Community description-
Bayonne City has a population of 65, 083 people, with a high school graduate level of 87.9% and a bachelor’s degree level of 34.8%. The levels are slightly low that the overall New Jersey data of 89.5% and 38.9%, respectively. The people living in poverty levels were at 13.8%, which is higher than the state and countries’ data of 9.5% and 11.8%, respectively. (Census Bureau, 2019)
The rate of tobacco use in the city is at 22.5% (County Health Rankings, 2020)
Effects
[i]Increased blood pressure, euphoria, anorexia, bad breath are among the short term side effects
i Lips cancer, risks of stroke, coughing, difficulty in breathing, chronic bronchitis, osteoporosis, and lung cancer are among the long term side effects.
[ii]Low academic achievement, peer influence, knowledge deficit on dangers of smoking, low self-esteem, acceptability and availability of tobacco products, wrong perception on the functionality of tobacco
[iii]SBIRT refers to screening, brief intervention referral, and treatment. Universal annual screening to determine those at risk, a brief intervention involving awareness, education, BCC, and reference for treatment for those at risk.
The number of times one reported having used tobacco in the last one year indicated positivity or negativity of screening. If the client records, a zero was marked as positive and education on enforcement of health living behavior done.
If more than or equal to 1, they were at risk use, which is the likelihood of developing a health problem. Education, awareness, and enforcement of health living behavior.
If more than one and dependant on tobacco, they were marked as substance use disorder refers to people screened and found to depend on smoking and are addicts. They were related to the health facility for rehabilitation.
The tool facilitated the screening of the population, brief intervention, referral, and treatment of those affected.
[i] Heishma, S. J., Taylor, R. C., & Henningfield, J. E. (1994). Nicotine and smoking: a review of effects on human performance. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 2(4), 345.
[ii] Elders, M. J., Perry, C. L., Eriksen, M. P., & Giovino, G. A. (1994). The report of the Surgeon General: preventing tobacco use among young people. American journal of public health, 84(4), 543-547.
[iii][iii][iii] Babor, T. F., McRee, B. G., Kassebaum, P. A., Grimaldi, P. L., Ahmed, K., & Bray, J. (2007). Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) toward a public health approach to the management of substance abuse. Substance abuse, 28(3), 7-30.
Resources
Community health workers will help in tracing, screening, intervention, referral of the vulnerable group.
Referral forms will help in reaching CHWs facilitated by local health facilities.
Undertaking training of CHWs using the SBIRT toolkit before the assessment of the community.
Participation in the process will be voluntary, and therefore it will be affordable. The small costs incurred include phone calls, travel logistics, and acquisition of the tools.
The resource will be available and accessible since I will liaison with a local health facility.
The resource will be acceptable since they are residents of Bayonne.
Overview
The nurse involved in the process will have a deeper understanding of the community, and factors predisposing people to tobacco use. The nurse will also understand the severity of the abuse and consequences to users, mortality, and morbidity caused by this substance. The process generates vital data used for health promotion in the community. The process creates information used to address to stakeholders such as NIDA for effective interventions.
iv The tool makes brief interventions to be feasible since the cost incurred are few and highly effective in the assessment of tobacco use in the community.
Recent research shows the tool to be a highly effective outcome in combating substance abuse in the communities.
It also a flexible and straightforward intervention.
Conclusion
Immediate actions need to be undertaken in the study community to combat tobacco use, which has far-reaching consequences in the productivity and health of users. SBIRT is a tool used in community assessment and intervention. The tool is feasible for both patients and health care workers with high-efficiency levels in addressing tobacco use in the study community. The study outcome is essential in health promotion and creating awareness to bridge the knowledge deficit in the study population.
Census Bureau. (2019). Population Estimates. Department of Census and Housing. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/us/pst045218
County Health Rankings. (2020). CountyHealthRanking.Org. Retrieved from; https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
iv.
DiClemente, C. C., Crouch, T. B., Norwood, A. E., Delahanty, J., & Welsh, C. (2015). Evaluating training of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for substance use: Reliability of the MD3 SBIRT Coding Scale. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29(1), 218.