My Health Communication Plan
Direct and Indirect Causes of ____:
This paper examines the direct and indirect factors that lead to the denial of health insurance for individuals with low-income who are suffering from chronic illnesses. This is due to financial situations; people with low incomes cannot afford to pay for health insurance, and fluctuating or only part-time work does not offer health insurance employment positions. Other constraints in the policy include excluding several people from federally qualified health plans like Medicaid (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). Furthermore, the existing knowledge base is insufficient, including information about insurance choices and their relevance. Socioeconomic factors fall under indirect causes: increased unemployment and low wages among the marginalized, as well as education; less education leads to poor health literacy and skepticism towards insurance advantages. Language and cultural differences make it difficult for people to acquire the necessary information and to trust the healthcare system; geographical immobility is a significant problem, as some types of healthcare providers and insurance programs remain unavailable in the countryside.
Subproblem Prioritization:
To compensate for inadequate affordable healthcare insurance among the poor with chronic diseases, it is crucial to focus on subproblems. It is at this moment argued that more emphasis should be placed on financial facilitators and constraints since insurance premium costs and direct monetary expenditures are likely to be the most meaningful impediments. Subsequently, there should be a focus on raising awareness of available insurance choices and the importance of insurance (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). Policies are also of concern as efforts to address the barriers through a policy change to increase coverage and minimize the policies that hinder access to care are also a focus. Another set of subproblems relates to increasing the availability of health care, especially for populations in rural and other areas with limited access to services, and improving culturally competent communication with clients within the health care system.
Subproblem Goals:
Specific goals correspond to each prioritized sub-problem to address the lack of health insurance for low-income people with chronic diseases. Regarding the financial barriers, they aim to cut the cost of premiums through subsidies and financial assistance programs and the provision of payment scales that reflect the affordability of premiums by interested clients. The objectives of awareness and education include initiating health literacy campaigns to foster capacity enhancement and offering community-orientated sessions and counseling on insurance processes (Buchmueller & Levy, 2020). Removal of policy barriers requires lobbying for the expansion of Medicaid, as well as the problem of the process of enrolling in public health insurance. Speaking of the goals to enhance access to healthcare, the following ones can be outlined: to staff and expand the number of healthcare facilities in rural and other underserved areas and to create telemedicine services. Increasing cultural competency is accomplished through cultural competency training for health professionals and insurers and offering linguistically appropriate services and marketing materials.
Discussion of Relevant Theories and Best Practices:
Below are some theories and best practices that can help direct the health communication plan. The Health Belief Model (HBM) can be applied to determine the rationale for why individuals lack health insurance by evaluating their perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers. They proposed the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), according to which perceived social norms and personal self-efficiency would promote insurance uptake (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). CBPR is a research model that involves community stakeholders in the planning stages and implementation of a particular intervention in a way that addresses cultural sensitivity and responsiveness. These include using multimedia communication to disseminate information targeting different population segments, involving community organizations in campaigns to foster trust, and employing navigator systems to guide people through the insurance system to shop for coverage.
Strengths:
The strategies developed under the health communication plan have the following merits. It will embrace a team with members from public health, healthcare practitioners, policy analysts, community workers, and communication professionals to draw a broader perspective (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). It also targets clients with low income, more so, those who have chronic diseases and conditions. Improvement of trust and outreach is achieved through interaction with the leaders of the community as well as other relevant bodies. Policy advocacy interventions seek to ensure that certain policies are changed to broadly benefit insurance coverage.
Weaknesses:
Therefore, some weaknesses can also be noted for the health communication plan. There is always a limitation in mobilizing resources, particularly when it comes to finance and manpower to reach all targeted individuals. Some proposed interventions may face opposition from policymakers or the insurance industry since they will implement changes (Buchmueller & Levy, 2020). Cultural and linguistic premising could be profound and long-enduring, thereby restricting the application of some interventions, even when ethnic sensitivity is boosted.
Opportunities:
Some of the opportunities that can help the health communication plan include the following: Telemedicine, social media, and web-based applications can enhance the visibility of and access to knowledge and resources. The current political environment may be propitious for change in health insurance systems, which would be instrumental in advocacy for improvement. Also, expanding coverage by utilizing community-level contacts achieved through cooperating with local organizations is possible.
Threats:
However, there are threats that may affect the success of health communication plans in the following ways. Funding from different governments may be unpredictable, and as a result, it may result in program instability. Recessions can lead to more uninsured individuals and stretched resources (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). They can also hamper raising awareness about health insurance and healthcare services, and the educational process for the target population may also be problematic.
Ethical Considerations:
Some areas to consider when developing the health communication plan relate to ethical issues. Equity concerns who gets what and needs to be observed to prevent one group’s benefit or exclusion at the expense of others (Buchmueller & Levy, 2020). People’s health and financial data should be protected, and this requires extra caution. The information dissemination about the plan and the execution process, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the program, must be open to garner the faith and confidence of the target group and the supporters.
Subproblem Interventions:
Specific interventions are outlined to respond to the identified subproblems. Ideas corresponding to financial issues are addressing insurance premia using sliding-scale payment schemes and focusing on helping low-income users by offering subsidies and financial support. For prevention and outreach, using all the available media and public platforms to air campaigns and providing awareness sessions and individual consultation services on insurance registration are encouraged. This aspect of policy intervention needs a call for the expansion of Medicaid and an effort to eliminate barriers to getting applications for public health insurance (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). To address the issue of inequity in healthcare, enhancing the density of physicians and other healthcare contractors in the shortage areas and the development of telemedicine services should be recommended. Cultural competence can be improved by ensuring that all employees in the healthcare and insurance sectors are trained on cultural competence and by offering translation services and support.
Resources/New Partners:
Overall, the sustainability of the health communication plan depends on effectively utilizing the available resources and building new collaborations. Community organizations and Non-Governmental organizations may also help in case of outreach and support. Working with clinics, hospitals, and healthcare practitioners allows for providing these services and disseminating information. Cooperating with agencies on the state and federal levels can lead to changes in regulation and acquisition of financing (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). Communicating with academic institutions can be useful in the process of data analysis, evaluation of programs, and in designing educational materials. Further, coordination with other sectors of the economy, especially insurance companies and employers, can be instrumental in establishing effective and accessible insurance and benefits plans.
Interactions for Staff and Partners:
The staff and the partners need to maintain good relations in the context of the health communication plan. There should be periodic meetings with all the stakeholders, especially to review the progress, concerns, and changes to be made where necessary (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2022). Cultural competency health literacy and communication strategies workshops should be conducted for the staff and partners involved in the program. Communication tools like e-mail and other online means can effectively disseminate information and coordinate activities. Incorporation of feedback will allow for the collection of feedback from community members and partners to improve the implemented interventions. Lastly, community events and health fairs will help encourage insurance acquisition and offer immediate aid to a needy population, making them another effective method in helping the plan succeed.
References
Buchmueller, T. C., & Levy, H. G. (2020). The ACA’s Impact On Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Health Insurance Coverage And Access To Care. Health Affairs, 39(3), 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01394
Keisler-Starkey, K., & Bunch, L. (2022). Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2021 Current Population Reports Acknowledgments. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-278.pdf