Hennepin County: Community Assessment Essay

The interviewee’s name was Linda Paul who works at the Hennepin County Medical Center as a community and public health officer. Linda has been engaged at the institution since its inception and has continually been on-site, giving health evaluations and treatment to facility residents and anyone who may be sent or referred to the facility.

During the interview, it became clear that several societal factors impacted the present health of residents in Hennepin County. First, here is a summary of the key socioeconomic determinants of health on which I based my analysis of the interview data and an explanation of their significance: involvement in and access to support networks from the community, costs, literacy, income, stress, language, employment, social integration, access to healthier alternatives, availability of providers, health coverage, and quality of care. It was crucial to evaluate these socioeconomic factors to identify healthcare requirements, necessary measures to be taken, and minimize healthcare inequities.

Questions

1. Describe an average day at work.
2. What does it entail to work in community health?
3. What are the primary medical conditions that the facility focuses on treating?
4. What is the average number of mental health cases you handle monthly?
5. Which conditions connected explicitly to aging are more common at the facility?
6. What primary emergency services do you provide to fall patients, especially the elderly?
7. Which health condition do you deal with the most frequently in this facility?
8. How frequently do you hear complaints from individuals in your community about their poor health conditions?
9. What steps have you made to guarantee that the occurrence of this problem has decreased among the elderly who are not enrolled as members of the facility and among your members?
10. Are there any community-based initiatives promoting excellent care currently underway?
11. How is the neighborhood’s ability to obtain insurance?
12. Are residents in the area informed about health issues?
13. How do you serve individuals from diverse cultures?
14. What are the challenges you experience as a community health provider?
15. In your opinion, how effective are our health care systems in providing patients with high-quality treatment?
16. What advice would you provide college candidates who aspire to hold a position similar to yours?

Key Findings

It was determined from the interview that the community health worker’s primary responsibility is to offer the community’s residents basic medical and health care. Most of the treatment they give these populations is preventative, promotional, and rehabilitation. The primary health problems Linda highlighted to treat included disorders affecting the mind, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and dementia.

In addition, the interview with Linda revealed that diabetes is the most common health problem that she deals with at the clinic. She has educated people on the best foods to eat and lifestyle modifications they need to make to lessen the condition’s occurrence. According to Linda, seniors may prevent most health problems associated with aging by exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet.

In addition, the community lacks several essential medical tools, which significantly threatens the lives of those who rely on the information and skills they have learned in nursing programs and institutions. The scenario could be a factor in low worker retention and knowledge gaps. Linda voiced worry that a lack of medical equipment would result in carelessness, malpractice, or even patient fatalities, which would prompt legal action against the hospital.

In Hennepin County, a key issue is low health literacy. The literacy levels of the roughly 500 thousand persons in Hennepin county regarding healthy living are weaker compared to other neighboring counties in the state, which may compromise the standard of their medical care. Being uninformed about health is linked to poor health outcomes. According to the interview, limited knowledge of healthy living is linked to more emergency room visits, hospitalizations, fewer mammograms, and flu shots, a lower ability to demonstrate proper medication use, a lower ability to decipher health messages and drug labels, and, among older adults, a higher mortality rate and a lower overall health status.

According to mounting evidence from the interview, language barriers have a direct influence on the standard of patient treatment. Language difficulties affect communication between medical professionals and patients and patient and provider satisfaction. Patients who have language problems are more likely to need more medical services and have more unfavorable outcomes.

Food insecurity exists in the county of Hennepin. Individuals cannot get nutritious and healthy foods, a factor that has contributed to low immunity. As a result, it has seen an increase in the number of those suffering from malnutrition since their bodies cannot fight the infestations. However, the county’s local government has partnered with companies to help provide healthy food services through open shops where individuals receive them at relatively lower prices. Additionally, the state department and the local government have made it a priority to ensure that those who cannot afford healthy food are attended to in social homes developed.