Defense Date
12-3-2021
Graduation Date
Fall 12-17-2021
Submission Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program
School
School of Nursing
Faculty Mentor
Denise Lucas
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Health care access disproportionately affects certain populations. Health care opportunities for uninsured adult members of a rural community can be limited. Suwannee County is a rural community with a population of 43,814 of which 40.8 % live below the 200% poverty income level (WellFlorida Council, 2020). Problem: In 2016, 23.8% of adults in Suwannee County were unable to see a doctor in the past year due to the inability to pay and lack of insurance (Florida Department of Health, 2020). Community-based health care initiatives can address such issues by targeting underserved individuals, reducing barriers, and making health services more obtainable. Setting: This quality improvement project took place with an organization called Shepherd’s Hands. The QI project was conducted at three separate locations in Suwannee and Madison County in Florida. Shepherd’s Hands provides free health care to uninsured adult patients who meet the federal poverty guidelines. Method: The needs and specific interests of the stakeholders were identified, strategies for increasing visibility of the organization were developed and implemented using the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework. Strategies included an advertising campaign and patient satisfaction surveys. Purpose: The primary purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement a sustainable strategy to increase the visibility and patient volume of a community-based free clinic. The secondary purpose is to assess and measure the patient and volunteer perception of the available services with the purpose of improving the health service delivery. A look into the volunteers’ perception of the services provided was useful in reaching potential populations.
Keywords: community health, underserved population, free clinic, community impact
Language
English
Recommended Citation
ONeal, Piper, "Increase Access to Community-Based Health Care for Underserved Individuals: A Quality Improvement Project" (2021). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Manuscripts. 19.
https://dsc.duq.edu/dnp/19