The pandemic has revealed many weak points of the healthcare system. One of the pressing issues is the access to care resources the underserved communities. The three articles included in this paper analyze the effect of the hindered access on the health of the underserved populations. The authors offer policy implications, such as the need to increase the funding of healthcare that this population receives. This paper will present details of three articles that focus on disclosing barriers to care that emerged during the pandemic for underserved communities.
The three articles focus on different communities, thus allowing the readers to see the scope of this problem. Bradford et al. (2021) discuss the health barriers of the rural communities since they need help in “treating serious COVID-19 cases, curbing further spread of the virus, and addressing mental health and social needs” (para. 1). According to the findings, the rural inhabitants have more severe COVID-19 cases and deaths related to this condition when compared to urban populations. From the viewpoint of society, this highlights the disparities that rural communities have to face and requires a policy action to improve access to care. Moreover, Bradford et al. (2021) reveal that the COVID-19 case shows the detrimental effect of improper healthcare services on people’s mental health and their basic social needs. Thus, the first article exposes the discrepancies among rural healthcare providers, and the authors argue that these led to the greater spread and larger number of comorbidities within this population.
AARP Pennsylvania (2021) specifically focused on disclosing the barriers to care that local underserved communities face. For example, this article reveals that race, economic status, and geographic location play a role in the person’s ability to address their healthcare needs. Although these issues were present before, the pandemic revealed their severity as many people require urgent assistance. AARP Pennsylvania (2021) also highlight that rural populations are at a greater risk of not receiving help, together with poor neighborhoods in the cities. Moreover, the state faces a developing public health issue since more people over the age of 50 live in poverty than before, and this population often has chronic and comorbid illnesses that require constant care. Therefore, the second article reveals problems that Pennsylvania’s underserved communities face due to COVID-19.
The pandemic revealed the systemic negligence and lack of adequate health care policies. Robeznieks (2020) discusses the implications of COVID-19 for society and argues that there is a need to change policies to ensure that in the future, the system is well-prepared to address such challenges. The author examined data and found, similarly to the authors of the previous articles, that race and economic status determine the outcomes for patients with COVID-19. The final article reveals that to resolve the problems of underserved communities, systematic action is needed from all stakeholders.
This topic is related to this course because of the concept of population health. The main problem highlighted in this paper is that underserved communities in this country are still unable to receive the services that may save their lives. The pandemic allows bringing attention to this problem because many people are concerned with vaccinations and herd immunity, which allows policymakers to speak on behalf of the underprivileged. Therefore, reform is needed to ensure that underserved communities can access quality care.
References
AARP Pennsylvania. (2021). New research shows disparities limiting access to healthcare services, including Covid-19 vaccines, in Pennsylvania’s underserved communities. AARP. Web.
Bradford, J., Coe, E., Enomoto, E., & White, M. (2021). COVID-19 and rural communities: Protecting rural lives and health. McKinsey. Web.
Robeznieks, A. (2020). COVID-19 exposed systemic weak points. How to get it right next time. AMA. Web.