Community Health Nursing: Gold Coast in Australia

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Community Profile

The community under consideration has its own strong and weak issues, this is why to get a clear understanding of how it may cope with the problems caused by diseases, it is necessary to evaluate its social, economical, and other factors. The Gold Coast is a city situated in Australia and more specifically in the southeast part of Queensland. In comparison to other Australian cities, it takes sixth place according to its population. This city is very beautiful with plenty of canals, waterways, beaches, and a good climate since it is a subtropical region. Gold Coast City consists of numerous suburbs and rural localities such as Belivah, Bilinga, Coomera, Gaven, Homview, etc. In general, the size of Gold Coast City is about 1400 square kilometers (Gold Coast City, 2010); and Yugambeh people occupy the vast part of the territory. Though beaches in this city occupy more than 55 kilometers, its navigable waterways promote the development of relations with other communities. As for the population of this community, it is not always easy to give clear numbers within a short period because such aspects as migration, number of visitors, and population characteristics have to be taken into consideration. In general, the total population of Gold Coast City with overseas visitors is about 470,000 people; among which only 300,000 are Australian-born.

The population changes are also connected to the process of migration that is inherent to this part of the world. Migration is considered to be one of the most significant movements of people into and out of the chosen area. What is necessary to admit is that this movement influence considerably the characteristics of the population as well as the community’s aspirations. The statistics show the migration of people between 35 and 45 years is the most frequent. Then people under 25 – 34 years want to change their location. The most stable people are under 65 years and over (Gold Coast City Council, 2010).

Age differentiation of population plays a very important role as well because it usually influences the level of demands and services provided. With the help of comparison of the chosen community with the one of the South East Queensland, it is evident that there is a huge portion of people under 35-49 who live in the community, and the smaller portion turns out to be people under 85 and over. What is more dramatic is the fact that children under 1-4 years take also the smallest portion of the population. It means that people do not focus on giving birth but do aim at promoting their careers and desire to become independent and free. The question of employment in the chosen community has to be discussed as well because Gold Coast is characterized by numerous employment opportunities for people of different ages, ethnicity, and status. Even though Gold Coast City has an unemployment rate that is lower than the national one, the representatives of this community do not suffer because of the inability to find a good job and earn enough money to meet all their needs. Such local industries like tourism, film production, and economy are regarded as the main ones which promote the community’s development and recognition in the world. During several past years, the economy of the city was considerably driven by such industries as construction, retailing, and tourism, of course. Due to constant and reliable water channels, this community becomes able to develop other spheres of business such as distant education, marine, international communications, sport, environment, etc.

Public Health Care System

The Gold Coast Hospital is situated at South port attending more than fifty-eight thousand cases per year. Robina is another hospital that has a rehabilitation center, wards for psychiatric patients, and also wards for the patients who are in an emergency. The Gold Coast Hospital at Southport plays a very important role in the life of the city.

It has an impact on the health care system as well as on education because it promoted numerous training of professionals. Lifestyle diseases are their main problems and the following reference gives information about cardiovascular disease and the possibility of Ischemic heart disease due to their lifestyle. “Cancers and cardiovascular disease were the leading broad cause groups, together causing more than one-third of the total burden of disease and injury in Qld. The lifestyle-related disease is among the leading causes of burden. Leading risk factors are tobacco, high body mass, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, and high cholesterol” (Gold cost chronic disease steering group chronic disease strategy, n.d., p.2). Ischemic Heart Disease is a dangerous illness especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. The world has more concerned about the disease since it is one of the killer diseases in the world. This paper presents a community practice for a health professional to tackle the problem of Ischemic heart disease. The main elements of the community practice are the organization of the community by making sure the dynamic participation of people, professionals, and organizations, social planning that provides importance for the researches, human service management intending maximum utilization of the human resources, community development, policy analysis which means the participation of the scientific bodies, policy advocacy, evaluation to strengthen the practice to be useful for the people, mediation, electronic advocacy by use of websites and e-mail and other larger interventions such as primary intervention and secondary intervention. This paper has presented some of the results of the study done to assess the community practice for ischemic heart disease.

