Nursing Interventions
Discussion Instructions
What community health nursing interventions strategies will best be suited to address your selected health concern? How you will integrate these methods into your project?
Your initial posting should be 400 words in length
Sample Answer
Nursing Interventions: Heart Disease and the Elderly at the Senior Living
The selected health concern is heart diseases among the elderly, specifically those living in Senior Living, at Middletown, New York. Heart diseases pose a significant risk to the health and wellbeing of the elderly being one of the leading causes of mortality (CDC, 2021 -b). There are various interventions that are relevant in addressing the selected issues.
One of the interventions is to implement a community teaching program. Community teaching entails sharing of information, including facts, skills, and knowledge that can assist the residents to change their behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and practices that expose them to a certain risk. Community health teaching empowers individuals to live healthier lives by adopting positive lifestyle behaviors.
Heart diseases can be prevented and easily managed by adopting positive lifestyle behaviors such as taking a healthy diet and engaging in adequate physical activity (CDC, 2021 -b). Other than addressing likely negative health outcomes, community health teaching also addresses existing disparities to the advantage of all stakeholders, therefore a suitable strategy to consider (Clark & Boyd, 2017).
Another strategy is implementing a community outreach. Community outreach involves the identification of a particular community of interest, in this case, the elderly, and providing information about the nature of a particular health issue that affects that community, for example, heart diseases. Outreach involves various targeted activities, including advocacy, health education, and the creation of awareness (Ferdinand et al., 2020).
Just like health education, the purpose of outreach is to provide information that will create a positive change within the community by reducing the risk of negative health outcomes. Community outreach programs also help to create awareness and understanding of situations that the community doesn’t necessarily know how to deal with.
The third strategy is to initiate a screening program. Most cardiovascular diseases are manageable, with a significant population living their lives normally, in a positive state of health and wellness. One of the strategies that is proved to work with cardiovascular diseases is early screening (Curry et al., 2018). Early screening facilitates timely interventions thus preventing adverse outcomes. Therefore, promoting screening targeted on the elderly who are not aware of their status concerning heart diseases is an effective strategy that can promote positive health outcomes.
Integrating the Strategies into The Project
Different strategies can work best in different conditions, and having a multifaceted approach can be more effective than a single strategy. The three identified strategies will play a central part in achieving project success leading to positive health outcomes among the elderly. To integrate the strategies into my project, it is crucial to understand the nature of the community, which is achieved through an analysis of the core social determinants of health. Likewise, identifying and involving key stakeholders can enhance the effectiveness of the strategies.
Implementation of the methods will involve coordinated efforts with the Senior Living facility, where the three approaches will be alternated within a given period. Similarly, adequate planning will be undertaken to identify the resources needed to integrate the three methods into the project and the mode of implementation, including the stakeholder and team roles. Ultimately, an evaluation will be done to assess the effectiveness of three methods on the health outcomes of the residents, including the impact on their behaviors and attitudes towards the prevention of heart diseases.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021 -b). Heart Disease Facts. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
Clark, L. A., & Boyd, A. S. (2017). Health disparities and social determinants of health among the elderly. Journal of Cultural Diversity. https://www.proquest.com/openview/94c93a7b92569236f9fcb4b3b88bd640/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=34124
Curry, S. J., Krist, A. H., Owens, D. K., Barry, M. J., Caughey, A. B., Davidson, K. W., Doubeni, C. A., Epling, J. W., Jr, Kemper, A. R., Kubik, M., Landefeld, C. S., Mangione, C. M., Silverstein, M., Simon, M. A., Tseng, C. W., Wong, J. B., & US Preventive Services Task Force. (2018). Screening for Cardiovascular Disease Risk With Electrocardiography: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. JAMA, 319(22), 2308–2314. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.6848
Ferdinand, D. P., Nedunchezhian, S., & Ferdinand, K. C. (2020). Hypertension in African Americans: advances in community outreach and public health approaches. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 63(1), 40-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2019.12.005
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
RATING
YEARS
