Financial Burdens of Families

This is an infographic that I composed on social issues that are relevant to the Ronald McDonald House here in Lexington, Ky, as well as across the globe. It specifically discusses the effects of the Affordable Care Act and the financial burden on the families of those with children who have been diagnosed with pediatric cancer.  One of the issues that the Ronald McDonald House helps families with is the access to a place to stay while their child is in the hospital as well as after major treatments to help them recover. By providing the families with a place to stay it allows the families to be close to their child which is said to help aid in the recovery of the child as they are with people that love them. Many of the families that the house here in Lexington serves come from primarily Eastern Kentucky as well as Southwest Kentucky so these families do not have that much money to begin with. The cost of the treatments creates a significant financial burden on these families as some may or may not have insurance that will be able to help cover the costs of these medical procedures. One of the workers at the house on the first day that I went there for a volunteer orientation said that a large majority of the families that stay there pay less than $2 a night to stay there, instead they are given a chore to do around the house that they have to complete. The Ronald McDonald House provides them with an affordable place to stay as many of them simply can not afford a hotel room while their child is in the hospital for extensive periods of time.