Assessment
For this educational activity, I selected six patients, most of them living in Lawrence, Massachusetts county. The Baldpate Treatment Center is a facility located in Georgetown designed to help people with drug use and assist them in their recovery. Thus, the six patients that will participate in the initiative are vulnerable to substance abuse problems and blood-borne pathologies that correlate with their lifestyle. In the center, the individuals will be educationally supported with the objective of helping them learn about certain conditions that become more critical when injected drugs are being used. The critical objective of the assessment is to improve the health status and prevent further damage from using drugs in regard to the infections and viruses the group is prone to having. The implementation will educate the participants about the prevention measures and the mitigating factors.
Diagnosis
It is essential to examine which specific problems have to be mitigated to implement a plan aimed toward the improvement of the health status of individuals in the Lawrence community. Thus, a NANDA community nursing diagnosis can help determine the issue that affects multiple individuals and correlates with certain addiction types. In regards to physical health, one of the primary concerns is the high rate of individuals with hepatitis C. Researchers also mention this infection as a significant issue among people dealing with substance abuse (Zibbell et al., 2018). Multiple individuals have been diagnosed with HIV and other conditions that are linked to this particular diagnosis.
HIV is an immunodeficiency virus that is often acquired due to the use of syringes that are not sterile and have been used before (Paquette & Pollini, 2018). Thus, both conditions correlate with unsterile syringes, which is an illustration of the prevalent blood-borne pathogens that the group is prone to experiencing within their lifetimes.
Plan
One of the main goals of the health education activity is to sensitize the population about the risk factors of blood-borne pathogens. It is essential to educate the community members about the risks they put their bodies into when they abuse drugs like cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. This initiative will benefit individuals affected by the issue of substance abuse by informing them about correlating conditions. Another goal of the health activity is educating them on preventing blood-borne pathogens by following certain guidelines. The initiative will be executed by me and supervised and assisted by a registered nurse during the implementation.
Thus, the RN will be present during the meetings with the patient and will examine whether the information provided is relevant, ethically illustrated, and well-understood by the patient. The group will receive useful information in regards to the prevention of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. All the risk factors and mitigating techniques will be presented, which are intended to minimize the rate of infected individuals.
Implementation
While implementing the initiative, I first considered the healthcare provider that would help during the meeting. The lists that were taken during the planning process gave a roadmap of where to start. Since the group is intended to be relatively small, the main group activity will take place in one room where most information will be provided. I printed out an essay to guide the RN in regards to the topics that will be discussed and the information that will be shared during the meeting.
Afterward, each participant will be able to ask relevant questions or request a private discussion. In case a participant is willing to share some private information or ask about something that was not touched upon during the general educational meeting, they will have the opportunity to do so. Thus, it will be certain that every single patient is well-aware of all the nuances of blood-borne pathogens related to drug use and ways to mitigate such risks.
Evaluation
Assessing the patients’ information about the blood-borne pathogens will be a good starting point for initiating the SMART goals. During the beginning of the meeting, participants will be encouraged to discuss what their current knowledge is in regard to specific issues correlating with drug use. At the end of the meeting, the same question will be asked. Thus, it will be less challenging to examine whether the implementation was successful or not.
In case patients’ answers differ at the end in contrast with the initial questioning outcomes, it will be certain that the implementation has fulfilled its role. It is also essential to have written evidence of whether the outcome of educating the group was met. For this particular reason, the participant will be asked to fill in a short questionnaire where they will be able to write what they have learned and how the meeting was perceived. Moreover, the supervisor (RN) will also complete an evaluation card on whether all the information was accurate, well-verbalized, and comprehensive.
Reflection
Generally, I believe the health education activity will be extremely helpful since the participants of the meeting will be able to improve their health statuses. Due to the fact that the chosen population is vulnerable to blood-borne pathogens, it is essential to educate individuals on the risks of these infections and the tools that can be used to mitigate risk factors. Moreover, there is a possibility that the participants will share information with other people dealing with the same issues.
Thus, there is a potential for improving the health of the general population by introducing a couple of individuals to relevant information in regard to some of the conditions related to unsafe drug use. Moreover, the implementation will be supervised, which also creates a safe and educational environment.
Reference
Neicun, J., Yang, J. C., Shih, H., Nadella, P., van Kessel, R., Negri, A., Czabanowska, K., Brayne, C., & Roman-Urrestarazu, A. (2020). Lifetime prevalence of novel psychoactive substances use among adults in the USA: Sociodemographic, mental health and illicit drug use correlates. evidence from a population-based survey 2007–2014. PLOS ONE, 15(10). Web.
Paquette, C. E., & Pollini, R. A. (2018). Injection drug use, HIV/HCV, and related services in nonurban areas of the United States: A systematic review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 188, 239–250. Web.
Zibbell, J. E., Asher, A. K., Patel, R. C., Kupronis, B., Iqbal, K., Ward, J. W., & Holtzman, D. (2018). Increases in acute hepatitis C virus infection related to a growing opioid epidemic and associated injection drug use, United States, 2004 to 2014. American Journal of Public Health, 108(2), 175–181. Web.