NURS 6561 DQ WK4 Windshield survey
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Date
Windshield survey
Windshield surveys provide a way to assess the intricacies of communities. It provides views of the socioeconomic status, cultural background of residents’ access to health care, and various physical characteristics of the community. Windshield survey is done best by walking because you can take note with your senses, what you see, hear, and smell (Laureate Education (producer), 2012a). The nurse practitioner should be familiar with the environment she is working in to be able to provide appropriate care (The Community Tool Box, 2013).
The community where my practicum site is located is Houston Texas in Harris County. The County’s estimated zip code population is 94,005, which includes; 49.0 % of male, and women 51.0% and The community houses a verse population of multi-national residents. The U.S. Census found 27.3% of residents in this area were foreign born (2013). There is high rate of Hispanic & Latino population in which is 40.8%, 33.0% of white, 6.1% Asian and 18.4% of African American. Financial data for Harris County reveal that this town currently has 12.3% of its residents below the poverty line compared to the State average of 18.5% (city-data.com, 2014). In Houston, there is a free county health center for low-income household, one big hospital and many local clinics. Due to the highest rate of Hispanic population, Spanish is one of the big languages beside English and the majority of the populations are illegal immigrants that do not speak or understand English language. Because the hospital and clinic are far away from the city limits, mass transit is the main means of transportation. Many fast food restaurants surround the city of Houston and the nearby recreation park is one hour away from the city limit. Majority of the Hispanic population resides in old apartment complex and old residential buildings.
Harris Community Assessment
Based on the windshield survey that was performed, a brief community assessment was also completed. Community assessments are important tools that can help medical professionals identify the health needs of a community as a whole and to help create plans to improve the health of it citizens (Marshall, 2007). There are many elements that can be included in a community assessment including an examination of its people, relationships, networks, leadership psychosocial cultural factors, demographic characteristics, geographic area, access to housing and transportation and local burden of disease (Marshall, 2007). The community assessment revealed a town in need of intervention. The streets that were surveyed revealed many houses for sale and dilapidated properties that no one was occupying. The low median household income and poverty level of this town is apparent in its appearance. There is local transportation system that many of the citizens use as each bus stop was full of people waiting for the one line or the other. The burden of disease is also noticeable in the primary health care office that this author is completing clinical hours. A majority of the patients that are seen in the office are seen for diagnoses of depression, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Many of the patients that are seen in the office struggle from day to day and sometimes do not have the monetary funds to pay for their medications; it is obvious that the burden of disease is affecting the community and its potential to flourish. The geographic area portion of the assessment reveals a sub-par urban area surrounding by an urban farm setting. Access to fresh food is easily accessible, but whether or not citizens have the resources i.e. money and transportation to get obtain these can be the issue.
Barriers to Healthy Living
Hypertension is an issue for a large portion of the population. 2009 statistics revealed, Texas has a prevalence rate of 32.8% of persons with hypertension (CDC, 2010). This is an increase from 27.9% in 2001 (CDC, 2010). I was unable to find specific information on hypertension for this particular community, but fondled the Texas prevalence statistics would accurately represent this population as well.
The barriers to healthy living are high among this population. Recognizing hypertension as a community health risk, barriers to promote health and decrease risk were reviewed. Identified personal barriers include language barriers, and limited understanding of the treatment plan. Motivational barriers are cynicism from past experiences or doubt in the medication plan. A practical barrier for this population includes limited heart healthy food options and resources.
Promoting culturally competent change
One of the challenges to community health promotion is the mobilization of the community and community engagement (Green & Tones, 2013). A strategy that this author believes would be beneficial to the community and also be culturally competent would be to provide health fairs on a quarterly basis bringing together all types of services that may interest the public domain. ). Increasing awareness of disease risk and addressing patient concern allows the patient to see how they can contribute to their health and are more likely to become involved (Green & Tones, 2013). Ideas for this would include blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring and if these indicate any type of disease process, there could be a referral group that could help a person without a primary care provider find one who is able to take him or her on as a new patient. These health fairs could flex and mold to the current trends in health care but could always include the basic health screenings. Presenting options for health care coverage would also be beneficial to the community as whole.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Texas Indicator Details. Prevalence of hypertension among US adults. Retrieved from http://ift.tt/2C7at4p
City-data.com. (2013). 77084 Zip Code detailed Profile. Retrieved from http://ift.tt/2CqgVap
Green, J. & Tones, K., (2013). Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing
Laureate Education (Producer). (2012a). Conducting a windshield survey [Video file]. Retrieved from Mymedia player. (NURS 6561)
Marshall, A. (2007). Community assessment. Nursing Journal, 1111-16.
The Community Tool Box. (2013). Windshield and walking surveys. Retrieved from http://ift.tt/2C9T5fL
United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). State & County QuickFacts.
Retrieved http://ift.tt/1A5vuH7
Week 4 Project Community Programs for Health Promotion
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Week 4 Project Community Programs for Health Promotion
Harris County located in the state of Texas is made up of 4.1 million residents, according to the 2010 census. As a result, it is the largest in the state and is ranked third-largest in the US. Its capital is Houston, and it was founded in 1836. It covers 1,777 square miles. The area is estimated to have a household income of $53,160 and a family median income of $60,641, as compared to $64,585 for the US. An estimated 11.83% percent of the county’s population has a household income of less than $15,000 (BestPlaces, 2014).
Using Roy’s Adaptation Theory
Roy’s adaptation theory proposes that a person is made up of interrelated systems that encompass the social, psychological and biological aspects. As a result, the individual struggles constantly to maintain equilibrium between these aspects to achieve a state of absolute equilibrium. As a result, each person responds uniquely to various situations and employs various innate mechanisms to adapt to new situations (Nursing Theory, 2013). The theory asserts that health is a mandatory part of a person’s life, portrayed by their health-illness continuum.
This theory enables understanding of the patient in a broad and holistic perspective, taking into account a variety of factors. It also facilitates promotion of adaptation for the community in the adaptive models proposed in the theory, which in turn contribute to their overall health, better quality of life and dignified deaths by ensuring the patients assess their behavior and factors that affect their adaptive abilities. In addition, it will also be useful in providing appropriate interventions that will enhance interactions with their environments.
In relation to the Harrison County community, our major concern is related to the knowledge deficit of complications, prevention and care plan of Diabetes Mellitus Type II (DMII) due to the lack of understanding and education regarding the health condition. Therefore, the Roy’s adaptation model will be useful in determining how to get the community members to adapt effectively to the fast changing environment. Therefore, we intend to find out if we can implement various adaptation strategies into the environment, individuals and health care providers, in order to ensure a positive behavior change in terms of the lack of understanding or education of DMII. In addition, are focused on coming up with a suitable approach that will facilitate access to care for immigrants as the majority of this population have limited access to health care, which means that they have no access to screening or education regarding DMII (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007).
Week 4
The objective for this week is to identify issues that come up while creating new strategies and interventions for DMII.
The major mode of communication is via our group’s discussion board. The members will agree on an appropriate meeting time and place, where we will meet and conduct a Windshield survey on health organizations in the community in order to collect information on the challenges these institutions have experienced in the past, and how they dealt with them. The timeline is that each member is expected to post their findings at least twice in the week, and the rest are expected to leave useful comments, critiques and additional information. This information will them be compiled and posted on the discussion board, where the members will review it.
References
BestPlaces. (2014). Economy in Harris County, Texas. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://ift.tt/2C6bjhT
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, .. (2007). Diabetes mellitus : a guide to patient care. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Nursing theory, .. (2013). Roy Adaptation Model. Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://ift.tt/2CqUYb8
