NSG 4076 Week 4 Project Community Health Promotion Project
African Americans are the second largest minority group in the U.S accounting for approximately 13.4% of the total population (Yearby, 2020). African Americans are burdened disproportionately by obesity among other related conditions like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease leading to increased morbidity and mortality rates as compared to the whites. Several social determinants of health such as the wage gaps, unethical housing policies, and substandard education and healthcare have contributed to the health disparities experienced by African Americans (Colen et al., 2018). Consequently, African Americans have a history of mistrust in the medical and research community which serves as a barrier to seeing a primary care physician or taking part in health promotion research. As such, strategies aimed at engaging African Americans in health promotion programs need to take into consideration cultural appropriateness when developing and implementing appropriate health promotion initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the health disparities among African Americans and the possible health promotion activities appropriate for this population.
Social Determinants of Health
African Americans are faced with several challenges undermining their access to quality care services, hence the increased morbidity and mortality rates. Such challenges are categorized in terms of socioeconomic status, and environmental hazards among other barriers to accessing healthcare services such as unaffordability of care services and lack of health insurance coverage. The majority of African Americans have a low socioeconomic status with an increased rate of unemployment, low education level, poverty, and poor housing among others. As of 2019, approximately 93.3% of African Americans earned at least a high school diploma, with 22.6% attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher (Colen et al., 2018). This number is quite less as compared to the white counterparts. The low education status among this population contributes towards the adoption of an unhealthy lifestyle promoting the risks for chroni
c conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and cancer.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that approximately 21.2% of black Americans as compared to 9% of whites were living at the poverty level in 2019 (Bassett & Galea, 2020). The level of unemployment among African Americans was also reported to be 7.7% as compared to the 3.7% among the whites. Such factors contribute to increased risk of environmental hazards such as unavailability of clean water, poor air quality, and poor environmental hygiene. Concerning the affordability of healthcare services, insurance coverage among the blacks in 2019 was 55.9% for private health insurance and 43.5% for Medicaid or public insurance. All these factors contribute towards the high prevalence of chronic diseases among black Americans, as a result of reduced access to healthcare services and adoption of an unhealthy lifestyle.
Mortality and Morbidity Risk Factors
According to the 2019 Census Bureau projections, the life expectancy at birth for black Americans was reported to be approximately 77 years, with 74 years for men and 79.8 years for women (Yearby, 2020). Consequently, the death rate among this vulnerable population was generally high as a result of numerous health complications. Studies show that Black Americans suffer a great burden with a higher prevalence of diabetes, heart diseases, cancer, and HIV/AIDS as the main contributing factors towards the high morbidity and mortality rates.
In 2018, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services(HHS), Office of Minority Health (OMH) reported that African Americans were twice as likely as whites to die from diabetes. Additionally, it was also reported that African Americans had a 60% chance of being diagnosed with diabetes (Bassett & Galea, 2020). The high prevalence of diabetes among this minority group is associated with several risk factors such as overweight and obesity, cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
The HHS reported that African Americans were 30% more likely to die from heart disease in 2018, as compared to whites (Yearby, 2020). Despite this vulnerable population having a 40% likelihood of being diagnosed with hypertension, they also face the greatest challenges of being unable to seek treatment as a result of the barriers explained above. This promotes complications such as stroke which is one of the leading causes of death among African Americans. Common risk factors promoting the prevalence of heart disease among blacks include overweight and obesity.
Additionally, the American Cancer Society, in 2019, reported that black Americans have the highest number of deaths and shortest rates of survival as compared to any other racial and ethnic group in the United States for most cancers (Bassett & Galea, 2020). The high death and morbidity as a result of cancer are mainly associated with several risk factors such as consumption of unhealthy foods, lack of physical exercise, and inability to access healthcare facilities to promote routine screening.
Lastly, according to the CDC, black American people also account for the highest portion of newly diagnosed cases of HIV as compared to other ethnicities and races. These disparities continue to grow among this minority group due to factors such as HIV stigma, racism, barriers to healthcare access, and poverty (Bassett & Galea, 2020). Appropriate health promotion programs must be put in place, concerning each of the four leading causes of death, to promote the health and wellbeing of black Americans.
Health Promotion Activities
By working side by side with community partners responsible for delivering services to African Americans and healthcare providers who are members of the African American communities, several health promotion interventions can be developed based on the identified socioeconomic risk factors contributing to the health disparities in addition to the barriers to healthcare utilization. Such health promotion activities will be aimed at facilitating coordination of care services and implementation of evidence-based interventions to address health disparities such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDs reducing the morbidity and mortality rates among this population (Fletcher et al., 2018).
