Community Health Essay

Community Health Essay

Epidemiology in community health comprises the evaluation of environmental, biological, and socioeconomic factors contributing to poor health outcomes among populations. Various factors influence health outcomes in communities, including access to health facilities, availability of healthy foods, sedentary lifestyle, and lack of various resources that support day-to-day life. Conducting community assessment helps identify issues affecting communities and influencing health outcomes. The insights from community assessment are essential for developing educational and other intervention approaches to empower the community members to have better care of their health. Community health aims to assist populations in adopting healthy behaviors that promote positive health outcomes (Nies& Melanie, 2018). The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate a health problem in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, using Milo’s framework of prevention and relate it to the goals of Healthy People 2030, and finally identify health goals for the community.

Problem and Diagnosis

Community assessment of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, shows that the most prevalent problem is physical inactivity. According to the recent health assessment, over half of the population has not achieved the recommended level of physical activity (Healthy Neighborhoods, 2018). Thus, the risk of insufficient physical activity is a characteristic of the community presenting serious health implications. The health issues associated with a sedentary lifestyle include obesity and overweight, diabetes, hypertension, and other cardiovascular problems. Insufficient physical activity relates to the nursing diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. Data on mortality rates reveal that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the county(Healthy Neighborhoods, 2018). Heart disease is one of the conditions that fall under cardiovascular problems, associated with deficiencies in blood flow and supply in the body.

Milo’s Framework of Prevention

Milo defines the principles that guide public health workers in understanding the causes of diseases to develop effective prevention strategies. One of the model assumptions is that inadequate availability or lack of health-sustaining resources in the community influence an individual’s/community health status. In the context of the identified health problem, the assumption suggests that the community does not have enough resources to promote a healthy lifestyle. These could be places for physical activity such as gyms or activities such as soccer and physical activity programs (Arnett et al., 2019).

Another concept that Milo raised was that people make unhealthy choices because of a lack of knowledge. Indeed, many people in Cuyahoga County do not adequately understand the impact of their behavioral practices on poor health outcomes.In response to this, one of the preventive approaches is to provide education on physical activity and the health risks associated with it (Egan & Miller, 2019). Education is also a strategy to motivate action since behavioral change is not easy. The recommended level of physical activity is 60 minutes of anaerobic, bone-strengthening, muscle-strengthening, and overall physical activity every day (Healthy Neighborhoods, 2018).

Milo also stressed that sometimes health problems occur in the community because of the neglect of the community health nurse of evaluating the determinants of health and influencing policy. As such, addressing the health challenges requires the community health nurses to identify the obstacles to positive health outcomes and become advocates on behalf of the community members to champion policy change (Nies & Melanie, 2018). For example, advocacy can focus on providing amenities for physical activities in neighborhoods.

Healthy People 2030

Healthy People 2030 closely aligns with the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease: “attain healthily, thriving lives and wellbeing free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death” (Healthy People 2030, 2020). Factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease are preventable by modifying behavior and lifestyle. Hence adopting this goal will necessitate strategies and interventions to ensure people’s health and wellbeing thrive, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases (Healthy People 2030, 2020).

Goals

The long-term goal is to reduce the mortality rates associated with cardiovascular disease by 7% in the next one year. The short-term goals include increasing the number of people who attain the recommended level of physical activity by 10% in the next six months. The goal will be met by conducting patient education using health promotion strategy to create awareness on benefits of physical activity and encourage behavioral change. The second short-term goal is to have at least one amenity and resource center for physical activity in every neighborhood in the next six months. The intervention will be to seek partnership with government agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide community resources for physical activity. The third goal is to increase physical activity time in schools by 25% in the next six months. This will be achieved through policy advocacy for educationalists to allocate more time to physical activity. Education and health promotion on physical activity in schools.

In summary, community assessment provides a lens for illuminating the problems that impact health outcomes for populations. Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has a lower rate of people with the recommended level of physical activity, meaning that most residents lead a sedentary lifestyle. The health diagnosis associated with insufficient physical activity is cardiovascular disease. Milo’s framework of prevention provides concepts for understanding the factors influencing the problem and developing interventions to address the identified issues. The goals involve reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and mortality rates.

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References

Arnett, M., Toevs, S., Bond, L., & Hannah, E. (2019). Outcomes of Participation in a Community-Based Physical Activity Program. Front. Public Health, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00225.

Egan, C. A., & Miller, M. (2019). Community Involvement to Increase Physical Activity as Part of a CSPAP. Journal of Physical Education Recreation & Dance, 90(1). https://doi.10.1080/07303084.2018.1535342.

Healthy Neighborhoods. (2018). Physical Activity in Cuyahoga County. Retrieved from Healthy Neighborhoods: http://prchn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2017-physical-activity_FINAL.pdf

Healthy People 2030. (2020). Healthy people 2030 framework. Retrieved from Healthy People 2030: https://health.gov/healthypeople/about/healthy-people-2030-framework

Nies, M. A., & Melanie, M. (2018). Community/public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (7th ed.). Elsevier.

 

Overview
This assignment is aligned with the module objective “Demonstrate community assessments and apply the principles of epidemiology.” As part of the written assignment, you will complete the following tasks: Identify one health problem you believe to be the most prevalent in your community. You may want to check with your local health department or a community health nurse.
Also consider researching the morbidity/mortality rates health problems in your community. School nurses and are an excellent resource person to contact. Analyze the problem using Milio’s framework for prevention from the module 1 readings (Chapter three in your text, pp 41).

Choose one of your nursing diagnoses and describe how your identified community health problem applies.

(My chosen diagnosis; Risk for cardiovascular disease among the older people in Cuyahoga, Ohio related to lack of physical activity and diabetes, as evidenced by the high rates of deaths from heart disease. )
Describe the health people 2030 national goal that relates closest to your chosen Diagnosis.
Develop one-long term goal, minimum of three short-term goals and interventions for your chosen diagnosis (you will be developing a teaching plan in week 3).
Goals: A goal is a final outcome of what is achieved after you provide the interventions. Goals are broad in nature.
Consider the long-term goal to be after one year and short-term goal after six months. These are community goals and will take longer to obtain.
Consider a reduction of statistics as a long-term goal as guided by the 2030 Healthy People site.
Be specific and measurable to include timeframes. (See the examples on page 89) Recommended headings include:
Title Page Introduction (No heading needed –assure you introduced the topic of the paper with a purpose statement) – 7 points Content (a total of 20 points and please use the following headings) Introduction of Your Community Problem/Diagnosis – 2 points Analysis of Problem/Diagnosis Using Milo’s Framework of Prevention – 6 points Compare Problem/Diagnosis to Healthy People 2030 National Goals – 6 points Long-Term and Short Term Goal – 8 points (2 points for long-term goal and 2 points for each of the three short term goals with interventions) Conclusion (Again no heading required – use in conclusion or in summary at the beginning of the paragraph)– 7 points Stylistic Points– 6 total points – APA formatting with proper word count.
Proper citations with 4 references – 2 references from required course material and two peer-reviewed references.
See further criteria on rubric and underneath rubric.

References Minimum of four (4) total references: two (2) references from required course materials and two (2) peer-reviewed references. All references must be no older than five years (unless making a specific point using a seminal piece of information)