Community Health Action Plan Nursing Essay

Community Health Action Plan

Introduction

The county of McHenry will provide my organization with an opportunity to participate in an interdisciplinary collaboration in providing the necessary healthcare to the population. This plan of action is written from a nursing perspective to enable the team members to understand our approach to providing healthcare in the rural areas. Besides understanding the demographics, the plan shall also discuss the methods that are appropriate in promoting the care delivery in the county, evidence-based strategies that should be adopted in working with rural populations, the potential barriers that we may encounter and the communication strategies that we need to adopt.

The county under consideration is undoubtedly vulnerable statistics if the statistics presented are to be used. With a population of 1232 whose median income is a paltry $32,020 and close to 30% of the population living under the poverty line, it is evident that the health of the residents will be impacted negatively. Another key statistic that shall inform the appropriate strategies to be applied is the language spoken and the age demographics. Based on statistic, 78% of the population speaks English fluently, 13% use both Spanish and some English. Within the town, 9 % of the population speaks Hmong with some English. In terms of age, 20% of the population is aged18 years and below and 22% are senior citizens of 65 years and more.

Methods for Promoting Health Care Delivery Services in a Rural Community

The demographics indicate an increase in the aging population which is also vulnerable to various diseases because of biology and aging factor that makes their bodies weak. It is, therefore vital that special consideration is made towards this group who are the victims of the majority of the chronic illnesses (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). Primary health care, which includes promotion, prevention, early detection, treatment and management of the diseases, has been found to significantly reduce the hospitalizations rates, medical costs and fatalities.

From a nursing perspective, it is necessary to have the appropriate technique of promoting health, especially in rural communities with the diverse challenges. The most critical and important approach that can be used is engaging the community while designing the promotion. This implies that the community should be involved right from the beginning to the end in the decision making phases of the program (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). Specifically, the community, through the religious, community leaders and opinion shapers should take part in the planning, execution, and evaluation of the health services that need to be promoted. One method of engaging the community is the formation of an advisory committee that will help the interdisciplinary team to collect data about the healthcare needs of the community, establish the factors that may hinder successful implementation of the program by using focus groups and observations. There are various approaches to communicate the issues being discussed to the members of the community. However, some factors such as existing communication networks, literacy level, and community’s language must be taken into account. The best tools to use include briefings, press and media, newsletters, fact sheets, public meetings, and bulletins.

Engaging the community will also provide the opportunity for the team to understand the diversity and beliefs of the residents and how to approach it without causing conflict among the members of the community (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). This method will also bring to the forefront, the various cultural beliefs about the health concerns and any alternative medicine being used. The approach will also enhance participation, ensure the population has a better understanding of the various health issues as well as enhance the satisfaction of the residents of the need and importance of the program. Besides, this strategy is known to increase the ownership of the project and enhances the chances of funding from the investors. It also demonstrates the levels of accountability of the resources invested into the program. Using this strategy, will see the team hold meetings with the community and religious leaders in which they will be sensitized of the health promotion activities that are available. The leaders will be then relied upon to whip their communities regarding the program and how to receive the services.

Culturally Sensitive, Evidence-Based Strategies for Working with a Diverse Rural Population

It is important to understand that the rural community in question has people from various cultural backgrounds. It is, therefore, vital that the promotion activities are culturally sensitive and proper use of language is adopted to avoid backlashes (Huey Jr et al., 2014). To understand the complexities and intricacies of the diversity, ethnic and religious leaders will become valuable. It is the role of the team to understand the connotations of certain phrases that may be normal in other settings like in the urban centers and what may be inappropriate to the rural population (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). As mentioned above, we shall seek to understand if there will be any use of alternative medicine and consider its merits. If it can complement the conventional methods of health promotion, then it will be incorporated. The two most vulnerable groups in the community include the children and the elderly and thus the team must understand the concerns of these groups. This involves the incidence and the health problems among the groups including chronic illnesses and mental diseases for the elderly and abuse among the children.

Potential barriers to health care for a rural community population

Studies have identified four factors that influence the provision of healthcare to rural areas. There is a growing concern for the reducing number of health care providers practicing in these small rural towns and areas. The remaining practitioners are those nearing retirement age with the rest being distributed in the urban centers (Nancarrow et al., 2013). This means that the health care needs of many rural areas residents, most who are aging with various chronic disorders, are not met.

Care coordination is also a challenge to health provision in the rural areas. Because health provision involves many disciplines, there is a need for a collaborated approach. However, this is a challenge in rural towns because of the small and independent providers with scarce resources that need to cover vast and geographically challenging locations (Blais, 2015). There is limited access to specialty healthcare like mental health and obstetrics.  Previously, technology has been a major hindrance to the provision of health care services in the remote areas. However, this is changing with more advances and technological devices being implemented to bridge the vast distances. Nonetheless, the health system in rural areas is still under-resourced and most of the providers lack the capacity to invest heavily in technologies like EHRs.

Communication Strategies and Techniques for an Interdisciplinary Health Care Team Working with a Rural Community Population

It is necessary that the team involved in the program keep an open communication policy with the emphasis being given to mutual respect for divergent perspectives of other members. Having a shared decision-making process where the contributions of each member of the team are respected and given due consideration is necessary for the success of the interdisciplinary team (Bender, Connelly, & Brown, 2013). The team should develop a resolution mechanism which is clear and accepted by all members of the team. It is necessary that members are given clear roles and duties to perform and ensure that the assigned roles are respected. These measures ensure that the collaborative approach, which is critical in overcoming the challenges, are met. Because of the scarcity of resources and competing interests among the few care providers, collaboration may meet challenge and ensuring that a conflict resolution mechanism is in place will help reduce conflicts and thus success for the team.

Conclusion

Delivery of health care to rural population has some challenges to the interdisciplinary team on running health promotion services. Poor infrastructure, scarcity of health care providers, poverty and lack of critical technology seem to undermine the program. However, there are evidence-based practices that can help the teams to mitigate the challenges. Applying community engagement, acknowledging the barriers and developing of appropriate collaboration and communication strategies will help the team achieve the set goals.

Community Health Action Plan