Health promotion interventions delivered in hair salons and barbershops for African Americans have displayed great effectiveness in reducing the risk factors and promoting the health outcome for overweight/obesity-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Interventions addressing lifestyle modifications associated with obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are required while balancing the appropriateness of the desired outcome (Carey et al., 2018). Such interventions include advocating for environments and policies supporting healthy lifestyles such as engaging in physical activity and healthy eating, increasing public awareness of the symptoms and treatment measures for these health disparities, promoting access to appropriate resources for people suffering from these conditions, and monitoring of their effects. Consequently, it is important to educate the community members regarding the dangers associated with smoking, and the appropriate measures that can be taken to promote smoking cessation to promote the health and well-being of African Americans.
Additional health promotion activities include coming up with cancer screening programs to promote early diagnosis and management of the most common types of cancer present among African Americans (Rock et al., 2020). Lastly, appropriate health promotion activities to reduce the burden associated with HIV/AIDs include empowering the community with adequate knowledge regarding HIV to avoid stigmatization, promoting safe sexual intercourse by championing the ABC program (abstain, be faithful, and use of condoms), and promoting the routine screening of the disease.
Conclusion
African Americans are faced with several health disparities associated with socioeconomic inequalities among other factors. Studies show that this minority group experiences increased morbidity and mortality rates as a result of common chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDs. These conditions are attributed to common risk factors like overweight/obesity, cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy foods, low education level, inability to access healthcare services, poverty, unemployment, and environmental hazards such as air pollution. As such, the development of appropriate health promotion activities among African Americans must focus on this risk factor to promote the health and well-being of this population.
References
Bassett, M. T., & Galea, S. (2020). Reparations as a public health priority—a strategy for ending black-white health disparities. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(22), 2101-2103. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2026170.
Carey, R. M., Muntner, P., Bosworth, H. B., & Whelton, P. K. (2018). Prevention and control of hypertension: JACC health promotion series. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(11), 1278-1293. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.07.008
Colen, C. G., Ramey, D. M., Cooksey, E. C., & Williams, D. R. (2018). Racial disparities in health among nonpoor African Americans and Hispanics: The role of acute and chronic discrimination. Social Science & Medicine, 199, 167-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.051
Fletcher, G. F., Landolfo, C., Niebauer, J., Ozemek, C., Arena, R., & Lavie, C. J. (2018). Promoting physical activity and exercise: JACC health promotion series. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(14), 1622-1639. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.08.2141.
Rock, C. L., Thomson, C., Gansler, T., Gapstur, S. M., McCullough, M. L., Patel, A. V., … & Doyle, C. (2020). American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 70(4), 245-271. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21591
Yearby, R. (2020). Structural racism and health disparities: Reconfiguring the social determinants of health framework to include the root cause. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 48(3), 518-526. DOI: 10.1177/1073110520958876
Community Health Promotion Regarding Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity
The selected community is Compton Area in Loss Angeles. The community is located on the southeastern side of LA. The community was chosen because it has more information as a significant resource in my social media campaign paper. Pagoto et al., (2019) contend that the secret of living a healthy life starts from the diet. The lifestyle that many people adopt in the Campton area is of much significance as they do not align with the health needs agenda that many counties are striving to attain in the modern world. This paper aims to develop a social media campaign paper that would aid in discussing health issues affecting the selected area.
Community Health Nursing Diagnosis Statement.
LA communities have two major divisions in terms of food production. In better areas, one would find fewer food deserts or non, while in poorer regions, one would find plenty of food deserts and food swamps. The presence of food swamps is further indicating a significant predictor of obesity rates in the area. The food swamps also imply the absence of a fully operational grocery store where inhabitants would buy groceries. High cases of obesity signify a significant problem on the types of foods that many people depend on to survive (Pagoto et al., 2019). The reduced groceries imply that many people consume processed foods which unhealthy.
Information from the area shows that 35.4% of the adults are obese with a BMI of less than 30.0. The percentage of adults diagnosed with diabetes is 12.3%, with an accompanying death rate of 37.9% from diabetes. This death rate is high for one community (Pagoto et al., 2019). An adult diagnosed with hypertension is 29%. The death rate of those dying from coronary heart disease is 217.6. This statistic relays more information on the health trend in the region. The population of the area is 97,612, with a total of 6,674 registered businesses. The greater Campton region stretches about 40kms with over half a million people living and working in the area.
The population of people in the region is high compared to the groceries supplies it can receive daily. This situation implies that a higher percentage of people in the region have to thrive on junk meals. The increase in the rates of cardiovascular diseases is a sign that healthy meals are a significant problem in the area (Raggatt et al., 2018). The health situation in the region will be worse soon if stringent measures are not in place to curb the severe health problem affecting the region.
