Healthcare Disparities
The medical profession can respond to healthcare disparities in several ways. In my opinion, their strongest methods in doing so are through education, volunteering, fundraisers, and community cohesion efforts. One has to remember that healthcare disparities are the end result, not the problem itself, and in order to prevent this outcome, the real issues must first be addressed.
Education is pivotal in achieving the goal of alleviating medical shortages in underserved communities. Ensuring that everyone receives at least a college education is ambitious and would significantly help with this effort, but is incredibly unrealistic at this point in time. Instead, teaching individuals and communities about relevant health issues, such as proper
nutrition and communicable diseases, is a great starting point. If everyone understands the importance of safe sexual practices, eating healthily, and the like, a lot of the illnesses seen in these communities would be prevented. Although it is not that simple, the number of jobs available with adequate income and benefits are sparse in these areas. This is why volunteering, fundraisers, and community cohesion efforts are so important.
Volunteering, fundraising, and strengthening community interrelations are critical to improving individuals lives in these communities; physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Volunteering and fundraising supplies the man power and money necessary for providing adequate healthcare services and nutritional options. Combined with community engagement activities, individuals will also have a more tight-knit network to depend upon in their time of need; we all could use outside help from time to time.
If these four efforts were seriously initiated, embraced, and embodied, I believe we would see a significant improvement in the disparity of healthcare. It will not be solved in one fell swoop, but I believe this is the most appropriate place to start.
Education is pivotal in achieving the goal of alleviating medical shortages in underserved communities. Ensuring that everyone receives at least a college education is ambitious and would significantly help with this effort, but is incredibly unrealistic at this point in time. Instead, teaching individuals and communities about relevant health issues, such as proper
nutrition and communicable diseases, is a great starting point. If everyone understands the importance of safe sexual practices, eating healthily, and the like, a lot of the illnesses seen in these communities would be prevented. Although it is not that simple, the number of jobs available with adequate income and benefits are sparse in these areas. This is why volunteering, fundraisers, and community cohesion efforts are so important.
Volunteering, fundraising, and strengthening community interrelations are critical to improving individuals lives in these communities; physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Volunteering and fundraising supplies the man power and money necessary for providing adequate healthcare services and nutritional options. Combined with community engagement activities, individuals will also have a more tight-knit network to depend upon in their time of need; we all could use outside help from time to time.
If these four efforts were seriously initiated, embraced, and embodied, I believe we would see a significant improvement in the disparity of healthcare. It will not be solved in one fell swoop, but I believe this is the most appropriate place to start.