Introduction
Poverty is a determinant of health, which affects the quality of life and contributes to the perpetuation of unhealthy concepts. The task of society and health care is to improve the quality of life of people living in poverty and to develop a system of easy access to health services. Some of the main reasons for the poor’s difficult existence and deteriorated well-being are the consequences of systemic underperformance in the form of low access to health services, bureaucratic barriers, and environmental constraints. Therefore, these problems must be analyzed and addressed to normalize the condition and improve care for vulnerable groups.
Environmental Issues
As the first reason for the low care level, it is worth mentioning the environmental problem, which aggravates the underprivileged more. In this context, there can be a cyclical pattern because places with the worst infrastructure, without educational institutions and hospitals nearby, and with high crime rates are the most financially accessible places to live. Poverty arises from many causes, the assessment of which makes it possible to predict and track underlying trends and how to respond to them.
Hence, assessing the causes of poverty should include the combined work of social services and state control systems (AAFP). In particular, this should include defining the social parameters of residence, especially for childhood. Poverty arises from the inability of the environment to meet the basic needs of the population and the increase in economic and other conflicts. Assessing neighborhoods for their accessibility to education, food, and infrastructure is a primary step in improving the availability of health services and the possibility of adequate population development.
That being said, arguments to support the cause of the environment include a broader understanding, focusing on the emotional and psychological surroundings. Determining the causes of poverty regarding family relationships is another important aspect of such an assessment. For example, current trends show an increase in divorce and a decrease in income in families with more than one child (Raley and Sweeney 82).
Family conflicts affect the provision of education, decent work for all family members, and health and social assistance. Social support and health systems must take action to identify the contemporary nature of conflict in low-income families. As a result, the systemic approach to assisting people experiencing poverty will become structured and coherent.
Improving Access to Health Services
The second reason is the poor accessibility to health services for low-income populations, which tends to be reduced, so counteracting this can lead to improved quality of life. To make health services accessible and of good quality, a different approach to patient relations should be developed. It has been noted that people with low incomes have less trust in healthcare institutions because they do not have the money to pay for additional services and are afraid of being harmed (Boudreaux et al. 6). Therefore, new principles of communication and management of low-income patients need to be developed to increase trust and reduce error rates.
To increase trust in medicine, an important aspect could be the integration of a system of family physicians (AAFP). In this way, individual families and communities would be less concerned about the cost and quality of health care. All care would be transparent and consistent, providing the highest possible level of support.
Another solution to improve health service access is establishing care centers and raising awareness. Boudreaux et al. (5) found that school-based health centers (SBHCs) can improve access to services for the pediatric population and potentially reduce the gap between inequality and quality of care. They also found that such centers can provide relief to families in general for children with specific medical conditions (Boudreaux et al. 8).
Nicoll et al. (8136) identified that families with low levels of education and positive trends in cancer treatment experience the problem of low information about the course of the disease. They found that integrating educational services for low-income patients and improving their emotional support positively affects attitudes toward health services (Nicoll et al. 8144). Consequently, increasing trust and positive experiences is a significant part of health systems’ efforts to improve access to health services.
Bureaucratic Constraints
For low-income patients, bureaucratic block affects the quality of services and prevents them from receiving care promptly. The primary way to improve access to and quality of services is to create flexible insurance and support regimes based on total income. Insurance systems can be more flexible and comfortable for low-income individuals, ensuring that basic and additional needs are covered (Lewis et al.). The amount of bureaucratic work, including filling out paperwork, processing, and feedback processes, is often lengthy, and people with low incomes do not have the financial capacity to speed up these processes.
In addition, bureaucratic procedures should be made understandable and transparent, creating separate ways of managing low-income patients and not creating additional complexity in receiving care Lewis et al.). In the US, the long time it takes to receive benefits or services is so long that it eventually becomes unnecessary (Lofthouse and McKinley pp. 21-22). Such conditions should be reviewed, and new mechanisms implemented to facilitate the existence of low-income individuals in all public and private instances.
Counterarguments
In opposition to the proposed solutions, some viewpoints on mechanisms to support people with low incomes can differ. In particular, there exists confirmed through evidenced practice argument that reducing the cost will not solve the accessibility problem of services (HealthNow). One can agree with this since even if health services were free, this would not change the main factors limiting care. However, it should be remembered that reducing the price comes with a change in the overall approach to managing low-income patients. This means that support will be obtained in ways other than just through price reductions. As such, services will be provided in full because the format will allow, not because they will be cheaper.
Another counterargument is that assessing the environment and changing the order of business will not achieve positive results in alleviating poverty. Instead, it will increase chaos and prevent services from being conducted correctly from a legal point of view. However, it is evidenced and rejected in the Singh and Chudasama strategy evaluating research (1). Moreover, one should remember that changing a service-affecting factor will not be possible without assessing a systemic event. From this, it can be concluded that the proposed strategies make sense and will positively impact the availability and quality of services.
Conclusion
Thus, each of the causes discussed, and the evidence argued is an apparent problem of declining care and increasing poverty and must be addressed to improve care and the well-being of people in below-middle-income households. To achieve that, three main strategies must be employed to improve the availability and quality of care for low-income people. An environmental health assessment will make it possible to understand the reasons why the availability of services is low and direct the public sector to address them. Improving the accessibility of health care should take place through confidence-building and educational services, as well as by building good practices. Finally, bureaucratic barriers can be reduced through simplified application procedures and outreach to the vulnerable.
Works Cited
AAFP. “Poverty and Health – the Family Medicine Perspective (Position Paper).” The American Academy of Family Physicians. 2019. Web.
Boudreaux, Michel et al. “School-Based Health Centers, Access to Care, and Income-Based Disparities.” JAMA Network Open, vol. 6, no. 9, 2023. Web.
HealthNow. “Making Your Health Service Accessible, Doesn’t Mean Lowering Your Prices.” Health Now New Zealand. 2021. Web.
Lewis, Corinne, et al. Listening to Low-Income Patients and Their Physicians: Solutions for Improving Access and Quality in Primary Care. Commonwealth Fund, 2019. Web.
Lofthouse, Jordan, and Kelcie McKinley. “Native American Healthcare, Bureaucracy, and Poverty: Institutional Problems and Solutions.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022. Web.
Nicoll, Irene, et al. “Perspectives of Cancer Survivors with Low Income: A Content Analysis Exploring Concerns, Positive Experiences, and Suggestions for Improvement in Survivorship Care.” Current Oncology (Toronto, Ont.), vol. 30, no. 9, 2023, pp. 8134–8148. Web.
Raley, R. Kelly, and Megan M. Sweeney. “Divorce, Repartnering, and Stepfamilies: A Decade in Review.” Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 82, no. 1, 2020, pp. 81–99. Web.
Singh, Pramod K., and Harpalsinh Chudasama. “Evaluating Poverty Alleviation Strategies in a Developing Country.” PloS One, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020. Web.