Obesity is a chronic health condition that raises the risk for heart disease—the leading cause of death in the United States—and is linked to many other health problems, including type 2 diabetes and stroke. Rural communities are at a greater risk for obesity-related health problems as opposed to urban communities. This can be linked to physical inactivity, lack of access to quality care, and distrust of the healthcare system.
Community health data can be used to reduce health disparities and improve health equality. Data can identify health disparities and find the root cause, which can lead to the implementation of interventions to reduce these disparities and improve overall health.
For this task, you will develop your understanding of the types of barriers individuals encounter in accessing care. You will then identify resources and avenues for addressing a population’s needs in order to overcome those barriers.
Note: All references used should be current, within the last five years.
You are a program coordinator working at a local health department. Recently, you received the community health data profile for River Valley County, which includes information on demographics, median household income, and leading causes of death. After reviewing the document, you saw that obesity rates among both adults (40%) and children (34%) were relatively high when compared to the national average.
Although there have been community health initiatives implemented to reduce the overall prevalence of obesity, there are many factors that contribute to this chronic health condition. Your supervisor has asked you to identify barriers the community is currently facing in accessing healthcare, evaluate current initiatives, and, finally, create new initiatives after you have conducted an in-depth review of the community-level data.
A. Choose a demographic population from the “River Valley County Community Health Data” attachment, and apply the data presented in the attachment to your chosen population by doing the following:
Note: You are strongly encouraged to choose a population you are not familiar with. After your selection, please assume all the data listed in the “River Valley County Community Health Data” attachment pertains to your chosen demographic population.
1. Discuss two barriers your chosen demographic population from part A has faced in accessing adequate healthcare.
B. Select a leading cause of death identified in the data from the “River Valley County Community Health Data” attachment and do the following:
1. Discuss two initiatives or community programs that are currently being offered in your chosen demographic population to prevent the leading cause of death you chose in part B.
C. Identify an age group to focus on and implement community health initiatives to prevent obesity by doing the following:
1. Explain why you chose the specific age group from part C.
2. Discuss three new initiatives or programs that could be implemented within the community to decrease obesity rates within your chosen demographic population.
3. Discuss one positive effect that each of the three initiatives or programs discussed in part C2 would have on obesity rates within this community.
D. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
E. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
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