Understanding the Health Care Needs of the Medically Indigent of Grayson County

Theoretical Framework

The model used as a framework for this research is the Behavior Model for Vulnerable Populations (Gelberg, Anderson, & Leake, 2000). The Behavior Model for Vulnerable Populations includes variables that are relevant when studying a vulnerable population. Vulnerable populations are populations that, because of their characteristics, have difficulty accessing the health care system, such as the uninsured. My model is presented in Figure 1. The model uses three main variables: predisposing, enabling, and need. In the Behavior Model for Vulnerable Populations, the variables are further divided into traditional and vulnerable domains. Predisposing variables in the traditional domain include demographic data like race, ethnicity, age, and marital status, while predisposing variables in the vulnerable domain include information like immigration status. Enabling variables are those resources that enable the use of health care services. Enabling variables in the traditional domain include insurance status, income, and usual source of care. Enabling variables in the vulnerable domain include public benefits, information sources, barriers to care like transportation, paperwork, and competing needs for food, housing, and clothing. The need variables in the traditional domain include self-perceived and evaluated need. The need variable in the vulnerable domain includes self- and evaluated need in conditions that are common among the vulnerable population. The last variable in health behavior is the variable that measures the utilization of health care services. (Gelberg, Andersen, & Leake, 2000)