The coronavirus pandemic has profoundly impacted people’s lives worldwide and the health system’s strengths and weaknesses. As a result of a common effort to combat a problem, the world has come together, and national Governments have become aware of the need for mental health sector reforms. These challenges have revealed gaps in healthcare delivery, especially for veterans, that should be addressed to work effectively in the new environment. A gap in healthcare is the lack of coherence among its components, as seen in the United States, where a historically entrenched lack of coordination among ministries led to unprepared epidemics and poor quality of veterans’ assistance.
Speaking about the healthcare delivery problem, one can notice the need for a coherent system of testing the population for diseases and data exchange between ministries. A striking example of this issue is the United States, which has a dichotomy health system that means a well-supported public sector and a paid private sector. The Ministry of Health of the United States is attentive to data exchange between agencies, which harms patient analysis accuracy and veterans’ neglect. Most veterans are resilient to mental health problems during a pandemic, but the health system’s inadequacy affects their stress levels. (Hill et al., 2021). The issue had been worldwide, and the case of the United States could be examined in detail. Thus, the lack of coordination among ministries in the exchange of data and superficial testing has become a gap limiting the population’s access to qualified treatment and harms mental health.
The extent to which this gap in the health system is historical is a difficult question. Nevertheless, it can be said that this is an old problem that requires innovative solutions and reforms in the medical sector in most countries. The main reason for the emergence of these issues was socioeconomic factors, which in today’s reality, can no longer provide a positive impact on health care. To improve veterans’ access to health services and improve self-perception, there is a need to address skills shortages, employee-government relationships, and data confidentiality (Balqis-Ali et al., 2021). All the paragraphs in question require changes to correct historical traditions regarding the functioning of the health system. Thus, socioeconomic factors still hinder the development of medicine at the appropriate level, but it is a problem that can be solved by adjusting the work to modern realities.
The healthcare delivered to the population can be significantly worse because of the gaps preventing it from developing. Because of these problems, some people may need adequate health care because the health system needs to prepare for significant outbreaks. All these issues still need to be resolved in time. They may lead to unprepared future epidemics, which may be even more severe and, as a result, to the loss of many lives, and the mental health issue of veterans is not given priority. To facilitate veterans’ access to health care, governments should develop clear policies to achieve seamless cooperation between sectors, ministries, and health professionals (Sturmberg et al., 2020). Negative impacts can be prevented by transmitting more information, analyzing existing problems, and viewing the health system. Once people have easier access to health care and data, modern solutions can be found to improve treatment and prevention in the developed policy.
In conclusion, it is essential to note that the coronavirus pandemic has identified gaps in the health system that relate to the need for more trained professionals and coordination among system components. An example is the United States, which felt this need for preparedness for large outbreaks. These problems are historical, but they affect the modern world because of ineffective methods of dealing with issues and socioeconomic factors that hinder the development of medicine. These include a need for more training, inter-ministerial relations, and data protection policies. These issues hinder the identification of the exact number of cases and the provision of quality medical care. Ignoring the problems may lead to unpreparedness for potential epidemics in the future and psychological instability among people, especially veterans, but this can be addressed through appropriate reforms by world governments.
References
Balqis-Ali, N. Z., Fun, W. H., Ismail, M., Ng, R. J., Jaaffar, F. S. A., & Low, L. L. (2021). Addressing gaps for health systems strengthening: A public perspective on health systems’ response towards COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(17), 9047. Web.
Hill, M. L., Nichter, B., Na, P. J., Norman, S. B., Morland, L. A., Krystal, J. H., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2021). Mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. military veterans: a population-based, prospective cohort study. Psychological Medicine, 1–12. Web.
Sturmberg, J. P., Tsasis, P., & Hoemeke, L. (2020). COVID-19 – an opportunity to redesign health policy thinking. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. Web.
