Community Needs - Assignment Example

Community Needs Community Needs Assessment Paper 614: Healthy People Scottie Shelley University of Southern Indiana Community Needs 2 Abstract Health is all wealth. An age old saying that we have been hearing from our parents who heard it from their parents and so on and so forth. But in honest meanings of the word, have we understood what it's trying to imply In 1948, when World Health Organization (WHO) was established, the word 'health' was defined as being, "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Overall health true to its lexical meaning can be achieved through a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the Health Triangle. In modern times, when people are more tech savvy and play football on PS3 rather than burning out a few calories in the field, there is major need to emphasis and impart knowledge about physical and mental fitness alike. Richmond County, SC, City of Columbia is the community of choice for the paper, Community Needs, Healthy People 2010. 125.2 sq. Miles is the covered area of the town. It has a population of 116,278 (2000 U.S. Census). Richland County and Lexington County come under City of Columbia, SC. The average temperature here is around 65 F. Community Needs 3 Angie Olawsky, Associate State Director of Public Health Nursing, South Carolina DEHEC 2/7/10 was interviewed for Healthy People 2010 and three major health concerns were put forward by the doctor; Mental Health and Mental Disorders , Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Substance Abuse. There are at least 25 different sexually transmitted diseases with a range of different symptoms. These diseases may be spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex. You may become aware that you have an STD because of symptoms, or it may be that a sexual partner tells you they have an STD which they might have passed on to you. Some sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted by an infected person even if they don't have any symptoms. STD symptoms vary, but the most common are soreness, unusual lumps or sores, itching, pain when urinating, and/or an unusual discharge from the genitals. HIV antiretroviral drug treatment is the main type of treatment for HIV or AIDS. It is not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years. The treatment consists of drugs that have to be taken every day for the rest of a person's life. The aim of antiretroviral treatment is to keep the amount of HIV in the body at a low level. This stops any weakening of the immune system and allows it to recover from any damage that HIV might have caused already. Club drugs tend to be used by teenagers and young adults at bars, nightclubs, concerts, and parties. Club drugs include GHB, Rohypnol, ketamine, and others. [MDMA (Ecstasy), Methamphetamine, and LSD (Acid), are considered club drugs. Club drugs have varying effects. Ketamine distorts perception and produces feelings of detachment from the environment and self, while GHB and rohypnol are sedating. GHB abuse can cause coma and seizures. High doses of ketamine can cause delirium and amnesia. Rohypnol can incapacitate users and cause amnesia, and especially when mixed with alcohol, can be lethal. Mental healthis a state of successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity. Mental health is indispensable to personal well-being, family and interpersonal relationships, and contribution to community or society.Mental disordersare health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behaviour (or some combination thereof), which are associated with distress and/or impaired functioning and spawn a host of human problems that may include disability, pain, or death.Mental illnessis the term that refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders. Mental disorders generate an immense public health burden of disability. The World Health Organization, in collaboration with the World Bank and Harvard University, has determined the "burden of disability" associated with the whole range of diseases and health conditions suffered by peoples throughout the world. A striking finding of the landmark Global Burden of Disease study is that the impact of mental illness on overall health and productivity in the United States and throughout the world often is profoundly under recognized. In established Community Needs 4 market economies such as the United States, mental illness is on a par with heart disease and cancer as a cause of disability.[1] Suicide-a major public health problem in the United States-occurs most frequently as a consequence of a mental disorder. Mental disorders occur across the lifespan, affecting persons of all racial and ethnic groups, both genders, and all educational and socioeconomic groups. In the United States approximately 40 million people aged 18 to 64 years, or 22 percent of the population, had a diagnosis of mental disorder alone (19 percent) or of a co-occurring mental and addictive disorder in the past year. Mental and behavioural disorders and serious emotional disturbances (SEDs) in children and adolescents can lead to school failure, alcohol or illicit drug use, violence, or suicide. About 5 percent of children and adolescents are extremely impaired by mental, behavioural, and emotional disorders. Phyllis Allen, MPHN, RD Palmetto health District Public Health Nutrition discussed; Nutrition and Overweight, Physical Activity and Fitness and Diabetes. Nutrition is essential for growth and development, health, and well-being. Behaviours to promote health should start early in life with breastfeeding and continue through life with the development of healthful eating habits. Nutritional, or dietary, factors contribute substantially to the burden of preventable illnesses and premature deaths in the United States. Indeed, dietary factors are associated with 4 of the 10 leading causes of death: coronary