Community Health Assessment Nursing Essay

Community Health Assessment

Introduction

Enhancing the health of a community requires effective planning and decision making. This process makes use of up-to-date information concerning the health status of the said population and what factors will affect that health status (Lewis, 2015). To obtain this information, a community health assessment, which refers to the engagement of the community, a collection of data, analysis, interpretation of the data, and identification of disparities as well as the resources that will be needed to address this disparity is carried out (Bowling, 2014). This report is a summary of the preliminary work that will need to be performed to obtain the information.

Data Necessary to Make an Informed Community Health Assessment

To understand the community, various demographic data including the estimated total population of the community and the economy of the population including such factors as the median income, the percentage of people that is underserved is recorded (Lewis, 2015). This could include the percentage of people living under the poverty line. It is also necessary to obtain the diversity of the community and factors like ethnicity and cultural makeup as well as the languages spoken by the people (Bowling, 2014). Finally, we shall seek to establish the age make up the community by establishing the percentage of people under 18 years old and those over 65 years. It is also necessary to identify the religious beliefs of the diverse members of the community.

How Data Helps Determine the Health Care Needs of a Community

Data is critical in assessing and characterizing the outcomes and the determinants of health of a population (Bowling, 2014). The information we shall receive after analyzing and interpreting will guide us in determining the community assets as well as the perspectives the community takes concerning health. Besides, we shall be able to understand the health concerns of individuals, groups and the entire community, from which we can focus our efforts and resources to address the issues. From the data, we shall also map out the potential challenges of health promotion activities in the area and inform our strategies to mitigate the determined barriers. With the data, we shall have an understanding of galvanizing the local partners to form a collaborative approach towards the improvement of health in the community. Moreover, we can use the obtained data to compare it with other communities and population where we have set up facilities to determine if the strategies used in the other stations could be used here.

Strategy for Obtaining Data Needed for a Community Health Assessment

For this health needs assessment, we shall make use of both primary and secondary data to determine the outcomes and determinants of health. Primary data, both qualitative and quantitative, shall be collected using questionnaires, interviews, observations and holding listening sessions (Bowling, 2014). This is critical as it will help identify the perspectives of the community as well as the assets and resources that need mobilization to adequately address the health needs. Secondary data, those collected by another group for a different purpose and have been analyzed can also be used (Lewis, 2015). These data have indicators that can be applied in our scenario to compare rates and trends of outcomes and determinants of health that need to be prioritized. Making use of this strategy will give us a complete set of information that will inform our health approach towards setting up the facility.

Factors that Affect the Health and Wellness of a Community

The wellness and health of a community are determined by the interrelationships of various aspects including social, health services, policy, individual behavior, and hereditary. The policies made at the local, state and even federal levels have a huge effect on the health of a community (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). For instances, increasing taxes on tobacco products may have a positive influence on health as it may reduce the numbers of people that use the products. The determinants of health relate to the social factors and physical environment of the area where people are born, live, go to school, play and age. These factors have an effect on the functioning and quality of life which impacts the health of the population (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). Examples of social determinants include the social norms, how people are exposed to anti-social behaviors like crime, disorder, the quality of the school in the area and socioeconomic conditions of the community.

Access and the quality of healthcare provided have an impact on the health of people. It has been determined that people with no health insurance do not participate in preventive care like those that have access to insurance. Some of the obstacles to access health services include high costs, unavailability, lack of insurance cover and language barriers. Another determinant is individual health behavior (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). Many health acre interventions focus on altering the behavior of persons by advocating for an end to drug abuse, eating a proper diet and exercising more. Positive changes in the behavior of individuals can greatly reduce rates of chronic disorders in the community and country (Shi & Singh, 2014). The health and wellness of a community can be influenced by the biological and genetic makeup of a population. Older persons, for instance, are at a higher risk for poor health than adolescents because of the biological effects of aging. Other conditions like sickle cell disease have been found to be prevalent in people from Saudi, Arabia, India, West African countries and the Caribbean Islands (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014).

How to Obtain Information on the Factors that Affect the Health and Wellness of a Community

One of the most common tools used to collect data about the determinants of health is the use of the Windshield survey. This method involves the health practitioner driving or walking around the area under consideration to observe and make a recording of the predetermined factors that affect the health of a community (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015). This, together with other secondary information available will guide us in identifying the factors that we need to consider as being the main determinants of the population.

Establishing the Validity and Reliability of Data Used in a Community Health Assessment

Reliability of data used for any research purposes need to be reliable, otherwise, the consequences could be devastating. For secondary sources, it is important that the source of the information is verified and determined to be reliable. Such information as to when the research was done, who the authors are, if there are any identified biases and limitations to the study as well as the sampling technique and the size of the sample used are crucial (Bowling, 2014). For primary data, it is the competency of the team that is out collecting the information that shall determine the accuracy of the data. It is necessary that experienced researchers are involved in undertaking the exercise.

Conclusion

Setting up the new facility will require that we understand how these factors interplay and what the health needs of the community are. The health needs assessment is a perfect place to start as it will inform us of the appropriate strategy to be used to get the maximum buy-in and support of the community as well to achieve the anticipated success.