Healthy food is hard to find in the Campton region. The quality of the available healthy food is poor, and the prices are elevated. Many people living in the area are resorting to cheaply available food at the expense of their health. The concentration of the people with obesity in LA is in the Campton region. For instance, all adults who are obese are 40%, and those with diabetes are 12%. The high population of people with obesity and type II diabetes is non-white minorities (Raggatt et al., 2018). The solution to the Campton region’s health problem would start from reducing overdependence on junk meals and adopting an increase in vegetable servings on their diets. The campaign that the people in the region need should start from the major problem affecting the food production in the areas limiting people from adopting a healthy eating trend.
Evidence-based Practice Associated with the Field Experience Topic.
Campton’s high rate of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes among minority groups has received significant attention in empirical research. In my study of the region, I have been racing against time to find out the problem affecting the people in the area because they are prone to hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. The data from the region shows that these diseases are prevalent among people across different ages. However, many minority communities suffer from hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, thus raising questions among researchers (Raggatt et al., 2018). The prevalence of hypertension is high among the minority communities because of poor dietary patterns characterized by the consumption of a high sodium diet, a lower education level, and a high body mass index (BMI). The data from Campton further explains that the most common risk factors include unhealthy diets, overweight and obesity, and a low level of education.
The current state of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes among the non-white minority in Campton, LA, requires a preventive measure rather than treatment of the disease among the current population. The treatment of hypertension, obesity, and diabetes is expensive that most families cannot afford because of the social status in the community. However, it does not imply that the sickness does not have a solution among the population. Preventive measures are one of the primary measures that would aid the community in the region from changing the adverse data on health trends. Effect junk food has been scientifically proven to be the primary cause of obesity resulting in other inexplicable conditions such as hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Therefore, the solution to the region’s current issues needs to start from a social campaign that would allow society to transform their eating trend to be healthy (Raggatt et al., 2018).
A Community Health Nursing Social Media Campaign Strategy
The Social media campaign strategy will take place on an online platform to meet a high population of social media users in the Campton region. The era of technology is slowly transforming how public campaigns are carried out because the main objective of these campaigns is to let many people receive the information (Jane et al., 2018). The utilization of the campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will effectively meet all people in the country (Andrade et al., 2018). The main message that would trigger the people’s attention would be the health data that is not pleasing from the region. The population of 500,000 is significant, that a physical campaign might not significantly impact the larger community. Therefore, the online platform would be necessary for undertaking the exercise because it is cheap and reaches a wide range of residents in the region.
The selection of social media sites would be the leading resource for disseminating the information to the residents. For instance, these sites are cheap to operate. This benefit implies that the cost of undertaking the campaign online would be effective. Another importance comes from the population that social media platforms can rich within a short time (Jane et al., 2018). A post on social media would reach all target populations simultaneously, irrespective of their location. These social media sites are essential in tracking the impact of the social media campaign. It shows the number of people who comment and those who like posts on a drive. This data is essential in determining active and passive members of the movement. Besides, it effectively discusses some of the major concerns that people feel should be addressed in response to the campaign posts (Andrade et al., 2018). The opinions of the residents would as well play an essential role in understanding the nature of the problem from the inhabitant of the Campton region.
The target population would benefit from my campaign message by knowing health facts that many have assumed in the region. In intensifying health education, my campaign message among the non-white minority in the area is one of the most effective preventive solutions to decrease people dying from obese-related diseases (Raggatt et al., 2018). Training the selected population that healthy eating entails a meal having all the five food groups is vital in improving the diet education within the chosen people. For instance, taking a meal with vegetables, grains, protein, and carbohydrates in portions is the most efficient eating mode that everyone should take daily (Andrade et al., 2018). Most people have been focusing on which food to ignore and which to eat in the recent past. This concern is because the issues on food encompass various critical problems of life that tend to be delicate concerning healthy living.
The campaign would raise attention on the choice of meals that people take in Campton. Careless choice of what to eat can cause consumption of unhealthy food, leading to inexplicable fatal disorders like hypertension and diabetes. Conversely, the choice of what to eat depends on the financial ability of an individual, such that if a person cannot afford healthy meals, they will resort to cheap, unhealthy meals for sustenance (Raggatt et al., 2018). Therefore, launching an initiative that would train the non-white population on the importance of adhering to a healthy diet would alleviate the increasing cases of hypertension.
Increasing awareness of the danger of modern junk foods would also be an initiative meant to save the population from hypertension. One of the causes of hypertension among young blacks in the US is poverty. Most of them cannot adhere to the expensive healthy diet hence resorting to cheap processed meals that are unhealthy. Junk food is a source of obesity in kids, youths, and adults. The current generation has heightening incidences of obesity on youths that most scientists assert is an effect emanating from the ready-made food that the children regularly consume (Raggatt et al., 2018). The campaign would target all people at risk of health infection in the region.
