ESSAY : Community Health Action Plan

Overview:
Prepare a 4-page report that describes methods for promoting new health care services in a rural community. In your report, explain evidence-based strategies for an interdisciplinary health care team to work with a diverse rural population, potential barriers to health and wellness for a rural population, and communication strategies and techniques for the interdisciplinary team.

Context:
When assessing health individually or within a community, it is important to consider the social aspect. Many issues can affect health, including work and life stressors, as well as cultural beliefs and practices.
We know that lifestyle behaviors affect health; however, from a nursing perspective, the social aspect of health has grown in importance. The social aspect of a health assessment can be performed through the dimensions of the individuals and their families—and then into the broader sense of their communities and all that those communities entail. Clark and Paraska (2014) outline the theoretical foundations for health-promotion concepts, theories, and models, along with ways to apply them to research and practice.

Instructions:
Imagine your organization has been asked to partner with another health care organization to serve the health care needs of a rural community located a significant distance from the urban area. Each organization will provide a number of health care professionals to work collaboratively to deliver quality health care services that address the needs and concerns of the rural population.
You are one of the professionals selected to participate in this outreach effort. Each member of the outreach team has been asked to develop an action plan from his or her professional perspective. Use the information below to develop your evidence-based community health action plan from the nursing perspective.
Community information for the town of Red Deer Valley and the surrounding farms
Total population of area: 1232.
Economy:
o Median household income: $32,020.
o Poverty level: 30 percent of the families live at or below poverty level.
Languages:
o English speakers: 78 percent of the population speaks English.
o Spanish and English speakers: 13 percent of the population speaks Spanish and some English.
o Hmong and English speakers: 9 percent of the population speaks Hmong and some English.
Age:
o Under 18: 20 percent of the population is under the age of 18.
o Over 65: 22 percent of the population is over the age of 65.

Directions
Develop an evidence-based community health action plan, from a nursing perspective. Specifically, you must complete the following:
Describe methods for promoting the use of the health care delivery services. In other words, how will you let the community know that health care services are available locally, along with the types of services provided?
Explain culturally sensitive evidence-based strategies for working with this diverse community. (Hint: Consider things such as age, traditional medicine, socioeconomic status, attitude, and so on.)
Explain potential barriers to health and wellness for the community population.
Recommend communication strategies and techniques for the interdisciplinary teams that will be working to improve population health and reduce barriers to preventative health care and disease maintenance. Consider things such as frequency (daily? weekly? as needed?) and method (electronic? paper? face-to-face?)

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Community Health Action Plan
The purpose of this action plan is to explore health care needs of the city of Red Deer Valley and the neighboring farms. Statistical record from the existing reports shows that this rural town is home to about 1232 locals with median household revenue amounting to $32,020. The poverty level at Red Deer Valley is relatively high with more than 32 percent of the households spending less than a dollar per day. While the vast majority of the locals (78 percent, speak English fluently, some city residents are not good in spoken English with about 13 percent using a combination of English and Spanish and about 9 percent using English and Hmong. Senior citizens constitute a significant proportion of the city population with more than 22 percent of the population…