Healthcare Needs: Assessing & Enhancing Quality Care Services - Essay Sample

Introduction

In society today, greater emphasis is laid on the healthcare needs of people. The health needs of people keep changing. As a result, authorities and healthcare providers are changing their policies, such as financing the sector, policy development and focus strategies to enhance the delivery of quality care services (Gwede et al., 2010). The core role of community health nurses is to assess the care needs of the community and assesses their health status and proposes intervention programs to improve their health status. The essay discusses the healthcare needs and status of the people of Sentinel City.

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The Needs Assessment Summary

The demographic assessment tool was used to evaluate characteristics of the population in the city, such as race, ethnicity and income level. The total population of Sentinel City is 663,862 individuals. The percentage of population growth is 9.6%. 7.4% represents persons less than 5 years while 21.7% represent persons less than 18 years. Individuals aged over 65 years account for 10.5% of the entire population. Whites comprise 80.6% of the entire population while black and African-Americans account for 10.4%. On the other hand, Casper Park District has a total population of 352,643 with a primary ethnicity comprising of 63%. The secondary ethnicity of Hispanics and Latino accounts for 24% of the population. Persons aged below 5 years accounts for 10.9% of the population, and the median income for each household is $80,134. The statistics illustrate that the city has a composition of different races although the white population dominates.

Secondly, neighborhood/community safety tool also helped to complete the needs assessment by focusing on physical and psychosocial safety hazards. Based on the information gathered, Sentinel City uses various modes of transport, including cars, bus, and bicycle transport. Bus transport has the highest travel times with 59% with the lowest travel costs of less than 2%. Bicycle transport comes second with 35%, while car transport represents 15% of the transport sector but it has the highest travel costs of 10%. Therefore, the city requires investment in air transport since it is not currently available in the city. Additionally, safety violations identified in the city include cleaning and washing with a value of 6 while food storage, coming second and thirdly is the heating of foods.

The windshield survey also helped to understand the city well by looking at various components. The first component observed was that the average time people use to travel to work was 24.8 minutes. The number of housing units was 288,185. The homeownership rate was 50.4%. Regarding the status of women in the city, 10% were pregnant, 8% were breastfeeding while 71% were infants. It shows that the population is expected to grow although at a slow rate based on the number of a limited number of pregnant women.

Finally, the assessment used population health scavenger hunt tool to understand the city. The health status of the people in the city is wanting. The number of newly reported cases for diphtheria was 0 while cases of measles were 8 and mumps the lowest with 2. However, tuberculosis was the highest disease in the city with 60 cases. Regarding diagnosed cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the past one year, HIV was the lowest with 2%, 20% syphilis, and HSV-2 with 42%. Gonorrhea had the highest number of casualties with 70%, and Chlamydia with 62%. The information shows that the city has a serious problem when it comes to sexually transmitted infections. The department of health should take necessary measures to educate and protect the people from the diseases by ensuring they take safety measures when engaging in sexual relationships.

Analysis Of the Collected Data

Based on the data collected, it is evident that Sentinel City requires healthcare programs to improve the health status of its people. First, environmental factors, such as safety violations contribute to the health status of the people. Issues, such as cleaning and washing pose greater dangers to the people due to the contamination of water and foods. Other practices, such as food safety and heating pose health risks.

Secondly, statistics indicate that sexually transmitted infections are affecting the population. For example, the largest population suffers from Gonorrhea with 70%. HIV has the least number of victims. In this regard, the government should put in place measures to the health conditions of the people. However, the department of health can achieve this by focusing on cultural changes. For example, it should encourage people to use protection when engaging in sexual relationships. Also, it should encourage the implementation of food safety measures and this would improve the health stability of the people.

Formulate a Community Diagnosis for Sentinel City

1. Problems for Sentinel City

The first health problem identified in Sentinel City is the high rates of sexually transmitted infections. The trend is worrying and the department of health should develop policies that would improve health stabilities. Cases of Gonorrhea in the last one year were 70%. It shows that the department of health should take measures to protect the people from such infections. For example, the department of health should empower community health nurses to educate and conduct free tests in communities and provide appropriate medication.

