How Do We Know This is a Problem or Issue?
Homelessness is a critical socioeconomic issue that has been affecting the lives of millions of U.S. residents. Despite multiple attempts at shaping the existing healthcare framework to address the needs of homeless people, the lack of effective services is evident. Therefore, discussing the means for nurses to extend their help to people without homes is the problem of utmost importance in modern healthcare and nursing. According to the Council of Economic Advisers (2019), there are approximately 553,000 homeless people in the U.S. (Weber, 2018). Of all these people, only a fraction has the access to healthcare services. Therefore, the fact that Weber summarizes the current situation and provides options for assisting homeless people is extraordinarily important for improving healthcare services.
Who Needs the Information about the Problem or Issue?
In his study, Weber (2018) gives an exhaustive summary of the present strategies for managing the health-related needs of homeless people, at the same time offering opportunities for improvement. Therefore, the article in question provides crucial information for nurses that address the needs of homeless people, corresponding nursing organizations, and local healthcare authorities that define the accessibility of nursing services for homeless people. The article gives a chance at investigating the problems of the current system and amending them appropriately.
What Are Possible Solutions?
The problem of accessibility of care has always been an issue regarding homeless people’s needs, mostly due to the lack of financial opportunities. In addition, the absence of health education contributes to a low focus on health issues among homeless people (Weber, 2018). Therefore, the key solutions to the problem at hand include the provision of opportunities for contacting healthcare service representatives and receiving relevant medical assistance. The specified services have to be financed with the help of the state budget. In addition, it is critical to attracting the attention of the American community toward the issue of homelessness and the inaccessibility of healthcare assistance for homeless people since the problem at hand is mostly ignored.
How Will Dissemination of This Researched Information Impact Behavior?
The dissemination of the research in question will encourage nurses to focus on the health needs of underprivileged people and seek ways of reaching out to them with healthcare assistance. Thus, some of the current public health issues will be resolved. Namely, the problems of infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS in homeless people can become more manageable once nurses take the recommendations from the article under analysis into consideration.
In addition, making the specified information available will lead to the discussion of the problem of disparity within the modern community, as well as the challenges that it poses to the management of vulnerable groups’ needs. The fact that some of the most disadvantaged community members are ostracized to the extent that they are unable to receive basic medical assistance needs to be brought to people’s attention and managed accordingly.
The issue of homelessness and the inaccessibility of healthcare services stands at the intersection of multiple health-related, economic, financial, and social concerns that need to be unraveled to take effective measures. Although the research in question is a minor voice in the context of the target problem, it will outline the problem and incite further action both within the nursing setting and the American community.
References
Council of Economic Advisers. (2019). The state of homelessness in America. Web.
Weber, J. J. (2018). A systematic review of nurse-led interventions with populations experiencing homelessness. Public Health Nursing, 36(1), 96–106. Web.