Vulnerable Population Summary (HIV/AIDS) - Assignment Example

Vulnerable Population Summary and Proposed Program Introduction In today’s society, there are various factors that affect the day to day living of individuals. In the present society, particularly in the field of science and medicine, there have been many developments and innovations. The health sector of the present day society cannot be compared to a hundred years ago. There have been developments in terms of medicine, equipment and also the methods of treatment. Many lives have been saved thanks to the innovations and to the developments.

However, even with these developments in medicine and in science, there still remains an element in a society that is not fully accepted by members of the society. Presently, there exists certain group that face stigma and are vulnerable because of their medical or physical condition. This goes a long way to show just how much there should be the existences of certain programs that focus on these groups in order t ensure that everyone in the society is comfortable (Burkholder, 2013). Such groups include vulnerable mothers and children, individuals who have or are being abused, disabled people and also the chronically ill, HIV/AIDS victims, mentally challenged people, suicidal people, alcohol and substance abuse victims, homeless people and the displaced who end up as refugees and immigrants (Burkholder, 2013).

 These are some of the groups that exist in today’s society, and it is everyone’s duty to ensure that these people do not feel left out and abandoned. Concentration will be aimed at the group of individuals living who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. These are a group of people who face stigma because of the condition that they are living (Burkholder, 2013).  HIV/AIDS is a condition of the body whereby the immune system becomes affected, and it becomes weak such that it cannot fight off other infections.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency virus while AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (Marsico, 2010). The disease is mainly transmitted from one individual to another through unprotected sexual intercourse, nevertheless; it can be transmitted through other methods such as blood transfusions, handling infected tools such as needle, from mother to child during childbirth and also during breastfeeding. The disease has been a major mystery in the present time since it does not even have a known cure yet (Marsico, 2010).

 Because of the misconceptions and misinterpretations of the disease, people who suffer from the disease have been stigmatized and have been segregated from the community. The disease can affect anyone, in that it does not have a definite age set of individuals who are affected (Marsico, 2010). The disease does not discriminate on type of gender. It is common in both genders and anyone can be infected or affected by the disease. In some cultures, the disease is associated with failure, and some may ban members of their community who have the disease because their culture views them as cursed or that they have bad omen.

One thing that people do not understand about the disease is that it is not transmittable by people shaking hand or walking together (Marsico, 2010).  There have been many misconceptions about how the disease is transmitted and how one can manage to live with it. Socially, it is hard to find a society that is purely comfortable with her people living with AIDS. Once an individual is noted to have the disease, they become secluded from the society (De & Anderson, 2008). They face a society that does not care about them and instead treats them like non-human beings.

This is one of the major reasons that people living with the disease might prefer to live their life alone. There are even some family members who disown their own because they are living with the disease (De & Anderson, 2008). Knowledge is power, and in order for people to have the knowledge on how to go about the disease, then society will be a more pleasant place to live. A proposed program that will help eradicate the stigma that comes with the disease will involve the society as a whole, and that will help educate the community about the disease.

The program will start by teaching the community about the disease; its modes of transmissions, symptoms, and how to manage the disease while still maintaining a healthy life. People living with AIDS have certain needs that range from their social life to their health needs (De & Anderson, 2008). They require medicine constantly and also a healthy diet in order to maintain the body’s strong immune system. Their health needs include medicine that to some might be expensive. The proposed program should consist of a healthcare plan that should ensure that those who suffer from the disease are provided with the multivitamins that they require (De & Anderson, 2008).

 The program should also consist of the various healthy diets that an individual can take in order to help with the body’s immune system. The program should also involve preventive, treatment and long-term care. Preventive will help in the prevention of the disease treatment will aid in the treatment of the disease and long-term care will involve methods that will help an individual cope with the disease since it has no known cure (De & Anderson, 2008).  References Burkholder, M. (2013). Special populations in health care.

Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning. De, C. M., & Anderson, B. A. (2008). Caring for the vulnerable: Perspectives in nursing theory, practice, and research. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Marsico, K. (2010). HIV/AIDS. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub.