Assignment task:
The vulnerable populations are those who are economically disadvantaged, ethnic and racial minorities, low-income children, the uninsured, and the homeless. The vulnerability of these populations is enhanced by ethnicity, race, age, gender, and factors such as insurance coverage, income and lack of natural source of care (Falkner, 2018). Their health and health care issues interconnect with the societal factors including poverty, housing, and insufficient education.
An example of a vulnerable population in the US is the impoverished. This group "consists of those who cannot financially provide the basic necessities of life" (Falkner, 2018), and may experience challenges in adopting and maintaining healthful behaviors like stress, depression, suicidal thought or ideation. What makes this population vulnerable is that they have limited resources and cannot afford healthy food and health insurance. Healthy foods are costly while refined grains, added sugars, and fats are generally affordable and readily accessible to low-income populations. Some of them are afraid to go to hospital because they know they are going to receive a bill that they cannot afford, and they end up going to hospital at the last minute of complication. The poverty rate in America is 12.7% of the population, meaning about 40.6 million people live in poverty (Falkner, 2018).
The nurse can put the patient in contact with a social worker within the patient's local area. Social workers work to help the patient gain access to basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and also social benefits including healthcare. (Miller, 2021) This can help patients get the important resources they need so that they can lower the adverse health risks associated with poverty and improve and maintain good health.