Action Plan for the Community Health Program on Chronic Diseases
Community health refers to the health of the general public (Katigbak et al., 2015). It refers to the resources that are needed by the community to ensure that they are well physically, mentally, and in their social setting. Community health programs, on the other hand, avail the required resources that meet the health demands of the families’ within the community (Lu et al., 2015). On the other hand, chronic diseases are those that persist for long periods (Feely et al., 2017). Some of them are not treatable, but medications are given to control the disease. In most cases, those who have the disease are unaware until when the diagnosis is made. Examples of such conditions include; Hypertension, Cancer, Diabetes, and Asthma, among many others.
Goals of the Health Program
The health program will target members of the community at the family level. The main goal of the health program will be to increase awareness of the availability of chronic illnesses and why it is important to do a regular screening for early detection and management. Specific goals for the health program are.
- To increase awareness of the existence of chronic illnesses and the available strategies to overcome them.
- To emphasize the need to do screening regularly for purposes of early detection and proper management of chronic illnesses.
Objectives of the Program
The program will have the following key objectives in the community;
- To educate members of the community on specific chronic illnesses such as cancer, hypertension, and Diabetes and to spell out the risk factors associated with the development of these conditions.
- To understand the specific reasons for the development of chronic conditions and the barriers for early detection and management of chronic illnesses among members of the community.
Justification of the Health Program
This health program will be significant in combating the development of chronic illnesses within the community. The family approach ensures that the strategy is successful since it is the basic unit of any community. This is very important due to the global burden of these conditions all over the world. For instance, the burden of cancer has risen by 18.1 million new cases all over the world, with new deaths rising to 9.6 million people as of the year 2018. It is further noted that one out every five men and six women develop cancer in their lifetime. Furthermore, one in every 8 and 11 men and women die of the disease in their lifetime, respectively. As of 2018, the total 5-prevalence of cancer was standing at 43.8 million cases all over the world ( E& L Diabetes & Endocrinology, 2018).
For the case of hypertension, high blood pressures, the global burden lies at 1.13 billion people. Most of these people live in low and middle-income countries. In the year 2015, one in every four and one in every five women had hypertension. Out of these numbers, only one out of 5 had the disease diagnosed and under care. In the global targets for eliminating non-communicable diseases, one of the targets is to reduce hypertension by 25% by the year 2025(Bundy et al., 2019).
The burden of Diabetes as of the year 2019 globally was at 463 million people 9.3%). The prevalence of the condition was high in the urban areas than the rural areas, according to this study. On the level of awareness, one out of every two people was not aware that they had the condition, thus not diagnosed early and put on medication (Cho et al., 2018).
With the increasing number of persons who are suffering from these chronic illnesses all over the world, it is only fair that measures are put in place to safeguard the community. This program will play a pivotal role in trying to combat these global challenges. The community will be made aware of the challenges and how to address them appropriately. They will understand the risk factors of developing the condition as well as the signs and symptoms. Members of the community will also see the need for early screening and detection of the condition for proper management. These activities will significantly reduce the global burden of diseases.
Program Description
This health program will take place at the community level. Organized groups of a few families will be brought together for health education. The family is the basic unit of the community, the target communities will be properly reached, and the messages will be passed to the community and the general population properly (Macinko & Harris, 2015). Health education on chronic illnesses will majorly focus on the risk factors (Jolley et al., 2015). Some of the risk factors for developing chronic diseases include;
- Lack of physical exercises
- Excessive use of alcohol and other substances
- High levels of cholesterol in the diet
- Tobacco use, among many others.
The strategies for preventing the development of such conditions will also be part of the health education. Some of the ways that members of the community can prevent themselves from getting the disease are will also be taught(Bratzke et al., 2015). They include;
- Doing physical exercises regularly
- Observing diets to ensure that they are healthy all along
- Minimizing or completely stop the consumption of alcohol and other substances
- Avoid smoking cigarettes
Apart from educating the community on the risk factors and the preventive strategies, members of the community will also be educated on the need to do regular screening to know their overall health status. This will be important since early diagnosis promotes proper management of the condition. Simple screenings will also be done to willing members of the community. Cervical cancer screening, as well as blood glucose levels, will be done during the health the program
Place and Time for the Program
The program will take place at the community level in the specified region. This program will run for a period of 6 months. Operations will be on for three days every week. Two days will be set aside for preparation and feedback from members of the community in the various villages.
