Introduction
In Miami-Dade County, which ranks 61st out of 67 counties of Florida, 65.6 percent of the population is composed of Hispanics (“NeighborhoodHELP engages underserved communities,” 2014, para. 1). The majority of the residents is uninsured and has poor access to health care services, which aggravates their health conditions. As a result, one may note relatively high levels of such chronic diseases as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular health issues. The identified low-income population is at a high risk of developing hypertension and remaining unaware of prevention and self-care benefits.
Among the specific objectives of Healthy People 2020 that can be considered while advocating for change in the given Hispanic population, access to health services and family planning may be selected. According to the former, the following objectives are presented: increase the number of people with health insurance and that of primary care providers (“Access to health services,” n. d.). The barriers to be eliminated include high care costs, a lack of services availability, poor culturally-competent care, and inadequate insurance. Stanhope and Lancaster (2016) emphasize that family planning is also essential as it helps to ensure that all ages are covered by proper care. In this regard, it is especially important to state that family nurses working in the identified area should be sensitive to health needs of both adults and children. In order to prevent further increase of chronic diseases, specific evidence-based intervention is required.
If I were the population-focused nurse, I would consider the maintenance of NeighborhoodHELP program that is introduced in Miami-Dade County and focuses on patient education regarding social factors of their health outcomes (“NeighborhoodHELP engages underserved communities,” 2014). In addition, it seems advantageous to apply a patient-centered approach to care and make it more culturally-competent. Levesque, Harris, and Russell (2013) state that health determinants associated with health systems and organizations should be related to both individual and community factors. In other words, the intervention of patient education should target the comprehensive consideration of the existing needs and resources.
In order to engage the target community in the specified intervention, I would propose the program for reducing insurance costs to the representatives of the identified population. Since care would become more affordable, they would be more motivated to visit hospitals and medical centers, thus preventing chronic health conditions. Another intervention that seems to be fitting to the mentioned context is nutrition management provided by family nurse practitioners (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016). In this regard, schools also may be involved in the intervention to control children’s weight and diet as well as those of adults. The effectiveness of the given strategies may be measured in the course of semi-structured interviews with family members and care providers after 2-3 years. The survey of patients’ medical data, namely, weight and related indicators should be considered an important option. In general, the combination of such methods as interviews and surveys would provide the opportunity to integrate qualitative and quantitative data and answer whether the stated goal was accomplished or not.
Response to Classmate’s Post 1 (Zandy Gottman)
This post discuss such health disparity as obesity in African-American women in Jackson County, Missouri. Indeed, the mentioned health concern is linked to poor affordability of health care, and it is also closely associated with chronic diseases. Comparing access to health care identified in my post and obesity, it is possible to note that awareness of healthy nutrition, exercising, and smoking cessation is critical as a preventative measure for both of them. To complement the sponsorship of the local hospitals, national non-governmental organizations may be contacted to receive additional support. Also, smart food policies that imply the formation of proper food preferences based on social, economic, and cultural factors may be recommended (Hawkes et al., 2015). The long-term implementation of such policies should be assessed to measure progress.
Response to Classmate’s Post 2 (Levonika Jackson)
The health disparity of obesity in adults is considered as critical in Harris County, Texas. The post shows that it is inextricably linked with a lack of adequate access to healthcare services. In particular, poor insurance coverage is noted as a similar factor impeding the populations’ education about the role of nutrition and exercising. More to the point, this post highlights a rather important health need of transportation for low-income people and those living in rural areas. Since the majority of healthy food supermarkets are located in cities, they have to eat more fast food.
Both regulatory and non-regulatory actions should be taken to address the epidemic of obesity. According to the article by Roberto et al. (2015), there are several dichotomies such as industry self-regulation and government control as well as overnutrition and undernutrition. The authors mention that the food industry often manipulates people’s psychological, biological, and social vulnerabilities to make them eat unhealthy food (Roberto et al., 2015). Therefore, regulatory actions should be considered on national, federal, and local levels to reinforce people’s food preferences and demands, focusing on proper nutrition and obesity prevention. At the same time, it is significant to encourage the food industry to promote healthy eating habits.
References
Access to health services. (n.d.). Web.
Hawkes, C., Smith, T. G., Jewell, J., Wardle, J., Hammond, R. A., Friel, S.,… Kain, J. (2015). Smart food policies for obesity prevention. The Lancet, 385(9985), 2410-2421.
Levesque, J. F., Harris, M. F., & Russell, G. (2013). Patient-centred access to health care: Conceptualising access at the interface of health systems and populations. International Journal for Equity in Health, 12(1), 18-27.
NeighborhoodHELP engages underserved communities to increase health care access. (2014). Web.
Roberto, C. A., Swinburn, B., Hawkes, C., Huang, T. T., Costa, S. A., Ashe, M.,… Brownell, K. D. (2015). Patchy progress on obesity prevention: Emerging examples, entrenched barriers, and new thinking. The Lancet, 385(9985), 2400-2409.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2016). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.