What are the three characteristics of the Vulnerability Framework?

The three characteristics of the Vulnerability Framework—predisposing, enabling, and need—provide a comprehensive approach to understanding health disparities and access to healthcare services.

Predisposing factors refer to the demographic characteristics and social structures that influence individuals' likelihood of receiving care, such as age, race, and socioeconomic status. These factors help understand who might be more vulnerable due to inherent characteristics.

Enabling factors are those that facilitate or hinder access to healthcare, such as insurance coverage, availability of services, and transportation options. These considerations are crucial because even those who are predisposed to need care may not receive it due to barriers in accessing services.

Need factors address the actual health requirements of individuals based on their health status. This includes both subjective needs—how individuals perceive their health and what they believe they require—and objective needs based on clinical assessments.

Together, these elements of the Vulnerability Framework allow health care managers and policymakers to identify vulnerable populations and tailor interventions that address the specific barriers they face in receiving quality care. This model emphasizes that health outcomes are influenced not just by health services but also by social determinants, aligning closely with current health equity initiatives.