East Los Angeles College Vignettes About Individuals in Rural Areas Task

Please look at the following three vignettes about individuals in rural areas. You will then write down three health related challenges that the family might be facing, as well as three assets that can be accounted for.

After doing so, then proceed to write a short paragraph discussing how such challenges or assets may not otherwise have been faced, had the family been living in an urban area, as opposed to a rural setting.

Vignette 1: During a football game, a young quarterback is knocked unconscious. The trainer is on the field immediately, and assesses the player’s head injury. The nearest hospital is 40 minutes away, but luckily an ambulance is on-call at the game. At the hospital, the player’s parents are told about dangers of repetitive head injuries from contact sports, but they don’t understand the doctor’s explanation because of the complex medical language he uses.   

• Challenges
• Assets

Discussion Paragraph:

Vignette 2: June is a single-mother raising two children on a farm. Her husband died four years ago in a farming accident. June provides her children with fresh fruits and vegetables from a small garden she planted years ago for the family. But managing the farm has become difficult without her husband. June does not have health insurance and struggles to pay the bills every month. Despite all her struggles, whenever June gets too stressed, she takes long walks around in the woods surrounding the farm. The clean air, wildlife, and nature have a way of calming her.  

• Challenges
• Assets

Vignette 3: Dennis is a single middle-aged man, working as a custodian. He has dealt with mental health issues his whole life, but recently his bouts of depression seem to be coming more often and lasing longer. He has never been diagnosed or treated, but his family and neighbors have long suspected of mental health illness and they tend to help him through his most difficult times with small gestures of kindness. Dennis is also obese. He limits his trips to the grocery store to every six weeks (due to distance) and doesn’t have another source for fresh produce.   

• Challenges
• Assets