NR717 Week 5 Population Health Practice Problem Example Answer Provided
Population Health Practice Problem
By forming an interdisciplinary team to tackle individuals’ specific needs and the behavioral, environmental, and social factors that contribute to their overall health, a population health practice strives to enhance the well-being and medical needs of a specific population. Cases of illness or injury within a population constitute a difficulty in population health practice. The paper aims to investigate the population’s health problems and possible solutions.
It also aims to identify the health practice issues plaguing a specific group and to outline interventions that can be implemented to mitigate their consequences. It will do so by discussing the key areas: the practice problems which affect the selected population, epidemiology assessments that can be used to confront the practice problem, measurable goals that can help accomplish health 2030 goals, evidence-based intervention that can aid in accomplishing objectives and goals, and an assessment of the mentioned intervention.
Population
African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi, were chosen as the study population. Jackson is the largest city in Mississippi, located in both Hinds and Rankin counties. By 2021, the population of Jackson city had risen to 149,761 (United States Census Bureau, 2022).
82% of the population was black, whereas the white share was 16.54 percent, the Asian share was 0.32 percent, and the other racial and ethnic groups comprised 0.29 percent (United States Census Bureau, 2022). Jackson city has a poverty rate of about 25.42 percent and a median income of about $55,850.
The average monthly rental cost in recent years has been $847. In Jackson’s early years, the population grew to a peak of almost 200 000. Nonetheless, recent censuses show that the population has dropped for several years. People have left the city for the surrounding suburbs, explaining the downturn. African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi, face inequities in health care, economic hardship, and a lack of educational opportunity due to these three causes.
Practice Problem
Concerns about racial health disparities in healthcare are the most pressing issue affecting African Americans in Jackson city, and this is a vital national practice problem. Recent research from the Jackson Heart Study has linked racial health inequalities to the rise in hypertension and heart disease in African Americans. It has been hypothesized that the persistent anxiety caused by racial health disparities is a factor in the development of hypertension.
Jackson Heart found that whereas black patients received care without respect to their health issues or necessities, white patients were more likely to be admitted to facilities that only serve white people as urgent cases (NLHBI, 2019). This action affects the client’s reaction to the healthcare professionals, which may later be responsible for the individuals’ lack of trust, dissatisfaction, and unfavorable perception of the practitioners.
It affects people’s day-to-day lives, relationships, and places they can comfortably visit. Their options and choices are impacted. When people are discriminated against based on their religion, gender, race, ethnicity, or sexuality, it results in racial health disparities.
Epidemiology
When it comes to public health, studying racial health inequalities is crucial but often ignored. Disparities in health care for people of different races, ages, sexes, and other demographics have severe consequences for people’s physical and mental well-being (Brown et al., 2022). The negative impacts of racial health disparities have complicated causes, repercussions, and potential solutions.
Discrimination and other structural racism contribute to racial health inequalities (Brown et al., 2022). Epidemiologists can reduce racial health inequalities by focusing on socioeconomic determinants of health, using a life-span approach, and creating culturally appropriate solutions (Schillinger, 2020).
Performing population-based studies on factors like residential environment and mortality risk are examples of measures. For instance, because they are less likely to have access to good schools and medical facilities, young black men have a death rate five times greater than young white men.
Racial health inequalities are studied and addressed using descriptive and analytic epidemiology approaches. In descriptive epidemiology, researchers look for health inequalities and see how they are connected to factors like patient and healthcare providers’ demographics (Celentano & Szklo, 2019). It helps answer questions about who’s at the most risk, the disease’s incidence or death rate, how it evolves, whether it affects both sexes equally, and whether there are any discernible trends (Celentano & Szklo, 2019).
Descriptive epidemiology applies statistical techniques to report population aspects, such as disease incidence and prevalence rates, discrepancies in the progression of the disease, variations in healthcare utilization, how often individuals get a specific disease or how often they seek out certain medical services (Celentano & Szklo, 2019).
This strategy can be broken down into two distinct categories, one that emphasizes history, such as by defining past trends, and another that emphasizes the future, such as by employing forecasting models to determine vulnerable groups or predict the future burden of diseases (Celentano & Szklo, 2019). Although one method places more weight on the past while the other looks to the future, both can guide racial and health inequalities policy.
Conversely, an analytic approach to epidemiology would involve conducting experiments to determine what factors contribute to health inequalities. It focuses on separating the effects of environmental exposures from the effects of observable variations in risk behaviors or underlying genetic traits (Celentano & Szklo, 2019). This methodology is ideal for studying racial inequalities because it helps researchers to accurately evaluate intricate problems like those that arise from racial prejudice.
Application of Epidemiology to Improve Health Outcomes
Using samples from various local groups and contrasting them with data from other communities, I would conduct surveillance to detect issues and develop solutions to enhance population health. This can aid in diagnosing health issues, allowing for more targeted treatment. Furthermore, it can establish the necessity of interventions and quantify their outcomes, which can help determine if the intervention is working as intended or needs to be modified.
