Riverbend City: Community Health
In Riverbend City several social determiners of health impact the various communities: Shoals, Ruby Lake, and Longley ("Riverbend City: Community Health Mission", 2016). In the Shoals community the social determiners of health associated with cultural beliefs cause the greatest impact. This is evident with the community members open resistance to Western medicine or health care, and belief that their language and cultural beliefs are misunderstood and/or depreciated.
In the Ruby Lake community the social health determiners associated with access to public health and food and shelter cause the greatest impact. This is presented in the community’s high rate and/or risk for diabetes and other nutrition related diseases; as well as the need …show more content…
for family planning and STD prevention methods to combat or decrease the rate of STDs and unplanned teen pregnancies. These social health determiners also have the potential to affect the life expectancy and health of adolescents (Hassan et al., 2015).
In the Longley community the social determiners associated with levels of wealth or poverty, cultural beliefs, and access to public health cause the greatest impact. This can be proven by the citizens misunderstanding of certain mental disorders, such as PTSD; and the need for better access to treatment for disorders such as autism, for those who may only be able to rely on public transportation.
If I was a public health practitioner in the area I would address the most prominent social determiner of health, which appears to be some form of mistrust of the health care system.
In order to address this issue each community would have to be evaluated separately, in order to combat the specific triggers enforcing the mistrust. For example, the Shoals community main social determiner of health is associated with this mistrust is cultural beliefs. The citizens’ cultural beliefs inhibit health care of any kind, by promoting mistrust among the citizens and Western health providers. A plan to regain the citizen’s trust and to notify them that their beliefs are acknowledged, understood, and appreciated would have to be developed in order to regain the trust of the citizens. This could be developed by housing a community meeting, specifically targeted to address these issues, concerns, or complaints; and to develop, strategize, and enforce possible policies that could work for all citizens in the community. Allowing citizens of the community to participate in the development of policies and procedures could also allow them to feel that they have a better sense of control over their own health care (May, Carey, & Curry, 2013).
References
Hassan, A., Scherer, E., Pikcilingis, A., Krull, E., McNickles, L., & Marmon, G. et al. (2015). Improving social determinants of health. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 49(6), 822-831. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.04.023
May, J., Carey, T., & Curry, R. (2013). Social determinants of health: Whose responsibility?. Aust J Rural Health, 21(3), 139-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12050
Riverbend City: Community Health Mission. (2016). Media.capella.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from http://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/RiverbendCity/Missions/BSN4002/CommunityHealth/CommunityHealth.asp
In the Ruby Lake community the social health determiners associated with access to public health and food and shelter cause the greatest impact. This is presented in the community’s high rate and/or risk for diabetes and other nutrition related diseases; as well as the need …show more content…
for family planning and STD prevention methods to combat or decrease the rate of STDs and unplanned teen pregnancies. These social health determiners also have the potential to affect the life expectancy and health of adolescents (Hassan et al., 2015).
In the Longley community the social determiners associated with levels of wealth or poverty, cultural beliefs, and access to public health cause the greatest impact. This can be proven by the citizens misunderstanding of certain mental disorders, such as PTSD; and the need for better access to treatment for disorders such as autism, for those who may only be able to rely on public transportation.
If I was a public health practitioner in the area I would address the most prominent social determiner of health, which appears to be some form of mistrust of the health care system.
In order to address this issue each community would have to be evaluated separately, in order to combat the specific triggers enforcing the mistrust. For example, the Shoals community main social determiner of health is associated with this mistrust is cultural beliefs. The citizens’ cultural beliefs inhibit health care of any kind, by promoting mistrust among the citizens and Western health providers. A plan to regain the citizen’s trust and to notify them that their beliefs are acknowledged, understood, and appreciated would have to be developed in order to regain the trust of the citizens. This could be developed by housing a community meeting, specifically targeted to address these issues, concerns, or complaints; and to develop, strategize, and enforce possible policies that could work for all citizens in the community. Allowing citizens of the community to participate in the development of policies and procedures could also allow them to feel that they have a better sense of control over their own health care (May, Carey, & Curry, 2013).
References
Hassan, A., Scherer, E., Pikcilingis, A., Krull, E., McNickles, L., & Marmon, G. et al. (2015). Improving social determinants of health. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 49(6), 822-831. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.04.023
May, J., Carey, T., & Curry, R. (2013). Social determinants of health: Whose responsibility?. Aust J Rural Health, 21(3), 139-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12050
Riverbend City: Community Health Mission. (2016). Media.capella.edu. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from http://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/RiverbendCity/Missions/BSN4002/CommunityHealth/CommunityHealth.asp