Healthy People 2020
Assignment Instructions
- Discuss aspects of a health concern not being addressed despite the efforts of services and partnerships involved and describe the ultimate outcome(s) or goal(s) from Healthy People 2020 relating to that specific health concern.
Answer the following questions to assist in data interpretation:
- What similarities are apparent between the data that were gathered and the data that were generated?
- What differences are apparent between the data that were gathered and the data that were generated?
- What are the weakness and strengths of this community?
- In what areas is improvement needed in this community?
The assignment should be written in an APA-formatted essay. The essay should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length and include at least two scholarly sources other than provided materials. I have attached my first week\’s assignment. Thank you!
SAMPLE ANSWER
Heart Disease at Senior Living Center
My selected community health concern involved addressing heart diseases among the elderly living in Senior Living Center. Heart disease is one of the common health conditions among the elderly with attached high mortality rates (in fact ranked the highest as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics (CDC, 2021). The Healthy People 2020 goal on cardiovascular health is to “Improve cardiovascular health and quality of life through prevention, detection, and treatment of risk factors for heart attack and stroke; early identification and treatment of heart attacks and strokes; prevention of repeat cardiovascular events; and reduction in deaths from cardiovascular disease” (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2018).
It is our role as community health care providers to improve the health outcomes of the population we serve. The number of mortalities resulting from cardiovascular diseases has been slowly reducing over time, however, not as fast as envisioned under the Healthy People 2020 master plan. In this segment of the community health assessment, a description will be made on some of the key elements, including the barriers and supporting factors on realizing the established Healthy People 2020 goal on cardiovascular health.
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Aspects of a Health Concern not Being Addressed
Heart diseases remain one of the leading health concerns with high disparities across different age groups. A comparison in mortalities between people above 65 years and their younger counterparts below 18 years shows how wide the gap is, making it a significant challenge in both community and assisted living settings (CDC, 2021 -b). Other than physiological factors, dietary and lifestyle factors contribute significantly to poor cardiovascular health outcomes (Rippe, 2019). Most cardiovascular complications arise as a result of lifestyle habits engaged by a patient during their younger years. Sustenance of these habits at old age further exacerbate the cardiovascular outcomes of the elderly leading to the experienced high mortalities.
There are numerous health promotion initiatives that have been implemented to date, to sensitize the community on adopting positive lifestyle habits. However, despite these efforts, very few achievements are made on dietary and other harmful lifestyle behaviors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. For example, the prevalence of obesity continues to increase due to sedentary and poor dietary habits, contributing to an increase in the number of people diagnosed with cardiovascular disorders (CDC, 2021 -a). Therefore, more targeted efforts need to be made in promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors for better cardiovascular health.
Outcomes from Healthy People 2020 Regarding Cardiovascular Health
One of the Healthy People 2020 objectives regarding cardiovascular health is to reduce the number of mortalities associated with heart diseases. The current target is to maintain the mortality rate at no more than 103.4 deaths per 100,000 population (ODPHP, 2018). Another goal is to increase overall cardiovascular health in the U.S. population. The third goal is to increase the number of persons who are tested for hypertension and high blood cholesterol and adopt preventive measures to reduce the number of people with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. The achievement s of these outcomes is to be realized using targeted interventions which include testing and taking preventive measures to prevent adverse outcomes (ODPHP, 2018). Most individual measures involve making lifestyle modifications, specifically dietary and increased uptake of physical activities.

Similarities Apparent Between Gathered and Generated Data
From the analysis of the community, it was noted that the prevalence of heart diseases was more among the elderly compared to their younger counterparts. This data was similar to data collected from different portals including statistics compiled by the CDC, which indicated the prevalence of heart diseases to be almost 500 times in the elderly compared to persons below 18 years (CDC, 2021 -b).
Another similarity between data generated and gathered data was an association between heart diseases and other notable lifestyle diseases like obesity and diabetes. Both data showed high cases of heart diseases in people with preexisting lifestyle diseases such as obesity, which shows a need to address them concurrently to realize better outcomes (Gooding et al., 2020).
Another similarity is a decreasing trend in the number of mortalities due to heart diseases. While the Healthy People 2020 goal was not achieved (103 deaths per 100000), there has been a sustained decreasing trend in the number of mortalities (ODPHP, 2018). This shows that the targeted efforts on improving cardiovascular health are bearing fruit.
Gathered data from the community also indicates some racial disparities in the prevalence and mortalities associated with heart diseases. The same was also noted in the generated statistics which showed the African American population to be at a higher risk of getting and dying from heart diseases compared to other ethnic groups (Van Dyke et al., 2018).
The last similarity was on gender disparities in heart diseases. Both the data gathered and generated identified that men are at a higher risk than women in getting heart diseases, with the same trend observed on cardiovascular disease mortalities (ODPHP, 2018). The trends may indicate certain unfavorable factors that are predominant in men than women.
Differences Apparent Between Gathered and Generated Data
There were a few differences between the gathered data and generated data from the community health assessment and analysis of Healthy People 2020. One of the differences is that the gathered showed an increasing trajectory in terms of heart diseases and deaths in the community. However, the generated data indicated otherwise, where the number of mortalities associated with heart diseases was on a declining trend (Van Dyke et al., 2018).
