I would wish to work in a setting that focuses on supporting the homeless population in downtown Los Angeles, California, during the initial stages of my career. I am interested in this setting because one of the principal goals of the public health field is preventing the occurrence and spreading of diseases among different populations. This is in consideration to the fact that the homeless population does not suffer only from poor living conditions, random violence, and stress, but also the risk of being exposed to contagious diseases. The majority of them have mental issues and can neither care for themselves nor seek for health assistance. Since we are social creatures living near one another, when the population becomes exposed to communicable diseases, we are all threatened (Kiser & Hulton, 2018). Therefore, focusing on the health of this population is ensuring overall health across all communities.
The health needs of this population are categorized into two; medical services, social determinants of health. Needs on medical services include drug dependencies, mental wellbeing, and allied health services such as rehabilitation, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, pharmacy, and optometry (Campbell, O'Neill, Gibson & Thurston 2015). Needs on social health determinants constitute housing and environmental concerns in shelters, nutrition and food security, and income and income support.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Some needs turn out to be barriers to accessing medical care services. For instance, some care providers have a negative attitude towards drug addicts and people with mental disorders. This may hinder them from rendering effective care services to such people. Besides, homeless people experience emotional barriers due to their encounter with severe life stressors, which may hinder them from seeking health care (Campbell et al., 2015). This includes fear of receiving bad news about an alarming diagnosis.
Furthermore, there are some incidences where such people refuse to be placed in housing because of housing and shelter rules that prohibit the use of substances. Language barriers have also been noted among this population as some only speak Spanish, but I can help with that since I am fluent in the Spanish language. The most significant role of the nurse in this population is to create campaign awareness programs ("LGA," n.d.). The programs will focus on reaching out to every individual in this population to enlighten them on the importance of living in proper houses and accessing medical care.
References
Campbell, D. J., O’Neill, B. G., Gibson, K., & Thurston, W. E. (2015). Primary healthcare needs and barriers to care among Calgary’s homeless populations. BMC family practice, 16(1), 139.
Local Government Association, LGA. (n.d.). THE IMPACT OF HOMELESSNESS ON HEALTH. Retrieved from https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/22.7%20HEALTH%20AND%20HOMELESSNESS_v08_WEB_0.PDF
Kiser, T., & Hulton, L. (2018). Addressing Health Care Needs in the Homeless Population: A New Approach Using Participatory Action Research. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018789750
