Capella 4000 Assessment 4 : Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue

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Capella University

Capella 4000 Assessment 4

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Analyzing a Current Health Care Problem or Issue

Globally, healthcare systems encounter various health challenges which require concerted efforts to bring positive outcomes. These challenges are significant to healthcare organizations as they impose negative impacts on people’s health and their lives. This scholarly paper covers one of the major healthcare issues which is limited access to healthcare. The reason for choosing this healthcare issue is that I identified that people in rural areas of our country have minimal or no access to healthcare facilities which makes them vulnerable to various diseases and their complications. Hence, this issue must be addressed effectively to minimize the global burden of diseases. 

Healthcare Issue – Limited Access to Healthcare Facilities 

The World Health Organization explicitly considers healthcare as a basic human right. It explains that it is the responsibility of governmental bodies to provide basic health to every resident of the country (Zegeye et al., 2021). Access to healthcare is defined as the use of healthcare services to achieve positive health outcomes at a time of need. Healthcare access is further divided into four categories – coverage (healthcare facilities), services, timeliness (healthcare in the time of need), and workforce (qualified healthcare providers) (AHRQ, 2018). A study analyzed that more than 86% of health practitioners work in public sectors of urban areas while more than 96% are employed in private sectors.

This migration of healthcare providers in urban areas makes the rural population deprived of medical personnel (Brusnahan et al., 2022). Another study identifies that approximately 400 million people are deprived of healthcare due to limited access. Moreover, 8 million people die because of preventable diseases but the lack of facilities hinders prevention (Zegeye et al., 2021). The common causes highlighted for limited healthcare accessibility are a lack of qualified professionals, economical disparities, cultural and social norms, lack of investment by the government, and minimum awareness about the importance of health (Coombs et al., 2022). 

The reasons for choosing above mentioned scholarly articles are that they generously explain the importance of access to healthcare, reveal the prevalence of people who have limited accessibility, identifies the reasons for this healthcare problem thus enabling practitioners and policymakers to propose effective solutions for providing every individual their basic human right. 

Analyze the Issue of Limited Healthcare Access

Limited access to healthcare is a prevalent problem in many countries of the world specifically in rural areas. It is essential for healthcare providers to comprehensively understand the problem and analyze it based on causes and impacts so that an insightful and evidence-based intervention plan can be developed. 

To understand limited access to healthcare it is important to define access to healthcare. Healthcare access is defined as the ability of a person to avail services related to healthcare like preventive care, diagnostic tests, treatment of a health issue, and/or management of various diseases regularly. This also means the maintenance of healthcare quality which is done by providing care through qualified professionals in worthy environments (AHRQ, 2018). The limited access to healthcare is the opposite of this where people are deprived of all these healthcare services due to various reasons. 

Causes of Limited Healthcare Access 

The factors which lead to limited access to healthcare services are individualized factors and others are generalized for the population. Individualized causes include demographic factors for example gender. Research identifies that females are more likely to have minimal access to healthcare in low or middle-income areas. Another individualized factor is a lack of education and awareness related to healthcare needs (Dawkins et al., 2021).

Structural barriers like disparities in urban-rural areas are another important cause of limited healthcare access. Study reveals that, in the US, only 10% of healthcare resources are invested in rural areas as compared to urban areas. This difference in resource allocation deprives the rural population of most of the healthcare facilities (Coombs et al., 2022). Some of the other barriers are acceptability issues. People from various cultures and social norms do not accept medical treatments, most of these people live in rural communities and hence are underprivileged (Coombs et al., 2022). Other causes are a lack of financial resources, transportation problems, and the cost of insurance. 

People Involved in the Problem

People who are part of this healthcare problem are mainly the communities that have limited access to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals who are part of deprived communities. Limited access to healthcare deprives people of healthcare facilities which increases the burden of diseases causing high morbidity and mortality. Moreover, healthcare professionals who are living in those communities get minimal opportunities to excel in their careers thus either they migrate to urban areas or leave their professions. These healthcare disparities impose a challenge on healthcare systems in most countries worldwide. 

Potential Solutions for Healthcare Accessibility

It is essential to address the causes of the limited accessibility so that effective outcomes are achieved. Some of the solutions proposed by the studies are; the availability of telehealth services, governmental resources allocation, and enhancement of health education and literacy. 

• Telehealth: Evolvement of telemedicine has continued to provide care out of the hospitals within the patient’s homes or community centers. This healthcare model reduces the barriers of transportation and location differences which leads to improved healthcare access (Barbosa et al., 2021). Moreover, available clinics in the communities can easily reach specialists in various medical fields using different telecommunication tools which makes it easy for people to access quality healthcare (Toscos et al., 2018). 
• Allocation of Resources: The incorporation of the concept of healthcare equity is an important aspect for governmental and international organizations. Allocation of resources in an equitable way and also monitoring the use of these resources within the principle of equity significantly improve healthcare access. These resources include financial, human as well as organizational resources (Love-Koh et al., 2020). 
• Health Education and Literacy: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains that people with low literacy rates are more likely to use minimal healthcare resources to prevent diseases that result in chronic conditions, high-risk for hospital admissions, and eventually cause mortality. Illiteracy and not understanding the importance of healthcare and the management of diseases can be major barriers to healthcare access. Improving health literacy has been interlinked with enhancing patient outcomes (Ann-Marie Lynch & Vinceroy Franklin, 2019). Thus, community-based health education programs are efficient solutions for combatting the challenge of limited healthcare access. 

