Healthy People 2020: A Case Study

Healthy People 2020 discusses a number of special population’s that have barriers to care including; race, age sex, sexual identity, age, disability, socioeconomic, and location; this post will discuss race (ethnic) group.  There are a number of races mentioned in healthy people 2020, such as, Asian, American Indian, Alaskan, Latino and African American (Healthy People 2020, n.d.). Access to health care in an ethnic group is multifaceted from the lack of trust, lack of health care education, discrimination and cost of care including health insurance. According to Howard, Peace, & Howard (2014), African Americans have a greater risk of three preventable diseases, hypertension, renal failure and bacterial infections stating; “no other disease

Tragic events that cause damage to property and life may destroy the social, cultural and economic life of a community. Communities must be engaged in the various phases from prevention to recovery to build disaster resilient communities. In order to do this, there must be a disaster preparedness plan in place that involves multiple people in various roles.

Healthy People 2020 (2015) states, health disparities are a health outcome of greater or lesser extent between populations, which includes populations by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, education, income, or geographic location. The purpose of the post is to discuss how disparities play a role in health, employment, and education for African Americans. I will also discuss two nursing interventions to decrease health disparities in this population, as well as challenges to implementing the nursing interventions.

Healthy People 2020 initiative began in 1979 is a joint initiative of the Department of Health, Human Services, and other federal agencies to create a pubic health prevention framework identifying the most significant and preventable threats to health and facilitating methods and guidelines to avoid or minimize risks of these.

As a community health nurse, I would be most interested in a focus group to assist elderly residents in developing emergency and disaster preparedness plans. I choose this population because elderly citizens face great health and safety risks when emergencies and disasters strike (Clark et al., 2003). It is important for health care practitioners to understand the needs of the elderly in the communities they serve (Barratt, 2007). There may be a need to quickly evacuate the local area and elderly residents may lack proper transportation. Some seniors may become confined to their homes in a disaster. Others may not know what to do if they lose services such as water, heat, electricity and basic communication. Proper advance planning can mean the difference between survival and suffering or death.

Both Healthy Alaskans 2020 and Healthy People 2020 have similar goals: increase the number of people who exercise everyday or weak. The starting point, the first action, is always educating the public or school so that people will understand that exercise is something that will prevent obesity and will greatly improve people’s health, which could also affect the length of a person’s lifespan. Along the starting point, assistance from other organizations and programs are needed in order to carry out the action. Moreover, depending on who the audience is, there will be different ways of educating them. For example, a way to teach students would be to have presenters and more exciting activities that will make students want to participate. Another example is to provide easy access to the public so that more and more people will consider exercising. Small events such as sports competitions will also entice the people. Though the goals are the same, the strategies and plans on how the goal is met

Editor’s Note: This Chapter is the continuation of an adaptation of a state plan for disaster preparation and response. In total, the original chapter comprises Chapters 1, 14, 16-18.

7. Injury and Violence Prevention- Injuries and violence are common occurrence; accidental injuries and those triggered by acts of violence are included in the top 15 fatalities for Americans of all ages. The Injury and Violence Prevention objectives for 2020 signify a wide range of concerns, which, if adequately targeted, will increase the health of this nation. Various factors can affect the risk of unintended injuries and violence, risky behaviors, bad choices made; such as drinking and drugs can increase these preventable injuries and deaths (Healthy People, n.d.).

We all know someone who has suffered from heart disease. Whether it was from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, or stroke, some type of cardiovascular disease has taken the life of someone we loved way too soon. This epidemic of heart disease must be stopped through the collaboration of physicians, nurses, law makers, and concerned citizens. The purpose of this paper is to examine cardiovascular disease, the risks associated with heart disease and obesity per Milo’s framework, comparison of obesity and Healthy People 2020 national goals, and finally the long-term and short-term goals and interventions selected for this paper.

One cause is genetics some people are prone to more illnesses and diseases than others. Lifestyle choices of whether to eat health, exercise, drink water, and see a doctor regularly can make some people healthier than others. A person’s income and access to health care can cause them to be health or unhealthy. Formal education has a positive effect on the health of an individual. A person with a strong support system can have better health due to the support and assistances they can provide. The physical environment can negatively affect a patient’s health if they are in an area without easy access to health care, or work with carcinogens.

In consideration that I am an adopted child, I am unware of the familial health factors that could help identify my risk for maladies based on the family health portrait. Under this circumstance, my environmental, nutritional, as well as physical activity are major influences to my current lifestyle. According to Healthy People 2020, “fewer than one in three adults consume the recommended amount of vegetables each day.” This statistic can be associated to Americans’ body weight in consideration that one in three adults, and one in six children are considered obese (HealthyPeople, 2016). With this in mind, I pride myself on my plant-based diet along with moderate exercise since I hope to avoid any comorbidities.

There have been times when government agencies have not been able to assist those in need during an event, and if the public is aware of the needs of the community they may be able to contribute and assist during disaster. Having the community involved in preparedness is essential in the “success in achieving resilience and national preparedness” (DHS 2013).

There is only so much that government agencies can do to educate the public, and there comes a point where society must take ownership for their own emergency preparedness. However, it has been found that these public education initiatives have been surprisingly effective at encouraging people to prepare for disaster. FEMA has found that an awareness of vulnerabilities to natural disasters motivates people to prepare. People need to feel as though they themselves can be adversely affected by a disaster, and that disasters are not merely events which happen elsewhere. More importantly, FEMA has found that messaging should be targeted to specific hazards, since “all-hazard messaging may dilute critical differences in preparedness and response protocols.”

Having a basic understanding of community or national emergency plans can assist families in disaster. This is especially true during the response phase. The National Response Framework (NRF) is a great example of a national community reference. According to FEMA’s publication, “The National Response Framework,” from 2013, the NRF is a guide which describes the basis of national response to any form of disaster. The NRF was developed from a long line of response guidance plans. The first was the Federal Response plan which was replaced by the National Response Plan. Then in 2008, the NRF was developed to make national response guidance more efficient as well as to include practices created after Hurricane Katrina. The NRF is comprised

Katz, R. (2018). Essentials of public health preparedness and emergency management (1st ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning