The goal for access to healthcare services is to improve comprehensive quality healthcare service for all people despite their background. Access to health care is a priority for healthy people 2020 because of its critical contribution in preventing and managing diseases, preventing premature deaths, reducing disabilities and achieving health equity for all people. Access to healthcare has three component; timeliness of care, insurance coverage, and healthcare services. According to the healthy people 2020, access to health services means "the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes.” Access to healthcare services has three steps; the first is gaining the entry into the healthcare facility. The next step is access to the location where the needed healthcare services are provided, and the last step is finding the healthcare provider whim the patient can communicate with trust. Despite the advances in medicine and healthcare sectors; there is an imbalance when it comes to access to care for the minority population in America.
In America and other parts of the world, gaining access to medical care has been an issue for a different group of people. According to a statistic by the World Health Organization, the people of color have challenges in access to healthcare services. There is a massive gap between the white and other people of color with regards to healthcare services access. There are barriers to access to health that leads to such disparities in health. The first is the cost of healthcare. Currently, the cost of care is high, and there is a need for health insurance coverage for people. A good number of the ethnic groups in the country are not in a position to access healthcare and finance its cost easily. As a result, primary care access has been a significant problem for some ethnic groups in the country. The next cause of this disparity is the inadequate or no insurance coverage. Unlike the people of color, most of the white Americans have insurance coverage. Insurance coverage is critical in reducing the cost of care allowing people to access adequate primary care. With no healthcare coverage, the cost of health is beyond many people, mostly the minority groups since most of them are poor. The next barrier is inadequate healthcare services available for the minority groups. The last obstacle is the lack of culturally competent healthcare system. This is an massive challenge for the minority group. Cultural competency is vital for healthcare provision. A healthcare system that ignores the monitory culture acts as a barrier to access to care. Within the healthcare institution, there should be a culture that enhances proper access to care for different people despite their ethnic background ( Koh, Blakey & Roper, 2014). The barriers have different outcome among the people of different cultures. For instance, such barriers lead to unmeet patients' needs, delays in receiving care, financial burdens, preventable hospitalization for the minority, and the inability to get preventive care services.
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The solution lies in promoting a positive outcome that targets proper communication between the cultural groups. Promoting positive results mean putting in place proactive strategies that enable better communication between the medical professionals and the patients of different cultures. The best communication program to encourage positive outcome among multicultural in a healthcare setting is education. Education is critical in informing the patients and the medical team as well as policy formulators on the best action that can reduce the barrier in healthcare access. Means of communication such as mass media and social media are critical in educating the mass about such topics for instance insurance coverage and its importance. On the issue of touching achieving a positive outcome for healthcare access for a multicultural population, education for public awareness is critical. The success for such training through mass media communication depends on the plan put in place to ensure that the target audience is reached and the information is appropriately passed to them.
Healthcare communication planning takes into account the process as well as the resources that are necessary to ensure that information reaches the target audience. For a positive outcome in the case where multicultural communication is the center stage, planning for communication to enhance healthcare access will involve the following stages. The first step is to come up with the target audience. The primary audience is healthcare professionals. These are individuals who interact with the different patient coming from different cultures. They need to know that they have a massive role in creating a healthcare setting where every person feels comfortable despite his or her cultural background ( Rider et al., 2014). Other than the medical professionals, there are policymakers. The policymakers have a significant role in coming up with medical reforms and policies that are critical in enhancing a positive outcome for healthcare access for a multicultural population. The last part is the patients or the general public. The next step is to define the best method of communication that is suitable for each party. For healthcare professionals, education through holding conferences, meetings are significant in spreading the message. For the policymakers, the best method for communicating multicultural issue affecting the healthcare system is through meetings and pushing for agenda changes through mass media such as radio and television. The best approach to reach the public is through the use of mass media and online media platforms. These include rolling program that promotes health practices such as taking insurance cover to enhance primary care. Social media is another vital forum. Reaching for people and educating them about the multicultural issue in health is critical and help in achieving a positive outcome with regards to access to healthcare in the country and the rest of the world. The last method is available resources to accomplish the plan; resources are of many types. In his case, the primary resources are vailing the medical professional who will be charged with aiding training and demonstration. They will outline the importance of multicultural healthcare system and the need for diversity in healthcare institutions.
The evaluation process is critical in determining the success of the communication plan. The evaluation assesses the progress of the plan in achieving the needed objectives. The evaluation plan is to come up with a framework that will evaluate the level of impact the communication plan has achieved in enhancing a positive development among the minority group with regards to healthcare access in the country. The evaluation tool will be an outcome survey that will target the healthcare professionals and the patients as well as the public with critical questions that touch the multicultural issue in the healthcare system. The aim will be to compare how diversity and multicultural issue on the current times is comparable to how the situation was before the communication plan.
Each of the target group will have a distinct communication strategy. For the policy makers, there will be a discussion forum in conferences. Other than that, there will be communications through emails. The proposed plan for remedying the situation will also be sent through emails and other forms of communication that are appropriate for the policymakers. Different recommendation on means of achieving a cultural diversified hospital environment in the hospital will be sent through the emails and proper communication means. The group discussion, as well as discussion in social media groups, will be the priority for the medical personnel. In such forums, there will question targeting medical professionals and their viewpoints on how diversity and multiculturalism can be achieved in healthcare environment. Other than such, there will be surveys through the telephones and email where the medical professionals be sent some questions about the best approaches to enhance multi-culturalism in the hospitals. There will be a specific period for the surveys sent through the emails. For the patients, a small group of the patient will be sampled out, and discussion on their healthcare needs with regards to access to better care ( Serrano et al., 2017). The topic of discussion will be the cost of care, the communication system, and barriers within the healthcare system that derail diversity leading to inadequate access to health, and how better such a system can be improved. Other than the focus group communication, there will be surveys from which the patients' point of view on an issue concerning cultural barriers to better access to care will be collected and jointly discussed to come up with a better solution. After collection, the discussion will be aired live on televisions and radios so that each person is reached, and give them a chance for them to contribute their thoughts concerning the same. On the social media forum, there will be a page for the discussion. People will be allowed to air their views concerning the situation and remedies.
In an art shell, communication targeting critical parties in healthcare can promote positive outcome with regards to healthcare accesses mostly among the minority group in the country. A strategic communication plan targeting policymakers, the medical professionals and the individual patients are critical in ensuring that a culture of diversity and inclusive approaches to medical care that enhances medical access to all people is a possibility.
References
Koh, H. K., Blakey, C. R., & Roper, A. Y. (2014). Healthy People 2020: a report card on the health of the nation. Jama , 311 (24), 2475-2476.
Rider, E. A., Kurtz, S., Slade, D., Longmaid III, H. E., Ho, M. J., Pun, J. K. H., ... & Branch Jr, W. T. (2014). The International Charter for Human Values in Healthcare: an interprofessional global collaboration to enhance values and communication in healthcare. Patient education and counseling , 96 (3), 273-280.
Serrano, K. J., Thai, C. L., Greenberg, A. J., Blake, K. D., Moser, R. P., & Hesse, B. W. (2017). Progress on Broadband Access to the Internet and Use of Mobile Devices in the United States: Tracking Healthy People 2020 Goals. Public Health Reports , 132 (1), 27-31.
