Part 1 : Scholarly summary of 3-5 paragraphs. Required to follow APA 7th Ed, citing a minimum of 2 sources
This video describes the ways that healthcare costs can be decreased, all while improving the overall health of our communities. However, as you read in Chapter 1, our health care system seems to be upside down, with the most time, money, and effort spent on tertiary care. If you had unlimited power, how would you change this? What additional resources would be required?
- Be specificAddress levels of prevention
- Address the influence of governmental agencies
- Are there laws that would hinder your proposed plan for changes? Is there a law that could be created to aid your plan?
- Validate your opinion with scholarly evidence (Be sure to include in-text citations as well as reference list at conclusion of post)
part 2
Responses to your classmates should add value to the topic of the post and included scholarly evidence. minimal of one paragraph each.Required to follow APA 7th Ed, citing a minimum of 2 sources
peer 1
between high and low-income areas. It is also important to note that since 2012 only approximately 3% of the yearly national expenditure was allocated toward government sponsored public health programs (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2021).
With unlimited power, the first step I would take to improve the health statistics for the US would be to determine what populations are furthest skewing data and what barriers to care are present in those areas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Provisional Life Expectancy report from 2021, the American Indian and Native American (AINA) population had the overall lowest life expectancy at approximately 65.2 years compared to an otherwise national average of 74.9 for all other ethnicities (Arias et al., 2022). It is important to create more unity in life expectancy for all populations before attempting to increase the life expectancy for all Americans, especially as this also allows for more information to be obtained as to how influential various factors are to preventing better health outcomes. The National Indian Council on Aging has identified several factors which influences Natives’ ability to access healthcare: socioeconomic status, education level, and a lack of healthcare access all together are arguably the three largest barriers to care (American Indian Health Disparities, n.d.).
I would first reform the Indian Health Service, an existing federal program, to include coverage for all Native people, both urban and rural to increase healthcare access. Currently, this insurance is primarily offered toward rural living Natives, even though 70% live in urban areas (American Indian Health Disparities, n.d.) . In this reform, I would create programs which would allow for low-cost or sliding-scale screenings for all adults over 18 years old. I also would increase funding for public school systems to better screen children for diseases. I would then fund more healthcare facilities around AIAN, offering incentives such as education loan repayment or scholarship opportunities to help with staffing these facilities. Scholarships for Native adults to go into healthcare, public health, and education could also help promote higher education. Representation in fields such as education and healthcare can go a long way in rebuilding decades of generational distrust in these institutions, while potentially improving the quality of life for this population at the same.
I did not come across any current laws which support or hinder my proposed plans. Existing government agencies such as the CDC could be helpful in implementing and collecting data from the changes that come from this reform, not unlike the data presented in this proposal.
peer 2
As with anything in life, there are always ways to prevent things from happening. This also applies to community health. According to the health services pyramid, we have primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The goal of the nurse is to intervene before any health effects occur during primary prevention. In primary prevention, the public health nurse develops a teaching plan to talk to school-age children about the dangers of vaping. During secondary prevention, we aim to stop the progression of disease by early detection and treatment. An example of secondary prevention would be educating farmers about the exposure of harmful chemicals and pesticides. The nurse could develop a program to ensure that the farmers have screenings regularly and also have the proper personal equipment while in the fields. Having yearly mammograms is also an example of secondary prevention. The goal is to manage and stop the progression after diagnosis during tertiary prevention. Diabetes is an example of tertiary prevention. The nurse would educate the patient on ways to control their blood sugar by adhering to a balanced diet and exercise.
There are several governing bodies in the United States that make prevention recommendations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make recommendations for vaccinations. During the COVID pandemic, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMC) required that all healthcare professionals be vaccinated. Employers were threatening to terminate employees if they refused to get vaccinated.
If I had unlimited power, I would make healthcare free to all Americans. Having to choose between food and medicine is totally unacceptable. A lot of Americans are forced to make this decision every month. No one should have to die from hunger or a diabetic coma because they are poor. The uninsured receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced disease states, and once diagnosed tend to receive less therapeutic care in terms of surgery and treatment options. (Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J. 2022, p. 42) There is not a law that would hinder this change from happening
