Vulnerable populations and disparities within health systems

1. Choose a vulnerable population of your choice and share a health disparity about that population – be sure to cite your source (APA Style). Remember a health disparity is something that is avoidable and unjust. If you are having a difficult time thinking of some, please reach out to the instructor. Use data and evidence to support your health disparity.

1. For example, “In a 2009 study, children in rural Oregon compared with children in an urban setting were 1.48 times more likely to have unmet medical care needs” (DeVoe et al., 2009)

2. DeVoe, Jennifer E., Lisa Krois, and Rob Stenger. 2009. “Do Children in Rural Areas Still Have Different Access to Health Care? Results from a Statewide Survey of Oregon’s Food Stamp Population.” The Journal of Rural Health: Official Journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association 25(1):1–7.

2. Describe two aspects of the U.S. health care system (availability, accessibility, affordability, etc) that may cause the health disparity.

3. Describe one way to eliminate that disparity

In addition to responding to the discussion prompts, each post should include:

● A description of a key concept covered in the course materials and why it is important

● At least one question related to the material that you would like to discuss with your team members. Your questions do not have to have a single, definitive answer, nor should they be able to be answered with a simple yes/no response. The point of these questions is to offer your team members something to respond to over the next week.

As a point of reference, there is no technically correct answer for which I am looking. Rather, I am interested to see that you’ve engaged with the course material. Incorporating multiple sources from the week helps demonstrate this, you’re also welcome and encouraged to reference any applicable material from prior weeks.

Your post should be around 250 words. This equates to approximately one to two pages when double-spaced. Discussions should have a minimum of two references back to the course material and all references must be appropriately cited (APA format) and a reference list provided at the end of your post. Reference lists, questions, and the key concept are not included in the final word count. Forum posts may include lists when

discussing key concepts and posing questions, however the bulk of the post should be written in narrative, paragraph form.