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Introduction
Creating the environment in which every single member of a community has access to the required healthcare services is a crucial task that lies ahead of the Little Haiti authorities. Seeing that the unavailability of efficient services, the lack of qualified experts, the increasingly high poverty rates, and the absence of awareness about current health concerns among the Little Haiti population can be viewed as the primary areas of concern, the elderly and the people from low-income families can be deemed as the key vulnerable groups (Race and ethnicity in Little Haiti, Miami, Florida (neighborhood), 2017).
Restricted to access the corresponding healthcare services both physically and economically, the identified groups of people will require assistance from the local authorities so that the necessary health services should be provided to them. The purpose of the paper is to determine the opportunities for improving the delivery of healthcare services to the target population.
Vulnerable Population Overview
The lack of basic healthcare-related knowledge, such as the inability to locate the required information sources, define the symptoms of a certain disease or disorder, etc., can be deemed as the primary threat to the target population. Apart from the inability to identify the emerging health problems and search for the necessary health-related assistance, the target population can be characterized by unsettlingly high obesity levels and the propensity toward developing substance dependency with its following consistent abuse.
Furthermore, the cultural specifics of the identified population deserve to be brought up as one of the essential characteristics thereof. Most of the community members are represented by the descendants of the first wave of Haitian immigrants, as well as Hispanics (72.7% and 20.4% correspondingly (Race and ethnicity in Little Haiti, Miami, Florida (neighborhood), 2017)). Therefore, there is the need to consider the cultural specifics of the target groups, such as the propensity to develop very strong family ties and urbanism as the defining tendency in their lifestyle choices (Camann & Long, 2014).
The identified features of the target population will allow for developing comprehensive and successful intervention strategies involving the promotion of community-based interventions, enhancement of the principles of cooperation among the target groups, and the use of peer support as the tool for managing the current concerns such as drug abuse, obesity, etc. Last but definitely not least, the issue of poverty and the inability to access the existing healthcare services needs to be listed among the key characteristics of the Little Haiti population.
Strengths, Risk Factors, and Barriers
The existence of several large health centers that offer emergency, family planning, and mental health services can be considered the primary strength of the community. The state-funded Little Haiti Health Center and the Douglas Gardens Ambulatory Health Clinic can become the sources of health education and essential information for the vulnerable population. Furthermore, the fact that the target population is defined as urban implies that they are capable of adapting toward change.
Therefore, the introduction of new opportunities for acquiring the relevant health-related information is likely to be used actively by the Little Haiti community members (Kelch, Wehbe-Alamah, & McFarland, 2015).
When considering the barriers that the local healthcare authorities are likely to encounter in the course of the implementation phase, one should mention poor education levels and a complete absence of awareness concerning current healthcare problems. Therefore, it is crucial to promote consistent knowledge acquisition among the members of the Little Haiti community. Particularly, it is essential to boost the levels of independence among the Little Haiti population (Camann & Long, 2014).
The lack of competent healthcare experts, however, is likely to become a tangible barrier to improving the quality of care in Little Haiti. Therefore, local healthcare facilities will have to introduce more opportunities for healthcare practitioners (HPs). For instance, social benefits, financial incentives, and opportunities for professional growth must be included in the list of essential changes that the Little Haiti healthcare environment will have to experience.
Community Resources
Hotlines must be taken into account as the key means for the residents of Little Haiti to access the necessary information fast and consult experts immediately. Hotlines such as Haiti-Now.Org (Haiti Now Corporation, 2017) should be viewed as a crucial community resource since they also allow retaining confidentiality, therefore, contributing to the feeling of security among the vulnerable groups and encouraging them to seek help. Similarly, the Little Haiti Health Center (Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade, 2017) can be deemed as an essential local resource that can be used to improve patient outcomes among the residents of Little Haiti. Therefore, the identified resources seem quite legitimate and adequate.
Community Health Problem Diagnosis
The increasingly high level of chronic issues development is one of the primary reasons for concern for the members of Little Haiti at present. SA-2 and SA-4 objectives of the Healthy People 2020 Program (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2017) (i.e., the increase in the number of people that have never abused substance and reducing the percentage of the ones who abuse drugs) should be considered the primary goals of HPs in Little Haiti.
Summary
Little Haiti in Miami, FL is currently facing a health crisis. Elderly Hispanics and descendants of Haitian immigrants are the two most vulnerable groups that need extensive support. The lack of available healthcare, coupled with financial problems and the absence of essential health-related knowledge and skills produces a disastrous effect on the target population, which means that the priority of the issue is extremely high. Therefore, active use of the community resources must be considered to increase awareness levels among the identified groups and provide them with the required healthcare services.
References
Camann, M. A., & Long, J. (2014). Health promotion with vulnerable population groups. Online Journal of Cultural Competence in Nursing and Healthcare, 4(1), 29-37. Web.
Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade. (2017) Little Haiti Health Center.
Haiti Now Corporation. (2017). Health awareness. Web.
Kelch, R. H., Wehbe-Alamah, H., & McFarland, M. (2015). Implementation of hypertension and diabetes chronic disease management in an adult group in Les Bours, Haiti. Online Journal of Cultural Competence in Nursing and Healthcare, 5(1), 50-63. Web.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2017). Substance abuse: Objectives. Web.
Race and ethnicity in Little Haiti, Miami, Florida (neighborhood). (2017).
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