Best Practices for Implementing Social Media Tools for Health Marketing.
In implementing my social media campaign strategies, I will diversify my channel. This tool will happen by mixing more than two social media sites. For instance, I would depend on Facebook and Twitter and use the Instagram platform to capture the attention of social media users who are addicted to other sites like Instagram. The objective of my campaign is to reach every youth and young adult in the region (Andrade et al., 2018). This strategy would imply that I will have to post the same message on all the platforms to meet all the users of these sites at the convenience of their social media sites.
I would vary the content mix to achieve the maximum action of my audience. Most of the best-performing posts on social media have photos. The pictorial presentation catches the viewers’ attention, allowing them to read a post and comment on their opinions on a particular position. Besides, posting a curated content link would enable users to go the extra mile to become members of the campaign team to disseminate essential health messages in the community (Pagoto et al., 2019). Diversity of the content on the campaign post would also act as the principal tool for attracting the people’s attention in the community.
Social Media Campaign Implementation Plan
The stakeholders would be the response for the cost of the entire campaign process. They will form a committee that would be essential in raising funds for the exercise. The team will approach well shier who are willing to offer donations and grants to the movement to save the current dying Campton community. The entire management of the funds that would be enough in running the campaign would depend on the decision made by the stakeholders (Raggatt et al., 2018). For instance, if the funds would not be enough for the original plan, they would be ready to change the program to fit the budget.
Partnership with various health organizations within the region would be essential in disseminating the health information message to the people in the community. These health care institutions have experts who understand health promotion techniques that would positively impact the change of habits among residents in the region (Pagoto et al., 2019). The role of the health care communities in the area would also aid the movement in drafting a strong campaign post that will trigger the people’s attention in the region.
The campaign program would go for one month. Each day would have distinct posts and activities that stakeholders would be performing towards meeting the objecting of raising public awareness on the healthy diet. The post on the campaign would be different each day for 30 days to increase the users’ activity on the social media sites (Raggatt et al., 2018). The central objective would be to rally significant traffic behind the campaign post and form a group that would collect people with similar interests in transforming health standards in the region.
I will evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness from the comments that users would have on each post each day. An increase in the number of comments would imply that many people saw the post and were willing to express their feelings about the post’s issue. Besides, the number of thumbs up given on the post would also show the number of people viewing the post.
The cost of implementing the plan would not be high because of the online tools that our campaign team would be employing. The online platform would require a small fee to manage the social sites to increase the view of the information posted by the movement to the target people (Jane et al., 2018). A higher cost would be on the payment of account managers who will be keeping users active on the site by telling them more information on the need to eat healthily.
How Social Media Marketing Supports the Community Health Nurse’s Efforts to Promote Healthier Populations.
The effect of social media has been evident in many sectors of the economy, and the nursing profession has not been an exception. Nurses have an essential tool to heighten their education for the community on health issues. Health promotion tends to be easy on social network platforms as it aids in meeting a vast population within a short time. This relationship implies that one nurse could reach millions of users on a single platform (Pagoto et al., 2019). Social media would change many things in my nursing practice as it forms a better means of teaching the community about health.
Conclusion
Campton region in LA requires speedy attention on health promotion intervention to reverse the current trend of diet on them. The increase in obesity and cardiovascular infections is a sign that many poor in the region depend on unhealthy meals. Social media campaign on the area would be significant in increasing warrens to people and compelling to have a second through on their lives.
References
Andrade, E. L., Evans, W. D., Barrett, N., Edberg, M. C., & Cleary, S. D. (2018). Strategies to increase latino immigrant youth engagement in health promotion using social media: mixed-methods study. JMIR public health and surveillance, 4(4), e71. https://doi.org/10.2196/publichealth.9332
Jane, M., Hagger, M., Foster, J., Ho, S., & Pal, S. (2018). Social media for health promotion and weight management: a critical debate. BMC public health, 18(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5837-3
Pagoto, S., Waring, M. E., & Xu, R. (2019). A call for a public health agenda for social media research. Journal of medical Internet research, 21(12), e16661. https://doi.org/10.2196/16661
Raggatt, M., Wright, C. J., Carrotte, E., Jenkinson, R., Mulgrew, K., Prichard, I., & Lim, M. S. (2018). “I aspire to look and feel healthy like the posts convey”: engagement with fitness inspiration on social media and perceptions of its influence on health and wellbeing. BMC public health, 18(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5930-7