Health-Promoting Initiative Summary - Admission/Application Essay Example

Executive Summary Executive Summary This is the executive summary of the community-based initiative that can help Ashe Memorial Hospital promote health in its surrounding community of Jefferson town. Overview Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project (JHLP) is a community-based initiative that seeks to address unhealthy lifestyles in the community surrounding Ashe Memorial Hospital. This project is proposed to span five years. Compared to other initiatives that help address the problem of unhealthy lifestyles such as faith- and school-based organizations, Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project provides a chance for the community to participate fully in the planning and implementation of the project hence has higher chances of success. This project is the ideal approach for Ashe Memorial Hospital to promote the health of its surrounding community (Blumenthal, 2013). Problem The new challenge for hospitals and other healthcare providers is going beyond curative intervention to disease and illness to providing preventive care. This challenge has further been ratified by the need for these organizations to embrace corporate social responsibility. Whereas health provisions organizations understand the need to influence their surrounding communities in diverse ways, they lack knowledge of the best initiative to do so. These organizations fear that they would use a certain approach and end up losing their money without having achieved their desired goals. Consequently, a well-researched and studied initiative such as the one discussed herein is worthy of Ashe Memorial Hospital’s consideration (Blumenthal, 2013). Solution Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project integrates the efforts of the community and hospitals in addressing unhealthy lifestyles. Using this initiative, Ashe Memorial Hospital would conduct awareness-raising campaigns among community members calling them to take action against lifestyles that hinder good health. Besides the good relationship, it would foster between the hospital and its patients, this initiative cuts down on the expenses that the hospital incurs in promoting health in its surrounding community. This is because the community would avail many resources from its locality that Ashe Memorial Hospital can use to the advantage of the community. In the end, the initiative would meet the goal of this hospital to reach out to its community at relatively minimal costs leaving the community healthier (Blumenthal, 2013). Opportunity The 2010 census revealed that the population of Jefferson was 1,611 that was a 1.89% growth on its 2000 population of 1,422. Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project would therefore seek to reach out to as many residents as possible. It is estimated that by 2020, the population of Jefferson will have grown to 5,000 an equivalent of 5.12% of the population of North Carolina. The median income of a household in Jefferson according to the 2010 census was $22,847, 11.6% families and 15.3% persons in the town live below the poverty line. Recent studies have indicated that the huge expenses involved in intervening to address the unhealthy lifestyles of Jefferson are what make many hospitals to shy away from taking action. A community-based initiative would help overcome this drawback and allow Ashe Memorial Hospital and other health providers to contribute significantly in the fight against unhealthy lifestyles (Blumenthal, 2013). Competitive advantages The competitive advantage of Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project is manifold. Firstly, the involvement of the community in planning and implementing the initiative provides a chance for Ashe Memorial Hospital to address the most pressing unhealthy lifestyle problem in the community. This is because the community members are able to foreground the issues that they feel are most urgent. Secondly, Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project, by design enhances ownership by the community and this secures better chances for success. Additionally, the initiative provides room for Ashe Memorial Hospital to complement its efforts with those of other key stakeholders in the community. An added advantage with this project is that it will work to popularize Ashe Memorial Hospital among the residents of Jefferson. This can help reduce the marketing costs for the hospital and increase its market share. The alternatives to this initiative are lacking in the above elements and this is the cause of their failure and minimal success (Blumenthal, 2013). Business Model Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project derives its benefits from the efforts contributed by both Ashe Memorial Hospital and the community. The hospital would contribute both money and skilled medical personnel, the community would avail health committees for training and other local resources, and together, the two groups would help inform Jefferson community of how best to avoid unhealthy lifestyles and adopt those that promotes health. The hospital would conduct training sessions that would help equip community health committees with knowledge on different lifestyle parameters including diet and nutrition, physical activity, occasional medical checkups and positive living. These training sessions would also serve as a platform for medical personnel to obtain feedback from the community through the community health committees and ponder for solutions. It is estimated within the first year of the project about 15% residents of Jefferson should have taken on healthy lifestyles. If this be achieved, the project should have achieved an 87% success rate by its closure in five years’ time (Blumenthal, 2013). Team The executive leadership team for Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project would include the following persons: Robinson Arthur, Project Manager: Robinson has fifteen years experience working with community based health initiatives a majority of which have been successful including his recent service with the Hoover