Communities and Common Health Determinants - Essay Example

Abstract Community has been defined as human organisations. These organisations have social communications and other demographic commonalities within them. It is also required that the members of the community should live in a specific geographic boundary. The community in this assignment is an Italian Club in Perth. To begin with, this club was a group of Italian migrants to Perth, who gave their time and labor to construct it as mainly a space for social interaction. Following this, there were increased numbers of members, which now has touched a figure of 400, with 45% of the population are retried individuals over the age of 70. The aim of this assignment is to assess the community health parameters of a given community in a systematic manner. A group of 15 such people will be selected to apply an assessment tool. This tool is known as Clark’s Health Intervention Planning Guide, which will be utilized to collect data from this community. The data will be collected through direct observation and interviews. The report will consider quantitative data from Australian Bureau of Statistics. When a person becomes 65 years, the cumulative risk from unhealthy lifestyles is usually evident. Interactions between different risk factors that include hypertension, high cholesterol, inactivity, inappropriate diet, and alcohol prevent the process of healthy ageing (McMuurry,2003). Therefore, the report will assess the community health needs and design possible interventions for this community. Community A community literally means any geographic area where the boundaries are mentioned. From that context, a community can be a state, a county, a city, or even a neighbourhood. However, as far as health is concerned, this would also point to a group of people within a specified geographic location, who may have common health determinants. Thus, this would indicate ultimately a group of people who have several different common characteristics with a bearing on health conditions prevalent within that specified population (Watkins, Shepard, Corbin-Mark, 2009). This group of people within a community will have common race, ethnicity, occupation, specific exposure to risk factors leading to higher prevalence of similar diseases, and may be common bonds. The concept of community has further implications in terms of health since they would share a common sense of identity and belonging and common shared values and norms (Williams et al., 2009). In a community, people usually share common systems of language, ceremonies, or rituals. The people in a community will have an element of mutual influence on different issues, mainly due to the bonding among them. People in any community is also expected to have shared needs and commitments for meeting those needs, which is mainly possible due to a shared emotional connection and values through sharing of experiences and support. From this definition, a community may be a group of people in a class in a university, on a floor in a residence, or may be as wide as people in a nation. Community has important bearing on health of the people in the community, and community health has been known as an important determinant of public health policies and programs (Flint, 2009). A community comprises of people who can assess their own resources and needs. Public health policies often depend on the social infrastructures prevalent in a community. A community based policy would support health and would ensure essential public health services and quality of the available health care. Community has also been defined as a group of people with common actions and conditions that promote, preserve, and protect them (Pinto, 2009). MacQueen et al. (2001) indicated that the common definition of community can be a group of people with widely diverse characteristics but linked with a common social tie. As evident they would have a common perspective, and within their common geographical location or setting of livelihood, they have opportunity to engage in joint action as a group (McQueen et al., 2001). From these points of views, the community chosen fulfils all the definitions of a community. The community which would be assessed is The Italian Club in Wattle Grove. This club was initially built as a meeting place for Italian migrants to Perth. It was established with the intent of building a place of socialization for the people of this community. It indicates that these people had a common string of attachment; they were all Italian immigrants. They had common race and ethnicity, language, and culture. Built about 30 years ago by labor, skill, and time of these migrants, this is now an established organization with executive committee with own funds. The current membership is of 400 members with 45% of the members belonging to the age group of over 70 years. It is clear that selection of the club at the site for this community assessment project is justified since these people have social ties with common perspectives. The activities in the club are examples of joint actions within a geographical setting. To make thing more accurate, it has been decided that the target group would be above the age of 70, who have retired. This will provide a common interest and goal to the population binding each other. More importantly, this group apart from being linked through social ties and sharing common location, due to their age groups also have similar age-related medical problems, such as, loss of hearing, joint diseases, impaired vision, breathing problems, and diabetes. Methodology To assess the health needs of the target group, Clark’s health intervention and planning guide concisely and systematically places all the necessary questions to perspective. In order to concentrate upon the health, physical, social, and psychological environment, consumption pattern, occupation and leisure activity of the target group, this tool will proved essential data using qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. This tool effectively uses the qualitative methods such as structured observations and interviews through open-ended questions for 15 members over the age of 70. There are two primary methods of qualitative data collection: observation and in-depth interview (Polit, & Beck, 2007). In addition, use of this tool has been validated in the evaluation and planning of community interventions. This tool can be modified to include quantitative parameters from Australian Bureau of Statistics that may yield further details suitable for more effective care delivery. This data can be verified from other sources such as healthcare records, from where the quantitative parameters of the data can be assimilated. References Clark, M.J. (1992). Nursing in the community. Norwalk: Appleton & Lange. A38-A41. Flint, J. (2009). Neighborhoods and Community. Elsevier Ltd. 354-360 McQueen, K., McLellen, E., Matzger, D., Kegeles, S., Scotti, R., Blanchard, L., & Trotter, R. (2001). What is community? American Journal of Public Health, 91(12), 1929-1938. McMurray, A. (2007). Community health and wellness. Marrickville: Elsevier Australia. Pinto, RM., (2009). Community Perspectives on Factors That Influence Collaboration in Public Health Research. Health Educ Behav; 36: 930 - 947. Polit, D. D., & Beck, C. T. (2009). Essentials of nursing Research: Appraisal Evidence (7th ed.). Lippincott: Philadelphia. Watkins, BX., Shepard, PM., Corbin-Mark, CD (2009). Completing the Circle: A Model for Effective Community Review of Environmental Health Research. Am J Public Health; 99: S567 - S577. Williams, KJ., Bray, PG., Shapiro-Mendoza, CK., Reisz, I., and Peranteau, J. (2009). Modeling the Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research in a Community Health Assessment Conducted by a Health Foundation. Health Promot Pract; 10: 67 - 75. Read More