Community Action Plan - Assignment Example

Community Action Plan For the purpose of developing community action plan, it is appropriate to have a better evaluation platform for assessing the extent of care in any community. This article will be used as a reflection paper for the health assessment article that has been filled separately. The assessment focuses on Cambridge, MA community with Cambridge Health Alliance as the health facility being used. The assessment was achieved with several challenges experienced in the process. Both the community and the health facility were involved and several comparison parameters used to compare the extent of service in both divisions. Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) activities enhance health by collaboratively addressing community health needs. In Cambridge, there exist a strongly established healthcare tradition, community partners, providers and individuals focused at meeting the local healthcare needs. Cambridge is a home to several distinguished hospitals that are ranked top nationally. Challenges Medical practitioners occasionally react to quality reports with some bit of suspicion, concerning efforts to estimate quality as thinly cloaked efforts at marketing or cost reduction. Skepticism concerning quality reports is fostered by confusion arising from many report cards, which usually present a bunch of related clinical feedback combined with steps highlighting the use of resources. Nonetheless, medical practitioners should acknowledge the necessity for quality measurement in the United States healthcare. With several facts that accompanied the project, it was not all that easy to access the health facility in terms of gaining access to their medical records as well as gain some information that they felt would expose them to security threats. Organizing the interviewees also posed some challenges since some were not ready to openly share whatever they had in mind regarding their community. Being that some facilities at the community level are situated in different locations, it was a task that involved a lot of movement in order to fill some variables. In the event of moving up and down, time was a factor that saw several days elapse since some scenarios needed to be assessed while the patient visited the facility or when people visited community facilities. Accessing hospital files as well was an issue since it needed the attention of the facility staff to aid in retrieving and accessing the relevant files. Some conclusions that were to be made based on observation were very hard to determine since the respondents themselves did not have adequate knowledge regarding the size and the extent of the facility. This gave the respondents had time and some could not actually respond calling for a different respondent that might have the prior knowledge on the same. The facility information system also posed some challenges in terms of retrieving past medical records. At some point, the system returned irrelevant information while searching data. According to experts, information systems are never 100%, just the way human beings are prone to errors while undertaking several duties (Ruzicka, Weckmueller, & American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers 1997). This made the information system not be fully relied on and most of the data used had to be verified which took reasonable amount of time. Accessing the main hospital data involved a lot of steps and the process was also challenging since it needed an expert who had enough knowledge about the system. The worst part came when some records could not be properly located with the database having inferior patients that even the system administrator was worried on how this came to take place. Physical activity segment was an issue especially at the community level; some respondents were not aware of whatever they were responding to and why. This led to the necessary adjustment that saw the activity move swiftly. Most breastfeeding mothers were not in a position to master the feeding requirement needed hence they required constant help from medical care givers. Some mothers could not wait to be interviewed due to time and the need to take care of the kid. This led the study to extend via phone calls which was not all that successful since there existed some communication barriers later and some were even offline while trying to be reached. Not all tobacco users responded honestly as per the interviewee request. Some gave false information as per what existed in the hospital medical records. This made the health facility management to roll a cover sheet updating process to all patients whose records existed in the database. Some had even forgotten some dates that they were being asked to provide; this is one of those reasons it was concluded that the tobacco section needed some reinforcement in terms of carrying out the study once more. Some facilities were in accessible since their use at community level ceased and due to poor management some were closed down and nobody knew when they would open up in the near future. Some clients were not free being interviewed and some even demanded for incentives regarding the information that they gave. Due to these, at some point it was felt that all did not go all that well. Lesson learnt Coming up with a concrete report is very involving and without proper approach and planning may lead to an incorrect report. Any research activity requires prior preparation and the concerned individuals should have a clear view of what is on the ground. To come up with such a report needs patience and determination. Always get ready for any unplanned outcome while undertaking the research activity and be in a position to handle the situation as it presents. Most community members had some challenges that they thought we would have solved but it was not all that easy. In some occasions, other suggested that the study proceeds with their unique problems getting to be answered rather than appearing once a while. Some were also not all satisfied with whatever was being done and this called for immediate measures to convince the community. A robust cross section of Cambridge aired their experiences and ideas with the relevant department, these community voices often help shaping the city’s vision for the sake of a healthy community. Cambridge is a diverse, educated, progressive community having excellent amenities and service provision but not all the citizens have access to it. The health facility is regarded as health conscious community, though concerns are present regarding the issue of obesity and there is need for extra efforts to foster healthy living. Mental health and substance use are key issues that compels for related services. Seniors, low-income individuals and immigrants are particularly viewed as victims at risk for poor health. City dwellers are privileged to be enjoying good health and access to high quality health care even though there are still some barriers existing in accessing health services. There is also increased collaboration across several institutions within the community and is seen to be a crucial in addressing concerns that are tying the community. A lesson well learnt is that of how the facility uses several agencies to aid tobacco victims. There are some points that re set basically to refer smokers for treatment at nearby health facilities. The tobacco treatment plan offered four tobacco treatment clusters, each assigned six sessions based at the Windsor Health facility. In addition, staff working on the plan collaborated with CHA’s Windsor street staff and health care staff to come up with a system used in identifying and referring the victims. This multi-faceted decision includes the use of electronic medical records system used in tracking the patients. Cambridge was one of the six United States communities to receive the inaugural Roadmaps to Health Prize from the Robert W. Johnson foundation. This makes the facility to be one of the best avenues to locate and do some study regarding a particular disorder. The steps the health facility has taken towards fighting different diseases was tremendous and it has placed a lot of emphasis on ensuring that the citizens residing a round are well taken care of health wise. This can be the reasons as to why several developments have taken place from the past. It is always said that good health is directly proportional to growth. It means that Cambridge is experiencing growth as a result of better living conditions and facility to deal with illness as it comes. Health of the community cannot be achieved minus joint efforts between the community itself and the health facility. This can be witnessed whenever patient s come to the hospitals and advised to come with buddies or care takers who would help them in the process of medication; the response was very appealing. It is very hard for medics to treat long term illness minus the input of the community. The kind of receivership from the community also prepared me for future events like this; for instance, with the kind of community response that was witnessed, future studies should be in a position to handle their demand as they arise. A lesson well learned was also on the processes involved in carrying out such studies. In as much as there are several challenges, one should be prepared to handle these as they occur. Data sources provided at the facility were very helping and due to the nature in which data handling is steered, it is one of the appropriate places to obtain helpful health data records. CHA will remain the major data source for most medical assignment that needs analysis. Reference Ruzicka, M. T., Weckmueller, B. L., & American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. (1997). Student records management: A handbook. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Read More