Community Health Presentation | cbenedictoeportfolio

Community Health Paper & Presentation

NURS 472 - Community Health I & II

Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to utilize the Health Planning Model to improve aggregate health and to apply the nursing process to the larger aggregate
within a systems framework.

Student Approach to Assignment
In analysis of the target area of Portsmouth, our group investigated research regarding local and national childhood obesity. A paper was created to discuss the chosen health problem, identify health needs and planning, explore alternative interventions, implementation, support and evaluation of the chosen intervention, limitations of our work, and finally recommendations to amend and enhance this project if continued on into the future.

Reason for Inclusion of Assignment in this Portfolio

Critical Thinking

Engages in creative problem solving
Example: In creating our health fair to focus on obesity teaching, my group and I had to deliberate what each station would consist of. We produced several stations on different components linked to obesity such as the more obvious topics of diet teaching and physical exercise, but also included vital signs teaching and how each is affected by obesity. Unsure as to the age of our participants, we we prepared different version of each station that could be altered based on the average age of the particular age group being taught.

Communication

Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance patient and professional communication
Example: Utilizing both nursing and non-nursing research, our group thoroughly investigated the different strategies to best communicate with and educate the target population. Exemplars of pre-existing educational interventions similar to ours was well researched to include effective strategies and omit areas that did not do well. An anonymous survey and teach back instructions was conducted in order to assess overall learning from each participant. We included both email and telephone contact information for our group as different methods of available communication.

Teaching

Evaluates the efficacy of health promotion and education modalities for use in a variety of settings with diverse populations
Example: As health promotion was our main focus for our community health outreach, upon completion of our educational health fair, we evaluated the strengths and weaknesses associated with our project. Going into the recommendation portion of the project, we suggested annual teaching and increased partnerships with other community partners for an increased, more diversified populace. A repeat health fair would be allow us to evaluate the learning retention of those that previously attended. As said previously, the chosen stations focused on contributing factors related to obesity such as nutrition, exercise, and vital signs. This health fair was intended for youth under age 18 and because we were unsure of our average age group, we prepared lesson plans for various ages. Adult chaperones accompanying the children noted that they also benefitted from the provided stations. Another benefit of a health fair is it can occur in almost any area. Stations can be set up with or without a table and equipment is relatively accessible and portable enough for easy transport.
Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to communicate health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention across the life span
Example: Each station catered to different aspects of health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention. The stations regarding nutrition and exercise began with identifying risks associated with obesity and how to reduce them. The nutrition station, for example, illuminated misconceptions about sugar amounts in common foods. Continuing to eat food based on assumptions rather than investigating nutrition facts puts an individual at risk for unknowingly overindulging on high sugar foods thus putting them at a higher risk for obesity. These particular stations then discussed methods of disease prevention including describing recommended dietary and physical guidelines for various age groups. Going further, the stations encouraged health promotion in emphasizing that these activities should occur throughout one's life. Though dietary and exercise recommendations change over time, it is the responsibility of the individual to research these recommendations and act accordingly. Technologies utilized throughout the stations included video training, vital sign machines, hands on learning, and verbal teaching to educate the target audience.

Research

Shares research findings with colleagues
Example: In order to share our research findings with colleagues, my group prepared a poster to be presented at our poster presentation event. This event included peers in both the junior and senior level nursing classes as well as nursing faculty. Representatives of community partners were also in attendance.
Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing interventions
Example: In creating the project, my group researched into various methods of health teaching in order to determine the most viable methods of educating our target demographic. From the Journal of Community Health, an article detailed a research study to investigate the efficacy of a school-based educational program focusing on physical activity, nutrition, and health education to combat childhood obesity. Over a three your period of health education, a significant increase in BMI occurred. The Rev Your Bev program sponsored by the Consortium for Infant and Child Health (CINCH) focuses on teaching children to prioritize water over other sugary drinks. The program utilizes interactive learning to best convey health promotion. Finally, the Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO) program is another program sponsored by CINCH that is meant to be implemented in daycares and early learning centers. Focusing on this young demographic has instilled increased self-discipline and control, problem-solving skills, and tolerance of diverse backgrounds. The program also teaches nutrition and physical activity education to create a strong foundation for better health in the future. In looking at these three examples, it is apparent that an education combining interactive, audiovisual, and textual elements at a young age will create the most lasting impact on our target demographic. From this, we modeled our stations and planned accordingly.