Ethical Concern
Using surveillance information for purposes other than what it was designed for raises ethical concerns. Information obtained should be put to good use in a way that helps the people to whom the data originally belonged (Elwy et al., 2022). Surveillance data, for instance, should not be gathered for a select few people who do not fit the target demographic. Using surveillance data in this way is unethical. The population involved in the epidemiological study is the main stakeholder who should receive information while disseminating the results.
Goals and Objective
The primary objective of a healthy goal is to enhance people’s health status. In this instance of health inequalities, the objective is to guarantee universal access to healthcare. This is what entails health equity. Experts in the field of health state that health equality is achieved when the highest degree of health is attained for all people (Liburd et al., 2020). To eliminate healthcare and health inequalities and promote health equality, society must work to remove existing inequalities, historical and modern injustices, and a lack of value for all members of society (Liburd et al., 2020).
According to Healthy People 2030 (2021), a health disparity is a specific variation in a population’s health directly tied to social, financial, and environmental disadvantage. Groups of people or populations who face or have suffered discrimination based on race or ethnicity, such as those who are geographically or physically disadvantaged or whose sexuality, age, psychological health, socioeconomic position, or sexual orientation are impacted negatively (Healthy People 2030, 2021).
Consequently, the primary objective of health people 2030 is to eradicate disparities in health, realize health equity and promote access to health information to enhance the well-being and general health of all individuals (Healthy People 2030, 2021). Because of this, people of all backgrounds and income levels are guaranteed and affirmed equal access to medical treatment.
Evidence-Based Population Intervention
Reducing Health Insurance Costs for Vulnerable Populations is one example of a research-based intervention. This is the most efficient strategy for reducing health inequalities and enhancing people’s quality of life. Shrank et al. (2021) found that the primary factor in healthcare inequalities between different groups was the high cost that patients had to pay out of pocket.
Access to primary, specialty care, preventative services like vaccinations and screening tests, and other vital health checks that can help avoid serious illnesses is made more affordable with health insurance coverage, lowering these financial constraints (Shrank et al., 2021). This intervention is in the yellow tier in Minnesota’s Public Health Wheel, as it entails advocacy for enforcing policies that will allow healthcare to be more affordable.
Individuals now have more flexibility in selecting a healthcare provider, thanks to the increased coverage they enjoy. Those without health insurance have lower healthcare access and more mortality rates, making it imperative to expand health insurance coverage to reduce health inequalities (Shrank et al., 2021).
The availability of healthcare professionals, the cost of care, and other factors all have a role in determining whether or not a patient can get the medical attention they need (Shrank et al., 2021). Due to their lower socioeconomic status, lower educational attainment, and other risk factors, those without health insurance are more likely to develop potentially fatal conditions, including heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
Evaluation
The plan is to assess how effective, efficient, and cost-effective the initiative to increase health insurance coverage was. Counting the number of applications submitted to insurance providers and the proportion of that granted coverage will determine whether the intervention succeeded. If the Affordable Care Act were to be assessed, it would be determined whether or not the number of individuals without health insurance has decreased and whether or not the number of people with insurance has increased.
To gauge the success of the intervention, it would be assessed whether or not more individuals are using their health insurance plans before they get sick rather than after. Also, looking at whether or not more people have the opportunity to receive medical care that they did not have before due to the Affordable Care Act can help one determine if the problem is quantitative, such as whether or not their location or economic status played a role, or qualitative, like if they had health insurance or not.
Conclusion
The city’s health gap disproportionately affects African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi. Healthcare for them is rated lower than for people of other cultural backgrounds. Inequalities may arise due to age, economic status, gender, sexual orientation and level of education.
As a result, the population suffers from a high death rate and a wide range of chronic illnesses such as hypertension and heart disease. Greater access to health insurance can help reduce health inequalities. More people will be able to get the preventative care they need, and some conditions can be detected and managed sooner if more people have healthcare available to them.
References
Brown, D., Hardy, M., & Bruno, A. (2022). rationing and disparities in health care: implications for radiology clinical practice guidelines. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 19(1), 84–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2021.09.023
Celentano, D., & Szklo, M. (2019). Gordis epidemiology (6th ed.). Elsevier.
Elwy, R., Maguire, M., Kim, B., & West, S. (2022). Involving stakeholders as communication partners in research dissemination efforts. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(S1), 123–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-021-07127-3
Healthy People 2030. (2021). Health Equity in Healthy People 2030 – Healthy People 2030 Accessed March 15th 2023 from https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/health-equity-healthy-people-2030
Liburd, C., Hall, E., Mpofu, J., Marshall Williams, S., Bouye, K., & Penman-Aguilar, A. (2020). Addressing Health Equity in Public Health Practice: Frameworks, Promising Strategies, and Measurement Considerations. Annual Review of Public Health, 41. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094119
NLHBI. (2019). Jackson Heart Study (JHS) | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Accessed March 15th 2013 from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/science/jackson-heart-study-jhs
Schillinger D. (2020). the intersections between social determinants of health, health literacy, and health disparities. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 269, 22–41. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI200020
Shrank, H., DeParle, A., Gottlieb, S., Jain, H., Orszag, P., Powers, W., & Wilensky, R. (2021). Health costs and financing: Challenges and strategies for a new administration. Health Affairs, 40(2), 235–242. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01560
United States Census Bureau. (2022). QuickFacts: Jackson city, Mississippi. Accessed March 15th 2023 from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/jacksoncitymississippi
Population Health Practice Problem Assignment
Purpose
This assignment will allow for the exploration of a selected population health practice problem, encompassing social determinant risk factors, epidemiological factors, an evidence-based population health intervention, and relevant measurable goals and objectives.
