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Vulnerable Population and Self Awareness

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Vulnerable Population and Self-Awareness

All people have biases and self awareness is the key. Understanding how personal attitudes and values can affect the delivery of health care to the individual, the family and the various vulnerable populations will enable us to better identify and, serve without bias.
The vulnerable population represented in the Neighborhood season three is the single teen parent, the J. Riley household. Within the household, there is Jennifer Riley age 19, mother of 2 children, a 17 month old son and 6 week old daughter, she works in food service. She has never been married and lives with her boyfriend Casey Holmes age 24. Casey is a night warehouse stocker and father to the second child. He is abusive, drinks, smokes and vandalizes cars for money and eventually ends up in jail for armed robbery and vehicular murder. Prior to his incarceration she left him and sought refuge at a shelter after being abused.
A single parent usually refers to a parent who has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver. The dominant caregiver is the parent in which the children have residency with the majority of the time (Wikipedia). The single parent family first became recognized in 1931 (Bradbury 2000). Being a single parent has always been an issue. The only difference is that 70 years ago, a pregnant teen was a disgrace to the family and often times were shipped away to a halfway home to have the baby. Then, the baby was put up for adoption and the teen came home to never speak about it again. Today it is quite different.
Today, many teenagers who become pregnant are not able to care for themselves let alone for a child not only financially but emotionally and physically as well. There are exceptions and there are teen parents who raise their children just as well as someone in their 20's or 30's and don't rely on their parents, but for the most part they are severely disadvantaged.
While single parenting has become a norm in this country, the single teen parent has not. According to the Centers for Disease Control teenage pregnancy was declining 2% between 2007 and 2008, birth rates for 15- to 19-year-olds decreased again between 2008 and 2009 for all races and for Hispanics. This indicates that the steady decline in teen birth rates from 1991 through 2005 has resumed, after briefly increasing between 2005 and 2007. In 2009, 409,840 live births occurred to mothers aged 15-19 years, a birth rate of 39.1 per 1,000 women in this age group (down from 434,758 births and a birth rate of 41.5 in 2008). The Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic black teen pregnancy rates are more than twice as high as the non-Hispanic white teen birth rate.
Acquiring the necessary care and various support services in a timely manner for the single teen parent can be important factors in ensuring good health outcomes as the children who come from single-parent families can be faced with a number of academic risk factors. There are a multitude of resources a single teen parent can reach out to for healthcare, education and other various avenues of support. They can be medicaide, WIC, scholarship programs and government assisted day care to name but a few.
As a result of being a single teen parent, one may not always have time to come to school functions or help children with their homework. In addition, they may have less parental control and less direct involvement with their children, the children may be raised by their biological grandparents. This is because they have to spend so much time away from home working to support the household. The children from single parent families are three times more likely to drop out of school than children who live with both parents, even when they have the same intelligence levels and academic capabilities (Wikipedia). This can also contribute to higher amounts of stress in the child as well as problems with social skills and cognitive development.
The negative effects of single parenting are many; they often outweigh the good even on the best of days. Another common negative effect of single parenting is for the child to develop feelings of anger and resentment toward their custodial parent. If a child is unable to understand why the decision was made to divide the family, the child can become very angry and resentful towards the parent they live with. The children of teen mothers are often at a greater risk to becoming involved with drugs, alcohol, crime, and premarital sex. Once a child falls into a lifestyle that is less than ideal; it can be difficult to get out of it.
In the J. Riley household, lines of communications and education could have prevented the initial pregnancy at age 16 but hind sight is always 20/20. In this case, Jessica moved back in to her mother’s home. This will enable the house to stager and stretch resources. Hopefully, Jessica will continue her education at the local community college; obtain child support from the biological father of the first child. Most importantly, the biological father of the second child will remain in jail for a very long time. His incarceration will give an opportunity for the house to calm down and allow Jessica and the children an opportunity to thrive. Social Services need to continue with their visits to insure a good transition to the grandmother’s house and to refer to additional services as needed. There is a true need for this vulnerable population of the single pregnant teen to be educated and have the resources available to help them and their new family. Idealistically, it should happen prior to pregnancy. This is especially true of the Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic black teen pregnancy as they are two times higher than the non-Hispanic white teen birth rate (Centers for Disease Control).
Although the negative effects of single parenting can be hard to overcome, it is not impossible. If the single parent takes the proper steps, they can avoid the overwhelming negative single parenting effects, create a nurturing, loving environment and raise a healthy child.

References
Ahmad F. Despite All Odds: Single Mothering's Empowerment. Journal Of Feminist Studies In Religion (Indiana University Press) [serial online]. Fall2011 2011;27(2):140-143. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.
Bradbury B. Single Parenthood in the Past. Historical Methods [serial online]. Fall2000 2000;33(4):211. Available from: Education Research Complete, Ipswich, MA. Centers for Disease Control. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov
Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2009. National vital statistics reports; vol 59 no 3. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2010. Table 2

The Negative Effects of Single-Parent Homes on Children. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6941046_negative-effects-single_parent-homes-children.html eHow.com Thiagarajan P, Chakrabarty S, Lueg J, Taylor R. WORK-FAMILY ROLE STRAIN OF SINGLE PARENTS: THE EFFECTS OF ROLE CONFLICT AND ROLE AMBIGUITY. Marketing Management Journal [serial online]. Spring2007 2007;17(1):82-94. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA
Wikipedia. Define Single Parent. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org

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