According to Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), “At-risk individuals are people with access and functional needs (temporary or permanent) that may interfere with their ability to access or receive medical care before, during, or after a disaster or public health emergency. Examples of at-risk populationsmay include but are not limited to children, pregnant women, older adults, people with disabilities, people from diverse cultures, people with limited English proficiency, people with limited access to transportation, people with limited access to financial resources, people experiencing homelessness, people who have chronic health conditions, and people who have pharmacological dependency”.
Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response
This paper will focus on people experiencing homelessness and the service center of preference. The reason I chose homeless population is that; every day you watch the news or driving from work you see individuals living on the streets with no homes, with signs up that they are homeless, need money, food etc. At workplaces, we receive quite several homeless people with different medical conditions ranging from; mental health, respiratory problems, cellulitis, chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Diseases that can be easily prevented or managed by a primary care provider becomes more chronic and does lead to prolonged hospitalization and complications. I will love to learn more on what resources and programs available to these individuals and ways of helping. To order this assignment click here or contact info@topgradeswriting.com
According to Committee on Health Care for Homeless People, Institute of medicine, “Homeless people experience a wide range of illnesses and injuries to an extent that is much greater than that experienced by the population. First of all, health problems themselves, directly or indirectly, may cause or contribute to a person’s becoming or remaining homeless. The leading example is major mental illness, especially schizophrenia, in the absence of treatment facilities and supportive housing arrangements. Second, the condition of homelessness and the exigencies of life of a homeless person may cause and exacerbate a wide range of health problems. Just as ill health can cause homelessness, so can homelessness cause ill health. Examples of this include skin disorders and the sequelae of a traumatic injury. Finally, the state of being homeless makes the treatment and management of most illnesses more difficult even if services are available. Examples of this can be found for alcoholism and nearly any chronic illness, such as diabetes or hypertension. As with all other aspects of the problems of homeless people, data on their health problems and health care needs are partial, fragmentary, and incomplete. Still, enough is known about the health problems of homeless people to provide basic descriptive information and draw inferences for the purposes of programmatic intervention”.
In addition, the service-learning opportunity will give me firsthand experience on what I have learned in class, and how it is in real world. I will gain more information which will deepen my understanding on what these homeless people go through, listen to their stories, learn more on what the shelters provide, what programs in place and what resources are available. The service-learning site of interest is Foothill Family Shelter located in Upland California. “For Over 40 years, Foothill Family Shelter has been providing transitional housing and walk-in services such as food, diapers, and hygiene products to low-income and homeless families from the cities of Upland, Ontario, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont, and Pomona”. (Foothill Family Shelter). They offer mental health and children’s enrichment programs. To order this assignment click here or contact info@topgradeswriting.com