Material Requirements for the Program
The material required for the program will involve the means of transport, screening kits, and educational training materials. Specific materials include;
- A vehicle for transport
- Cervical; cancer Screening kits
- Blood sugar measuring kits
- Projectors and portable whiteboards
- Funds to pay community health workers and community health extension workers.
Nursing Recommendations to Improve the Health Concern
The health concern at hand is very critical. Chronic illnesses are common and burdensome all over the world. Nursing recommendations that will improve the health concern include the following;
- Conducting regular health education to members of the community. It raises awareness of the types of chronic illnesses. At the same time, the risk factors for developing those conditions are discussed in detail and the preventive measures. This improves the situation on the ground.
- Emphasis on the need to do early screening. The nurse educates members of the community on the need to do testing early enough for the detection and management of the condition.
- As a community health advocate, the nurse approaches various stakeholders within the department of health in the region and advocates on the need to do a free screening at the community level. The nurse also approaches multiple private organizations for purposes of acquiring resources for the mission.
- Increasing the number of community health workers and community health extension workers by training many of them. This increases the capacity to reach as many people as possible.
Areas of Public and Private Partnerships
Private and public sectors can partner to handle this problem in the following areas;
- Training of more community health workers.
- Availing all resources for use in the program like he test kits means of transport and education materials.
- Setting up screening camps at the community level for purposes of screening members of the community during and after the program.
Expected Outcomes
- Increased screening needs from members of the community within three months.
- Participation in healthy behaviors like physical exercises within the first month of the program.
- Demonstration of the understanding of the risk factors of developing chronic illnesses at the end of each training session.
- Increased responsiveness to the signs and symptoms of chronic illnesses by seeking care within the first three months of the program.
References
Katigbak, C., Van Devanter, N., Islam, N., & Trinh-Shevrin, C. (2015). Partners in Health: A Conceptual Framework for the Role of Community Health Workers in Facilitating Patients’ Adoption of Healthy Behaviors. American Journal Of Public Health, 105(5), 872-880.
Lu, C., Tang, S., Lei, Y., Zhang, M., Lin, W., Ding, S., & Wang, P. (2015). Community-based interventions in hypertensive patients: a comparison of three health education strategies. BMC Public Health, 15(1).
Feely, A., Lix, L., & Reimer, K. (2017). Estimating multimorbidity prevalence with the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System. Health Promotion And Chronic Disease Prevention In Canada, 37(7), 215-222.
The Editors of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. (2018). Retraction and republication—Worldwide burden of cancer attributable to Diabetes and high body-mass index: a comparative risk assessment. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 6(6), 437.
Bundy, J., Mills, K., & He, J. (2019). Comparison of the 2017 ACC/AHA Hypertension Guideline with Earlier Guidelines on Estimated Reductions in Cardiovascular Disease. Current Hypertension Reports, 21(10).
Cho, N., Shaw, J., Karuranga, S., Huang, Y., da Rocha Fernandes, J., Ohlrogge, A., & Malanda, B. (2018). IDF Diabetes Atlas: Global estimates of Diabetes prevalence for 2017 and projections for 2045. Diabetes Research And Clinical Practice, 138, 271-281.
Macinko, J., & Harris, M. (2015). Brazil’s Family Health Strategy — Delivering Community-Based Primary Care in a Universal Health System. New England Journal Of Medicine, 372(23), 2177-2181.
Jolley, C., Luo, Y., Steier, J., Sylvester, K., Man, W., & Rafferty, G. et al. (2015). Neural respiratory drive and symptoms that limit exercise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Lancet, 385, S51.
Bratzke, L., Muehrer, R., Kehl, K., Lee, K., Ward, E., & Kwekkeboom, K. (2015). Self-management priority setting and decision-making in adults with multimorbidity: A narrative review of literature. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 52(3), 744-755.