Limited Access to Healthcare
The previous assessment identified limited access to healthcare as an essential issue of concern in the United States. Little or lack of access is the opposite of good healthcare access. Good access to healthcare means receiving high-quality healthcare services when needed. This means that the health needs of the community and the individuals are sufficiently and timely met. Good access to healthcare is linked to better health outcomes, lowered expenditure on health, and improved health-related quality of life (Guida & Carpentieri, 2021).
On the other hand, limited access to healthcare contrasts with the outcomes of reasonable access to healthcare. Therefore, healthcare organizations and health providers should focus on developing sustainable solutions to combat the issue of limited access to healthcare and related outcomes. This paper will define the elements of limited access to healthcare, analyze and contextualize limited access to healthcare, and identify its significance and the population affected. It will also consider possible solutions and propose one solution and an implementation plan. It will also remember and discuss the ethical considerations of implementing the proposed solution.
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Elements of Limited Access to Healthcare
An alarming number of people in the United States are at risk of missing out on essential healthcare services for various reasons. Socioeconomic factors contribute the most to the limited access to healthcare. Ohlson (2020) noted that although all Americans were at risk of being affected by one or more health issues, inequalities in healthcare access were significant across the U.S. healthcare system. Ohlson (2020) argues that an individual’s racial and socioeconomic status directly relates to their access to healthcare services. The study concluded that coming from a lower economic status and a racial minority background reduced accessibility of needed health services, negatively impacting health outcomes. According to Johnson (2020), the pervasive implicit racial bias across the U.S is also an issue of concern in healthcare, which is potentially contributing to stigmatization based on race and the disparities in healthcare access.
A study conducted in South Africa in similar socioeconomic and racial settings focused on differences in healthcare access and health utilization among socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged individuals and communities. The study found that being socioeconomically disadvantaged created issues of access to healthcare and an increased chance of not seeking healthcare services and, therefore, higher unmet health needs than socioeconomically advantaged individuals (Gordon et al., 2020). These findings can be interpreted as socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and individuals lacking the financial capacity to fund access to their healthcare. These populations are more likely to be underinsured or lack insurance, resulting in missing checkups and skipping critical family care services. Further, the lack of the socioeconomically disadvantaged population may also lack the ability to finance their transport for healthcare services, further contributing to limited access.
Additionally, staffing shortages, people living in rural areas, overcrowded urban neighborhoods, and other interrelated factors contribute to limited access to healthcare services. For instance, the barriers to access to healthcare, as experienced by American Indians and Alaskan natives, were found to be a result of shortage or unavailability of health staff, limited healthcare resources, and limited infrastructural capacities within the rural settings (Cromer et al., 2019).
Analysis
As a registered nurse, I am responsible for advocating for and ensuring that all patients, regardless of their financial and socioeconomic status or ability to pay for care services, have unlimited access to healthcare. I believe that improving the accessibility of healthcare in the U.S. will improve the physical and mental health of the population and result in positive economic outcomes. This requires contextualizing the issue of limited access to healthcare to identify affected populations and develop population-focused solutions.
Contextualizing Limited Access to Healthcare
The U.S is the most socially diverse country in the world. It also has the most extended history of significant social and economic inequalities globally. These inequalities are more amplified on racial lines, with people from minority racial groups being the most socially and economically disadvantaged. The U.S also has one of the highest-priced healthcare systems compared to other first-world nations. Healthcare insurance companies also tend to have costly out-of-pocket payments and copays, which are very hard for socially and economically disadvantaged populations. These social and economic inequalities have contributed much to the ability of poor communities to access healthcare services, including preventive, curative, and health management services. Therefore, the issue of limited access to healthcare services in the U.S can be studied and contextualized at the system level.
Population Groups Affected by Limited Access to Healthcare
As discussed earlier, the issue of limited access to healthcare in the U.S is due to interrelated socioeconomic, racial, and geographical factors. This means that people from socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority racial backgrounds are more likely to have limited access to healthcare services due to the inability to care for the patient to pay for the care services. Racial minorities are more likely to be victims of economic inequalities and structural racism within the U.S care service (Johnson, 2020). Additionally, people living in remote and rural areas have an increased risk of having limited access to healthcare due to fixed capital and human resources within the healthcare delivery systems within such settings.
Considering Options
Ignoring the issue of limited access to healthcare has the potential to have severe consequences on the population’s health and the entire U.S health system. Limited access to healthcare is linked to an increased disease burden, including increased health expenditure and poor health outcomes. Various strategic solutions can be adopted to improve healthcare access across the U.S health system.
One significant approach to improving access to healthcare services is to address the factors contributing to the socioeconomic inequalities in the U.S. This solution will include providing economic opportunities and civic education on the rights of minorities and other affected groups in the U.S. for healthcare. The government must also offer solutions that support the affordability of marketplace insurance coverage and expand Medicaid and Medicare programs tailored to socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Policies such as the Affordable Care Act have been linked to increased insurance coverage uptake and improved access to healthcare (Courtemanche et al., 2020).
Another prominent solution is to focus on growing the workforce for health. This solution focuses on improving the number of graduating medical solutions and supporting medical education by expanding the health care faculties. The government must also provide funding support for students from rural and racial minority backgrounds. The medical education systems also need to focus more on training nurses and healthcare professionals on cultural responsiveness. Additionally, there is a need to promote the adoption of telemedicine and telehealth technologies across the entire health system.
