Vulnerable Population Essay

Certain individual in the community are at an increased risk for detrimental health issues. These individual are “unable to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of disasters” or health illness. (WHO, 2002) This is what makes these individuals a vulnerable population. The vulnerable population endures multiple combinations of factors that make them more susceptible to illness, injury or disasters. These are the factors that affect the vulnerable population: limited economic resources, limited social resources, age, and chronic disease and obesity. (Wilkinson, Treas, Barnett, & Smith, 2016) Each factor can have a significant impact on the healthcare of the individuals or group. The lack or limited economic resources can play a major role in the type of healthcare they have available for them. For instance, a homeless person who is unable to pay for healthcare will only go to the hospital when she/he is very ill. Another example of how a simple disease such as lice infestation can become very complicated for homeless individual to treat. According the to article “Lice-borne Disease in the Homeless Population,” Voelker states that the lice enter the body through the mucous

The older adults’ immune system begins to decline with age making them more susceptible to infections and other diseases. In addition, they are frail due to musculoskeletal changes. Older adults have difficulty recovering from illnesses, or injuries. According to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study, “women ages 65–69 who break a hip are five times more likely to die within a year than women of the same age who don’t break a hip.” (Permanente, 2011) Furthermore, the risk for death continues to rise for women older than 69 years old who break their hip. I strongly considered the elderly as a vulnerable population that needs to especially care