heart disease (CHD), some types of cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. These health conditions are estimated to cost society over $200 billion each year in medical expenses and lost productivity. Dietary factors also are associated with osteoporosis, which affects more than 25 million persons in the United States and is the major underlying cause of bone fractures in postmenopausal women and elderly persons. Public education efforts need to address the specific barriers that inhibit the adoption and maintenance of physical activity by different population groups. Older adults, for example, need information about safe walking routes. Persons with foot problems need to learn about proper foot care and footwear in order to reach appropriate activity levels. People with CHD and other chronic conditions must understand the importance of regular physical activity to maintain physical function. Each person should recognize that starting out slowly with an activity that is enjoyable and gradually increasing the frequency and duration of the activity are central to the adoption and maintenance of physical activity behaviour. Along with the public education efforts, public programs in a variety of settings (recreation centres, worksites, health care settings, and schools) need to be developed, evaluated, and shared as potential models. The availability of group activities in the community is important for many. Community Needs 5 Normally, blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin lowers the blood glucose level. When the blood glucose elevates (for example, after eating food), insulin is released from the pancreas to normalize the glucose level. In patients with diabetes, the absence or insufficient production of insulin causes hyperglycaemia. Diabetes is a chronic medical condition, meaning that although it can be controlled, it lasts a lifetime. Colleen Donovan, RN, CNS enhanced our knowledge about; Heart Disease and Stroke, HIV and Tobacco Use. Angina can bother you when you are doing activities like walking, climbing stairs, exercising or cleaning. The pain of angina may make you sweat or make it hard to catch your breath. You may feel pain in your arm, neck, jaw or shoulder as well as in your chest. If the pain is mild, it may go away after a minute or so of rest. If the pain is more severe, medicine may be needed. Often, a medicine called nitroglycerin is used to treat severe angina. Some people have angina that comes on with a certain level of activity and goes away easily. They may have this kind of angina for a long time. This is called stable angina. When the pattern of angina changes a lot, it's called unstable angina. This is a sign of danger. More episodes of angina with less exertion, angina that comes on while you're resting, or angina in someone who hasn't had it before are also danger signs. Unstable angina may be the first sign of a heart attack. If you get angina, you should call your doctor or go to the nearest emergency room right away. Another sign of danger is chest pain that doesn't go away with rest or after taking medicine. If you have chest pain that doesn't go away, go to the emergency room right away. An electrocardiogram, sometimes called an EKG or ECG, is a simple test that can show if your heart or arteries have been damaged. If the EKG is done while you are having angina, it can also show if your pain is caused by a problem with your heart. The next step after an EKG may be a stress test. Often, this test is done while you walk on a treadmill. Your doctor will look at how your heart handles work to see if it's abnormal when you exercise. Your doctor may also have x-rays of your heart taken before and after you exercise. These pictures can show if an area of the heart is not getting enough blood during exercise. If this is so, it may mean that the arteries supplying blood to your heart are blocked. Another important test is cardiac catheterization. In this test, a very long and very thin tube is inserted through an artery in the arm or leg and then guided into the heart. Dye is injected into the arteries around the heart and x-rays are taken. The x-rays will show if any of the arteries that supply the heart are blocked. Community Needs 6 Most people with heart disease take medicine to help control their condition. Medicines called beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and nitrates can help relieve angina. Taking low-dose aspirin every day can reduce the chance of a second heart attack in people who have already had one. Your doctor will tell you whether you should take any of these medicines. The best ways to prevent heart disease are to control high blood pressure, diabetes or a high cholesterol level and, if you smoke, to stop smoking. Maintaining a healthy diet, a healthy weight and a regular exercise program can help you avoid heart disease. What are HIV symptoms This is the question I get more than any other. But because many people who have been infected with HIV have few or no HIV symptoms initially, testing is the only way to know for sure if you are infected with HIV. In emergency departments and family practice offices, people come in with symptoms like fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, rash and diarrhoea. In response to these symptoms, physicians diagnose the flu and send the patient on their way. In the majority of cases, their diagnosis proves correct. But unfortunately, a number of people with these vague, indistinct symptoms have a more serious illness than the flu; these symptoms may signal the acute stages of HIV infection. Some of the most serious symptoms of HIV involve the respiratory system. Symptoms associated with breathing and respiration usually occur later in course of the disease. Unfortunately, many people's first symptom of HIV involves the respiratory system, illustrating why HIV testing is so important. Any cough or