Mary Lipsky has worked for a visiting nurse association in a large urban area for 2 years. She is responsible for a wide variety of services, including caring for older and chronically ill clients recently discharged from hospitals, new mothers and babies, mental health clients, and clients with long-term health problems, such as chronic wounds.
Daily when she leaves the field to go home, she finds that she continues to think about her clients. She keeps going over these and other questions in her mind: Why is it so difficult for mothers and new babies to qualify for and receive Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) services? Why must she limit the number of visits and length of service for clients with chronic wounds? Why are so few services available for clients with behavioral health problems? In particular, she thinks about the burdens and challenges that families and friends face in caring for the sick at home.
A. Why might it be difficult to solve these problems at the individual level, on a case-by-case basis?
B. What information would you need to build an understanding of the policy background for each of these various populations?