The Community Assessment Survey was a complex project that included several important parts. Before starting the collection of demographic and health status information, I needed to determine the community and population to participate in the survey. I focused on assessing the community’s members of Collier County, Florida. I used Public Health Nursing Assessment Tool (PHNAT) to assess the health status of the selected population effectively (Trujillo-Londirgan & Lewenson, 2013, p. 67). The process of filling in Parts I and II of the PHNAT was rather easy. Thus, I filled in sections on Determinants of Health in the community and completed an Analysis of Health Status.
The important stage of the project was the interpretation of the collected data. I have learned that such factors as age, race, and gender can be discussed as significant determinants of health along with data on social and physical environment and status. I have found that the adult and elderly population represents the majority in the community, and it is necessary to address these people’s needs while providing services. Furthermore, I learned that the social situation and income are also key factors in influencing people’s health. Thus, many people in the assessed community live below the poverty line and many persons are exposed to risky behaviors. In addition, access to health services is limited, waste management is poor, and the rates of substance abuse are high.
Focusing on the collected data, I completed the analysis of the community’s health status and found that the population of Collier County suffers from such communicable and non-communicable diseases as obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, Tuberculosis, cancer, and Trichomoniasis. Furthermore, the rate of suicides is also high in the community. The experience and knowledge received during the completion of the project helped me understand that these results were rather predictable and determined by the factors identified during the first stage of the community’s assessment.
That is why the collected data and completed analysis were useful to prioritize the public health issues in Collier County during the third stage of the project. I determined such risks related to the community’s health status as obesity, access to primary care, diabetes, substance abuse, and suicides. I have learned how to prioritize public health needs to achieve the highest result (Finkelman & Kenner, 2014, p. 112). I chose to focus on the problem of obesity because of its prevalence in adults of Collier County. Furthermore, obesity is one of the causes of diabetes and heart diseases. Addressing the problem of overweight, I could expect more positive health outcomes for the adult population of Collier County.
The next important step was the development of an effective plan to address the issue of obesity in the community. I assessed the existing programs and found that they were ineffective to respond to the population’s needs and decrease the obesity rates. Furthermore, I have learnt how to work with Minnesota Intervention Strategies to develop the efficient implementation plan and designed the new Collier County Overweight Prevention Program to provide resources for decreasing the obesity rate in the community. The most challenging task was to propose effective interventions following the data collected during the assessment.
Finally, I reflected on the role of Community Assessment Survey for my practice as a nurse and discussed the general importance of public health assessments in nursing. I should state that development of the project provided me with many opportunities to understand the connection between different social, environmental, physical, and individual factors and health status of the community.
References
Finkelman, A., & Kenner, C. (2014). Professional nursing concepts. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Trujillo-Londirgan, M., & Lewenson, S. B. (2013). Public health nursing: Practical population based-based care. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.