Introduction
Such a situation as a derailment of an oil tanker, the subsequent exposure, fire, and further water supply contamination by oil leakage is not common for Vila City. Still, its consequences remain dramatic for the community. Applying the MAP-IT (mobilize, assess, plan, implement, and track) framework based on the opinions of several stakeholders and the evaluation of demographic data is a solution in this case. As a community task force member, I am responsible for developing a disaster recovery plan for the Vila Health community to assess the needs of the citizens, lessen health disparities, and improve service access.
The Vila Health Community Assessment
A disaster recovery plan is based on assessing the Vila Health community, including population needs, available resources, personnel, budget, and stakeholders, with respect to Healthy People 2020 and 2030 goals and objectives. The population of the chosen community is about 8,295 people, and their median age is 43.6 years. More than 17% of the population is under age 18; 14.8% is between 18 and 25; 21.1% is between 25 and 44; 24.9% is between 45 and 64; 22% is older than 65 years. Most residents are white (93%), while Latinos (3%), African Americans (2%), and Native Americans (1%) should also be recognized. At the moment, 204 elderly patients have complex health conditions, and 147 individuals are physically disabled or use lip-reading or sign language. The population is vulnerable to health disparities, socioeconomic issues, and language barriers and needs improved public services, education, health care, transport, and communication.
In the community, there is a 105-bed Valley City Region Hospital (VCRH) where 97 patients currently receive care, including five people on ventilation and two in hospice care. Employees admit such problems as old equipment that shows wear, no upgrade on the nursing staff, and human resource deficit. The budget is also unstable because the Chief Financial Officer admits the possibility of cutting nursing staff and has no positive prospects for solving the current problems. The Hospital Operations Associate Director underlines the systematic nature of disaster-planning problems, but interviews with registered nurses prove that people are ready to cooperate and support each other.
In addition to local nurses, a recovery plan should include an executive manager, a crisis management coordinator, and IT specialists. The role of an executive manager is to organize and control the recovery of the population at the local level (Local disaster recovery managers responsibilities, 2020). A crisis management coordinator should develop a guide for nurses and other stakeholders and share information to predict chaos and misunderstandings during the disaster. IT specialists aim to deliver guides in a clear way. People need to be connected to exchange their experiences, ask questions, and obtain answers in a short period. Nurses and other healthcare providers must follow the guides, succeed in problem-solving, and make decisions based on a Healthy People perspective.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiated the Healthy People program several decades ago. Its essence is to identify health-related objectives and monitor their progress. In 2020, the goals included high-quality and longer lives, the absence of preventable diseases, health equity, eliminating disparities, and creating social and physical environments (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). In 2030, the number of objectives has been reduced to avoid overlaps and underline the priorities of well-being, health promotion, disease prevention, improved literacy, and strengthened economic potential (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). This federal approach contributes to public knowledge, favorable environments, healthy behaviors, and effective leadership. The recovery timeline for submitting reports and making observations is about three months: (1) assess the level of damage, (2) take interventions, and (3) examine changes.
Considering the offered goals and community needs, several health determinants must be underlined. The community experiences economic instability and is in the midst of a financial crisis, which affects its proper distribution of financial resources and healthcare services. The education domain is challenged because nurses need additional training and support to improve their knowledge. Several people do not speak English, which provokes additional communication barriers. Finally, instituted layoffs in fire and police departments provoked new social issues and increased conflicts.
The MAP-IT Framework
There are five main steps in the disaster recovery plan for the chosen community. First, it is necessary to mobilize collaborative partners and introduce a multidisciplinary team. The purposes include training nurses and the population about the peculiarities of disasters and their responses. Weekly meetings may be organized with local healthcare providers, while social media and phone messages can be offered to the population to share knowledge and improve awareness.
The next step is to assess community needs and underline the existing limitations. The elderly of the Vila Health community lack care and professional support to improve their complex health conditions. The homeless shelter runs at capacity, and it is hard to accommodate all representatives. Non-English-speaking immigrants cannot use common communication channels and understand what they should do to recover from the disaster. Many people with physical disabilities and hearing impairments should be registered and provided with additional help. Thus, the disabled, displaced, and homeless populations are identified as at high risk for an outreach team to offer specific services. Such patient triage is necessary to distribute available resources equally and identify which emotional or cultural needs might emerge with time.
The third task is to create a plan to lessen health disparities and improve service access. It is expected clinicians provide the population with counseling during their treatment, but communication to predict diseases is also required (Wasserman et al., 2019). Raising the community’s awareness through education for people of all ages, races, and genders is a helpful step in addressing health equity and the promotion of well-being. Resource coordination is also a good solution to help citizens avoid cultural incompetencies in a culturally fair environment (Wasserman et al., 2019). Collaboration between social services and hospitals is highly appreciated to solve the needs of the homeless and disabled individuals.
Implementing a plan to reach Healthy People 2020-2030 goals is required to ensure the population predicts diseases, infections, and disabilities. Healthy equity and literacy are promoted for people to know enough about their health (Healthy People 2030, n.d.). Regular talks about healthy diets, physical experience, no smoking, and vital signs monitoring will strengthen healthy behaviors and eliminate health disparities. Such steps do not affect the hospital budget, but timely governmental assistance improves an overall understanding of what it means to be healthy.
Finally, the team should track progress, and online activities would be the best solution in this case. The use of IT specialist services is required to compare the desired and achieved goals, identify organizational changes, calculate human resources, and report on all processes. There are many online tracers and guidelines for the community to use, and most programs are free for current digital devices. Still, technical assistance should be offered 24/7 to ensure all people’s needs are recognized and addressed.
Conclusion
In many cases, it is usually impossible, even for the most experienced groups and agencies, to predict a disaster and protect populations from all perspectives. People have to understand that professional help is not easy to offer under the pressure of a local catastrophe, but strategic planning and recovery must be promoted. However, this disaster recovery plan does not require solid financial support as it is based on collaboration and knowledge exchange.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Healthy People 2020. CDC. Web.
Healthy People 2030. (n.d.). Healthy People 2030 framework. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Web.
Local disaster recovery managers responsibilities. (2020). FEMA. Web.
Wasserman, J., Palmer, R. C., Gomez, M. M., Berzon, R., Ibrahim, S. A., & Ayanian, J. Z. (2019). Advancing health services research to eliminate health care disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 109(1), 64-69. Web.