Access to Healthcare among Older Adults - Free Paper Example

Sentinel Town is a typical rural American town, with lush farmlands, clean air, and beautiful scenery. The buildings in the town give the impression that one has traveled back in time to the 40s and 50s. However, there is a significant healthcare concern that is also easily noticeable, lack of access to healthcare services. The only clinic in town shuts its services at five in the evening; therefore, the residents have no medical professional past five. If a resident falls ill, they have to be rushed to the city further away. Insufficient staffing is also problematic, with only one doctor available. Another demanding issue is the lack of a good pharmacy in the town. Only over-the-counter drugs are available at the local general store and gas station. Residents would only have access to prescription medicine by traveling into the city. The most affected group in the town is older adults.

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Increased risk for access to healthcare among older adults in Sentinel Town related to lack of education for the importance of annual health screenings and vaccinations as evidenced by 23.3 percent of older adults in Sentinel Town as compared to 11.7 percent of older adults in Fulton, Georgia, as reported by Country Health Rankings Organization (Country health, 2020).

Significant delays or absolute lack of access to primary and specialty treatment is widespread in the United States. Seniors, women, teenagers, racial and ethnic minorities, socio-economically vulnerable, and people with severe medical conditions face significantly more significant difficulties in access to specialty care and poorer health outcomes amid geographic location (Cyr et al., 2019). Sentinel town has several senior citizens totaling 23.3 percent of the populace. These individuals are mostly farmers who live in the remote areas around town, which are not accessible during wet and winter seasons. Disparities between urban and rural environments, U.S.-wide vulnerable communities, share many characteristics. Inequalities in access to and outcomes to health care exist most often among urban and rural women, uninsured and uninsured, aged, Latinos, and African-Americans (Wagnerman, 2017).

However, the lack of education on the importance of health screenings and annual vaccinations is the leading cause of the disparity. Health disparity is a specific sort of well-being contrast closely connected with social or financial impediments (Braveman, 2015). Well-being disparities adversely influence bunches of individuals who have methodically experienced more major social or financial impediments to well-being based on their racial or ethnic gather, religion, financial status, sexual orientation, mental well-being, cognitive, tactile, or physical incapacity, sexual introduction, geographic area, or other characteristics truly connected to separation or avoidance (Klein et al., 2010).

By 2060, about a fourth of the U.S. populace will be age 65 or more seasoned. Healthy People 2030 spotlights on diminishing medical issues and improving personal satisfaction for more established grown-ups. More grown-ups who are elderly are in more danger of ongoing medical issues like diabetes, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's ailment. What's more, 1 out of 3 more established grown-ups fall every year, and falls are the main injury source for this age gathering. Physical action can enable more seasoned grown-ups to forestall both interminable infection and fall-related wounds. Grown-ups who are more elderly are likewise bound to go to the clinic for some irresistible maladies — including pneumonia, which is the main cause of death for this age gathering. Ensuring elderly individuals get preventive services, such as flu and pneumonia-protecting immunizations, can enable them to remain healthy (Healthy People 2030, 2015).

The ignorance of elderly people on the importance of screening and vaccinations is sometimes intentional, but it is often not. The lack of a reliable source of this information is the most significant contributor to health illiteracy among the elderly. These individuals do not have a comprehensive medium of information that they can rely on to; provide information on how to keep healthy. Reasons for this lack thereof may be attributed to living in undeveloped areas, lack of access to internet services, or lack of assistance for those who need it. Despite these challenges, a good platform where these aged people can enquire and learn more about keeping healthy is paramount. Following this, Healthy 2030 has set in place numerous campaigns to sensitize this marginalized group on health issues. The campaigns include setting up internet services for the elderly, securing health professionals online to provide accurate information, and developing a platform on where to facilitate this information (Healthy people 2030, 2015).

Social Media Campaign

Social networking empowers nurses to foster health in the environment by teaching customers about the services accessible. Such services may include online support networks for people with severe afflictions, and others may include wellness portals that inform users about medical illnesses and the treatment of diseases. Nurses optimize the impact of social media by enabling users to support the programs and therapies they offer. There is no better publicity than a good recommendation offered by a professional connoisseur. Care provider organizations crowdsource influential campaigns that cultivate trust in new customers by offering clients a forum to share their positive experiences (Jackson et al., 2014).