shortness of breath could be a sign of bacterial pneumonia or pneumocystis (carinii) jiroveci pneumonia (PCP). Cigarette use continued to grow at a rapid pace and peaked at over 40 percent of the nation's adolescent-and-older population by the mid-1960. About this time, several epidemiological studies were released, including the U.S. Surgeon General's influential 1964 report, pointing to a connection between smoking and such diseases as cancer and respiratory illness. As these and subsequent studies were publicized, fear of long-term illnesses caused many smokers to quit and many potential users never to begin. At present, about 25 percent of Americans smoke, but the decline in use has now levelled off, and there are some indications that cigarette use may be increasing. Community Needs 7 Since the number of Americans who die each year from tobacco-related illnesses is still appallingly high and adolescent use is on the rise, there are now renewed efforts to prevent smoking. Smoking or chewing tobacco stimulates the habitual user, creating a pleasurable sensation not unlike a high. The effect is generally described as relaxing, although smoking releases the hormone epinephrine, which may create stress in the user. Nicotine, perhaps the most commonly recognized ingredient of tobacco, is an addictive central nervous system stimulant. When nicotine is taken into the lungs, it is transmitted to the brain in seconds. It causes the heart to beat more rapidly, drawing in and pushing out more blood. It also makes the veins and arteries constrict, thus requiring the heart to labour harder. This results in increased blood pressure and heart rate. Carbon monoxide is among the many toxic chemicals present in tobacco smoke. It impedes the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen to bodily tissues, including heart and brain tissue. The lack of oxygen causes the heart to work harder and can lead to a thickening of the walls and possible heart failure. Passive smoking is the process that causes non-smokers to inhale smoke involuntarily. Some of the smoke they inhale is known as "side stream smoke"-the smoke that smoulders off the end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. This smoke has neither passed through a filter nor through the lungs of a smoker and is therefore extremely potent, containing more tar, nicotine, particles, and gases than inhaled smoke. Side stream smoke can cause respiratory distress and allergic reactions, as well as lung cancer. American College of Neuropshycopharmacology (ACP), has been an active member in the filed of mental health and disorders. The American College of Neuropshycopharmacology (ACNP), founded in 1961, is the nation's premier professional society in brain, behaviour, and psychopharmacology research. The field of Neuropshycopharmacology involves the evaluation of the effects of natural and synthetic compounds upon the brain, mind, and human behaviour. The ACNP Education and Training Committee is accepting proposals for public outreach and education programs and activities designed to promote greater community awareness on the advances in brain research and how those findings impact people's lives. Funds of up to $5000.00 will be awarded to those proposals that support the goal of increasing the education and understanding of brain-related science among the general public. The College will fund up to five awards in 2010. The core purpose of the ACNP is to advance scientific understanding of and to facilitate communication about disorders of the brain and behavior in order to further their prevention and treatment. The ACNP has historically provided a venue at which the best scientists from academia, government, and industry have gathered to share, discuss, and debate their research. The meeting has served as a catalyst to advance discovery and disseminate information about scientific advances. Community Needs 8 Like most professional medical societies, funding for the ACNP comes from a variety of sources including membership dues, royalties from publication sales, meeting registration fees, and grants from corporations or governmental agencies. The College has developed policies and procedures to either eliminate or to properly manage both real and perceived conflicts of interest, and to separate financial issues from operational decisions. We have established firewalls to protect the integrity of College operations and to prevent the influence of financial sponsors from penetrating decision making processes of the College. Community Needs 9 References Mental Health, Feb 2010. Retrieved from American College of Neuropsychopharmacology website: http://www.acnp.org/publications/neuroreviews.aspx HIV and AIDS, International AIDS Charity, Jan 2010, Feb 2010. Retrieved from Avert AVERTing HIV and AIDS website http:// www.avert.org/prevent-hiv.htm Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Feb 2010. Retrieved from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention website http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia2008/default.htm Diabetes, Heart Diseases and Strokes, December 2005, Feb 2010, National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), NIH Publication No. 06-5094 website http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/medicines_ez/index.htm Tobacco uses resulting in worse outcomes, Feb 2010, Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 16, No. 4, Feb. 15, 2010, University of Michigan Health System website http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-10/NIoD-Fiat-171099.php Mental Health and Disorders, Nutrition and Overweight, Physical Activity and Fitness, Web, Feb 2010, Healthy People 2010 website http://www.healthypeople.gov/Publications/HealthyCommunities2001/default.htm Substance abuse and its effects, Feb 2010, World Health Organization website http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/en/ Read More