Milestone 3 Intervention and Evaluation

Vulnerable population overview

Miami has the highest number of individuals living with HIV. The number has been increasing at a very high rate which is attributed to the lifestyle of people in this community. The people living with the virus are vulnerable population as most of these people are economically disadvantaged and rely on state-funded projects for the medication and other health care needs.

Most of HIV infection occur during adolescence, and most people get infected before the age of 30. However, there is a bigger percentage of residents with the virus beyond the age of 50 which account for forty percent of the people living with the virus in Miami. Medical costs to take care of the HIV condition have continued to grow with time. The number of individuals being infected has also increased significantly making it hard for the people to finance the medical costs. Also because the disease affects the productivity of an individual it makes it hard for a person to acquire the medications with no funds. The condition makes the people rely on state-funded projects and Medicaid for their health needs (Small, 2015).

Strengths, risk factors and barriers to the people living with HIV.

Miami has participated in community-based activities to improve the assessment and health service delivery to the people living with HIV/aids. Some of the strengths that the vulnerable population has is the fact that prescription drugs are given freely, and some partnerships have seen even houses being provided for people who are the risk of the virus. The Housing Opportunity for Persons with HIV/AIDs (HOPWA) allocates $24 million dollars to take care of the people living with the virus.

The risk factors and barriers that the people living with the virus are facing is from the people who are not affected. Opposition from the people that a lot of tax payer’s money is being used on the vulnerable population. Some people argue that HIV is a lifestyle disease, and so the government should not be spending a lot of money to support the people affected. Due to this funding has been reduced despite the increasing number of people relying on public services.

I agree with the article on the risk and resilience factors for the minority populations in South Florida. The article explains the financial factors and drug use that increase the chances of spreading the disease. Other than the economic factors the article shows that the extent that the teenagers are having unprotected sex not only expose them to HIV but also teenage pregnancies (Talley, 2016)

Community resources for people living with HIV/ Aids

The South Florida Aids Network (SFAN) is a community service operating in Miami which takes care of both the infected and affected people. The organization helps in assessing medical, financial and health needs of an individual which aims at providing education on how to reduce the spread of the virus. The organization provides many other services from transportation assistance, Medicaid waiver programs to free confidential counseling to the affected people. The community resources are not adequate. Residents with the virus require more resources than what the organization is providing. The people living with the virus should be represented more. Due to the stigmatization that the vulnerable population is facing they should be protected against any form of discrimination by the community (Willo Pequegnat; Carl C Bel, 2012).

Community health problem diagnosis.

Based on the assessment the priority community health issue that a nurse could impact positively is through increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for the people living with HIV. Since nurses are the people who first know the HIV status of individuals they can try to ensure that the people who are infected access health services and by providing access to health services they will play an active role in reducing deaths from HIV infection.

Also, nurses can increase HIV testing and help to prevent HIV risk. Nurses can educate patients on the importance of being tested and increase awareness about the virus. Nurses can increase the number of adolescents who know their HIV status which will also help in preventing the disease. The nurse can advise the teenagers to use condoms to reduce not only the spread of HIV but also teenage pregnancies.

Summary.

The vulnerable population identified is the people living HIV. The number of individuals living with the virus in Miami has been growing from time to time and despite the community’s effort to reduce the spread of the disease, the rate of spread is alarming. What makes the people living with the virus vulnerable is because the medications are expensive, and the productivity of a person is affected by the disease. Also, the government does not allocate enough funds to deal with the disease. People also need to take precautions to control and prevent the spread of the virus by using protection during sex. Nurses may play a major role in ensuring that there is increased access to health services to improve the outcome of people living with HIV. People with HIV are vulnerable population, and the community should do everything possible to take care of the population and ensure that the number does not grow at the high rate.

References Small, L. F. (2015). Factors associated with the health care utilization among vulnerable populations: using Gelberg's and Andersen's behavioral model for vulnerable populations. Willo Pequegnat; Carl C Bel. (2012). Family & HIV/AIDS: cultural and contextual issues in prevention and treatment. New York: Springer. Talley, A. E., Gilbert, P. A., Mitchell, J., Goldbach, J., Marshall, B. D. L., & Kaysen, D. (July, 2016). Addressing gaps on risk factors for alcohol use outcomes in sexual and gender minority populations. HIV risk and drug Review, 35, 4, 484-493.