Welcome to Week Four! While we draw closer to the Final Project and the end of the course, there’s still much left to cover in our exploration of vulnerable populations. Whereas last week focused on identifying the varying facets related to accessing health-related resources, we will shift our attention to some of the more pragmatic aspects of providing care, particularly as they relate to the determination of cost, quality, and research.  This week, your readings will delve deeper into these issues, which will be helpful as you provide your own critical insight within the discussion forums within a case study and as you explore some research methods and potential challenges. Required Resources Required Text Burkholder, D. M., & Nash, N. B.  (2013). Special populations in health care .   San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Chapter 7: Evaluating the Cost of Care This chapter analyzes and totals the cost of care for the vulnerable population.  Chapter 8: Monitoring the Quality of Care This chapter discusses monitoring the quality of care for vulnerable people. Chapter 9: Studying Vulnerable Populations This chapter examines practical considerations for researching vulnerable populations. Articles Koller, S., Raffaelli, M., & Carlo, G. (2012). Conducting research about sensitive subjects: The case of homeless youth. Universitas Psychologica, 11 (1), 55-65. The full-text version of this article can be accessed through the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). HIV Cost-effectiveness . Retrieved from  http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/ongoing/costeffectiveness/index.html This article provides an overview and examples of the cost-effective analysis. Lin, F., Lasry, A., Sansom, S. L., & Wolitski, R. J. (2013). Estimating the impact of state budget cuts and redirection of prevention resources on the HIV Epidemic in 59 California Local Health Departments. Plos ONE, 8 (3), 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055713 The full-text version of this article can be accessed through the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. Multimedia CNBC LLC (Producer). (2010). The future of health care: Meeting of the minds [Television series episode].  In Meeting of the Minds: America’s Economic Future.  Englewood Cliffs, NJ: CNBC LLC. Retrieved from the Films On Demand database. To view the Privacy Policy and Accessibility Statements for this source, please view the Privacy Policies and Accessibility Statements listed in your Syllabus . Recommended Resources Articles Resnik, D. (2011). What is ethics in research and why is it important? Retrieved from: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/ Viola, D., Arno, P. S., Miller, N. A., Kirk, A., Kaiser, M., & Glos, L. (2014). Disparities among younger and older persons alike. Miller NA, Kirk A, Kaiser MJ, Lukas G. "The relation between health insurance and health care disparities among adults with disabilit.

1. Welcome to Week Four! While we draw closer to the Final
Project and the end of the course, there’s still much left to
cover in our exploration of vulnerable populations. Whereas last
week focused on identifying the varying facets related to
accessing health-related resources, we will shift our attention to
some of the more pragmatic aspects of providing care,
particularly as they relate to the determination of cost, quality,
and research. This week, your readings will delve deeper into
these issues, which will be helpful as you provide your own
critical insight within the discussion forums within a case study
and as you explore some research methods and potential
challenges.
Required Resources
Required Text
Burkholder, D. M., & Nash, N. B. (2013).
Special populations in health care
.
San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Chapter 7: Evaluating the Cost of Care
This chapter analyzes and totals the cost of care for the
vulnerable population.
Chapter 8: Monitoring the Quality of Care
This chapter discusses monitoring the quality of care for
vulnerable people.
Chapter 9: Studying Vulnerable Populations
This chapter examines practical considerations for researching
vulnerable populations.
Articles
Koller, S., Raffaelli, M., & Carlo, G. (2012). Conducting
research about sensitive subjects: The case of homeless youth.
Universitas Psychologica, 11

2. (1), 55-65.
The full-text version of this article can be accessed through the
EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013).
HIV Cost-effectiveness
. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/ongoing/costeffectiveness/in
dex.html
This article provides an overview and examples of the cost-
effective analysis.
Lin, F., Lasry, A., Sansom, S. L., & Wolitski, R. J. (2013).
Estimating the impact of state budget cuts and redirection of
prevention resources on the HIV Epidemic in 59 California
Local Health Departments.
Plos ONE, 8
(3), 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055713
The full-text version of this article can be accessed through the
EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library.
Multimedia
CNBC LLC (Producer). (2010).
The future of health care: Meeting of the minds
[Television series episode]. In Meeting of the Minds:
America’s Economic Future. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: CNBC
LLC. Retrieved from the Films On Demand database.
To view the Privacy Policy and Accessibility Statements for this
source, please view the
Privacy Policies and Accessibility Statements
listed in your
Syllabus
.
Recommended Resources
Articles
Resnik, D. (2011).
What is ethics in research and why is it important?
Retrieved from:

