly in rural areas, the numbers of children experiencing homelessness are much higher. According to the National Law Centre on Homelessness and Poverty, in 2004, 25% of homeless were ages 25 to 34; the same study found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 64 at 6%.(2004).
Sex wise, the majority of studies demonstrate that single destitute adults are more probable to be male than female. A survey done by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 2005, established that single men encompassed 51% of the homeless population and single women comprised 17% (U. S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). Family wise, the quantity of homeless families with children has augmented considerably over the past decade. Families with children are amongst the fastest mounting subdivisions of the homeless population. In a survey of 25 American cities, the U. S. Conference of Mayors (2005) established that families with children encompassed 33% of the homeless population, an explicit augment from preceding years (U. S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). These percentages are probable to be higher in rural areas. Research designates that families, single mothers, and children constitute the prevalent group of people who are homeless in rural areas (Vissing, 1996). As the quantity of families experiencing homelessness increases and the number of inexpensive housing entities contracts, families are exposed to much longer dwells in the shelter system. For example, in the mid-1990s in New York, families resided in a shelter an average of five months prior to moving on to permanent housing. At present, the average stay is seven months, and some reviews state that the average is nearer to a year (U. S. Conference of Mayors, 2005 and Santos, 2002).
Unemployment wise, deteriorating wages have placed housing impractical for many workers. Every state has more than the lowest amount wage necessary to pay for a one- or two-bedroom apartment at reasonable Market rental fee, (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2001). Actually, in the average state a minimum-wage employee would have to work 89 hours a week to pay for a two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her wages, which is the centralized meaning of inexpensive housing (National Low Income Housing Coalition 2001). Therefore, insufficient proceeds leave many people on the streets. The U. S. Conference of Mayors’ survey (2005) of 24 American cities established that 13% of the urban homeless populace were employed (U. S. Conference of Mayors, 2005), although recent surveys by the U. S. Conference of Mayors have accounted as high as 25%. In a number of cities not reviewed by the U. S. Conference of Mayors percentage is even higher (National Coalition for the Homeless, 1997).

Personal awareness prior to the demographics

Most of the homeless people are dirty, full of diseases and thieves. They drink a lot, sleep rough outside at some point. The view, in that most people end up being homeless simply because they drink too much. Most homeless people use hard drugs, and the thought that they are a bunch of immoral and lazy individuals.

The effect of research on personal attitudes

Positive approaches are essential to offer suitable care for poor people. They can as well operate as significant initial steps in nurturing future careers in the care of homeless and other underserved populations. A preceding study acknowledged that medical students who own positive outlooks toward homeless patients are more probable to volunteer in a shelter-based clinic. Even though it is imperative to appreciate how attitudes associate with volunteerism, it is also significant to know whether and how these attitudes can be changed. Conversely, we are ignorant of any interference targeted toward physicians in training that has recognized an enhancement in attitudes toward homeless people. Homeless people frequently account for over one-quarter of inpatients in Veterans Affairs and public hospitals. As the quantity of homeless people in the United States increases, it has become pertinent for physicians to be well informed about homelessness and to have positive approaches toward caring for homeless patients. Conversely, despite the unique features of this growing population, physicians rarely receive formal training in this area.

How knowledge might affect health care delivery

Efficient healthcare is reliant on comprehending vulnerable persons and populations with deference to biases and prejudices of healthcare providers, (Chesney, 2008). Anybody can be vulnerable at dissimilar times in his or her life under explicit circumstances. According to de Chesney (2008), “ Vulnerable populaces are those at danger for poor bodily, emotional, or social health. Anybody can be susceptible at any given point in time as a result of life circumstances or reaction to illness or events” (p. 3). In order to provide good healthcare, healthcare providers require being aware of their own susceptibility.

Self-reflection

The views I perceived of the homeless before the research and after are distinctively different. The information gathered has given me a different look towards the homeless and personally reflecting that vulnerability is not definite but relative. Homelessness can happen to anyone and so we should treat the homeless, as we would like to be treated while we were homeless. This kind of Self-awareness is essential for the proficient nurse with the conventional outlook that self-awareness will lead to better competence.

References

Chesney, M., & Anderson, B. A (2008). Caring for the vulnerable: Perspectives in nursing theory practice and research (second Ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett.
National Coalition for the Homeless (1997) Homelessness in America: Unabated and Increasing, Washington, DC; National Coalition for the Homeless,
Santos, F., and Ingrassia, R. (2002) “ Family surge at shelters.” New York Daily News, August 18th.
U. S. Conference of Mayors (2004) A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities: Available at www. usmayors. org
Vissing, Yvonne. (1996) Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small Town America. Lexington ; The University Press of Kentucky, ,