Another health challenge facing Sentinel City is the high number of individuals using and abusing drugs. Drug abuse contributes to health risks. For example, 24% of the population uses tobacco while 26% use alcohol. Only 12% use marijuana and 5% consume cocaine. Drug abuse contributes to teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections. For example, tobacco consumption causes tuberculosis; hence, the need to regulate its use. Therefore, the healthcare department should ensure people use the right drugs in the right manner to avoid health-related issues.

The third challenge is the number of people using healthcare assistance, such as insurance covers. Only a population of 10,000 use charitable healthcare. 110,000 individuals use Medicare systems, while the population using Medicaid is 200,000 and lastly 40,000 uses ACA. The data demonstrates that there is a serious problem regarding healthcare. Although the healthcare department works towards improving the health status of its people, there is a serious challenge since not all people can access quality care services. For example, it should encourage citizens to become members of Medicare and Medicaid to access quality healthcare.

Community Resources to Address Sexually Transmitted Infections

Various resources required in the community to address the problem of sexually transmitted infections include community health nurses. The city has various community health nurses that offer community-based services to sustain the health and wellbeing of patients (Gwede et al., 2010). However, the department of health should offer adequate training to the nurses so that they educate people about sexually transmitted infections and encourage them to voluntarily test their status. For example, they should acquire guidance and counseling skills and persuade community members to know their status and take necessary medication if they are already infected. Since the population is growing, it is essential to hire more community health nurses to serve the entire population.

The other resource is establishing mobile clinics. More often than note, people think that they will be victimized if the public realizes that they are suffering from sexually transmitted infections. As a result, the factor hinders them from seeking services of medical personnel in hospitals. With the help of mobile clinics, they can confidently seek the services privately; thus, taking timely medications to avoid further spread (CDC, 2013). Also, mobile clinics bring services near the people. It is human nature that they consider getting services from a nearby facility. They could not procrastinate taking actions since care services are not only close but cost-effective.

Primary Prevention Topic

The primary prevention topic is "education about sexually transmitted infections." The topic focuses on educating the community about prevention measures they can take to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Although nurses require special education, the government should pass legislation to ensure the free treatment of the diseases. The primary purpose is to change the attitude and risk factors, contributing to the spread of the diseases (CDC, 2013). For example, people should understand the risk of engaging in sexual relationships with multiple partners. Also, they should feel free to undergo free checkups for effective treatment. Therefore, education will reduce the spread of infections.

Discuss the Application of Assessment Strategies Learned

Based on the community assessment skills gained from the simulation, the first thing to do in community assessment is the development of a diverse team. The process of assessing the community requires the formation of a team with individuals from different backgrounds to help collect and analyze data accurately (CDC, 2013). All the team members should create an environment that promotes interaction with the respondents to gather accurate data. The team ensures equitable access to the community; thus, gathering accurate information.

Secondly, community needs assessment requires the identification of components to assess. It is practically impossible to assess all elements in the community. Therefore, assessors should identify critical components, such as the cost of healthcare, the number of members accessing insurance schemes and disease preference rates (CDC, 2013). In this way, the assessment will provide accurate information and data regarding specific elements of health. For example, statistics from various health centers can help understand infection rates and measure the efficiency of operational strategies available. Importantly, demographic data, such as age, gender, race, income stability, and education level help to understand the health standards of people.

Conclusion

The changing health demands have made it difficult to harmonize and integrate healthcare systems. The process of care services must begin with the assessment of community needs and develop techniques and strategies that will solve the identified problems. However, it is crucial to identify critical components to involve in the assessment to remain objective. Sentinel City faces some healthcare problems, such as high rates of sexually transmitted infections, drug abuse, and a limited number of people with healthcare assistance schemes. The city can manage the conditions by educating citizens to take care of their health status and avoid risky behaviors.

References

CDC. (2013). Community needs assessment. Chicago: CDC Report.

Gwede, C. et al., (2010). Strategies for assessing community challenges and strengths for cancer disparities participatory research and outreach. Health Promotion Practice, 11(6), 876-887.