Every human being has the right to access healthcare despite their location within any country. Healthcare service is a crucial element to good health and it is a challenge that rural residents continue to face even in the 21 st century. Healthcare is important because it increase life expectancy, it also prevents unnecessary deaths and it ensures that the overall mental and physical health of a person is guaranteed. Residents in rural areas, however, experience challenges in their quest to access health care due to lack of adequate finances to pay for the services, lack of means of transport or proper access roads, language barriers with the health care providers and little or no confidence in modern health care systems and this makes them question the quality of service that they receive. Cultural sensitivity is a contributing factor to lack of confidence in health care systems and it is also a challenge on the side of health care providers who provide health care to rural populations. Methods of promoting health care in rural areas such as educating rural populations on the importance of heath care and provision of health insurance, barriers to provision of health care such as poor health literacy, methods of transport and stigmatization due to terminal or chronic illnesses are some of the barriers to the provision of health care in rural populations are some of the issues that have been discussed in the essay below in an effort to establish suitable community health action plans.
In order to promote health care delivery in rural areas, health insurance coverage should be provided for by the state to people who cannot afford access to private insurance covers. States can partner with the federal government to ensure that their citizens are covered by credible health insurance policies (Franckhauser, 2013). In the case of Red Deer Valley, the people living at or below the poverty level can access subsidized insurance covers and for those who cannot afford the insurance cover at the minimum cost, plans such as contributions from the 70 percent who live above poverty levels and earning higher incomes can be put in place to ensure that they access the basic health care such as mental services, preventive services, maternal care services and emergency services. Federal-state partnerships in the provision of medical health such as Medicaid can also be used to promote healthcare delivery services in rural areas. This is because the program can be used to finance the healthcare of the families living below and slightly above the poverty levels (Franckhauser, 2013). It can also help in financing the health and social services that the population over 65 years old may need to access since they are more susceptible to diseases that require constant medical care such as mental illnesses and ambulatory services. Improving the payment of the healthcare providers in rural areas is also a measure that can improve healthcare since they will be motivated and this will result to better service provision. A healthcare worker in Red Deer is likely to experience language barrier and negative attitudes from immigrants and this may demotivate them. These are some of the ways that can be used to promote healthcare delivery services in rural areas.
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Strategies that can be employed when working with a culturally sensitive and diverse population include learning their language and understanding their cultural backgrounds as this will help in understanding their reservations. Community mobilization using the help of willing residents will help in understanding that their health care is about them since some of their members are taking part in the healthcare provision. Community mobilization helps in understanding the needs of the community and this can be done when members of the community take part in the process of change. Community mobilization is essential since it ensures that language barriers are limited because those involved can easily speak the language of the residents around and this makes the work of the healthcare providers easier because community mobilization entails understanding the language of the community and their health needs. Alternative forms of healthcare that can be implemented in a rural area such as the Red Deer Valley include building a health facility around the area and training some of the locals on how to conduct basic health services such as first aid and drug prescription for minor diseases since the population there is relatively low and manageable.
Potential barriers to healthcare in rural areas include geographic isolation, transport problems, physical environment barriers, language barriers and shortage of workers. Geographic isolation is normally due to limited access of health facilities within a locality and this causes the residents of such areas to travel for long distances in search of a clinic(West, 2018). Transport barriers are due to the geographical isolation and they cause difficulties in access to healthcare facilities and this leads to deaths of many people within such isolated areas since they have difficulties in even travelling to larger cities to access medical attention. Language barriers are normally due to the diversity of the people living in such areas. Red Deer Valley is prone to language barriers since it is comprised of Spaniards and people who can speak English. This brings about communication breakdown and it becomes difficult for medics to understand the language of the locals especially if they cannot speak their language and this results to inadequate health care if not addressed.
Training healthcare providers the language of the rural resident in a place like Red Deer would be essential as this would narrow the chances of communication breakdown in such areas. This would entail making sure that the outreach teams are comprised of multilingual workers and also those capable of learning new languages in a quick way (West, 2018). This would ensure that they learn the language of the people in a fast way especially where they engage in community mobilization and interaction when off duty. Good communication is also important as it ensures appropriate diagnosis and this facilitates accurate prescription. It also ensures that the patients adhere to the prescriptions by the doctors and this facilitates patient satisfaction.
On account of the above points, it would suffice to conclude that rural healthcare can be improved by the state through partnerships with the federal government and the barriers that face rural healthcare can be mitigated by cooperation between the state, healthcare workers and active involvement of local residents in healthcare provision.
References
Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol142009/No3Sept09/Cultural-and-Linguistic-Barriers-.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
Franckhauser, M. (2013). Rural Healthcare and the Challenges of Home Healthcare and Hospice. Home Healthcare Nurse, 31(4), pp.227-228.
Healthcarecomm.org. (2018). Impact of Communication in Healthcare | Institute for Healthcare Communication. [online] Available at: http://healthcarecomm.org/about-us/impact-of-communication-in-healthcare/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
West, D. (2018). Overcoming Rural Health Care Barriers through Innovative Wireless Health Technologies. [online] Brookings. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/overcoming-rural-health-care-barriers-through-innovative-wireless-health-technologies/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].
