Community Action Plan
The health of pregnant women and children forms the basis of developmental agenda with emphasis on the needs of this vulnerable population, especially in low-income settings. Different communities have implemented diverse strategies that have focused on improving the health of pregnant women and children despite the focus on limited resources (Skelton & Owen, 2016). Controlling adverse outcomes such as malnutrition presents a significant focus on specific concepts that can be adopted in improving change and overall development. Expectant mothers are at a high risk of malnutrition, which has a direct influence on the wellbeing of the infants. Therefore developing an action plan present a strategic understanding of vital concepts that have a crucial impact on the lives of pregnant women and children within the community.
Steps in developing an action plan
The development of an action plan presents a focus on the needs of the population and developing major strategies that can be embraced in improving these needs within the community. The utilization of available resources is integral to major changes that are defined in this case to promote change within the community. Low-income settings have been defined with limited resources and the inability to meet the needs of the general population.
Socioeconomic determinants of health
Working with community leaders and government agencies present a well-defined context where it is possible to understand the major issues that are addressed when seeking to improve on the quality of healthcare. Educational attainment, access to quality food, employment, access to care, social support, and a healthy community environment present a more structured understanding of the extent of the problem within the society. The majority of individuals within these low-income settings have low educational attainment levels and limited access to necessary care (Chakraborty & Chaudhuri, 2018). It is crucial to focus on these socioeconomic factors and understand how they influence the target population so that it becomes easier to develop the action plan while taking into consideration these elements for a sustainable change and improved access to healthcare, which has been a significant challenge in low-income settings.
Project period objective
The objective of this plan is to control malnutrition among children and nutritional deficiencies in pregnant women.
Description of the objective
Health for pregnant women and children is essential. It presents an understanding of critical measures that need to be assessed and improve the overall commitment to change and the attainment of a healthy community. Attaining these objectives offer a more influential platform where there is a need to identify specific measures that can help concentrate on the needs of children as well as pregnant women within low-income settings (Lassi, Kumar & Bhutta, 2016). However, it is essential to understand that there are limited resources within these settings, which require the mobilization of resources to create a more sustainable health plan.
Period
The consideration of the nutritional needs of pregnant women and children is a matter of urgency ad requires the integration of better systems that can help promote change considering the lack of resources and the need to encourage change. However, the implementation of this action plan will take approximately two years to ensure that there is a sustainable plan in place with the help of the federal and state government.
Priority area
The focus of this plan is on pregnant women and children in low-income settings within the community. The needs of these individuals within these settings present a highly structured emphasis on critical changes that help maintain a focus on better changes that help shape the health of the target population.
The priority areas will be controlling preterm births through ensuring that pregnant women receive regular nutritious supplements to ensure that they give birth to healthy children without any deficiencies. Another priority area will be controlling malnutrition among children. Stunting, overweight, underweight, and wasting are a common occurrence among children. An unhealthy diet is the primary source of these conditions among children (Rasaily et al., 2017). Thus the action plan will focus on regulating the exposure to unhealthy food products.
Annual objective
The annual objective will be to control maternal mortality
Objective description
The presence of low-quality healthcare within low-income settings means that majority of expectant mothers are unable to receive the required antenatal care to help prepare for childbirth while also controlling adverse outcomes such as maternal deaths. Therefore, the plan will focus on implementing essential measures that help in promoting change based on the underlying healthcare needs within the community.
Number of people reached
There is a need to employ a significant focus on the whole population through community partners who will be able to provide information regarding the available population that requires healthcare. Diversity of the program will help create a stronger system that can help promote better outcomes.
Activities
Activities that are outlined in this case focus on maintaining an understanding of the issues that are addressed based on the target population. Pregnant women and children are highly exposed to the nutritional challenges considering that their immune systems are weak and unable to counter major changes to the body. The lower socioeconomic status of community members means that majority are unable to afford care hence depend on support from the state and local government.
Communication of the plan
The healthcare providers, together with community partners, will help in providing awareness within the community and ensuring that there is effective identification of the vulnerable population as well as major challenges that need to be fulfilled through this plan. The collaboration of stakeholders within the community, the government and healthcare providers, present a diverse emphasis on better systems that can help promote change based on the identified issues within the community (Lassi, Kumar & Bhutta, 2016). The urgency of the intervention in controlling malnutrition and adverse health outcomes among unborn babies presents a structured concentration on better systems that can help promote change.
The implementation of the action plan
The implementation of the action will require the input of all stakeholders to help in maintaining a more substantial basis based on better approaches that can help understand the changes. The government, community health partners, and public health officers have a crucial role in ensuring that the vulnerable population receives the care and has access to improved healthcare, which is integral to the successful attainment of the identified objectives.
References
Chakraborty, S., & Chaudhuri, S. K. (2018). University Libraries and Community Preparedness For Natural Disasters: A Participatory Based Action Plan.
Lassi, Z. S., Kumar, R., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2016). Community-based care to improve maternal, newborn, and child health.
Rasaily, R., Ganguly, K. K., Roy, M., Vani, S. N., Kharood, N., Kulkarni, R., … & Kanugo, L. (2017). Community-based kangaroo mother care for low birth weight babies: A pilot study. The Indian journal of medical research, 145(1), 51.
Skelton, J. B., & Owen, J. A. (2016). Developing a vision and strategic action plan for future community-based residency training. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 56(5), 584-589.