3. http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/
Viola, D., Arno, P. S., Miller, N. A., Kirk, A., Kaiser, M., &
Glos, L. (2014). Disparities among younger and older persons
alike. Miller NA, Kirk A, Kaiser MJ, Lukas G. "The relation
between health insurance and health care disparities among
adults with disabilities" Am J Public Health. 2013; Epub ahead
of print December 12, 2013.
American Journal Of Public Health, 104
(5), e3-4. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301847
The full-text version of this article can be accessed through the
EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. This
brief article addresses health disparities for individuals
experiencing disabilities
Website
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
. (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/default.html)
Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week's
Discussion
link in the left navigation.
Economic Dynamics of Health Care Delivery Models
After reading Chapter 7 and the required resources for this
week, consider the following scenario:
HIV Help-Inc., a non-profit organization focusing on the
prevention of HIV/AIDS just received a $10 million grant to
fund several projects. The organization is currently located in
an older building that needs extensive repairs. The organization
is using outdated office equipment In addition, one additional
staff member is needed in order to keep up with incoming phone
calls and requests for presentations and community outreach
activities. A portion of the grant - $2 million - is allotted for
business improvements which can address one of these three
areas: repairs to building, outdated office equipment, and more
staff. The remaining $8 million is to be used to further enhance
the continuum of care level to provide access to preventive

4. health services.
Section A:
Create a cost benefit analysis for an update that will improve
the business: structural, office equipment, or staff. You can be
creative in determining what the business needs. The cost will
use the full amount of funds allotted to this improvement ($2
Million), so you can only improve one of these three needs.
Section B:
Create a cost effective analysis to determine how to best spend
the $8 million portion of the grant funding on education and
other preventive services.
The organization currently serves the community and clientele
with community education classes at schools and community
centers, as well as the distribution of condoms and educational
materials. They wish to expand their current services to reach
the neighboring community (4,000 residents), add social media
advertising and messaging to reach the younger population,
distribute educational material and condoms to homeless
shelters in the area, and add HIV testing to at-risk individuals.
Select two of the potential services and determine how the
money can be best spent to have the greatest outcome for the
HIV+ population in the community.
Based on the
CDC website
, analyze how cultural norms impact the risk of getting HIV.
Explain one method or action on how to address this challenge.
Your initial contribution should be 250 to 300 words in length.
Use proper APA formatting for in-text citations and references
as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Guided Response:
Review several of your classmates’ posts. Provide a substantive
response (minimum of 100 words) to at least two of your peers.
Imagine you are a client or resident within one of the
communities served by this organization. Do you feel the grant
funding has been spent wisely based on your peers’ selections
for services and outcome of calculations? Make

5. recommendations on at least one other service that could be
included should the original option identified in your peer’s
post be impossible to fulfill.
Regulatory, Legal, Ethical, and Accreditation Issues in
Research
As highlighted in Chapter 9 of your course text, three research
methods are available (descriptive, analytic, and evaluative).
Discuss these methods and give one example of how each would
be used when conducting research using homeless individuals as
subjects. Analyze regulatory, accreditation, ethical, and legal
issues and challenges related to each research method.
Your initial contribution should be 250 to 300 words in length.
Your research and claims must be supported by a minimum of
two scholarly sources beyond your course text. Use proper
APA formatting for in-text citations and references as outlined
in the Ashford Writing Center.
Guided Response:
Review several of your classmates’ posts. Provide a
substantive response (minimum of 100 words) to at least two of
your peers. Do you agree or disagree with your classmates’
explanation of the appropriateness of the methods used for this
group? What other regulatory, ethical, and/or legal issues might
be present in your classmates’ examples?