Dam community initiative. Robinson has a M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Nursing from UCLA. Alison McCain, Project operations manager: Alison has worked with humanitarian organizations for ten years and well acquainted with knowledge on how to foster effective communication channels in community-based initiatives. She obtained her BA in Social Work from the University of North Carolina. Harry Anderson, In Charge community health committees: Harry is a specialist in composing and coordinating local community health committees that lead community-based projects. His experience spans seven years working with local and international NGOs including the World Vision. (Blumenthal, 2013) Financials Mobile clinic vans are one of the project’s fixed costs that would cost a total of $8,000 monthly for maintenance. An office lease for the project’s executive leadership is the other fixed cost that will need a total of $10,000 shillings a month through the lifespan of the project. Training materials are another fixed cost involved in this project that would need about $12,000 monthly. Insurance costs would take about $20,000 per month throughout the period of the project. Fuel is one of the variable cost that will need at least $9,000 monthly. Water and food are other examples of variable costs that will cost the project about $15,000 every month (Blumenthal, 2013). Funding Required Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project requires a total of $3.6 million to kick-start. $2.4 million will go to buying mobile clinic vans each costing $1.2 million. Each of these vans will be insured with $7,000. Training materials will require $50,000 to begin with and rent will need up to about $50,000. Salaries and wages will take up to $150,000 and the office supplies will need $95,000. The rest will be used for miscellaneous expenses in the course of implementing and establishing the project (Blumenthal, 2013). In conclusion, the project will conduct massive capacity building sessions that will seek to empower local community health committees to be in a position to mobilize and influence the community for action. The project will also seek to empower the community to surmount the impediments of overcoming unhealthy lifestyles that can have debilitating effects on not only the local community but also the nation at large. Additionally, the project will seek to become a benchmark against which other communities can draw important lessons to start their own community-based initiatives to deal with different lifestyles health problems. Reference Blumenthal, D. (2013). Community-based participatory health research: issues, methods, and translation to practice. New York, NY.: Springer Publishing Company. Appendices Appendix 1: Decision Analysis Supply of Medical Care This paper discusses the hospitals that treat cancer as an example of how the escalating medical care costs influence the economics and financial outcomes of health care organizations. The paper will also discuss strong options that can help solve the problem of unhealthy lifestyles and identify the one that is the best option. Part 1: Hospitals that treat cancer The escalating medical care costs in the United States influence the economics and financial outcome of health care organizations variously. This can best be seen in how this manifests in hospitals, which treat cancer patients. Hospitals that treat cancer have been forced to bear the cost burden of the rising cost of cancer drugs. Despite the desire of these hospitals to make cancer care accessible and affordable to patients, these hospitals resort to sharing the impact of these costs with patients by setting the price of these drugs relatively higher than some of the cancer patients can afford. Some cancer hospitals have tried to survive the adverse effects of escalating medical costs by going for drugs that they believe their patients can afford even when these drugs are not of the greatest quality as compared to others (Callahan, 2008). Escalating medical care costs have made hospital average annualized net costs for cancer care to rise. Although the rise in average annualized net costs for cancer care varies with the phase of the cancer and with the type of cancer, most cancer treatment hospitals have reported that the cost of cancer treatment technology is a major factor in these rising costs. Escalating medical care costs have made some cancer treatment hospitals to compete unfavorably in trying to retain physicians. This is because some oncologists favor hospitals that use third-party insurers who pay better than Medicaid and Medicare (DeNevas-Walt, 2005). The escalating costs of medical care costs are also responsible for the decision by some cancer hospitals and centers to merge with other hospitals in order to survive their adverse economic and financial outcomes. Organizational factors as a strong option for solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles Organizational factors like schools and faith-based organizations are one of the options I found strong in solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles. Schools and faith-based organizations are a viable option to influence and support health behavior change because one of their pros is that they are readily available and accessible. For example, DeHaven et al (2004) found that there were more churches per capita in the United States than in other countries. Another pro with these organizational factors in influencing and supporting health behavior change is that they have good convincing power. Health promotion messages spread by faith-based organizational leaders and educators are trusted by people as being true and as such people take up these messages with ease. A con with faith-based organizations influencing and supporting health behavior change is that they may lack specialist knowledge about the desired health behavior and as such the message taken up may not be very effective or informative. A con with schools influencing and supporting health behavior change is that they might incur additional costs for training teachers and students on health issues (DeHaven et. al., 2004). Part 2: Community factors as a strong and the best option for solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles Community factors that involve self-initiated programs to live healthy are the best option in solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles. A pro with community factors in addressing this problem is that they address a community’s felt need. This is because the community is able to tailor the health promotion program to address specific health issues which might not have been addressed by programs that are designed by persons from without a community. Furthermore, community factors that involve self-initiated programs to live healthy are a strong and the best option because they have better chances of being accepted by the majority of the community than other options. This is an advantage over many other health promotions options which meet strong objection from their target community members and takes a lot of time to convince them of their efficacy and benefits (Merzel & D’Afflitti, 2003). Community factors that involve self-initiated programs to live healthy are the best option because they are more sustainable than other programs. Their sustainability draws from community ownership that that many other options struggle to foster upon their target communities. The other thing that makes community factors the best option for solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles is that they are perceived positively by majority of the community members and hence succeed easily. Finally, a con with community factors as an option of solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles is that they need massive resources but they make up for this by utilizing community resources (Merzel & D’Afflitti, 2003). In conclusion, escalating medical care costs have forced hospitals that treat cancer to set the price of treatment higher than some of their patients can afford. Organizational factors are a strong option for solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles because they are readily available and accessible to their target communities. Community factors that involve self-initiated programs to live healthy are the best option for solving the problem of unhealthy lifestyles because they address community felt needs and because they are cheap. References Callahan, D. (2008). Health Care Cost and Medical Technology. The Hastings Center 79 – 82. DeHaven, M., Hunter, I. & Berry, J. (2004). Health Programs in Faith-Based Organizations: Are They Effective? American Journal of Public Health, 94(6): 1030 – 1036. DeNevas-Walt, C. (2005). Income, poverty, and Health Insurance coverage in the United States: 2004. US Census Bureau, August 2005: 60 – 229. Merzel, C. & D’Afflitti, J. (2003). Reconsidering Community-Based Health Promotion: Promise, Performance, and Potential. American Journal of Public Health, 93(4): 557 – 574. Appendix 2: The Action Plan Action Plan This is a fifteen-month action plan that is meant to improve effort and support the implementation of Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project. The plan was developed in order to achieve each goal identified through the needs assessment process. Table 1: Action Plan Action Steps Responsibilities Timeline Resources Potential Barriers Communications Plan Step 1: various cancer screening, such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colorectal cancer screening Professionals from health care facilities in the given community 21 June 2014 A. Screening equipment, health professionals B. Human resources to inform the community about the screening activity, as well as donors A. Organizations may require compensation for the activity. B. This follows the free screening of the community members, thus making it important to solicit for donors. The ministry of health to inform the community through posters in distinct parts of the community, two weeks prior to the screening Step 2: raising awareness of skin cancer, and how it can be prevented. Professionals from health care facilities in the community 26 July 2014 A. Professional health advisors B. Human resources to inform the community about the training A. Failure of the event B. Due to lack of sponsors The media can be used to inform the community, a week to the training program. Step 3: Develop an online resource for the various types of cancers. Project information technology specialists 4, August 2014. A. Information specialists in the community B. Finances to compensate the specialists A. Lack of support B. Due to lack of internet access by some community members Various institutions in the community shall be used to inform the community about the online resource, as well as hand bins, for the entire month of August. Step 4: Open health seminar Medical professionals 25, August 2014. A. Health professionals and researchers. B. Trainers. A. Failure of the targeted population attending B. Due to old age, or other health related problems. The online resource can be used, as well as posters in major locations of the community. Step 5: Follow up Community health workers September. A. Community health workers B. Financial compensation for the community workers A. Limited number of community health workers. B. Given that they may be compelled to attend to other medical concerns. Posters to inform the community of the visits to be done by the health workers at the community clinic, and the information to be included in the online resource. Evidence Of Success (How will you know that you are making progress? What are your benchmarks?) The number of people attending the screening, and education programs will evidence success. The number of visits made to the online resource. Evaluation Process (How will you determine that your goal has been reached? What are your measures?) Increased health rates of the community as indicated by early diagnosis of various cancers, leading to early treatment. Reduced costs of health care associated with a decrease in the cases requiring special attention. Appendix 3: Cost-benefit Analysis Proposed Budget for implementing the Jefferson Healthy Lifestyle Project