Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete mental, physical, and social well-being. The WHO believes that everyone, including the vulnerable population, should receive healthcare services equally without financial impediments or any other form of discrimination. The existence of illegal immigrants in many countries raises ethical questions about society’s responsibility to provide health care or promote their well-being. Generally, illegal migrants are extremely exposed to discrimination within society. This aspect makes the vulnerable, especially the adults and young ones. The aliens are socioeconomically disadvantaged and lack insurance cover making them unable to access quality healthcare services. In society, illegal refugees are susceptible to different types of diseases that significantly affect their well-being.
Discussion
Health is a major concern and people conceptualize it in different situations which encompasses being functional, having energy, nature, coping, and a sense of humor. In other words, health is according to three key attributes that include individualism, wholeness, and pragmatism. Therefore, the public is mostly concerned with proper means of obtaining health and effective measures to prevent the prevalence of diseases in the population. In general, the historical perspective of health entails the emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, and social comfort of the people.
Illegal immigrants risk the health of the entire population if they are not well-managed. Primordial prevention ensures that the social and environmental conditions these people live in are safe and clean. The health systems are responsible for preventing diseases at the primary level, whereby this intervention is done before health effects occur. Screening is required preparatory to entering the foreign country as secondary anticipation. This aids in identifying a certain ailment in the earliest stage (Gilpin et al., 2018). If the virus is not contained or treated fully, tertiary deterrence is the other option whereby it can slow the spread or stop it. Quaternary preventive measures are taken to identify the patients who are sick to reduce the risk of overmedication.
The major role played by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) in health promotion and disease prevention and advocacy includes educating patients about their well-being. Nurses are significant caregivers to anyone ailing from any disease. They spend the most time with sufferers guiding medications, nutrition, immunizations, dietary, and safety. Additionally, they are the catalysts of healthier living through teaching, encouragement, mentorship, and leadership to patients (Bhatt & Bathija, 2018). They offer preventive services, including counseling, precautionary procedures, and screenings, among other medical-related issues.
Undocumented immigrants experience health disparities due to the different regions they emerge. These depend on several factors that contribute to various diseases that are likely to attack them. These include individual behaviors, environmental risks, and genetics related to social, economic, and ecological disadvantages. Some of these people know they are illegally present in that country. Therefore, they live on the streets or in poor conditions that expose them to transmissible illnesses. They lack access to a quality life, and therefore due to this aspect, they get poor education that hinders them from getting high-income jobs hence living in poverty (Vernice et al., 2020). Congestion and poor lifestyles lead to drug abuse and high crime levels that devalue health services. This forces the healthcare systems to look for ways of approaching this group to keep the environment safe and healthy.
The healthcare system requires cultural competence when providing its services to illegal immigrants. This program describes the ability of the structures to provide care to patients with diverse behaviors, beliefs, and values. It should also have the capacity to deliver services that meet the sufferers’ cultural, social, and linguistic needs. There should be interpreters who can act as mediators to eliminate communication barriers between nurses and the victims (Bhatt & Bathija, 2018). There should also be a recruitment and retention of minority staff to ensure that the people who receive the services are satisfied. Proper training to increase knowledge, skills, and cultural awareness helps in promoting the well-being of the population.
Generally, the term resilience refers to the ability of an individual or a population to adapt to challenges they encounter within their surroundings. The various facets that improve flexibility include confidence, control, character, contribution, connection, competence, and coping. However, in the case of illegal migrants, their general condition and level of restriction from the authorities make them have low resilience. They lack relevant connections and support that can help them overcome issues they face in the community. The limitation, therefore, renders the group vulnerable to various problems.
According to Mechanic and Tanner’s 2005 article, illegal immigrants are viewed as victims and not sinners in society. Many of them migrate from their original place due to wars, search for better living conditions, family reunification, overstaying visas, sham marriages, poverty, overpopulation, and education. However, in their foreign countries, they experience rejection, slavery, lack of access to public services, kidnapping and ransoms, exploitation of labor, injury, and illnesses, and some even die (Vernice et al., 2020). This group of people does not deserve cruel treatment because they have already suffered, and they can only feel the rest if they are well served with what is correct as humans.
The social justice that should be issued to illegal immigrants is to ensure they are all documented. This is for genuine safety, protection, and fairness for all. This will also allow them to access public resources without fear of being detained hence promoting the health care of the entire population (Baker et al., 2018). Crime levels that result in the usage of drugs also tend to reduce because they cooperate with authorities in criminal investigation cases.
The Healthy People Initiative guideline is a framework that enables a nation to understand the milestones in population health. The concept covers mainly four facets of interest that communities are expected to embrace. In relation to illegal migrants, the aspect of attaining high-quality lives that is free from possible preventable disorders is limited. They further encounter health disparity which makes them unable to access better healthcare. In addition, due to prevailing discrimination, the group does not have a proper social and physical environment that might enable them to have improved health. Similarly, there are limited healthy developments as well as behaviors among the population thus making them have poor health standards. Illegal migrants, experience poor social welfare that makes them feel isolated in the community.
Following the aspect of seclusion and discrimination that illegal migrants encounter in the country, the majority of them are suffering from mental health. The emotional disorder has made this group vulnerable and unable to progress effectively in the community like other ethnicities. The problem is majorly affecting the elderly who have difficulty adjusting to the challenges. To reduce the prevalence and the impact on mental health, a series of anti-stigma campaigns should be undertaken such as encouraging people to speak their concerns to family and friends. The approach will enhance awareness and it will enable the individuals to seek appropriate care needs available within the society. To make them grow and adapt to new behaviors, I would ensure they are informed about the various conducts that are beneficial and how they can practice them. For instance, informing them of the importance of regular exercise, and socialization with supportive friends.
In the community, there are several counseling programs offered by trained social workers. Illegal migrants are allowed to freely take Trauma and Crisis Intervention Counseling (TCIC) to enable the vulnerable group to receive the required assistance to deal with their emotional problems (Baker et al., 2018). The providers are focused on ensuring all the people, especially the less fortunate in society receive better care. Some of the resources available for the group include community-based mental health services and providing food programs for the needy to supplement their basic needs thus lowering their stress. The engagement of a community in healthcare programs is essential. Interventions such as addressing cases of inequalities in resource distribution and establishing mental care programs will enable the people within the society to have improved services thus promoting their wellbeing.
Conclusion
Generally, people including the illegal migrants in the country should be well informed about the diseases and their impacts. To improve health literacy among the alien group, social workers must be deployed to work closely with the individuals. Most of the professionals should be from the same ethnicity to facilitate ease of interaction among the people. When the technique is applied, social workers will be able to train the community on how to communicate with providers, use available technologies, and even break complex details to make the illegal migrants understand.
As an APRN, I will advise and inform the vulnerable group on different measures to enable them to overcome mental health issues and other diseases they are facing in the community. In the country, the level of illness prevention and promotion is effective since the government has employed social workers within the communities to create awareness. However, among illegal migrants, there is insignificant improvement leaving the group less informed about the diseases.
References
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Bhatt, J., & Bathija, P. (2018). Ensuring access to quality health care in vulnerable communities. Academic Medicine, 93(9), 1271. Web.
Gilpin, C., Korobitsyn, A., Migliori, G. B., Raviglione, M. C., & Weyer, K. (2018). The World Health Organization standards for tuberculosis care and management. European Respiratory Journal, 51(3). Web.
Vernice, N. A., Pereira, N. M., Wang, A., Demetres, M., & Adams, L. V. (2020). The adverse health effects of punitive immigrant policies in the United States: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 15(12), e0244054. Web.