Rural Communities
Introduction
From the assigned reading, there is clear evidence that there has been a growing shortage of human services professionals who are supposed to meet the needs of rural communities. It is estimated that 20% of the population in the country lives in rural areas. The population is one that has recently been plagued by many social problems, and this has drawn the attention of human services professionals across the country. Due to this, there has been an increasing need to delve into some of the social issues that people in rural areas face. The aim of doing this is to create more awareness of the need to address the needs of people in rural areas. The specific rural community in the United States that I identified for this assignment is Westminster in Vermont.
Body
Westminster is located in Windham County and is designated to be a rural area in the country. During the 2010 census, the rural area had a population of 3,178. In the modern world, the population in rural areas has been decreasing as people move to urban centers where it is perceived that people lead better lives. One of the key elements that one notices is that the population in the community is elderly. An elderly population means that chronic illnesses and other conditions are very prevalent among members of this community.
Limited access to quality healthcare services tends to aggravate the issue further, and this means that their people do not have access to critical healthcare services (Lambert, 2016). The distance to a hospital is what causes limited or reduced access to healthcare. Poverty and unemployment are also a huge issue in the community. Due to the low population, jobs are few, and slowed activity means that it is difficult for one to secure a job even at the local stores. Low educational attainment is also another issue because their schools are poorly equipped. The need has led many parents to transfer their children to other counties with better resources for academic achievement. There is also low health literacy. Lack of literacy in health issues could be due to limited access to educational institutions in the community.
As a human services professional, I would need to learn how to work with people successfully as ascertaining the population of the rural area is essential. Doing this will help prepare and plan for the whole exercise, aiming to address the social issues that the community faces. Clustering the population by age would help ascertain the needs of each category. For example, the elderly may need to improve care for chronic illnesses, whereas the younger ones require better access to education (Laasonen, 2015). Improved access to education may help individuals develop impeccable careers instead of languishing in poverty and unemployment in the rural community. I would also want to know the heads of various departments at the local level. These individuals may help in improving access to critical services by the locals.
Conclusion
Rural communities across the United States have many needs. These regions are lagging in terms of infrastructural development and access to healthcare. These issues bring about many social problems if left unaddressed. The human services profession’s role is to ensure that the needs of these populations are addressed to bring about improved welfare and welfare of people in these communities.
References
Laasonen, K. (2015). Outcomes of public health reform – service availability in rural areas. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28(1), 42-56. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-03-2014-0035
Lambert, D. (2016). Understanding the business case for telemental health in rural communities. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 43(3), 366-379. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11414-015-9490-7