Comprehensively

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 1. Five (5) issues on special population

Special population have been defined by Farrer, Marinetti, Cavaco & Costongs (2015) as
individuals who are living with any form of disability whether congenital or acquired,
individuals who are coming from families that= are economically disadvantaged, that includes
youths and adults with low-income. Those individuals who are preparing for non-traditional
field, single parents and this includes pregnant women who are single, individuals who are out-
of-work-force, homeless individuals, the youths who are in or have aged out of the foster care
system, Youths whose parents are members of the armed forces and are actively on duty as well
as those who have different barrios to educational achievements and that includes those whose
English proficiency is limited. These groups of individuals tend to face diverse challenges in
their lives and they are impacted with different issues that should be considered and should be
paid attention by healthcare personnel when handling them. Such issues include Psychological
suffering, physical weaknesses, underlying health conditions, Immunity and stigmatization.

Psychological suffering is perceived by Gennetian, Sciandra, Sanbonmatsu, Ludwig, Katz,

Duncan, Kling, & Kessler (2012) as any form of mental anguish that has the capability of
causing discomfort, result to disfunctioning, distress of the mind and the individual which can
result from either physical pain as well as injury and the social and emotional events that are
happening around the individual. Gundersen & Ziliak (2015) also considers it to be any form of
emotional pain that leads to suffering. This includes any form of emotions that are highly
unpleasant for instance, depression, anxiety, grief, fright as well as humiliation. These aspects
tend to deter an individual or individuals in the special population category to be able to achieve
the desired effectiveness in the process of treatment. In this way, the role of a nurse in improving
the quality of life of those considered as special is to help the individual be in a position that their
psychological suffering is not reinforced. That could be through bad treatment or stigmatization.
The nurses therefore have a responsibility of ensuring that individuals in the special population
category are constantly given the assurances that everything will be alright. In the same way, the
nurses have the obligations of striving to eliminate any form of strains as well as emotional
suffering that might further reinforce the sufferings that the individuals are likely to be subjected
to.
Physical weaknesses is considered by Kirkpatrick, McIntyre & Potestio (2010) to be a state
where an individuals is experiencing general feeling of fatigue in their body. The fatigue can
result to an individual being unable to engage in certain activities that they would otherwise be in
a position to engage in by themselves without any form of assistance. Physical weaknesses are
also seen to translate to one being unable to have energy to move as well as the capacity to
endure a given level of pain and extreme activities that might demand a lot of energy as well as
attention from the person. In most cases physical weaknesses is often caused by certain diseases
or conditions as well as physical injuries which are likely to translate to one being limited in
what he or she can do. In this case role of a nurse in improving the quality of life of those
considered as special population is to have a better understanding of the individual condition that
the person or the patient is going through. Hence the nurse has the mandate of facilitating the
necessary help with caution not to make the patient`s physical weaknesses to translate to
uncertain condition of injuries or even being incapacitated. In this respect the nurse has the role
of providing the needed help whether medication as prescribed by the doctor or physical help
with attention on the conditions that the patient is having and also minding the physical
weaknesses of the patient.

Underlying health conditions is perceived by Magnan (2017) as any medical condition that is
preexisting in an individual and has the capacity of putting the person at risk of contracting any
additional ailment as well as subjecting the individual to further risk of injuries and other forms
of uncertainties like death due to facilitation caused by an already existing condition. An
underlying condition can either be a disease, a physical disability, past injuries as well as past
encounters that left a significant levels of vulnerabilities to an individual. In this respect, further
exposure of such individuals to the vulnerabilities of the condition would make the be at a risk of
contracting the disease or being prone to other form of injuries which can be life threatening. In
this way, a nurse plays the role of ensuring that, the patient or the individual is given a proper
care through provision of the right medications as prescribed by the doctor a=in the right amount
as well as at the right time. In also involves the role of eliminating any forms of danger in the
environment of the individual to help ensure that further risks are avoided and the person in not
subject to any danger of infections facilitated by their underlying conditions.
Immunity is argued by Mahoney & Jones (2013) to be the biological capacity of an individual or
any other multicellular organism to develop resistance to microorganisms that are considered
harmful. In this respect, immunity is seen by Osypuk, Joshi, Geronimo & Acevedo-Garcia
(2014) to be composed of components which are specific as well as those which are nonspecific.
Hence the nonspecific ones do act as barriers as well as eliminating the wide range of pathogens
regardless of the antigenic make-up that they have. A nurse has the role of improving the quality
of life of those considered as special population. By ensuring that the environment that an
individual is in mostly a patient is kept to the right conditions to limited the potentials of their
immunity being incapable of resisting the harmful microorganisms. Nurses are also charged with
the responsibility of administering the right medications as instructed by the doctors to help in
promoting the immunity of an individual apart from monitoring the conditions of the individual.