Leadership

Assumes a leadership role within one's scope of practice as a designer, manager, and coordinator of health care to meet the special needs of populations
Example: With this community outreach group, we assumed a leadership role in creating the health fair about obesity. Our chosen demographic of Portsmouth youth caused an investigation of the city's typical social determinants of health where we identified health disparities compared to other cities in the local area as well as on the national level. Due to a lack of availability of proper nutrition, a decreased amount of outdoor recreation areas, and an increased poverty rate, the Portsmouth populace experiences a higher obesity rate. We further investigated by researching obesity and different interventions that have been applied such as the Rev Your Bev initiative and other educational approaches to combat the issue. From this research, we designed our own health fair to include education about different components relevant to obesity, specifically nutrition, physical exercise, and vital sign teaching. After creating our stations, we coordinated with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program to participate in our health fair. We managed the health fair by assigning roles to each station and to also escort the participants.
Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements strategies to meet those goals
Example: Utilizing the Big Brothers Big Sisters Portsmouth chapter, we initiated and developed a community partnership to attain participants from our target population. After analysis of the population, we established health promotion goals relevant to combat the area's increased childhood obesity rate related to poor nutrition and physical activity education. After researching possible intervention, we aimed to enhance education of these areas through the use of stations in a health fair. For nutrition teaching, participants were tasked with guessing sugar amounts in common foods and participated in discussion on dietary guidelines for their age group. To combat a lack of physical activity education, they were tasked with completing enough exercise to burn a specific amount of calories and put it perspective the translation between nutrition and physical activity.
Organizes, manages, and evaluates the development of strategies to promote health communities
Example: Organization of the project was done by investigating the causative factors of obesity and creating education stations on each component. From there, we managed each station through assignment of roles and created interactive educational activities to teach our topic and how it relates to obesity. In the evaluation section, verbal reflection and data collected from surveys indicated improvement in participant knowledge of obesity prevention and the ability to lead a healthy lifestyle. Our expected outcomes and actual outcomes coincided well with each other. Our participants achieved the expected outcomes specifically with over 50% of participants agreeing to eat more fruits and vegetables, to increase physical exercise, and enhanced knowledge was obtained from the health fair.

Culture

Considers the impact of research and the effects of health and social policies on persons from diverse backgrounds
Example: In looking at the Portsmouth population, we researched various methods that would create a lasting impact on those attending. We first studied childhood obesity and investigated its causes in relation to our target population. The children, though similar in age and from the same city, had various ethnic and cultural backgrounds to be sensitive toward. In research, we found that taking an education approach is a key factor in altering childhood obesity rates such as in a one 3 year study. The study detailed a three prong educational approach implemented across a school system in a district. A focus on increasing knowledge of nutrition, physical activity, and general health have effectively shown to reduce childhood obesity rates. Initiatives similar to the one described are being created and implemented both nationally and locally. Providing health education has shown to allow the youth to create a strong knowledge-based foundation and empower them to actively participate in their own health promotion as the grow in the future.
Maintains an awareness of global environmental factors that may influence the delivery of health care services
Example: Several social determinants of health contribute to the rising childhood obesity rate in both Portsmouth, the rest of the nation, and other areas of the world. One example is seen in food availability. Though education is important in nutrition teaching, inaccessibility to fresh produce can be caused by a lack of proper grocery stores and abundance of fast food restaurants in the area thus causing the community to more likely utilize the fast food restaurant as a source of food. Physical activity is less likely to occur if there are little to no areas to exercise, such as a lack of public parks and playgrounds. In the Portsmouth area, its geographic landscape and commercial participants offer limited resources for the city populace utilize. In understanding these resource disparities and its relationship with health care, altering education focused on educating participants to make better decisions given the resources available to them.

NURS 472 - Community Health Paper

NURS 472 - Community Health Poster