Underserved Black Belt Case Study

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Social Services in this particular area include the Department of Human Resources. This resource has agents that protect the vulnerable adult and child from abuse. DHS arranges emergency housing, public housing and administers the Food Stamps or the SNAP program. Also in this particular area there are County Health Departments that because of their extended wait times are a source of contention in our population group. Building a system to serve an underserved population may be difficult but it is not impossible. There are two major problems. There are cultural problems, historically based, related to the lack of trust in the dominate culture. And there are problems related to the stereotypical lenses the dominant culture chooses to wear. The dominate culture, who is in control of health services, and are fully aware of the health disparities but observe no profit, nor do they have the resources, in making a certain population of people are healthier. By identifying the concerned parties, the health disparities, and the problems that are ahead it is noted that positive outcomes will result …show more content…

The underserved Black Belt Population is only fifty percent of the problem in this equation. However, it is in this community that the learning curve, for health care matters, is the steepest. Health education should be as mandatory as English. Implementing an aggressive health program starting at the fourth grade level and continuing until graduation would create educated young adults. These adults will be aware of the health risks of poor diet choices and sedentary behaviors. And as the program progresses the health education could evolve focusing on matters of chronicity, disease processes, lifestyle protection, sex education, and health care management. This education program could be used in place of elective classes that are chronically required throughout elementary and high

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