Some people cannot tolerate chemical exposure as well as others. We call these groups of people sensitive populations. They can include pregnant and nursing women, children, and older adults. This booklet discusses what chemical exposure means for these populations. 1.
People whose immune systems are weak are also a sensitive population and should speak to their doctors about special precautions.
The following populations may sometimes be considered vulnerable: Individuals who are cognitively impaired, including those who may not be capable of giving informed consent. Individuals who are homeless or living in unstable housing situations. Prisoners, parolees, and probationers.
Individuals who may be at risk for coercion such as students and employees. Elderly individuals, particularly those in assisted living or nursing homes or with intersecting risk factors. Individuals who are socioeconomically or educationally disadvantaged.
1. Chronically ill and disabled.
Some of the social determinants that affect the health of the LGBTQ community include discrimination in access to safe housing and a shortage of healthcare providers who are knowledgeable and culturally competent in LGBTQ health.
The chronically ill and the disabled may face special challenges in obtaining services. 2. Low-income and/or homeless individuals.
Americans living in rural areas often have worse health than the general population. The reason for this disparity is that rural populations experience geographic isolation, have a lower socioeconomic status, have limited job opportunities, and tend to be older.
Children respond different to medicines and interventions than adults and cannot just be viewed as “small adults” in the healthcare setting. Similarly, older adults are more vulnerable to health issues since they also have low immunity and often numerous medical conditions.
People with chronic diseases are at risk of poor health outcomes and they, obviously, consume more healthcare dollars than healthy individuals. The chronically ill are twice as likely to report poor health days as the general population.
There are several definitions available for the term “vulnerable population”, the words simply imply the disadvantaged sub-segment of the community[1] requiring utmost care, specific ancillary considerations and augmented protections in research.
Presently due to disparate factors, there is neither uniformity nor equitable standards in the understanding and grading of risks globally for these populations with relevance to extent of acceptability and evaluation of quantum of risks to establish consistent safeguards in biomedical research aiding stakeholders.
Older adults are at increased risk of health effects from short-term exposures to wildfire smoke because of their higher prevalence of pre-existing lung and heart diseases, and because important physiologic processes, including defense mechanisms, decline with age. Epidemiologic studies have reported greater risks of emergency department visits, ...
Socio-economic status is often defined in epidemiologic studies using indicators such as educational attainment, median household income, percentage of the population in poverty, race/ethnicity, and location of residence.
In addition, socio-economic status may contribute to differential exposures to wildfire smoke across communities. For example, access to air conditioning reduces infiltration of particle pollution indoors. Less access to air conditioning may lead to greater exposure to wildfire smoke, increased sensitivity to extreme heat and, as a result, health disparities across communities. People of color and impoverished children and adults bear a disproportionate burden of asthma and other respiratory diseases and therefore they may be at increased risk of health effects from wildfire smoke exposure (Brim et al. 2008, CDC 2014). As a result, additional outreach activities and support may be required to properly communicate actions that people of low socio-economic status should take to reduce exposure to and protect themselves from wildfire smoke.
Vulnerable population groups are more sensitive to risk factors and have worse health outcomes.
Vulnerable populations of concern to nurses are. persons who are poor or homeless, have special needs, pregnant teens, migrant workers and immigrants, individuals with mental health problems, people who abuse addictive substances, persons who have been.
Resilience refers to how vulnerable populations are able to resist or overcome the effects of the
than the general population. Resilience refers to the: a. resistance of certain groups to risk factors. b. increased susceptibility to cumulative risk factors among vulnerable groups.
than $15,000 per year would be considered poor), persons who have special needs, pregnant teens,
The web of causation model implies that not only are there more variables, but the variables interact, resulting in higher probability of illness. The relative risk for poor health is greater for vulnerable. populations.
People who are poor are more likely to live in hazardous environments that are overcrowded and have. inadequate sanitation, work in high-risk jobs, have less nutritious diets, and have multiple stressors. A nurse operates a school-based clinic in a local school where multiple providers and.