HSE 220 Milestone One
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
220
Subject
Health Science
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
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4
Uploaded by DrUniverseLion34
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Milestone One
Molly Strempfer
Southern New Hampshire University
HSE 220: Communication Skills for Human Services
Kelly Wright
November 05, 2023
2
According to the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report conducted in 2021, access to healthcare is defined as having “the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes.” Additionally, being able to access comprehensive, quality healthcare services is important for promoting and maintaining health, preventing and managing disease, reducing unnecessary disability and premature death, and achieving health equity for all Americans (
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2021)
. Unfortunately, the American healthcare delivery system does not grant equal access to healthcare services and many individuals have experienced disparities based on a multitude of factors such as race, age, or socioeconomic status. Furthermore, in 2013, the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report cited that transportation is often named as a significant barrier to accessing healthcare. When individuals experience transportation barriers to healthcare services it can lead to rescheduled or missed appointments, delayed care, and missed or delayed medication use. These consequences may lead to poorer management of chronic illness and thus poorer health outcomes (Syed, Gerber, Sharp, 2013)
.
Currently, a client that my agency has an established helping relationship is sadly suffering from this systemic issue. This client has been recommended by a therapist to attend treatment three times a week. However, over a duration of two months, the client has only been able to attend a total of three treatments due to the unreliability of transportation. As this client possesses significant mental health needs and physical disabilities, my agency and I believe that access to treatment is crucial in improving not only my client’s mental and physical health but will lead to overall improvement in quality of life. Sadly, my client is not alone in finding reliable transportation to access healthcare services. In fact, depending on geographic location, studies have found that up to 67% of populations sampled have experienced transportation barrier that impacts access to healthcare (Syed et el,
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2013.) My agency is dedicated to finding a solution to this problem, not only for my client, but for the millions of Americans who encounter barriers in accessing healthcare due to lack of transportation. Without a solution, many face disrupted continuity of care, complications of chronic illnesses, increased emergency room and hospital admissions, medication adherence and early detection and prevention of disease.
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References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2021). ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE AND DISPARITIES IN ACCESS. In
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK578537/
Syed, S. T., Gerber, B. S., & Sharp, L. K. (2013). Traveling Towards Disease: Transportation Barriers to Health Care Access.
Journal of Community Health
,
38
(5), 976–993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9681-1