Health Assessment Analysis
Assignment Instructions
Using the Tool Kit in the learning materials, describe from the set of criteria you will use to guide and determine the prioritization process upon community health assessment analysis. Using the community health assessment and step 5: prioritize community health issues that have assisted me in determining what is priority due to my analysis in my community. Attached you will see my community that I chose. Thank you
SAMPLE ANSWER
Health Assessment Analysis
The selected target community is the elderly living in Middletown Senior Living, located in Middletown, New York. The selected issue of interest is heart diseases and generally, prevention of poor cardiovascular outcomes. When selecting community health interventions, one has to identify areas with the highest priority based on the available data o prevailing health issues. Doing so will allow targeted interventions that have the most significant impact to be implemented. In this segment of the community health assessment, a list of priority considerations will be discussed, indicating the rationale for the choice and the need to focus on the selected community health issue.
Prioritize Community Health Issues
One of the elements to consider when prioritizing community health issues is the magnitude of the selected issue. Magnitude describes the extent to which a selected problem is affecting the community. According to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that one in four Americans die as a result of heart diseases, making it the leading cause of death in the United States (CDC, 2021). Therefore, using the magnitude of the community health issue, focusing on heart diseases within the target community is justified to reduce the high mortality associated with heart diseases.
The second priority issue is the need among vulnerable population groups. Poor cardiovascular outcomes are more common among the elderly above 55 years of age than in any other population group (CDC, 2021). There are various reasons why this is the case, including reduced physical activities, underlying health issues, lifestyle habits, to list a few (Virani et al., 2021). The noted reasons make them more vulnerable, thereby calling for a need to consider the issue as a community health priority
Another aspect that can be considered as a priority area is evidence that an intervention can cause a change. While data indicates a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases among the elderly, there is also an equally high number of studies that explain most reported cardiovascular events can be prevented with simple lifestyle interventions. Most of the elderly are usually under hypertension medications, and there is a need to educate them on the importance of adherence, proper nutrition, and exercise as preventive approaches that could result in fewer mortalities and severe cardiovascular events (Casas et al., 2018). This priority area also aligns with the opportunity to intervene at the prevention level. Rather than waiting for adverse events to occur, it is our duty as care providers to enhance community health outcomes using preventive approaches. Preventive approaches help reduce existing disparities in terms of mortalities and access to health care among vulnerable population groups.
The last area of consideration is the importance of the problem to community members. When conducting a community health assessment, it is important to consider the impact of the different health issues on the community members. For example, one could consider the cost implications on managing the different health issues, or the cultural implications attached, to list a few. In the case of heart diseases, the socioeconomic factors and cost implications of managing heart diseases put it on top of the list as a serious issue affecting the residents of Middletown, New York.
Conclusion
The factors discussed explain the reason why the community health issue is considered a priority, thus calling for a need to intervene. Using the different priority aspects, it is possible to deal with health issues that contribute to the highest disparities resulting in better community health outcomes.
References
Casas, R., Castro-Barquero, S., Estruch, R., & Sacanella, E. (2018). Nutrition and cardiovascular health. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(12), 3988. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19123988
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Heart Disease Facts https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
Virani, S. S., Alonso, A., Aparicio, H. J., Benjamin, E. J., Bittencourt, M. S., Callaway, C. W., Carson, A. P., Chamberlain, A. M., Cheng, S., Delling, F. N., Elkind, M., Evenson, K. R., Ferguson, J. F., Gupta, D. K., Khan, S. S., Kissela, B. M., Knutson, K. L., Lee, C. D., Lewis, T. T., Liu, J., … American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee (2021). Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2021 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation, 143(8), e254–e743. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000950
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
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