NURS FPX 6011 Assessment 2 Evidence-Based Population Health Improvement Plan
University:
Capella University
NURS FPX 6011 Assessment 2 Evidence-Based Population Health Improvement Plan
Paper Instructions
Write a 4-5 page population health improvement plan, based on your evaluation of the best available evidence from a minimum of 3-5 current scholarly or professional sources of demographic, environmental, and epidemiological data that focuses on your diagnosis of a widespread population health issue.
Part of effectively engaging in evidence-based practice is the ability to synthesize raw health data with research studies and other relevant information in the literature. This will enable you to develop sound interventions, initiatives, and outcomes to address health concerns that you find in data during the course of your practice.
In this assessment, you have an opportunity to evaluate community demographic, environmental, and epidemiological data to diagnose a widespread population health issue, which will be the focus of a health improvement plan that you develop.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria
Competency 2
- Apply evidence-based practice to design interventions to improve population health.
- Evaluate community demographic, epidemiological, and environmental data to diagnose widespread population health issues.
- Develop an ethical health improvement plan to address a population health issue within a community.
Competency 3
- Evaluate outcomes of evidence-based interventions.
- Propose criteria for evaluating population health improvement plan outcomes.
Competency 4
- Evaluate the value and relative weight of available evidence upon which to make a clinical decision.
- Justify the value and relevance of evidence used as the basis of a population health improvement plan.
Competency 5
- Synthesize evidence-based practice and academic research to communicate effective solutions.
- Develop a strategy for communicating with colleagues and members of the community in an ethical, culturally sensitive, and inclusive way.
- Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.
Scenario
Your organization is undertaking a population health improvement initiative focused on one of the pervasive and chronic health concerns in the local community. Examples of health improvement initiatives include nationwide concerns, such as type 2 diabetes, HIV, obesity, insect bites, and Zika. However, your organization has asked you to determine which widespread health concern should be addressed in a population health improvement plan for your community and has entrusted you with gathering and evaluating the relevant data.
Your Role
You are a nurse in a community clinic or hospital and you have a good idea about the most common chronic health issues among its patients. You have been asked to prepare a presentation for the next staff meeting about the issue and the plan that you are proposing to help improve the community’s health.
Instructions
The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. In addition, you may want to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
Part 1: Data Evaluation
Evaluate the outcomes of a population health improvement initiative from community demographic, epidemiological, and environmental data.
- Identify the relevant data.
- Identify the level of evidence, validity, and reliability for each source.
- Describe the major community health concerns suggested by the data.
- Explain how environmental factors affect the health of community residents.
Part 2: Health Improvement Plan
Develop a health improvement plan that ethically and effectively addresses the population health concern that you identified in your evaluation of the relevant data.
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Sample Answer
Community Data Evaluation Obesity in Texas
The selected public health issue in my community is obesity among Texans. Texas is one of the states with the highest rate of obesity. Statistics show that the state’s rate is higher than that of the USA as a whole. For example, the obesity rate in Texas in 2019 was 34.8% as compared to 30.8% of the USA. The statistics also shows that Texas was ranked 10th state with the highest obesity rate in the USA in the same year. The obesity rates vary across age groups.
For example, children aged 10-17 years had prevalence rate of 20.3% of obesity, ranking Texas 8th in obesity among high school students. Obesity rate in individuals ages 55-54 was 40.9% in 2019 while those aged 45-54 was 46.8%. Obesity increases the population’s risk of health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and heart disease among others. Some of the environmental factors that contribute to the problem include physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and lack of awareness among some of the population. Therefore, interventions to address the issue should be adopted (Dshs.texas.gov, n.d.; TXOHC, 2020).
Meeting Community Needs
As noted initially, environmental factors such as unhealthy dietary practices, physical inactivity, and low awareness level among Texans contribute to the high rate of obesity in the state. Addressing obesity requires lifestyle and behavioral changes. The population should be informed about the risk of obesity, strategies they can adopt, and be provided with assistance in developing healthy lifestyles and behaviors. As a result, an effective improvement plan for the population is the provision of extensive health education programs for the population and screening services.
The health education will aim at creating awareness among the population about obesity. It will also increase their awareness about the available screening services and strategies to prevent and lower its risk for obesity. Screening services will be offered to facilitate early identification, treatment, and prevention of obesity in the population (Luquis & Kensinger, 2019). Some barriers may be experienced in implementing the plan. One of them is resistance from the community members. Resistance may be due to factors such as low level of knowledge and cultural issues that affect their dietary habits.
