Running head: VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

Vulnerable Populations
Sara Towers
Ferris State University

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Vulnerable Populations

Vulnerable populations include the economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic

minorities, the uninsured, low-income children, the elderly, the homeless, those with human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and those with other chronic health conditions, including
severe mental illness. It may also include rural residents, who often encounter barriers to
accessing healthcare services. Health and healthcare problems intersect with social factors,
including housing, poverty, and inadequate education. Vulnerable populations include those
with chronic mental conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression,
and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as those with a history of alcohol and/or
substance abuse and those who are suicidal.
The development of psychotropic drugs in the 1960s led to efforts across the country
to deinstitutionalize the care of people with mental illness, but there was a subsequent
failure to provide adequate community mental health resources to meet their needs. This
resulted in many of the mentally ill living homelessly, often self-medicating with illicit
drugs, and experiencing a revolving door from prison to street. Currently, 15 percent to 24
percent of U.S. prison inmates have a severe mental illness, with one half of them,
numbering 1 million, having at least one mental health problem (Easley, 2009).
Helping people with a mental illness can take on different forms. People can provide
personal help, such as personal intervention and provision of employment, or condone or
even facilitate state-provided help such as the provision of benefits to facilitate independent
living, the provision of treatment, or the donation of money to charities for the mentally ill
(Obonsawin, Lindsay & Hunter,2013). Much of the stigma of mental illness is engrained in

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deep and ancient attitudes held by virtually every society on earth. Stigma can be attached to
almost any illness, condition or social group but people with mental health problems are
more stigmatized than others (Schafer, Wood, & Williams, 2011). The implications for
variations in belief and attitudes towards mental health and illness between different races,
cultures and religions are profound for both the training of nurses and the provision of
services (Schafer, Wood, & Williams, 2011). Cultural differences in the way people perceive
and react to mental illness should be valued and help to inform the way nurses and other
practitioners help people recover from mental health problems.
There is considerable literature documenting negative public attitudes and behavior
toward persons with mental illness. Many studies have established that the general public
perceives such individuals as possessing undesirable traits. In particular, people with
psychiatric disorders are viewed as dangerous and unpredictable and are subjected to be
discriminated in jobs, education, housing, and other activities. The attitudes and behaviors
of mental health professionals toward those they serve are also very important (Chaplin,
2000). Mental health professionals serve as role models, and they are also the people whom
those with psychiatric disabilities will encounter at their most vulnerable times, who they
will rely for understanding and assistance. How people with mental illness are viewed by
these caregivers can have signicant impact on the treatment outcomes and quality of life
experienced by those with mental illness. In my experience, having a professional rapport
with my psychiatric patients allows them to feel safe which improves their overall outcome
with their treatment. In addition, many mental health professionals are also educators whose
attitudes and behaviors inform and inuence future caregivers (Wahl & Aroesty-Cohen,
2010, p51).

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I have been in the mental health field for almost 11 years now and before the
knowledge I have gained it is clear that in the past, I myself had a different outlook towards
those with a mental illness. According to research, the psychiatric population continues to
hold a very strong stigma. Over the years my perception has changed with increased
knowledge in the mental health field. I feel that it is important to educate not only my
patients to accept their mental illness but, the community as well. There has become an
increase in awareness, which I feel will increase the opportunity to increase knowledge, in
order to decrease the sigma of mental illnesses.
As I care for my patients in the hospital, I will continue to show them respect and
maintain their dignity as all people desire in their time of need. People are vulnerable when
they are sick and not feeling well, and depend on others for comfort and support. As a health
professional, I will continue to be a positive role model for my coworkers to uphold the best
care for all patients no matter what their needs are at that moment, in order to achieve the
best possible patient outcomes.

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References

Easley, C. (2009). The incarcerated mentally ill: An invisible, vulnerable population. The
Nations Health, 39(6), 33.
Obonsawin, M. C., Lindsay, A., & Hunter, S. C. (2013). Beliefs and emotions have different
roles in generating attitudes toward providing personal help and state-sponsored help
for people with a mental illness. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 54(5), 581588.
doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2012.11.004
Schafer, T., Wood, S., & Williams, R. (2011). A survey into student nurses attitudes towards
mental illness: Implications for nurse training. Nurse Education Today, 31(4), 328
332. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.010
Wahl, O., & Aroesty-Cohen, E. (2010). Attitudes of mental health professionals about
mental illness: a review of the recent literature. Journal of Community Psychology,
38(1), 4962. doi:10.1002/jcop.20351