2
Healthcare Management Research Project: Outline
Thesis Statement:
Health outcomes in healthcare deserts are negatively impacted by social determinants and
lack of access to quality care, which calls for an extensive approach that addresses social
determinants, improves care quality, expands access, and advocates for policy changes to
establish equitable healthcare systems.
Question(s)/ Issues Begin Addressed:
I. What are health disparities and healthcare deserts, and how do they impact people who
require medical attention? (1 –1.5 pages)
A. Healthcare disparities and healthcare deserts will be defined, along with looking
at an overview of health disparities and healthcare deserts.
1. Health disparities and healthcare deserts both relate to unequal access to
healthcare. Health disparities focus more on different populations and
how they receive healthcare treatments; whereas, healthcare deserts
focus on the lack of healthcare infrastructure and services within certain
geographical locations.
2. There are significant inequities within healthcare not only with access to
healthcare but also in relation to the outcomes of certain illnesses and
injuries (Reilly, 2021).
B. Patients are affected by healthcare deserts and disparities in multiple ways.
1. Patients who live in healthcare deserts and health disparities usually
experience poorer overall health and healthcare outcomes.
2. Patients living in these areas may be more likely to suffer from certain
3
health conditions, such as substance abuse, chronic illness, suicide, and
STDs, but it is also evident that these patients encounter greater
obstacles and difficulties in accessing healthcare services (Reilly, 2021).
II. How are health disparities and healthcare deserts influenced by social determinants of
health (SDOH)? (1 – 1.5 pages)
A. SDOH are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes; these are
typically beyond the person’s direct control and include socioeconomic status,
education, healthcare access, neighborhood, and physical environment (Centers
for Disease Control, 2024).
B. These SDOH factors create barriers to accessing quality healthcare services, thus
further limiting a population’s ability to improve their situation.
III. What are the obstacles and repercussions for people seeking medical care in these health
deserts? (1 – 1.5 pages)
A. There are numerous limitations for people that live in healthcare deserts and
health disparities.
1. Some of the limitations a patient might experience are geographic
distances between where someone lives and where the closest hospital is
located. Depending on the area and how far away it is from a populated
city, health services such as home health care might not go out to the
patient’s home; thus, creating a gap in care (Ross, 2024).
2. While technology might have helped to improve some obstacles with
healthcare deserts by allowing telemedicine, this is still a limitation due
to some rural and lower economic communities do not have access to
4
internet capabilities and certain technologies that might allow for a
successful telemedicine visit.
B. Patients that experience these limitations and obstacles lack high-quality
healthcare, which usually has unfortunate consequences.
1. These patients not only have higher rates of receiving delayed diagnosis,
untreated long-term medical conditions, but they also rely heavily on
emergency care due to putting off medical treatment.
2. These patients also experience poorer health outcomes along with a
lower quality of medical care. A lot of these areas have limited medical
facilities such as primary care providers, specialists, pharmacies, or even
hospitals, and if there is any of these facilities they are either short-
staffed or do not have the means or technology to properly treat their
patients (Rogan & Lewis, 2020).
IV. What strategies can lessen health disparities while simultaneously enhancing access to
healthcare and quality of care? (1 – 1.5 pages)
A. Being able to find ways to address and reduce SDOH within healthcare deserts is
a necessity.
1. Some of the ways to address SDOH would be reducing poverty and
improving communities’ economic status, improving education access
and quality, and encouraging safety among communities. Changing the
environments in which individuals live, work, learn, and play, as well as
the social norms that shape and are a result of these environments, is one
strategy to promote healthcare equity (Brown, et al., 2019).
5
B. Ways in which to improve quality care for patients within these healthcare desert
and health disparities communities would be to allow paramedicine through
community health programs, to attract healthcare professionals to underserving
areas, and to provide technology to these areas that allow patients to participate in
telemedicine (Gizaw, et al., 2022).
6
References
Brown, A. F., Ma, G. X., Miranda, J., Eng, E., Castille, D., Brockie, T., Jones, P., Airhihenbuwa,
C. O., Farhat, T., Zhu, L., & Trinh-Shevrin, C. (2019). Structural interventions to reduce
and eliminate health disparities.American Journal of Public Health (1971),109(S1),
S72-S78.Hhttps://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304844
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, January). Social Determinants of Health
(SDOH). https://www.cdc.gov/about/priorities/why-is-addressing-sdoh-
important.html#:~:text=SDOH%20have%20been%20shown%20to,connect%20people%
20to%20clinical%20care.
Gizaw, Z., Astale, T., & Kassie, G. M. (2022). What improves access to primary healthcare
services in rural communities? A systematic review. BMC Family Practice,23(1), 313-
313.Hhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-022-01919-0
Reilly, M. (2021). Health disparities and access to healthcare in rural vs. urban areas.Theory in
Action,14(2), 6-27.Hhttps://doi.org/10.3798/tia.1937-0237.2109
Rogan, E. & Lewis, J. (2020, January). Rural health care: Big Challenges require big solutions.
American Hospital Association. https://www.aha.org/news/insights-and-analysis/2020-
01-28-rural-health-care-big-challenges-require-big-solutions.
Ross, J. (2024). The impact of health care deserts on patient safety.Journal of Perianesthesia
Nursing,39(4), 686-687.Hhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2024.05.002
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
