Natural Support /Community Resources in Healthcare
Social media includes all internet tools that allow people to connect, collaborate, share information in form of images, messages, ideas, or other content in real time. Social media contains various features including blogs, vlogs, social networks, and wikis at the public’s disposal. People use these different features in social media according to their different needs; some of which can include media sharing, content creation, social, and professional networking. Ever since the introduction of the internet, the number of people using social media services has been increasing exponentially (Anderson, et al., 2018). This trend is also popular in different industries including healthcare. Health care professionals use social media for purposes like education, information sharing, and collaboration, especially with peers.
Community resources comprise people, places, and community structures, that assist those around to meet certain needs. In terms of health, community resources include drugs, mental health treatment, housing services, food panties, companion, and ides services that community-based agencies offer to residents. General Practitioners are responsible for encouraging patients to take advantage of resources not available in the clinic to help in their health outcomes. Health professionals have the privilege of knowing about community resources that are currently available and hence can refer patients in need. Social media plays a big role in making it easy to connect clients to available community resources. Community resources are hard to come by as they tend to vary in terms of their locations and times, they are available. First and foremost, social media makes it easy for healthcare professionals to receive information about the available resources in the area. Social media connect health practitioners enabling chances for referrals for patients to access these services.
The practice of collaborating with natural resources helps in situations where it is crucial to help clients from falling back to abuse or when the client relies on a support system apart from the hospital. Social media helps reduce the hassle of connecting with natural supports who may either be far away or too busy to keep regular checkups with the patients. The fact that social media allows for real time information sharing helps make it easy to share information, especially during emergencies. Social media allows health professionals to share new information and educational material. As for those who are not able to keep up with regular hospital checkups, tools like zoom and skype help connect with natural supports through online meetings even during long distances.
There are several benefits and risks that health professionals face when it comes to connecting their clients to natural support and community resources. Programs such as health leads help scan for low-income families in societies with basic needs like food. These types of programs benefit these families by connecting them that meet their needs. The people that benefit from help y these agencies need not be part of the communities or have insurance covers. Community resources are also an important part of successful transitions in health care for both the patients and their families. These agencies act as complements to the medication and counseling that patients require after moving from hospital-based to home-based care.
Some challenges come with referring patients to community resources. It is important to note that such services are usually mostly resource-dependent programs. The community and agencies should have enough resources, in terms of drugs, medical procedures, professionals, and food supplies that meet the demand of those int intends to serve (Lim et al., 2020). The program should also be enough to serve those seeking help from other areas. Establishing these programs and agencies requires acceptance especially from the communities and their leaders. The fact that many can show opposition to the establishment of such resources is a challenge. There are also cases whereby the community leaders can reject outsiders. Referral care services are effective when there are effective care facilities. Facilities need to conduct regular checkups and continuous training programs for members. Effective feedback can also be a drawback to such systems. Feedback is important if changes and improvements are to take place.
There are many several risks that health practitioners experience when it comes to making decisions about referring patients to community resources. Issues like cost, timing, and regularity of treatment affect how health practitioners make decisions on selecting the best candidates to receive community resources (Dobler et al., 2018). The number of resources that a patient or family has affects their liability of receiving services. Low-income families will find it hard to cover some of the medical help that certain programs offer. The regularity of treatments will also depend on financial resources and the distance that patients will require to travel to access such assistance. In most cases, health practitioners should select the closest programs, agencies, communities, and natural resources especially during cases of emergencies. In addition to all these factors, the natural and community resources should fit into their religion and culture according to ethics in the health system. Ethical standards require that all types of medical assistance to individuals should respect their cultures and beliefs.
References
Dobler, C. C., Harb, N., Maguire, C. A., Armour, C. L., Coleman, C., & Murad, M. H. (2018). Treatment burden should be included in clinical practice guidelines. BMJ, k4065. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4065
Lim, W., Liang, C., Assantachai, P., Auyeung, T. W., Kang, L., Lee, W., Lim, J., Sugimoto, K., Akishita, M., Chia, S., Chou, M., Ding, Y., Iijima, K., Jang, H. C., Kawashima, S., Kim, M., Kojima, T., Kuzuya, M., Lee, J., … Arai, H. (2020). COVID ‐19 and older people in Asia: Asian working group for Sarcopenia calls to action. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 20(6), 547-558. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.13939
Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center, 31(2018), 1673-1689.
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