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What is the difference between a group "at risk" for poor health and a group considered a "vulnerable" population? Provide an example of a group at risk and a group considered a vulnerable population.
10-15 sentence Reply to the following Statement Below
A group that is at risk for poor health has certain characteristics, traits, and experiences that increased their vulnerability, but not all people who are at risk for poor health are considered vulnerable. A person or group has factors that put them at a greater risk for ongoing poor health status than other at risk people or groups (Maurer & Smith, 2013). An example I thought of is a middle aged woman named Bethany who works at an office where she sits all day filing documents online, and when she gets home she does not exercise or eat healthy, otherwise known as not healthy eating or a healthy lifestyle in general. She is at risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac problems, a blood clot, the list goes on and on, but she is at risk for these problems. A vulnerable population is a group or groups that are more likely to develop health-related problems, have more difficulty accessing health care to address those health problems, and are more likely to experience a poor outcome or shorter life span because of those health conditions. Some examples of risk factors include low socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviors, genetic inheritance, race, ethnicity, gender. Examples of the vulnerable population include the poor, the homeless, the disabled, the severely mentally ill, the very you and the very old (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Let’s say there is a young man named Wyatt, he has a history of schizophrenia and works as one of the accountants at a big law firm in California. His family lives in a small town in Iowa. The company is making cuts because the firm is bankrupt and Wyatt’s position is terminated, causing him to not make his bills, resulting in him living in a homeless shelter, unable to afford his medications, food, clothing, etc. Wyatt is vulnerable. However people with sudden changes in financial situations are more likely to improve their financial situation, whereas if Wyatt came from a family in poverty he would most likely have years of struggling and roadblocks that may have a big factor in improving his economic status (Maurer & Smith, 2013). Wyatt was able to get back on his feet and find a position in another, smaller firm in a different city.
I think members of these groups often cannot advocate for themselves because they have so much going on in a different way that other people who are not at risk for poor health or who are vulnerable. For example, they think of where their next meal is going to come from, where they are going to sleep that night, if they are cold or too hot, if they can get water if it’s so hot outside or adequate shelter if it’s raining, snowing, flooded, etc. I also think there is a stigma towards people who are less fortunate where people think, “They chose to be that way”, “All they spend money is on alcohol”, “It’s their fault they ended up that way”. Whereas people who are not at risk for poor health or vulnerable think of things like, where sit down restaurant are we going to eat at? Should we get a seventy inch TV or a fifty? Where should we go on vacation this year?
I would choose to be advocating for both of these groups because it would be beneficial. They are real people with real feelings, real pain, real life experiences and we all deserve to have a decent life. No one deserves to be living on the streets wondering where their next meal is going to come from or getting beat up in an alley just because. Advocating for these people could result in more jobs in the community, a better community, and better self-worth for everyone involved. I think we need a bit more of caring in this world and starting with vulnerable and at risk people would not be a bad start.