Draft Revised Capstone Research Paper. Consider previous feedback and make necessary changes. This draft components will include sections on Topic, Background, Problem Statement, Literature Review,
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Healthcare Access Disparities in Underserved Communities
This paper aims to discuss healthcare accessibility issues in minority and rural populations, with emphasis on accessibility in terms of availability, cost, and quality. Such disparities result in unfair or irrational distribution of healthcare which may be a result of socio-economic status or geographical accessibility. In the healthcare administration field, this problem requires proper management of available resources to deal with cases of access disparities in such areas.
Problem Statement
Bias in healthcare is therefore reflected through enabling great gaps in access to healthcare services in underserved populations with consequential effects on health and equity (Wesson 2019). Insights into these disparities comprehend the socioeconomic status disparities, the relative lack of healthcare facilities, and issues with insurance coverage. This research question seeks to analyze these contributing factors to find appropriate measures in designing and implementing healthcare policies that will enable the provision of quality services to all human beings.
Literature Review
This section summarizes the existing literature on healthcare access disparities:
Defining Health Disparities: Health disparities refer to the unfair and avoidable variation observed in health status between different groups of people (Braveman 2011). This is important because it helps us shift from acknowledging these disparities to discussing them from a human rights perspective.
Digital Health Disparities: The utilization of digital health increases disparities in rural regions as they are characterized by aggravated inequalities and digital health resources are less accessed by people of low income or of color (Campos-Castillo & Mayberry, 2022).
Role of Community Health Centers: There are health centers for communities (CHCs) to provide inexpensive health facilities to various populations. The steps to enhance CHC funding have enabled more patients of low income or from the minority to seek the service, this is more of a public health approach to addressing disparities.
Intersectionality in Health Disparities: Inequalities depend on factors such as race, gender, or economic status of the patient and insurance type. They include the following: An intersectional lens is useful in pinpointing any issues affecting different demographically diverse populations (Homan 2021).
Methodology
Research Design:
The research uses a quantitative method via administered questionnaires. The major research question focuses on factors contributing to variations in access to health services and aims at finding possible remedial measures.
Sample and Recruitment:
Recruitment of participants comes from local organizations and health care centers and the inclusion criterion is an adult, 18 years and above from an underprivileged background. Efforts to recruit people for the jury are enhanced by support from recognized members of the community.
Instruments:
Participants’ views and experiences of healthcare and their socio-economic characteristics are collected by structured questionnaires.
Data Collection
Recruitment Process: Invitations are also sent through emails and participants are sourced from local networks to ensure their eligibility. The involvement of the community leaders helps in the identification of the right sample to engage for the study.
Eligibility: Some requisites have to be considered when implementing this study: 1. Participants have to be at least 18 years old. 2. They have to live in an underserved community.
Questionnaire Administration: Internet-based questionnaires are used to enable respondents to complete surveys more conveniently with steps taken to guarantee privacy of the data and the respondent.
References
Braveman, P. A., (2011). Health disparities and health equity: The issue is justice. American Journal of Public Health, 101(S1), S149–S155. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2010.300062
Campos-Castillo, C., & Mayberry, L. S. (2022). Disparities in digital health in underserved populations. Elsevier EBooks. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-90557-2.00018-2
Homan, P.,. (2021). Structural Intersectionality as a New Direction for Health Disparities Research. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 62(3), 350–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465211032947
Saloner, B., (2019). Community Health Centers and Access to Care Among Underserved Populations. Medical Care Research and Review, 77(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077558719848283
Wesson, D. E., Lucey, C. R., & Cooper, L. A. (2019). Building Trust in Health Systems to Eliminate Health Disparities. JAMA, 322(2), 111. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.1924