The other barrier is inadequate support from stakeholders. The successful implementation of the plan requires human, material, and financial support from well wishers, government, non-governmental institutions, and hospitals. Inadequate support may affect its successful implementation. The other barrier relates to challenges in accessing healthy diet by the population (McVay et al., 2018). Issues such as high cost of healthy food may hinder the adoption of healthy lifestyles by the population.
Consider the environmental realities and challenges existing in the community.
- Include interventions that will meet community needs.
- Address potential barriers or misunderstandings related to various cultures prevalent in the community.
Measuring Outcomes
Outcome measures will be used to evaluate the success of the proposed plan. One of them will be obesity rates in Texas. It is expected that the proposed plan will lower the obesity rates in Texas. The reduction will be attributed to the changes in the lifestyles and behaviors of the population. The other measure will be the adoption of healthy lifestyles by the population. Surveys and interviews will be conducted with the community members to assess their lifestyle and behavioral changes. An improvement will translate into the success of the plan. The other outcome measure will be the knowledge of the population about obesity.
Pre and post-test about obesity will be conducted with the community members. The aim will be to assess changes in their knowledge following the implementation of the plan. The last outcome measure will be changes in community practices to support obesity prevention. Indicators such as the increased participation of the community members in active physical activities, advocacy for healthy diets, and creating spaces for engaging in exercises will be used to determine the success of the plan (Yazel-Smith et al., 2020).
Communication Plan
Community stakeholders will play a crucial role in ensuring the success of the proposed plan. The stakeholders will include community members, educational stakeholders, religious institutions, public health officials, and healthcare providers. Community members will be the primary target of the plan. They will be involved in the implementation of the community strategies. Educational stakeholders such as teachers will be actively involved in disseminating information in schools. Religious institutions will also create awareness about the project and encourage community participation. Public health officials and healthcare providers will educate the public about the project.
Effective communication strategies will be adopted. They will include open communication, seeking feedback, and use of educational resources such as brochures and decision aids for the population. Open communication will entail allowing the community members to express their concerns, views, and issues about obesity. Open communication will contribute to trust among the community members. Seeking feedback during the educational sessions will help in identifying areas of need and further education for the population (Nilsen et al., 2020). Decision aids and brochures will be provided to help strengthen the population’s knowledge about obesity.
Value & Relevance of Evidence
Evidence is important to the issue of obesity in Texas. First, it provides accurate information into the severity of the problem in the society. It also provides insights into the disease burden associated with it among the population. The other relevance of the problem is that it validates the need for change in the community. Statistics on obesity rate informs the need for the adoption of evidence-based interventions to promote the optimum health of the community members. The other relevance is that it supports the adopted interventions to address community’s needs.
Resource utilization will be optimized to achieve the outcomes of the health improvement plan. One of the approaches that would be adopted will be developing a plan for resource utilization. The plan will offer insights into the resources needed in every stage of the project. The other approach will be frequent evaluation. Evaluation will provide insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of resource utilization for the project. Best practices will also be adopted to ensure efficiency in resource utilization for the plan (Nilsen et al., 2020).
References
- Dshs.texas.gov. (n.d.). Obesity Data. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https //www.dshs.texas.gov/Obesity/Data/
- Luquis, R. R., & Kensinger, W. S. (2019). Applying the Health Belief Model to assess prevention services among young adults. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 57(1), 37–47. https //doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2018.1549958
- McVay, M. A., Yancy, W. S., Bennett, G. G., Jung, S.-H., & Voils, C. I. (2018). Perceived barriers and facilitators of initiation of behavioral weight loss interventions among adults with obesity A qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 854. https //doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5795-9
- Nilsen, P., Seing, I., Ericsson, C., Birken, S. A., & Schildmeijer, K. (2020). Characteristics of successful changes in health care organizations An interview study with physicians, registered nurses and assistant nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 147. https //doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4999-8
- TXOHC. (2020, April 22). Obesity in Texas. TxOHC. https //txohc.org/communication/data-dashboard/obesity/
- Yazel-Smith, L. G., Bishop, C. A., & Ayars, C. L. (2020). Obesity Health Education Integrated Into Current Work Roles of Health Education Specialists. Author. https //scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/28366
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