Solution
Although all of the available options to be considered are viable options for improving access to health, they have the promise to achieve those goals. However, the best solution to improve healthcare access is to enhance the cultural responsiveness of the current care providers and those within the education system. Improving the providers’ cultural competence will help reduce the prevalent implicit bias in healthcare delivery and enhance the population’s trust in the healthcare system. Culturally competent care providers can make healthcare seekers feel comfortable with an impact on their future health-seeking behaviors.
Ethical implications
Developing cultural competence requires healthcare providers to learn, understand, and appreciate the culture of others and embrace a pluralistic approach to care. It helps nurses and other health professionals deliver better patient-centered care and a better application of the principles of autonomy, justice, and beneficence (Shepherd et al., 2019). From this perspective, it is beneficial to the patients and promotes the accessibility of healthcare. However, education on cultural competence does not consider the autonomy of nurses and their views on learning about new cultures and the application of their own during practice. Accordingly, cultural competence education may lead to cultural and ethical conflicts and tensions. For instance, care practitioners may require understanding of when to apply their moral values in culturally conflicting ways and override patient autonomy.
Implementation
Implementing cultural responsiveness will require the nurses and other healthcare providers to understand and appreciate cultural differences and conscious and unconscious biases within the healthcare system. They will also learn to actively listen to patients from diverse backgrounds and participate in the practical application of cultural competence. Furthermore, nurses must seek to develop their cultural competence individually through engaging translators and learning about cultural cues, among other vital aspects of communication within culturally diverse settings.
Conclusion
The issue of limited access to healthcare services in the U.S requires a system-wide evaluation to develop tangible and sustainable solutions. The majority of the contributing factors are interrelated. Socioeconomic factors and racial factors contribute the most to the issue of limited access to healthcare. Higher socioeconomic status increases the desire to seek and ability to access healthcare services and vice versa. Racially-related factors contribute to disparities in healthcare access due to individual beliefs, system-wide biases, and cultural beliefs. In conclusion, healthcare leaders and providers will be required to develop and implement multifactorial solutions to eliminate the existing barriers to healthcare access and improve the U.S. healthcare system and population-wide health outcomes.
References
Courtemanche, C., Marton, J., Ukert, B., Yelowitz, A., & Zapata, D. (2020). The impact of the Affordable Care Act on health care access and self-assessed health in the Trump Era (2017-2018). Health Services Research, 55(S2), 841–850. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13549
Cromer, K. J., Wofford, L., & Wyant, D. K. (2019). Barriers to Healthcare Access Facing American Indian and Alaska Natives in Rural America. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 36(4), 165–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370016.2019.1665320
Gordon, T., Booysen, F., & Mbonigaba, J. (2020). Socioeconomic inequalities in the multiple dimensions of access to healthcare: The case of South Africa. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12889-020-8368-7/TABLES/5
Guida, C., & Carpentieri, G. (2021). Quality of life in the urban environment and primary health services for the elderly during the Covid-19 pandemic: An application to the city of Milan (Italy). Cities, 110, 103038. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CITIES.2020.103038
Johnson, T. J. (2020). Intersection of bias, structural racism, and social determinants with health care inequities. Pediatrics, 146(2). https://doi.org/10.1542/PEDS.2020-003657/36898
Ohlson, M. (2020). Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Race on Access to Healthcare in the United States. Perspectives, 12(1). https://scholars.unh.edu/perspectives/vol12/iss1/2
Shepherd, S. M., Willis-Esqueda, C., Newton, D., Sivasubramaniam, D., & Paradies, Y. (2019). The challenge of cultural competence in the workplace: Perspectives of healthcare providers. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12913-019-3959-7/TABLES/2
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Question 
Write a 4-6 page analysis of a current problem or issue in health care, including a proposed solution and possible ethical implications.
Introduction
In your healthcare career, you will face many problems that demand a solution. You can learn what others are doing and saying about similar issues using research skills. Then, you can analyze the situation and the people and systems it affects. You can also examine potential solutions and their ramifications. This assessment allows you to practice this approach with a real-world problem.
Limited Access to Healthcare
Instructions
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
Describe the healthcare problem or issue you selected for Assessment 2 (from the Assessment Topic Areas media piece) and provide details.
Explore your chosen topic. For this, you should use the first four steps of the Socratic Problem-Solving Approach to aid your critical thinking. This approach was introduced in Assessment 2.
Identify possible causes for the problem or issue.
Use scholarly information to describe and explain the health care problem or issue and identify its possible causes.
Identify at least three scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles about the topic.
You may find the How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles? Library guide helpful in locating appropriate references.
You may use articles you found while working on Assessment 2 or search the Capella library for other articles.
You may find the applicable Undergraduate Library Research Guide helpful in your search.
Review the Think Critically About Source Quality to help you complete the following:
Assess the credibility of the information sources.
Assess the relevance of the information sources.
Analyze the health care problem or issue.
Describe the setting or context for the problem or issue.
Describe why the problem or issue is essential to you.
Identify groups of people affected by the problem or issue.
Provide examples that support your analysis of the problem or issue. 
Discuss potential solutions for the health care problem or issue.
Describe what would be required to implement a solution.
Describe the potential consequences of ignoring the problem or issue.
Provide the pros and cons of one of the solutions you are proposing.
Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if the potential solution was implemented.
Describe what would be necessary to implement the proposed solution.
Explain the ethical principles that must be considered (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if the potential solution is implemented.
Provide examples from the literature to support the points you are making.