Stigmatization is the aspect of describing or regarding someone or something as worthy of

disgrace as well as greater extent of disapproval. It is also seen as a form of disapproval or
discrimination that is waged against a group of people or an individual based on social
characteristics that can be easily seen. In most cases these characteristics tend to serve the role of
distinguishing the individual or groups of individuals from other members of the society. In this
respect, the role that a nurse plays is that of improving the quality of life of those considered as
special population. That is achieved by ensuring that, the group of people that are considered
special are not subjected to any form of discrimination that might have a negative effect on their
ability to recover.

2. How health and healthcare issues of vulnerable populations may be exacerbated by social
factors

Social factors like cultural diversity in most cases have made the issue of health and healthcare
issues of vulnerable populations to be of critical concern. That is because, certain cultures do
impose some beliefs on some groups of people with vulnerabilities. For instance, groups living
with disabilities for a long period of time have been stigmatized and isolated in different
societies that they are part of. In the process, it has made it significantly difficult to address the
health as well as health issues of this group of individuals living with the vulnerability. In the
same way, individuals living with psychological vulnerability in some societies have also been
label unwelcoming names and little attention have been given to their medical need as well as the
support they neat to coupe with their health and health issue. In the process it has been quite
difficult in most societies to identify, accept and manage health conditions that comes with
psychological illnesses (Persaud 2018). The same case has been evident with individuals living
with physical weaknesses. In several societies across the world these individuals have been
pushed aside in the society and given limited attention in matters of health and health issues. As
a result, it has been a huge struggle for this group of vulnerable people to have access to quality
as well as affordable healthcare. The reason is because of their perceived unimportance in the
society which is not always the case. In the process they have been stigmatized, ridiculed as well
as ignored hence resulting to their healthcare as well as health needs being given limited
attention. Discrimination as well as stigmatization have been an aspect that people with
vulnerabilities have been subjected to for a considerable period of time (Farrer et al., 2015). That
has been because of the unfounded beliefs as well as perspective of what vulnerable people are
and the image they present. For instance, single mothers and single pregnant women have been
labeled socially immoral as well as being individuals who do not uphold the strict morals and
values of the society. In the process, they have not been given an equivalent attention in matters
that regard their health as well as health issues. This has been solely because of the unfounded
beliefs that they are outcasts and immoral individuals hence they do not deserve any form of
attention (Gennetian et al., 2015). This approach has however, had a negative impact on this
groups capability to have access to quality and affordable healthcare because of the labels which
has been put on them by the standards that the society has created.

3. The plights of special population in terms of low social standing, poverty, low human capital
endowments, restricted access to employment and services, and lack of voice.

The special population have been subject to a lot of ridicule and given less cognition for a
considerable period of time. That has been mainly because of the perception that that they make
little or no contribution to the general society which is not the case. In this respect, special
population like those with physical weaknesses mostly the disabled have been perceived to have
no capability in the society to hold positions like leadership as well as provide ideas that might
be impactful on the general society (Kirkpatrick et al., 2010). However, this has not been the
case because apart from their physical incapability this group of people have been established to
have an exceptional capacity to develop, generate as well as maintain exceptional ideas which
are good in leadership as well as wealth creating. In the same way, the inability of this group of
people to have physical capability have been often used to alienate them from virtually all the
physical activities (Magnan 2017). However, they have proved to be capable in engaging in such
activities as sports, and martial arts hence demystifying the long held belief that they should be
relegated to low social standing.

On the same light most of the individuals who fall in the category of special population have
been subject to poverty, low human capital endowment as well as, restricted access to
employment and services. This has been because of assumptions that the society has always had
about this group of people. The society has in most cases seen this group of people not to have
the ability to contribute to any form of employment that would result to their ability to get out of
poverty and sustain their own life. For instance, people with mental weaknesses, have not been
given the needed attention to get psychological help that would enable them manage they
psychological problems and learn skills as well as attain the needed knowledge that would enable
them to generate their own sources of income (Mahoney & Jones 2013). In the process majority
have been subjected to undignified conditions of poverty and they have been unable to improve
their human capital endowments as well as have access to employment and service. In the
process the vast majority of this group of individuals have not had voice to bargain and also
advocate for their own rights as well as wellbeing.
References

Farrer, L., Marinetti, C., Cavaco, Y.L., & Costongs, C. (2015). Advocacy for health equity: A
synthesis review. The Millbank Quarterly, 93(2), pp. 392-437. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12112

Gennetian, L.A., Sciandra, M., Sanbonmatsu, L., Ludwig, J., Katz, L.F., Duncan, G.J., Kling,
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Gundersen, C. & Ziliak, J.P. (2015). Food insecurity and health outcomes. Health
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Kirkpatrick, S.I., McIntyre, L., & Potestio, M.L. (2010). Child hunger and long-term adverse
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Magnan, S. (2017). Social determinants of health 101 for health care. Discussion paper,
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Mahoney, D. & Jones, E.J. (2013). Social determinants of health in nursing: Education, research
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Osypuk, T.L., Joshi, P., Geronimo, K., & Acevedo-Garcia, D. (2014). Do social and economic
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