Instructions
The assignment should include the following components:
- Introduction
- Introduce topic of paper.
- Develop a focused one-sentence purpose statement.
- Present subtopics that will be discussed.
- Population
- Present the selected population in general terms.
- Identify three key social determinant risk factors associated with the population.
- Practice Problem
- Explain the National Practice Problem and how it affects the population.
- Explain the significance of the practice problem at the local, regional, or national level.
- Explain the prevalence of the practice problem at the local, regional, or national level.
- Epidemiology
- Explore the epidemiologic principles and measures used to address your selected practice problem.
- Examine the use of descriptive and/or analytic epidemiology to address the practice problem.
- Propose how you might use surveillance to influence the determinants of health and improve the health outcomes of your population.
- Anticipate any ethical concerns that you might have related to the use of surveillance data in your population.
- Goal and Objective
- Explore and detail one Healthy People 2030 goal that addresses the selected practice problem.
- Develop one measurable objective using the SMART format (review Week 4 Lesson) to help achieve the Healthy People 2030 goal that addresses the selected practice problem.
- Evidence-Based Population Intervention
- Identify one evidence-based intervention from a research study to achieve the goal and objective. (This research study must be at the population level and should not be one that was used in a previous course.)
- Add the study to the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Individual Evidence Summary Tool.
- Identify where the selected intervention is located on the Minnesota Public Health Wheel.
- Provide objective rationale for the evidence-based intervention to address the practice problem.
- Evaluation
- Describe how you would evaluate if your intervention were efficient, effective, and efficacious, and equitable.
- Conclusion
- Summarize the impact of the practice problem on the identified population.
- Summarize the role of the evidence-based intervention to address the practice problem idea.
- References
- Identify and list four scholarly sources on the reference pages.
- Identify and list other scholarly sources used in the paper on the reference pages.
- List sources in alphabetical order.
- Use correct hanging-indent format.
- Appendix: Summary Table of the Evidence
- Attach the completed Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Individual Evidence Summary Tool.
- Provide a minimum of one research study describing the selected intervention.
- Complete all sections completely for the source of evidence.
- Identify both the quality and level of evidence for each scholarly source on the table.
Writing Requirements (APA format)
- Length: 7-8 pages (not including title page or references page)
- 1-inch margins
- Double-spaced pages
- 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial font
- Headings & subheadings
- In-text citations
- Title page
- Reference page
- Standard English usage and mechanics
Program Competencies
This assignment enables the student to meet the following program competencies:
- Analyzes health care policies to advocate for equitable health care and social justice to all populations and those at risk due to social determinants of health. (POs 2, 9)
- Translates a synthesis of research and population data to support preventative care and improve the nation’s health. (PO 1)
- Leads others in professional identity, advanced clinical judgment, systems thinking, resilience, and accountability in selecting, implementing, and evaluating clinical care. (PO 1)
Course Outcomes
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:
- Critically analyze the history, formation, and implementation of local, state and national health policies from the perspectives of stakeholders and the profession of nursing. (PC 5; PO 2)
- Synthesize ethical and legal principles to advocate for value-based, equitable, and ethical health policies at the micro, meso, and macrosystem levels. (PC 5; PO 9)
- Assimilate epidemiology principles and interventions to impact the social determinants of health, Global Burden of Disease, and population health outcomes. (PCs 7, 8; PO 1)
- Formulate strategies for providing culturally relevant and high-quality healthcare to vulnerable and high-risk populations to address social injustice and health inequities. (PCs 7, 8; PO 1)
- Demonstrate collaborative interprofessional leadership and political competency to develop and implement healthcare policy to improve healthcare delivery and population health outcomes. (PC 5; PO 2)
Due Date
- By 11:59 p.m. MT on Sunday
- Late Assignment Policy applies
Rubric – W5 Assignment Grading Rubric
| W5 Assignment Grading Rubric | ||||||
| Criteria | Ratings | Pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Introduction Requirements: |
| 20 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Population Requirements: |
| 30 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Practice Problem Requirements: |
| 30 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Epidemiology Requirements: |
| 40 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Goal Objective Requirements: |
| 30 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Evidence-Based Population Initiative Requirements: |
| 40 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Evaluation Requirements: |
| 30 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Conclusion Requirements: |
| 10 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome References Requirements |
| 10 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome APA Style and Organization for Scholarly Papers Requirements: |
| 20 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Clarity of Writing Requirements: |
| 20 pts | ||||
| This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeAppendix: Summary Table of the Evidence Requirements: |
| 20 pts | ||||
| Total Points: 300 | ||||||