The social media campaign’s main objective is to sensitize the town’s residents on the importance of annual health screenings and vaccinations. The target audience is the elderly population, those past 65 years. However, the platform should be open to all the residents despite their age. The reason why everyone should have access to this information is to build a base among the youth and middle-aged, allowing them to arm themselves with this knowledge as they get older. Therefore, the campaign shall assist not only the elderly of this generation but also those to come. In addition, there are young and middle-aged people who act as caregivers to their elderly relatives. As the primary guardians of these individuals, they deserve to know all the information necessary to maintain their patients' health.

Social networking has been driving knowledge exchange, research, pace, and engagement in health across disciplines. Organizations such as healthcare institutions and public health departments are also leveraging social media to promote well-being in the community by promoting content exchange and enabling users to access information easily(Jackson, 2014). As such, the focus group for this project shall be the elderly Sentinel town. Educating the elderly on the importance of healthcare using a social media platform may require some training. Despite the town’s poverty levels, a free social media platform will go a long way in promoting healthcare.

The best platform for presenting the health message would be Facebook. Facebook is a long-range informal communication administration propelled in February 2004. Facebook has in excess of 901 million dynamic clients as of March 2012, who create a total of 3.2 billion Likes and Comments each day (Facebook Guidelines, 2020). It offers a multitude of options that contribute to healthcare. Facebook also has the opinion of selecting one’s preferred language, with the high number of immigrants in the town; this feature shall prove to be crucial. Furthermore, it is possible to set up private chats and groups on the platform. Healthcare calls for a level of discretion and privacy; therefore, Facebook’s privacy falls in line with the confidentiality ethics of healthcare (Vyas et al., 2012). Another merit of using Facebook is the ease of sharing this information. As long as a person has a smartphone, computer, and access to the internet, it is possible to forward the information. This ease of spreading information makes the platform effective and efficient.

Implementation of Social Media Tools in Health Marketing

Modern nurses use the influence of social media channels to reach out to local neighborhood customers and healthcare information seekers. Those medical professionals network with colleagues using social media tools, inform the community about health problems, and hear about the latest medical growth. It is a robust platform for educating patients in the new healthcare climate, making it essential that today’s nurses learn how to use social media (Korda & Itani, 2013). “Social media,” related to caregiving, refers to Internet platforms that allow nurses to connect with customers quickly, clearly, and with a broad audience. Consumers and practitioners share their views and follow their interests through standard networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Health services experts will exploit new technology networks by incorporating social media into the messaging mix to encourage fitness and health awareness (Vyas et al., 2012).

When people receive updates from social media, individuals do so on their own terms. Although medical practitioners remain the preferred source of health knowledge, there are many explanations for why customers are gradually moving to digital media. Examples of these explanations include the convenience of accessing social media, learning about health, and the need for easy human interaction made possible by online chats. These discussions have become particularly relevant as patients use them to review service providers (Vyas et al., 2012).

Implementation Plan

Several stakeholders would prove instrumental in achieving the objectives of health interventions. First, the town clinic, along with the doctor and nurses is crucial. They should provide information regarding Sentinel’s people's health issues since they have been the primary healthcare givers in the area. Having this knowledge gives them the qualification to be part of the intervention. The sheriff’s office is also a key shareholder. As the sole public representative, necessary grievances can be put forward and addressed. Churches and schools should also prove to be perfect partners since they are already established and ingrained within the community.

The campaign does not require complex structures or large investments to begin; it can take off in a month. This should be ample time to gather and inform all necessary stakeholders of the process and their responsibilities. However, full integration and interaction in the town may take some time and may need to run for one to two years. The most significant investment and time in the conscious process would have to be training the elderly on how to access and use the platform and ensure that they have access. Reforms to healthcare and infrastructure may also take time subject to bureaucracies and regional leaders.

The campaign’s effectiveness shall be determined by people’s participation on the platform and reforms in the town’s amenities and infrastructure. The main objective is to provide access to the total elderly populace within the first six months. After integrating and teaching, this campaign's benefits should follow, with the next target being at least 80 percent participation of the target audience in the first year. After the participation is enhanced, then comes the primary goal of the campaign, which is the involvement of elderly people in the annual immunization and health screening process.