The provision of access to healthcare facilities is essential so that no health disparities are observed, healthcare systems can provide quality care, countries can decrease their burden of diseases and deprived populations are healthy and empowered as well. The consequences of not addressing the issue can poorly impact people with high morbidities and mortality rates ultimately increasing the global burden of illnesses. 

Ethical Implications of the Recommended Solutions 

Ethical principles are significant in healthcare systems. These principles are – autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The solutions proposed above are interlinked with these ethical principles so that evidence-based ethically sound interventions are incorporated to provide equitable access to healthcare to various populations. 

Capella 4000 Assessment 4

1. The principle of autonomy in healthcare is described as the right of every individual to choose their treatment/care and make informed decisions about their healthcare needs (Buka, 2020). For example, health education and enhancement of health literacy co-relates to this principle of ethics where every person is provided with extensive knowledge about their healthcare and can make informed choices for themselves. 
2. Beneficence is an ethical principle for healthcare providers to do only actions which are beneficial for the patient/families and communities (Varkey, 2020). Non-maleficence is also a part of this ethical principle as it says to provide no harm to healthcare consumers. All the solutions proposed above are related to these ethical principles, as improving healthcare access with eventually improve health outcomes for the patients, which will be beneficial for them to prevent further morbidities and mortalities. Such as telemedicine will improve their reach to quality healthcare, allocation of resources will make healthcare providers and equipment available for better care, and health literacy will make people aware of their healthcare needs. 
3. Healthcare equity and equitable allocation of resources fulfill the ethical principle of justice as well. Justice is defined as an unbiased distribution of healthcare services for every individual in the community (Varkey, 2020). Allocation of resources and enhancement of the healthcare budget for rural areas will improve healthcare facilities in these communities and will result in positive outcomes like urban populations. 

Conclusion

To conclude, limited healthcare access is a considerable healthcare issue that needs to be addressed effectively. Some of the proposed solutions are the introduction of technologies such as telemedicine, equitable distribution of resources, and improved health education. These strategies are evidence-based and follow ethical principles to be incorporated into healthcare systems. 

References

AHRQ. (2018). Chartbook on access to health care. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/chartbooks/access/elements.html

Ann-Marie Lynch, M., & Vinceroy Franklin, G. (2019). Health literacy: An intervention to improve health outcomes. Strategies to Reduce Hospital Mortality in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and Resource-Limited Settings. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86269 

Barbosa, W., Zhou, K., Waddell, E., Myers, T., & Dorsey, E. R. (2021). Improving access to care: Telemedicine across medical domains. Annual Review of Public Health, 42(1), 463–481. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090519-093711  

Brusnahan, A., Carrasco-Tenezaca, M., Bates, B. R., Roche, R., & Grijalva, M. J. (2022). Identifying health care access barriers in southern rural Ecuador. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01660-1 

Capella 4000 Assessment 4

Buka, P. (2020). Consent to treatment, patient autonomy. Essential Law and Ethics in Nursing, 65–84. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429292187-5 

Coombs, N. C., Campbell, D. G., & Caringi, J. (2022). A qualitative study of rural healthcare providers’ views of social, cultural, and programmatic barriers to healthcare access. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07829-2 

Dawkins, B., Renwick, C., Ensor, T., Shinkins, B., Jayne, D., & Meads, D. (2021). What factors affect patients’ ability to access healthcare? an overview of systematic reviews. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 26(10), 1177–1188. https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13651 

Love-Koh, J., Griffin, S., Kataika, E., Revill, P., Sibandze, S., & Walker, S. (2020). Methods to promote equity in health resource allocation in low- and middle-income countries: An overview. Globalization and Health, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0537-z 

Toscos, T., Carpenter, M., Flanagan, M., Kunjan, K., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2018). Identifying successful practices to overcome access to care challenges in community health centers. Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, 5, 233339281774340. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333392817743406 

Varkey, B. (2020). Principles of clinical ethics and their application to practice. Medical Principles and Practice, 30(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509119 

Zegeye, B., El-Khatib, Z., Ameyaw, E. K., Seidu, A.-A., Ahinkorah, B. O., Keetile, M., & Yaya, S. (2021). Breaking barriers to healthcare access: A multilevel analysis of individual- and community-level factors affecting women’s access to healthcare services in Benin. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 750. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020750