Children With Special Heath Care Needs, Article Review Example

The focus of the article is the children who have special health care needs, SHCNs who are reported to represent the most vulnerable as well as underserved part of the population. Conditions associated with SHCN include asthma, defects during birth, diabetes and disabilities associated with development such as cerebral palsy, mental illness and autism. The author documents that these children require high profile services as compared to the normal children as a result of the high level of risks with regard to the chronic medical, emotional, developmental as well as behavioral conditions associated with SHCN (Children with special health care needs, 2005).

The author indicates that available statistics reveal an estimate of 13%-16% of the entire children population who are afflicted with SHCN at national level. They have lower chances of accessing adequate medical and health services and if they do, then they spend twice as much as compared to the other children. Out of every six children, one of them has been identified with SHCN and more boys that girls were found to be vulnerable. African Americans, Latinos and Asians were also found to have significantly high preferences of SHCN. The family units of English speakers had higher cases of vulnerability as compared to the Spanish-speaking family units. Likewise the preference of the condition was noted to be higher in families of relatively higher income relative to lower income families (Children with special health care needs, 2005).

Further study conducted indicated that conditions such as asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, emotional problems, developmental problems and behavioral problems were associated with SHCN. These conditions required treatment together with counseling. A significant percentage of documented cases were children who required special therapy including physical therapy, occupational therapy as well as speech therapy.

The article also reports about the possibility of accessing healthcare services for these individuals. A greater percentage, up to 93.1 % of the SHCNs children accessed health insurance services. Another 95 % accessed health care on regular basis while 59% of SHCNs children accessed private insurance cover which included 26.3% under the cover of  Medi-Cal, while  7.8% were under  a program of Healthy Families (Children with special health care needs, 2005).

Some information in the article is relevant in planning interventions in community health. This include the issues of the parents of these children who were encountering great difficulties of accessing medical care at the time of need by their children although the insurance coverage together with regular care was easily accessible to the children. The author noted an inverse variation between access to medical care and household income. The cause of the difference was attributed to difficulties in reporting in case of medical care need amongst the children of the Latino from Spanish-speaking family units. This information was also appropriate for use in public policy planning. It is also important to consider the issue of geographical, racial and ethnic disparities in planning for a public policy. It is also important to consider that SHCNs children are also affected by chronic health as well as developmental conditions and therefore they need a wide array of services.

Medical homes are recommended for SHCNs children to work with parents aiming at achieving medical, developmental as well as psychological needs of the children (Children with special health care needs, 2005). Early detection of SHCNs in children is also a requirement to facilitate timely interventions, reduction of morbidity and maximization of developmental as well as health outcomes. Planning for a public policy requires availability of screening tools of the highest quality which should be effectively used by pediatricians in addition to providers of health care.

Reference

Children with special health care needs (2005). Available at http://www.lapublichealth.org/ha/HA_ALPHA_REPORTS.htm accessed on 30th September 2011.