ESSAY: Community Health Assessment

Assessment 3

Community Health Assessment

Write a 2 page report on the concepts, processes, and tools needed to conduct a community health assessment, how to find the data, and how to validate the data. Explain the factors that can affect the health of a community, along with how to obtain that information.

Understanding community and state health care issues and concerns, the local resources available, and accessibility of those resources can inform health care practices and improve quality patient outcomes.

Social and lifestyle behaviors can affect health. In fact, some would argue that many, if not most, health risks can be mitigated through lifestyle and behavioral changes. With this in mind, the health care provider must be aware of the socioeconomic factors and the lifestyle factors present in a population.

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Both social and cultural factors influence many lifestyle factors. Living environment, housing conditions, employment factors, diet, and cultural beliefs all play a role in a person’s levels of risk and resulting health. The nursing assessment must include these social influences as part of the domain necessary for evaluation and inclusion in the assessment approach, and integrate a framework for analysis, which includes all the social milieus associated with each dimension.

Evidence-based health assessments are done using health data from private and public organizations. There are many opportunities for gathering health data in a community, through public health systems and through private records, where approval has been obtained from participants.

Collecting primary data must involve informed consent. Secondary sources can also be used by obtaining aggregate data from health plans and health care providers that do not include personalized demographic data. Each of these data sources can be important to forming a picture of a community’s health, which can then be compared to national standard data such as that provided through Healthy People 2020. Understanding the current health status and the perceived needs of a community can help to provide the valuable information needed to set forth a plan which evaluates the current and future health needs of the community.

What types of techniques and activities should be included in a community health assessment?

How can these techniques and activities help determine both assets and gaps in health care services in a community?

Resources

Hart, P. L., & Mareno, N. (2014). Cultural challenges and barriers through the voices of nurses. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 23(15/16), 2223–2233.

Estrada, D. M. (2011). A community risk assessment of the city of Santa Ana, California (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest database. (UMI Number: 1499248).

Johnson, C. V., Bartgis, J., Worley, J. A., Hellman, C. M., & Burkhart, R. (2010). Urban Indian voices: A community-based participatory research health and needs assessment. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 17(1), 49–70.

Nieto, F. J., Peppard, P. E., Engelman, C. D., McElroy, J. A., Galvao, L. W., Friedman, E. M., & . . . Malecki, K. C. (2010). The Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW), a novel infrastructure for population health research: rationale and methods. BMC Public Health, 10, 785–796.

Internet Resources

Healthy People 2020. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/

Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI 2015). (2015). Retrieved from http://wwwn.cdc.gov/communityhealth

National Center for Health Statistics. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Instructions

Imagine you work for an organization that has decided to open a satellite facility in an underserved community.

Your organization asks you to move to the new location and assist with some of the preliminary work.

Part of this work is to determine the health care needs of the community.

How will you do this?

 What information will you need to know?

Where will you find the information?

Preparation

Peer-reviewed journal articles on how to conduct a community health assessment.

You will need at least 3 resources to use in this assessment.

Directions

Develop a plan for a community health assessment in which you complete the following:

Describe the type of data needed to make an informed community health assessment.

Explain how the data will help determine the health care needs of the community.

Describe your strategy for obtaining the necessary data.

Explain the factors that impact the health and wellness of a community. (Hint: This is a very broad list. Think outside the box on this one!)

Explain how you will obtain information on these factors for your specific community.

Explain how you will determine if the data and information you obtain is valid and reliable.

Format this assessment as a report that you would submit to a director or other organizational leader. You are still required to follow APA guidelines for in-text citations and references.

Additional Requirements

Include a title page and reference page.

Ensure your assessment is 2 pages in length.

Use double-spaced, 12-pt., Times New Roman font.

Grading Guide

1.  Describes the data necessary to make an informed community health assessment and identifies where the data can be found.

2.  Explains how data helps determine the health care needs of a community, as well as gaps in the health care services available.

3.  Describes a strategy for obtaining data needed for a community health assessment, identifies potential obstacles to obtaining the data, and considers secondary options for obtaining the data.

4.  Explains a broad range of factors that affect the health and wellness of a community, showing a clear relationship between the factors and the health of the community.

5.  Explains how to obtain information on the factors that affect the health and wellness of a community and considers how the information can be used to improve the health and wellness of the community.

6.  Explains how to establish the validity and reliability of data used in a community health assessment and identifies options if the data are not found to be valid and reliable.

7.  Writes clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; uses relevant evidence to support a central idea.

8.  Correctly formats citations and references with no errors.

ANSWER

Community Health Assessment

Type of Data Needed

Community health assessment helps to determine the health needs of a given community (Pennel, McLeroy, Burdine, & Matarrita-Cascante, 2015). The data necessary to make an informed community health assessment include work and employment data, environmental conditions’ data, and social cohesion data. Work and employment data provides important community health information such as the risk of occupational diseases and the ability to access healthcare services. Environmental data helps to assess factors that affect health such as pollution and sanitation. Additionally, social cohesion determines the level of community networking which affects emotional support that is fundamental to wellbeing.

All the above data can be found from government records such as public employment records. The same information can be obtained through observation and interaction with the community.

How the Data Will Help Determine the Health Care Needs of the Community

Data forms the basis for evaluating the health needs of the community. First, one can use data relating to the economic status of the society to determine the potential health risks and gaps in in health care services facing the community (Pennel et al., 2015). For example, workers in flower farms are exposed to diseases associated with toxic chemicals applied in the production process. Secondly, studying the environmental data of a community can determine things such as the risk of pollution. For instance, individuals living in areas where air and water is highly polluted are likely to develop health complications. Additionally, using the social information of a given community, one can easily identify the degree of social support among the residents. For example, poor relations among families increase the risk and severity of mental diseases.

Strategy for Obtaining the Necessary Data

The best strategy for obtaining data required for a community health assessment should combine various methods of collecting primary data which include surveys, observations, questionnaires, interviews, and listening sessions. These methods provide first-hand information which is highly reliable.

Some of the obstacles to obtaining data using the primary data collection methods include costs restrictions, time limitation, and inaccurate data. First of all, primary data may require outsourcing which means money will be needed to pay for such services. Some methods of obtaining data are time-consuming, for instance, interviews. Additionally, the responses may be incorrect due to the inherent bias by the respondents.

To overcome the obstacles associated with the primary data collection methods, one may consider the secondary sources of data such as reports by governmental and non-governmental organizations. For example, census data provide a reliable source of community data. 

Factors That Impact the Health and Wellness of a Community Some of the factors that influence the health and wellness of a community range from economic, social and environmental issues. Regarding the economic factors, the level of income, poverty, and employment rate affects community…