Population Health Nursing week 5 peers response
Respond to your peer in one paragraph. These posts should be thoughtful, respectful, and add value to the discussion. This response could include relating your experience to whatever they initially posted. Use a different scholarly source, reference it using APA format, and include in-text citations when using the referenced material in your post.
1st peer post
Apr 2, 2024 at 12:31 PM
Two age groups that I have selected are working age adults and senior adults over the age of 65yrs since the majority of the population in Hazard, Kentucky is older adults. For working adults, the greatest risk is overdose related deaths. Preventive strategies would include community education regarding the risks of substance abuse, specialized courts, and treatment programs. The use of specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration would help prevent the continuous cycle of substance abuse and acts associated. To provide medications such as methadone or suboxone to individuals diagnosed with opioid use disorder in outpatient, residential, and hospital settings, usually with counseling and behavioral therapies would give treatment options to those suffering with substance use (Medication-assisted treatment access enhancement initiatives, 2023). Nurses’ role in this would be to promote treatment and rehab for patients experiencing substance abuse. Additionally, nurses can reach out to legislative representatives to promote bills that fund education and treatment of substance abuse. For adults 65yrs and older, heart disease was the leading cause of death. Preventative strategies would include promoting this population to choose a healthy eating plan (low in saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium), aim for at least 30 to 60 minutes of daily activity and to quit drinking and smoking (Centers for disease control, 2022). Nurses can promote compliance with medications related to heart disease and promote care plans that support a healthy diet and exercise. If the patient drinks or smokes, provide resources to the patient to help quit.
Medication-assisted treatment access enhancement initiatives. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2023, June). https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/strategies-and-solutions/what-works-for-health/strategies/medication-assisted-treatment-access-enhancement-initiatives
A public health action plan to prevent heart disease. Centers for Disease Control. (2022). https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/action_plan/pdfs/action_plan_full.pdf
2nd peer response
Apr 2, 2024 at 6:59 PM
Today I am going to discuss heart disease and intentional self-harm in those under the age of 75 years, as these are the second and fourth leading causes of death respectively in Salt Lake County, Utah for those under the age of 75. With heart diseases weighing in at 1,568 deaths, translating to 46.7 per 100,000 people this is the second greatest risk to population health in Salt Lake County based on 2019-2021 data per countyhealthrankings.org (2024). This crisis is supported by research conducted by the American Heart Association (2020) and reflected in their fact sheet discussing the barriers to healthcare such as a lack of insurance and how that affects their cardiovascular health in a negative way with dire health consequences. Because of the insight provided in this reference guide, I would recommend the institution of an outreach program that aims at educating low-income individuals on why they should care and the options available for those who are uninsured or underinsured. The role of the nurse in this outreach program would start with understanding the community and getting to know them so that the nurse could create the content in a way that will matter to the target audience. I would also say that it would be a nurse’s role to recruit others to the cause, finding some master’s or doctorate-prepared nurses to help with education and relationship-building within the community would be a huge win.
In regards to intentional self-harm being the fourth leading cause of death in Salt Lake County, Utah with a rate of 20.7 per 100,000 people under the age of 75 years old per countyhealthrankings.org (2024) it is a great concern for the community. Matthews et al. (2023) report a significant number of their respondents reported little access to short-term crisis stabilization programs and a shortage of crisis beds within their jurisdiction in addition to barriers to implementing further infrastructure such as cost, staffing, interdisciplinary cooperation, and existing infrastructure. In this example, I would suggest a push for volunteering for the suicide hotline and advertisement within the community. The nurse’s responsibility would be contacting the hotline and going through the onboarding process to become a volunteer to help bolster availability. The nurse’s role would also be the advertisement of this resource in the community so that when someone needs it they know it is a program and how to reach it, I believe this would also help in working towards decreasing the negative connotation associated with needing mental health help and the stigma that follows mental health in general throughout our society.
References
American Heart Association. (2020, December). Fact Sheet: Breaking down the barriers. https://www.heart.org/-/media/Files/About-Us/Policy-Research/Fact-Sheets/Access-to-Care/Uninsured-with-CVD-and-Stroke.pdf
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2024, April 2). County: Salt Lake, UT. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/health-data/utah/salt-lake?year=2024
Matthews, S., Cantor, J. H., Holliday, S. B., Bialas, A., Eberhart, N. K., Breslau, J., & McBain, R. K. (2023, April 15). National preparedness for 988-the new mental health emergency hotline in the United States. Preventive Medicine Reports, 33, 102208. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102208
Both of you have provided insightful analyses of significant population health issues and proposed strategies to address them. Bradley, your focus on substance abuse prevention and treatment for working-age adults, as well as heart disease prevention for senior adults, highlights the importance of tailored interventions to address the unique health needs of different age groups. Mishana, your discussion on heart disease prevention and suicide prevention among younger adults in Salt Lake County underscores the need for comprehensive approaches that address both physical and mental health issues. To complement your proposed strategies, Mishana, I would suggest exploring the integration of mental health screening and referral services within primary care settings to identify individuals at risk of intentional self-harm early on and connect them with appropriate resources (Katz et al., 2018). By embedding mental health services within routine healthcare, we can enhance access to care and reduce stigma associated with seeking help for mental health concerns.
Katz, C. L., Au, T. M., Baker, J., Beach, S. R., Betz, M. E., Boudreaux, E. D., … & Simon, G. E. (2018). Implementing the Zero Suicide model in primary care. JAMA psychiatry, 75(9), 919-920. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.1041
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