Table 2: Cost-benefit Analysis Activity Estimated cost ($) Various cancer screenings 30,000 Training seminars on the various types of cancers 10,000 Creation of an online resource 5,000 Follow up expenses 5,000 Miscellaneous expenses 10,000 Total Budget cost 60,000 Approximate Grand Total for the five years (60 months) 3,600,000 Investing in promoting the health of the community helps the hospital in minimizing the number of health issues reported to the hospital. Performing cancer screenings, for example, allows the community members to detect the illness at an early stage. Therefore, they get to access healthcare when the ailment is still at a mild stage, which saves on the cost of healthcare, compared to when the condition is detected at an advanced stage. The trainings help in raising awareness amongst the community members, thus boosting their health conditions. This benefits the hospital in the long run as its expenses are reduced significantly, leading to greater profits. Appendix 4: Hospital Comparison Analysis The following table shows comparative data for three hospitals, and North Carolina and U.S. national averages. Table 3: Comparative data Ashe Memorial Hospital Alleghany County Memorial Hospital Watauga Medical Center North Carolina Average US National rate Proper nurse communication 86% 85% 75% 81% 79% Proper Doctor Communication 90% 82% 83% 83% 82% Provision of prompt response when needed by patients 79% 79% 62% 68% 67% Giving explanations about medicines before giving it to patients 68% 72% 61% 65% 64% Patients giving the hospital a rating of 9 or 10 on a 0-10 scale with 0 being the lowest rank 78% 77% 62% 71% 70% Patients who could recommend the hospital 75% 76% 64% 71% 71% Ability to receive lab results electronically Yes Yes Yes Ability to track patient’s lab results and referrals electronically between visits Yes No Yes Rate of unplanned readmission for heart attack patients Small Small 18.3% 18.3% Average number of minutes before outpatients with chest pains or possible heart attack who get an ECG 10 Not available 8 7 7 Outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack who got aspirin within 24 hours of arrival 99% Not Available 100% 97% 96% Average time patients spend in the emergency room before they are seen by a healthcare professional 43 18 25 36 26 Heart failure patients given discharge instructions 90% 100% 95% 96% 94% Patients assessed and given pneumonia vaccination 95% Not available 92% 93% 91% Death rate for heart failure patients 11.7% 11.7% 11.7% 11.7% 11.7% Death rate for pneumonia patients 11.9% 11.9% 11.9% 11.9% 11.9% (Medicare, n.d.) Patient satisfaction measures Communication plays a key role in keeping patients satisfied with a healthcare organization. The nurses and doctors of Ashe memorial hospital maintain efficient communication with their patients, which makes them more satisfied with the services offered to them. However, nurses of Watuga medical centre do not take their communication role seriously, as it falls below the average rate of North Carolina, as well as the national rate. Such communication leads to low satisfaction among the patients, and may affect negatively on their health outcomes. Failing to, for example, give explanations to patients before giving them their medication can also lower patient satisfaction as they get to take the medicine, without the necessary information about the drugs. The level of patient satisfaction can be measured by, such factors as the probability of a patient to recommend the organization in question to another person. Ashe memorial hospital ranks highest in this category as 77% of the patients surveyed would recommend the hospital to another patient. Alleghany County Memorial Hospital follows with 77%, meaning that most of the patients who visit the two hospitals find them worthwhile. Watauga Medical Center records a lower patient satisfaction rate as the percentage of people who would recommend the hospital to others falls at 62%. Quality of care The three hospitals use electronic systems to assist them in delivering services to their patients. Consequent to this, the hospitals provide better care to the patients as electronic systems improve the safety of patients. This follows the reduction in time taken to perform various activities, thus improving the time taken to attend to a patient’s need for attention. However, Alleghany County Memorial Hospital does not access lab results and referrals of patients between visits electronically. Therefore, the hospital takes more time, compared to the other hospitals to deliver the required services, which could compromise on the quality of care given to patients. Prompt response contributes to the delivery of quality care in a health organization. Ashe memorial hospital provides their patients with 79% rate of response, which coincides with Alleghany county memorial hospital’s rate. The two hospitals record a quick response rate to patients, which improves the quality of care given to the patients. More to this, the rate exceeds the average rate of the state as well as the national rate, which means that the two hospitals provide credible healthcare services. On the other hand, Watuga medical centre records a 62% rate of quick response, which falls below the national rate of 67%. Consequent to this, it can be inferred that Watuga medical centre provides poorer quality of services, compared to other hospitals in the nation. Mortality rates Ashe memorial and Alleghany county memorial hospitals readmit very few patients treated for heart attack. This means that they offer their patients quality care, thus improving the mortality rates associated with such patients. On the contrary, Watuga medical centre receives readmissions equivalent to the national rate. Consequent to this, Watuga medical centre can be termed as an institution that does not improve the mortality rates of such patients. Following the uniform death rates for patients diagnosed with heart failures, as well as pneumonia, the three hospitals seem to experience these deaths due to forces beyond their control, and not the quality of care they give to their patients. Read More