Risk and Vulnerable Populations Discussion
Risk and Vulnerable Populations Discussion
Question Description
To complete this discussion, you will first need to log into The Neighborhood.
Click on Accessing and Using The Neighborhood for directions to enter the virtual community.
Select the link, watch the video, for further instruction on The Neighborhood.
Click on “Neighborhood” to access the neighborhood.
In this experiential learning assignment, you will assess various characters in The Neighborhood for risk factors associated with vulnerable populations, create strategies for addressing the health concerns of the characters, and identify possible barriers to providing health promotion. Read the Season 1, 2, 3 Episode 1 biographies of characters in the Neighborhood. Select one of the characters in The Neighborhood that meet the criteria for being a member of a vulnerable population.
Step 1 Post a response to the discussion board. In your post, address the following prompts:
What is vulnerable population group of the character?
What are the risk factors contributing to the vulnerability?
What health concerns do you see (actual or potential risks).
Recommended at least two health promotion strategies to improve health.
What potential barriers might prevent utilization of health promotion strategies?
Step 2 Read other students’ posts and respond to at least two of them by Friday at 11:59pm MT.
As you respond, provide an additional health risk for the population you are responding about (not necessarily the character in the scenario) and an additional barrier experienced by that population. Explain why you chose to share that risk and barrier to your peer.
Use your personal experience, if it’s relevant, to support or debate other students’ posts. If differences of opinion occur, debate the issues professionally and provide examples to support opinions.
Cite any sources in APA format.
Peer Discussion 1 (Rachel)
Vulnerable populations can be described as groups of people not well-integrated into the health care system due to socioeconomic, geographic, cultural, or health characteristics. Lack of access to preventive care has been shown to lead to poor health outcomes (“At-risk,” 2020). The character I’ve chosen to discuss is Clifford Allen, who has a family history of mental illness, and who he himself has struggled with bouts of depression. It’s clear that Clifford is at risk for a variety of poor health outcomes, including substance abuse/addiction (as a dysfunctional way of coping with his wife’s illness), poor self-care, and neglect of his other responsibilities, including his developmentally disabled son, and his job. As his life spirals out of control, Clifford might eventually end up in a psychiatric hospital, or even worse, end up dead from suicide as his brother had done previously.
A major barrier for Clifford is the reluctance to seek help due to the stigma attached to mental illness, and the shame he feels not wanting his employer to “find out” and potentially discriminate against him due to a perceived flaw in his character. Clifford needs to be educated about the legality regarding laws associated with mental illness and workplace discrimination. In fact, there are laws that protect and can even accommodate individuals in his situation, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows employees to take reasonable (unpaid) leave for family or medical reasons. Although he wouldn’t be getting paid during this time, Clifford could use this time to focus his priorities on his family, and on his own self-care needs. This law also ensures his health benefits (which I’m sure his family is covered under) are maintained during this time (“Family,” 2020).
Before his employer has a reason to fire him (due to poor work performance), Clifford would greatly benefit from referral to support groups for individuals struggling to cope with the stress/anxiety/grief of caring for a terminally ill family member. As was advertised in a local newspaper, Clifford would benefit greatly from attending a ( Neighborhood nurse-led) grief seminar in order to cope with, and come to terms with the loss of a loved one. He would also benefit from referral to psychiatric services, which could provide one-on-one therapy, as well as complementary medication to effectively treat his long-standing depression s/sx.
References
At-risk and vulnerable populations: Week 4. (2020). Denver College of Nursing. https://media.pearsoncmg.com/pls/us/edaff/1323455930/nur370_lps/nur370_cdn_04_01_02.html
Family and medical leave (FMLA). (2020). U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla
Peer Discussion 2 (La’ Myra)
Vulnerable populations include economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, the uninsured and underinsured, low-income children, the elderly, the homeless, those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and those with other chronic health conditions, including severe mental illness. It may also include rural residents, who often encounter barriers to accessing health care services. The vulnerability of these individuals is enhanced by race, ethnicity, age, sex, and factors such as income, insurance coverage (or lack therof), and absence of a usual source of care. Their health care problems intersect with social factors, including housing, poverty, and inadequate education (AJMC).
Casey Holmes is a 23 year old physically fit male who dropped out of high school. Casey has an addiction to drugs and alcohol and likely has a personality disorder. Casey would fit into the vulnerable population because he has an addiction to drugs and no specific place to live until he moves in with his friend. There are many concerns with Casey, one being his drug use, and the lack of adequate education to understand the effects of drug and alcohol. He only has basic insurance when he has a job, and is unlikely to receive regular care. Casey has no savings and lives check to check, so he is also unlikely to consume adequate meals to remain healthy.
I would recommend for Casey to see a social worker in hopes to start his journey to a clean and sober lifestyle. Until he can surpass his addiction Casey will have a harder time making the proper and healthier choices. By equipping him with the tools necessary (GED courses, rehab) Casey can take the next steps into changing his health outcomes before they are escalated.
References
Vulnerable populations: Who are they? AJMC
https://www.ajmc.com/journals/supplement/2006/2006…
Risk and Vulnerable Populations Discussion
Risk and Vulnerable Populations Discussion
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.