Another difference was that the gathered data from the community indicated an almost equal prevalence across socioeconomic groups, which was not the case for generated data. The generated data showed some significant variances across different socioeconomic groups. For example, there were significant differences in prevalence among people from low-income households compared to their high-income counterparts.
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Weakness and Strengths of the Community
Assessment of strengths and weaknesses is crucial in dealing with existing health issues affecting a community. My target community is the elderly population living in Middletown, New York, specifically those living in Middletown Senior Living. Starting with the weaknesses of the community, one is access to healthy and affordable nutrition. Healthy nutrition is a prerequisite to good cardiovascular health. However, most of the people who are from low-income households are not able to consistently afford such healthy meals opting for unhealthy alternatives that have high fat and sugar content. This explains the high prevalence of obesity and, by extension, heart diseases among economically disadvantaged groups living within the community, a trend that is also reflected nationally (Van Dyke et al., 2018).
Another challenge is the persistent engagement of unhealthy habits, including living a sedentary life, especially among the elderly, drinking alcohol, and smoking, all of which are associated with poor cardiovascular health outcomes (Gooding et al., 2020). Taking an example of smoking, statistics from the CDC indicate that 14% of the population living in New York smoke cigarettes or use tobacco (Jamal et al., 2018). The statistics do not include the number of people who are affected by secondhand smoke. The link between cigarette smoking and the increased risk of getting heart diseases is well documented, making it one of the lifestyle habits that should be discouraged when addressing the community health issue.
In terms of strength, the community has several resources in which they can use to improve the health outcomes of its residents. For example, the community has several open parks, recreational, and fitness centers which the residents can use to enhance their daily uptake of physical activity, which is a preventive step in dealing with heart diseases (Lavie et al., 2019). Another strength is community support, through different community-based organizations, for example, churches. Community-based organizations are a great resource and partners in mobilizing residents and resources to support efforts towards preventing heart diseases.
Involving such community organizations in activities such as health promotion initiatives elevates the level of success and acceptance from community members. Access to affordable health care, specifically preventive health for the elderly through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, can also be considered a strength that builds towards promoting cardiovascular health. Access to information facilitated by the use of technology is another strength that the community has. Information is a crucial resource that goes a long way in encouraging positive lifestyle habits and preventive behaviors against heart diseases (Rippe, 2019).
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Areas that Need improvement in the Community
Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the community, some areas may require improvement to achieve the desired health outcomes regarding heart diseases as guided by the Healthy People 2020 master plan. One of the areas that need improvement is behavioral health, where the community needs to be encouraged to avoid behaviors and habits that increase their likelihood of getting heart diseases. Negative lifestyle habits like smoking, as noted by Jamal et al. (2018), contribute significantly to the high prevalence of heart diseases and should be discouraged for better outcomes.
Another area that needs improvement is access to supportive resources, specifically, information and access to proper nutrition. Information is essential in promoting healthy habits that lead to better health outcomes. Information on proper nutrition, the type of exercises to engage in, the need to maintain sound emotional and mental health are all crucial in promoting healthy populations reducing the rate of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Similarly, providing access to proper nutrition also helps achieve positive cardiovascular health outcomes.
Conclusion
The Healthy People 2020 plan provides a guideline in which community health efforts should be structured to achieve better outcomes and reduce existing disparities. There are several objectives set in the master plan, specifically touching on heart diseases that require coordinated efforts to achieve. Based on the community data obtained in the assessment, there are apparent weaknesses and areas of improvement that need to be addressed to enhance the health of seniors living in Middletown, New York. This paper has discussed in length some of the pertinent issues which provide room to establish effective interventions that will promote positive outcomes in reducing heart diseases.
References
CDC. (2021 -a). Adult obesity facts: Obesity is a common, serious, and costly disease. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021 -b). Heart Disease Facts https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
Gooding, H. C., Gidding, S. S., Moran, A. E., Redmond, N., Allen, N. B., Bacha, F., & Spring, B. (2020). Challenges and opportunities for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease among young adults: report from a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group. Journal of the American Heart Association, 9(19), e016115. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.016115
Jamal, A., Phillips, E., Gentzke, A. S., Homa, D. M., Babb, S. D., King, B. A., & Neff, L. J. (2018). Current cigarette smoking among adults—United States, 2016. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 67(2), 53. http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6702a1
Lavie, C. J., Ozemek, C., Carbone, S., Katzmarzyk, P. T., & Blair, S. N. (2019). Sedentary Behavior, Exercise, and Cardiovascular Health. Circulation Research, 124(5), 799–815. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.312669
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2018). Heart Disease and Stroke. In Healthy People 2020. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/heart-disease-and-stroke
Rippe, J. M. (2019). Lifestyle Strategies for Risk Factor Reduction, Prevention, and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 13(2), 204–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827618812395
Van Dyke, M., Greer, S., Odom, E., Schieb, L., Vaughan, A., Kramer, M., & Casper, M. (2018). Heart Disease Death Rates Among Blacks and Whites Aged ≥35 Years – United States, 1968-2015. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries (Washington, D.C. 2002), 67(5), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6705a1