Applied Sciences homework Assignment

Applied Sciences homework Assignment

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Classroom Expectations – Example of a Discussion Post

Jan 8, 2019 12:30 AM

Maricopa County Department of Health

Maricopa County is the third largest local public health jurisdiction in the United States; it is roughly the size of Massachusetts (Maricopa County Department of Public Health [MCDPH], 2014). The county contains 27 cities and towns and at least parts of five sovereign American Indian reservations (MCDPH, 2014). Every five years the county does a community health assessment in which it identifies most important health concerns (MCDPH, 2014). These concerns are based on prevalence in the community, existence of health disparities, potential for prevention impact, and the highest number of years of potential life lost (MCDPH, 2014). Two health concerns identified in the 2012 community health assessment are obesity, lung cancer, and access to health care.

Common Health Problems in Our Community

Obesity

Obesity affects one in four adults and one in seven children in Maricopa County and increases the risk for comorbidities such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers (MCDPH, 2014). Obesity disproportionately affects Hispanics and American Indian as compared to white or other ethnic groups (MCDPH, 2014). According to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (2014), If obesity continues to rise at the present rate, by 2020 Maricopa County adults will spend $910 million more on healthcare. However, if obesity declines to 1987 levels, Maricopa County adults will spend $945 million less on healthcare by the year 2020. This is a $1.85 billion difference in the cost of these alternative futures. Combating obesity aligns with Healthy People 2020 goal of promoting health and reducing chronic disease risk by eating a healthy diet and having a healthy body weight (US Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2016). Additional, reducing obesity would also be related to Healthy People 2020 goal of physical activity (HHS, 2016). One of the benefits of physical activity is that it promotes muscular fitness and reduces body fat (HHS, 2016).

Lung Cancer

The leading cause of death in Maricopa County is cancer with lung cancer causing the most deaths (MCDPH, 2014). Lung cancer death rates in the county is highest among Whites and African Americans (MCDPH, 2014). Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and one out of every seven adults in the county smokes (MCDPH, 2014). The cost impact from cancer is substantial with over $3.72 billion was spent on cancer and related treatments in 2004 (MCDPH, 2014). Healthy People 2020 has a goal of decreasing illness, disability, and death that is related to tobacco use and exposure secondhand smoke as this is the single most preventable cause of disease and death in the United States (HHS, 2016).

Access to Health Care

Access to healthcare can influence all other components of health. In Maricopa County, one in four residents have not seen a provider in the past year, while one in six delayed or did not get medical care because of cost, and one in seven does not have health insurance (MCDPH, 2014). Lower income residents were less likely to visit a doctor or have a Primary Care Provider (MCDPH, 2014).

Conclusion

The goal of improving access to comprehensive and quality health care is the same as Healthy People 2020 (HHS, 2016). To help achieve this goal, the use of Nurse Practitioners (NP) and nurse managed health clinics would expand access to health care for the low-income, uninsured, and underserved populations (Sutter-Barrett, Sutter-Dalrymple, & Dickman, 2015). Additional, this would offer opportunities to educate student nurse practitioners and increase the primary care workforce (Sutter-Barrett et al., 2015).

References

Maricopa County Department of Public Health. (2014). Maricopa County Community Health Assessment. Retrieved from http://www.maricopa.gov/4097/Community-Health-Assessment

Sutter-Barrett, R., Sutter-Dalrymple, C., & Dickman, K. (2015). Bridge care nurse-managed clinics fill the gap in health care. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(2), 262-265. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2014.11.012

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2016). Healthy People 2020: Leading health indicators. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives

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