Health Profile Assessment: Coronary Heart Disease

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Profile of the Family and Coronary Heart Disease
Healthy People 2020 Objectives and Coronary Heart Disease
Nursing Interventions Strategies
Role of the Nurse as a Care Giver
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Health Profile Assessment is a way of understanding health conditions of individuals and families. It aids individuals to make decisions relating to their health. There are certain issues that can be used to assess the health standards of individuals and families. In assessing the wellbeing of families, the assessor must note that each family is unique and their views might differ with regard to health issues. The differences in what constitutes health, social classes, ethnic backgrounds, and family behaviors are some of the factors that influence the health of families (Evans & Murray, 2003). The family assessment data can be obtained from various sources such as interviews, appraisals, and written information from agencies. It is usually appropriate to interview the entire family. In this context, each family member will have the opportunity to give his or her views. It also enables the interviewer to discern interactions among the family members. The interviewer must build a trusting relationship with the family and must inform them about the purpose of the interview. The agencies that give health information are hospitals and private practitioners. They must however ensure that the rights of the families are properly put into consideration. This paper is based on the assessment of rural black families composed of females. The health condition of interest is coronary heart disease, which is one of the leading killers among women.

Profile of the Family and Coronary Heart Disease

Families in the rural areas perceive an individual as being healthy if he or she can perform daily activities with limited hindrances. In these families, if an individual is cheerful and excited, he or she is said to be healthy. They always strive to live a positive life and are always busy as being idle is related to illness. They do not consider other conditions such as obesity as a health condition. The families also do not keep a keen watch on their nutrition. Additionally, they do not properly take care of the environment yet environmental behaviors have a great influence on health either positively or negatively. The fact that these families always encourage individuals to be busy makes the members not to prioritize sleep and rest.

The other notable habit of rural families is that they hardly exercise. This is mainly influenced by their perception of exercise in addition to other probable barriers. However, these behaviors and beliefs of the rural families greatly influence their health. One condition that greatly affects these rural families (composed of women) is the coronary heart disease. These families are at high risk of acquiring the disease due to their lifestyles, especially the lack of exercise (Bomar, 2004). The disease is also influenced by other conditions such as obesity as indicated earlier. These families do not consider obesity as a health threat due to ignorance. The theory of this paper is that the lack of exercise in these families is the reason for them being at high risk to coronary heart disease.

Healthy People 2020 Objectives and Coronary Heart Disease

One of the objectives of Healthy People 2020 is the improvement of cardiovascular health and the quality of life. This is achievable through prevention, early detection, and treatment of conditions leading to cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, the other objectives of healthy people 2020 are to identify and treat heart attacks and prevent their repetition (Institute of Medicine, 2011). Coronary heart disease is one that affects the heart and thus is included in the objectives of healthy people 2020. The heart conditions including coronary heart disease have been included since they are among the leading causes of death. The heart conditions affect these families because they have high risk for heart disease. They have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and are usually overweight. Additionally, their poor dietary behaviors and physical inactivity expose them to the coronary heart disease.

The control factors likely prevent coronary heart diseases are critical. The lifestyle of some families usually encourages the development of heart diseases. The inclusion of management of coronary heart disease in the objectives of the healthy people 2020 is due to its adverse effects and the economic losses. It is one of the leading causes of death and disability and decreases the quality of life. Additionally, it leads to losses that range in hundreds of billions yearly. The burden of the disease is distributed disproportionately to the population. The disparities in the distribution rely on gender, age, race and socio economic conditions (Institute of Medicine, 2011). It also depends on the ethnic background of an individual. The black families in the rural areas, especially those composing of women, are at high risk since they fit all these categories.

Nursing Interventions Strategies

There are various strategies that may be employed to assist these families deal with the coronary heart disease. These strategies usually depend on the assessment of the family and diagnoses made. In addition to this, the strategies depend on the cohesion of the family, the strength of the family, and the goals aimed at. The intervention strategies are tailor made to suit the particular family of interest. The interventions may be either direct or indirect or can be a combination of the two. The nurse coordinating the intervention strategy is likely to find new information that was previously not available during assessment (Evans & Murray, 2003). This means that the intervention strategy has to be flexible and adaptable so as to enable success.

The intervention strategies can also be general in nature. In this context, the intervention strategy that these high risk families may need begin with provision of education regarding the importance of exercise and its relationship with good health. The nurse can then involve the vulnerable families in designing ways to incorporate exercise in their lives. Similarly, the nurse has to understand their reasons for not exercising including the social and cultural barriers incorporated. This method of intervention can be summarized as the Calgary Family Intervention Model, which is an important provision in this context. This model mainly depends on the relationship of the nurse and the family with special focus on the acceptance of the intervention activities by the family members (Wright & Leahey, 2000). The nurse has to properly determine the activities that can change and thus enable these families manage or prevent the coronary heart disease. The nurse has to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the method and also monitor the changes in the health of the members.

Role of the Nurse as a Care Giver

In this context, a nurse is the person who comes up with an intervention strategy. He or she (the concerned nurse) must be the one to assess the family. This can be done through interviewing the family objectively. The nurse must also ensure that he or she considers ethical issues when conducting the interviews. Nurses have the roles to monitor and evaluate intervention processes. Additionally, the concerned nurse must consider changes that occur during the process and must incorporate any new information that comes up during the implementation of the strategy. The other role of the nurse is to check the participation of the family members. An important consideration of the nurse is never to lay blame on anybody in case the family does not approve an intervention method (Bomar, 2004). Lastly, the concerned nurse has to coordinate the formation of any partnership between the family members.

Conclusion

Health profile assessment helps individuals understand their health conditions and assist them make critical decisions. These assessments provide information that may be used to assist individuals and families improve their wellbeing. This paper took special consideration of black families comprising of females in the rural areas who are at high risk to coronary heart disease. The idea is that these families do not engage in exercise and thus are at high risk of acquiring the disease. Their conceptualization of health and the lifestyle they live exposes them to the disease. The prevention and control of heart diseases is one of the objectives of the government through its agency known as Healthy People 2020. This is because it is one of the leading causes of death and leads to high economic damages annually. However, the burden of this is usually on these families. The paper also discussed some of the intervention strategies and specifically focused on Calgary Family Intervention Model due to its appropriateness in these cases.

References

Bomar, P. (2004). Promoting health in families: Applying family research and theory to nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders.

Evans, D. & Murray, C. (2003). Health systems performance assessment: Debates, methods and empiricism. Geneva: WHO.

Institute of Medicine (US). (2011). Leading health indicators for healthy people 2020: Letter report. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Wright, L. & Leahey, M. (2000). Nurses and families: A guide to family assessment and intervention. Philadelphia, PA: Davis.

Click Here To Order Now!