The Role of Program Development in Maintaining a Healthy Population

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Introduction

Health is a crucial aspect of a community. It affects the economic, social and political aspect of that community. Therefore, a community must maintain a healthy population that could enable them to prosper in the three fields. On this light, the health departments put efforts to understand the state of health in a given population (Doyal & Pennell, 1979). As a result, they carry out community assessment which acts as a partner model. Community assessment seeks to identify the health needs and challenges that exist within the population living in that community. Based on the assessment, they make the necessary diagnosis for the population. In this paper, we will consider the veterans living in Jeffersontown.

History

In 1700s, veterans and colonialist started settling in the area referred as Jeffersontown today. The settling took place amidst threats of attack by the Indians. Many people settled to the northern parts of Ohio River in search of arable land. Bruner bought 122 acres of land that was under a forest. He aimed at bringing up a city at the junction of two roads. The other settlers obtained land from him where they built shops and markets. Consequently, a town was established gradually. Settlers established various businesses making the town active and busy. Gradually, they established settlements that eliminated the tiresome journeys from Louisville town. As a result, most of the people inhabiting Jeffersontown are veterans (Johnston & Jeffersontown, 1997). In fact, the town has a veteran’s memorial park which occupies 25 acres. In this paper, we shall analyze and focus on the veterans found in this town.

Demography

According to the census that was carried out in the 2010, the town had about 26595 people. Based on this census, the households were approximately 10653 and the numbers of families were 7275. The population had a density of 1033 per square kilometer. The city has a mixture of races. It comprised of 87 percent white Americans, 9 percent black American, 0.2 percent Native Americans, 1.8 percent Asians, 0.03 percent from the island of pacific, and 1.14 percent from other races. The remaining population originated from racial combinations (Farley & Haaga, 2011).

The households within the city were ten thousand, six hundred and fifty three. 32 percent of the household had dependent children. 54 percent of the households were in marriage and living together with their couples. Eleven percent were single females, 32 percent were non-families and 26 percent living individually. In addition, 6 percent of the households had individuals with at least 65 years. From statistics, it was clear that the population reduced from 26633 since 2000. This is a reduction of about 0.1 %.

Most of the population ranged from the age of 25 to 44 years. In fact, the median age was thirty six years. The number of people under the age of eighteen was approximately twice the number of those past the age of sixty five years. The population, thus, portrayed gender imbalance. In this case, 93 percent of the population comprised the males. This gender imbalance is a crucial factor in health. Four percent of the families were below the poverty line. Although the poor population is low, it raises health concerns that should be addressed.

Morbidity and Mortality

In general, Jeffersontown (in Kentucky) experiences a state of good health. However, the population is affected by some diseases which cause mortality and ill health. The diseases include cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These diseases are caused by risk factors that can be controlled. The risk factors include smoking, poor dieting and inactivity. The most challenging risk factor is tobacco smoking. From statistics, 29 percent of adults smoke tobacco (Erhardt & Berlin, 1974). In fact, fifty percent of the deaths are attributed to smoking. In addition, insufficient physical activities have increased the cases of obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Other risk factors that lead to illnesses and deaths include motor accidents and criminal violence. This implies that the morbidity and mortality can be controlled easily in Jeffersontown. Moreover, health care officers should determine the causes of gender imbalance and address them appropriately. This will ensure that the roles of females related to health are not neglected in the society.

Health Strengths and Needs

The health status of Jefferson town has various strengths that make the population to stabilize its economy. Firstly, the population is affected by very few endemic diseases. Most of the diseases arise due to poor lifestyle behaviors. This implies that the population suffers from diseases that can be controlled and eliminated. For example, the population can control the cancerous diseases by reducing tobacco smoking. They can, also, control the cardiovascular diseases by carrying out physical practices. In addition, the city does not experience a lot of pollution from industries. Consequently, the population is less prone to diseases that are brought about by pollution. However, there are various healthcare needs within the city. First, the population should abandon the risk activities that expose them to diseases. These activities include smoking tobacco, inactivity and taking poor diets. They should, also, adhere to rules that ensure road safety and transport to reduce the motor vehicle accidents.

Education

Education is a crucial pillar in maintaining health. It provides people with necessary information which enable them to keep good health. Educated people consider preventive measure and engage in behaviors which benefit their health. In Jeffersontown the level of graduation from high school is low. From statistics, only a few schools meet the national level of graduation. Consequently, the population with bachelor degrees is low. This has adverse effects on the health of the population.

