Seminar Brief: Poverty Effecting Access to Care
Liberty University
HSCI 715
May 27, 2022
Everyone should to have access to the same level of healthcare in our country. Sadly, this
is not the case in the United States. Several factors restrict the level of access that people have to
quality healthcare. Geographic locations, ethnicity, cultural barriers, and poverty are all factors
that prevent people from receiving the care that may be necessary to save their lives. The United
States Government has passed laws over the years, such as the Emergency Medical Treatment
and Labor Act of 1986 or even more recently the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
trying to prevent this from happening (McKenna et al., 2018). They also offer programs, such as
Medicare and Medicaid, that pay for the services needed to save lives and make sure that the
poor are taken care of. Caring for the poor and destitute is something that is commanded many
times throughout the Bible. An example of this is seen when Paul tells the Christians in Philippi
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (English
Standard Version, 2001, Philippians 2:4).
Spector (2017) states that the multitude of health problems exacerbated by poverty fall
into something she calls the “Cycle of Poverty.” Being poor starts with a person suffering from a
state of unemployment or working a job that pays low wages such as fast food, retail, or a menial
service job (Spector, 2017). Because of this lack of economic stability, Spector (2017) states that
these people will often encounter substandard housing, have a lack of potable water, and have
extremely poor nutrition due to a diet that lacks the proper protein, vegetables, and fruits. These
factors will often lead to high morbidity rates, having limited access to healthcare, impoverished
people are unable to obtain the proper preventative care, and increased illness rates (Spector,
2017). Spector (2017) also notes that poverty leads to poor intellectual and physical
development, social problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, poor employment opportunities,
and elevated birth rates in these impoverished communities.
Multiple factors that affect the poor’s access to proper healthcare, beyond those of the
Spector text, have been identified by researchers over the years. Lazar & Davenport (2018) state
that the poor lack proper education and distrust those in the healthcare field because they don’t
understand the treatment plans developed which leads to a perception by the poor that healthcare
providers only want money and don’t want to provide the proper care. Tavares & Betti (2021)
found that geographic locations will often limit the poor’s access to the proper level of care
needed for a healthy lifestyle. Weeks (2018) pointed out that geographically rural areas don’t
have the proper infrastructure, so specialty providers and hospitals often struggle to maintain
their financial viability. Ridley et al. (2020) found that poverty due to geographic location can
cause mental health problems that are up to three times more likely to lead to serious medical
conditions.
In an ideal world, everyone would be healthy, happy, and have the means to provide the
best life possible for their families. Sadly, this is not the case. Our society has a very wide
economic gap that causes serious health disparities due to the lack of access to proper healthcare
that is suffered by the impoverished. These health disparities are often exacerbated by
geographic location and social settings. While the problems caused by geographic locations
cannot be controlled, the United States Government is doing what it can to alleviate the other
health problems caused by poverty. Caring for the poor is the paramount responsibility of
Christians according to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus stated “But when you give a
feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they
cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (English Standard
Version, 2001, Luke 14:13-14). By caring for the poor, the healing ministries of Jesus Christ can
be spread, and the masses can be grown.
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Luke 14:13-14 ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Philippians 2:4 ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Lazar, M., & Davenport, L. (2018). Barriers to health care access for low income families: A
review of literature. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 35(1), 28–37.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07370016.2018.1404832
McKenna, R. M., Langellier, B. A., Alcalá, H. E., Roby, D. H., Grande, D. T., & Ortega, A. N.
(2018). The Affordable Care Act attenuates financial strain according to Poverty Level.
INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 55,
004695801879016. https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958018790164
Ridley, M., Rao, G., Schilbach, F., & Patel, V. (2020). Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal
evidence and mechanisms. Science, 370(6522). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay0214
Spector, R. E. (2017). Cultural diversity in health and illness (9th ed.). Pearson.
Tavares, F. F., & Betti, G. (2021). The pandemic of poverty, vulnerability, and covid-19:
Evidence from a fuzzy multidimensional analysis of deprivations in Brazil. World
Development, 139, 105307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105307
Weeks, E. (2018). Medicalization of rural poverty: Challenges for access. Journal of Law,
Medicine & Ethics, 46(3), 651–657. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073110518804219
