Summary Report on Rural Health Care and Affordable solution (Essay Sample)

Interprofessional Approach of Rural Health Care and Affordable Solution Student’s Name Institutional Affiliations Course Title Professor’s Name Date Interprofessional Approach of Rural Health Care and Affordable Solution Compared to urban residents, rural populations are associated with lower educational attainment, high poverty rates, less developed public infrastructure, and inadequate healthcare facilities that contribute to poor health services. Most barriers to adequate healthcare in rural areas are socioeconomic. Care providers are developing interprofessional team collaborations to reduce care disparity between urban and rural regions. Interprofessional teams comprise different care providers with diverse skills, talents, and knowledge working collaboratively to advance care provision to the communities. However, interprofessional strategies require effective integration and coordination. Poor coordination of interprofessional teams is associated with suboptimal work processes, higher costs of care, operational inefficiencies, and workflow redundancies. Therefore, effective coordination is necessary across technical abilities and organizational, disciplinary, and cultural boundaries. This paper evaluates the current interprofessional care delivery setting in rural areas. It highlights the gaps in which the literature can provide significant insights for evidence-based improvement in team collaboration. Specifically, it addresses issues related to available interprofessional teams and resources, areas of cultural competencies, and technology-based outreach strategies. It further addresses the legal and ethical issues in interprofessional care coordination to improve healthcare services. Rural population healthcare needs and challenges and the interprofessional teams serving the communities The is a disparity in healthcare between urban and rural areas. According to research, about 14-19% of the U.S population resides in rural areas, with most of them older adults (Coughlin et al., 2019). The population in rural America is culturally heterogenous and has diverse demographics. According to research, rural regions remain underserved in healthcare services (Stilp & Reynolds, 2019). Many individuals living in rural areas often face the dilemma of leaving health challenges unattended or traveling long distances to access care. Many people struggle to afford care services and find social support. In response, healthcare systems have resorted to Interprofessional Practice Education (IPE) to enhance care delivery and meet care demands. Healthcare institutions and leaders face unprecedented pressure to revise and improve care delivery strategies in rural areas. According to Solberg (2020), areas such as rural North Dakota are experiencing a reduced pool of physicians and other care providers due to the high retirement rate, increased rural populations, inadequate resources, inability to attract and retain healthcare professionals in these areas, and poor infrastructure. Despite these challenges, the patients in these areas still demand high-quality care services from the over-stretched providers and emphasize the significance of duty of condor, integrity, respect, and effective communication in care (Solberg, 2020). As a result, leaders are leaning towards facilitating interprofessional teams to meet these needs. Resident populations in rural America are less likely to have healthcare insurance coverage than urban dwellers. They face difficulties in accessing care, and clinics have workforce shortages. Rural people have lower health literacy, face social stigma and lack resources that support healthcare, such as technology. Most patients travel considerable distances to access care services. Rural areas also have the challenge of higher substance abuse, such as alcohol and cigarettes. According to Coughlin et al. (2019), the higher incidences of chronic health problems like high blood pressure, cancer, mental health problems, and CVD owe to the above challenges in health. Poor infrastructural development in rural areas, inadequate resources, and inadequate healthcare facilities are associated with poor health outcomes, such as high mortality and morbidity rate (Coughlin et al., 2019). Due to these barriers, the healthcare fraternity needs collaborative and interprofessional team efforts to improve care access, affordability, quality, and outcomes in rural regions. Interprofessional teams contribute towards better healthcare technology to improve outreach, healthcare coverage to improve care access and increased competency among care providers to enhance care quality. However, interprofessional teams require efficient coordination to ensure optimal utilization of scarce resources in rural regions, creative problem solving, reducing medical errors, delivering better care outcomes, reducing care costs, and improving patient experience. There are several reasons why studying team processes in healthcare is essential. Effective teamwork is associated with patient safety and quality care (Rosen et al., 2018). Healthcare is also an avenue to advance the science of teams in academic research. The current interprofessional approach and resources There are numerous healthcare workers with diverse qualifications and skill sets aiming to enhance the health status of rural residents. The current interprofessional teams in rural healthcare include physicians, community health workers, pharmacists, social workers, therapists, and nurses. According to research, rural healthcare systems have dramatically improved over the years due to transformations targeting healthcare financing services, better technologies, the passage of ACA for healthcare coverage, and increased integration of institutions and professionals into a comprehensive healthcare network system (Coughlin et al., 2019). In addition, joint efforts among professionals are more effective in coping with a turbulent care environment, reducing costs, managing scarce resources, and increasing care efficiency. Although rural areas have historically struggled with access to healthcare services, advancements in communication technologies have transformed practices and collaborations between interprofessional teams. One of the significant contributors to this goal is telemedicine (Coughlin et al., 2019). As rural residents continue becoming more familiar with modern advanced technologies, they are becoming more comfortable utilizing the capabilities of telecommunications to access care services in a timely and effective manner. For instance, telehealth reduces travel costs to access services and enhances medication adherence. Identify areas of cultural competency the team must address Given that diversity in cultural beliefs, languages, and traditions has a significant impact on health, care providers in rural areas must ensure culturally competent practices. The move towards an interprofessional model of care demands awareness of an individual’s culture, knowledge of cultural differences, attitudes towards those differences, cross-cultural skills, and adapting to diversity among the communities that the professionals serve. Research indicates that cultural competence affects practitioners’ attitudes, behavior, knowledge, and abilities (Jongen, McCalman, & Bainbridge, 2018). Culturally competent care is correlated to healthcare quality and patient satisfaction with care. For instance, it can enhance the translation of medical instructions to a language that patients can understand, effective communication, and improve health literacy. Cultural competency provides a feasible context where patients from diverse backgrounds can discuss beliefs and practices and their implications on healthcare and negotiate treatment options (RHIhub, 2018). Familiarity with cultural concepts promotes respectful interactions among teams and integrates cultural concepts into treatment approaches. Recommendations on technology-based outreach strategies supported by evidence-based research Technology plays a critical role interprofessional approach in healthcare since it allows teams to easily access, analyze, and utilize clinical evidence in developing care plans; access and sharing of data and information enhances team collaborations. In addition, technology underpins collaborative team spirit by encouraging open communication in the workplace. Research indicates that common challenges in healthcare teams include conflict management, coaching, accountability, decision-making, and reflecting upon progress (Zajac, Woods, Tannenbaum, Salas, & Holladay, 2021). Team development interventions (TDI) such as team building and problem-solving enhance processes and competencies, thereby improving care outcomes among interprofessional care providers. According to research, healthcare professionals need to transform education and training to meet interprofessional needs and prepare learners to face the realities of real-world practice using evidence-based competencies (McLaughlin et al., 2020). In addition, interprofessional teams are characterized by collaborative communication, appropriate skill mix, understanding of individual roles, clarity of vision, proper utilization of resources and procedures, and respect for diversity (McLaughlin et al., 2020). A study found that one of the factors that influence the geographical choice of professional practice among healthcare workers after training is growing up in a rural location which may increase the number of providers in rural areas (MacQueen et al., 2018). The study results can encourage more diverse enrollment and training programs for care providers. Possible legal issues in interprofessional care coordination and practice Patient safety and satisfaction with care services are multidimensional, and professional team practices must be grounded in legal and ethical imperatives. Therefore, Healthcare coordination ...