Safety and Transport

Motor vehicle accidents pose challenges to the health of Jefferson town. Safe transport is, therefore, an issue of crucial concern. The government has put a safety belt law. This law ensures that the passengers are safe during transport. It asserts that the officials can arrest the motorists who do not use seat belt. In addition, the authority has put up a law that governs licensing operations. In this law, a driver must graduate in driving before getting a license. Also, it puts restriction on teenage driving. It denies the teenagers a freedom to drive between midnight and 6 a.m. This law helps to reduce cases of teenage crashing in accidents. The two laws are considered primary rather than secondary laws.

Politics and Government

Governance of a community is a major player in maintaining good health. It determines the availability of health resources. It, also, enforces the laws which aim at preventing deaths and promoting health. Jefferson runs under governance of the mayor. The mayors hold the position for four years. After four years, the mayor vacates the office allowing for an election. This mayor is the administrative body which enforces the law, controls finances, advises the county council, and appoints the members of various boards. They, also, monitor the tax payment system. This tax determines the amount of fund that is available to the health care facilities in the town. In this case, the maintenance of good health relies on the nature of mayor’s governance. A reluctant and corrupt mayor decreases the effectiveness of the health care system.

Health and Social services

Mainly, health depends on the availability of facilities and services. Hospitals and other health care facilities are fairly distributed in the city. Most of them have enough health care personnel. However, the town suffers from insufficient primary care officers. The deficiency of primary care personnel brings about negative health status.

For social services, the city has various social facilities. These social facilities include parks and city halls. For example, the veterans enjoy the services that are offered by the Veterans Memorial Park. The park has six pavilions and two playgrounds. The pavilions are used for holding events and resting. On the other hand, the playgrounds are used for the purpose of recreation. To the veterans, recreation is very crucial because it helps them to fight lifestyle diseases and promote health.

Economy

Jefferson is a large source of job opportunities and employments. It has the Bluegrass Park that occupies 1800 acres. This holds many businesses that enable the veterans to earn income. Recently, it holds more than eight hundred and fifty businesses. In relation to health, the increased income helps the veterans to afford health care services. It, also, enable them to take balanced diet which curb the lifestyle diseases and promote good health. However, some veterans are unable to afford employment in the town. Consequently, they are below the poverty level leading to poor dieting and lack of health care facilities. This poses an important health care challenge to the community of Jefferson Town.

Conclusive Analysis

From the data above, we conclude that the community of Jefferson Town does not have extreme health challenges. The area portrays economic stability and satisfactory governance. The area enjoys recreational and social facilities which form the basic tools of making a healthy community. From the demographics, we understand that the largest population is independent. Consequently, the population can afford health services and other facilities that maintain health. Therefore, the population is elevated above basic health challenges which affect most areas of the developing countries.

However, it is challenged by crucial risk factors that expose the population to illnesses and death. However, the community can realize better health condition if they chose the right lifestyle behaviors. This implies that the population has the power to control their health conditions. We, also, conclude that the governance of the city should employ more primary care physicians than the number employed today. The additional primary care physicians would capitalize on prevention of diseases and reduce the cases of curing diseases.

Community Nursing Diagnosis

Based on the research, it is evident that the main health challenges arise from poor lifestyle behaviors that expose the population to ill health. Consequently, the main diagnosis is creation of awareness against those risk factors. The healthcare officers and other stakeholders should establish programs to campaign against tobacco smoking, poor dieting and reckless driving. They should organize for public health education to teach people about proper dietary behaviors in institutions and hospitals. Principally, the public awareness against behavioral risk factors is the surest way towards good health. This will ensure that the level of terminal illnesses and rate of mortality are reduced.

References

Doyal, L., & Pennell, I. (1979). The political economy of health. London: Pluto Press.

Erhardt, C. L., & Berlin, J. E. (1974). Mortality and morbidity in the United States. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Farley, R., & Haaga, J. (2011). The American people: Census 2000. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Johnston, J. T., & Jeffersontown, K. (1997). Jeffersontown, Kentucky, the first 200 years: a pictorial history of Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and surrounding community. Jeffersontown, KY: City of Jeffersontown.

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