One of the primary issues I discovered while volunteering at
the Ronald McDonald House would be the disparity between rural and urban
healthcare, which I then researched further as part of my argument essay.
The majority of the people that the Ronald McDonald House
serves come from rural Eastern Kentucky, where accessibility and quality of
healthcare does not often compare with the care found in urban areas, like
Lexington. Many families travel from Eastern Kentucky to the hospitals in
Lexington because the hospitals here have better equipment, better trained
staff, and better quality of care. However, that puts families in a difficult
situation. They have now left their jobs, their families, and their homes while
their children undergo medical treatment in a strange new city. This causes
stress on families and the children themselves. Parents lose money because they
can’t work and also struggle to find a place to stay while their children are
in the PICU or NICU. This is where the Ronald McDonald House comes in- they
provide these families food and a place to stay while their children stay in
the NICU or PICU at any of Lexington’s main hospitals, decreasing the amount of
stress on families by at least a little bit. The Ronald McDonald House is
absolutely necessary in this situation. However, the health care system as a
whole needs to be improved to provide incentives to doctors practicing in rural
areas as well as incentives for hospitals that serve rural populations. An
increase in rural accessibility and rural health quality is absolutely
necessary.
During my last experience volunteering with the Ronald
McDonald House, I met a guest who had his first child at the age of 19. He’s
now in his thirties, staying at the Ronald McDonald House because his most
recent son is staying in the NICU. All four of his children have had to spend
time in the NICU at the University of Kentucky. He was the first and only guest
I spoke to at the Ronald McDonald House. He’s the face I will forever think of
when I think about the work the Ronald McDonald House does. He gives a face to
the organization.
This was a really awesome post! I have always heard about the Ronald McDonald House, but I never knew what they did or the people they served. My old schools have been donating to or helping this organization for a very long time, and I was always curious about what exactly they did. I think that what this organization is doing is truly amazing. I agree with your point that we need to increase health facilities in rural areas because it is really hard for families to get to good medical facilities when there aren't any close to them. Not many people think about this when they are constructing buildings.
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