The term Ischemic Heart Disease is found in the medical dictionary commonly known as coronary artery disease. It is defined as a state of the patient in which there is the growth of fat deposits in the cells of coronary arteries leading to the incapacity of the vessels to receive sufficient oxygen. This accumulation of fat grows in the branches of two coronary arteries. “The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle and no alternative blood supply exists, so a blockage in the coronary arteries reduces the supply of blood to the heart muscle. Most ischemic heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis, usually present even when the artery lumens appear normal by angiography” (Islamic heart disease, 2010, para.3). It reduces the distribution of the blood to the organs of the body. Since there is no proper blood circulation in the body, the different organs would feel pain. When the patient is not able to receive sufficient oxygen, he feels very tired and fatigued. “Ischemia is a decrease in the blood supply to a bodily organ, tissue, or part caused by constriction or obstruction of the blood vessels, and it is the proper medical term for reduced blood flow to the heart” (Cowley, 2008, para.1). There are several risk factors in connection with Ischemic Heart Disease even though the exact cause is unknown. Some of the signs and symptoms that are shown in the patient who is suffering from Ischemic heart disease are burning, squeezing, and pain in the joints especially around the neck and jaw. “The presence of Tendon Xanthomas, thickening of the Achilles Tendon and Arcus Lipidus in young patients, all of which may indicate a hereditary Hyperlipidemia” (Diseases and conditions: Islamic heart disease, 2009, para.5).

The latest report on this disease claims that it would become more and more dangerous for the health of the people. “IHD by itself is the most common single cause of death in the EU, accounting for 741.000 deaths each year. Around one in six men (16%) and over one in seven women (15%) die from the disease” (Islamic heart disease: Mortality, 2009, para.1). The death rate in the United State due to Ischemic Heart Disease is very high and the report on this issue is of great concern. This is one of the main reasons for mortality in America. It can be observed among developed nations and underdeveloped nations. “In 1989, approximately 500,000 persons died from ischemic heart disease (IHD), the leading cause of death in the United States” (Trends in ischemic heart disease mortality – the United States, 1980-1988, 1992, para.1). Many people are affected by the disease without any symptoms. “An estimated 14 million people in the United States have ischemic heart disease. As many as 4 million have a few or no symptoms and are unaware that they are at risk for angina (angina pectoris), heart attack (myocardial infarction), or sudden death” (Islamic heart disease, 2002, para.8). General measures suggested by the professionals are stopping smoking, medications to lower cholesterol and fat, doing regular exercises, maintaining proper body weight, stress management, and surgery to bypass heart coronary arteries. There are four types of medications such as beta-blockers which help to lower the resting heart rate, nitrates which are used to dilatation of blood vessels, calcium channel antagonists which are taken for the prevention of blood vessels from constricting and anti-platelet drugs for the prevention of forming clot on the fatty plaques.

Community Practice for Health Professional

Community practice for Ischemic Heart Disease in Gold Coast should include the following things such as community organizing that ensures the dynamic cooperation between various bodies, social planning that brings social factors together to design the pattern of the community practice, human service management to use and lead the professionals in the practice, community development, policy analysis that unites the different policies declared on the issue, policy advocacy to provide the awareness about the severity of the problem, evaluation has to be conducted to make more advantages for the people, mediation, electronic advocacy, and other interventions. Other interventions are primary interventions and secondary interventions. Primary intervention tries not to spread the disease among the population. But secondary intervention focuses to have control over the disease and eradicating it absolutely from society. The following factors are of community practice.

Community Organizing

This method is used in various countries to address local health issues. Some diseases can be prevented only by the cooperation of some public and private organizations, leaders, and the public. Their active involvement is very important to face the challenges posed by some diseases such as AIDS, Cancer, etc. Cooperation and involvement from various categories of people are necessary to prevent the problem of ischemic heart disease. “Strategically planned interventions are organized by local groups or organizations to bring about intended social or health changes” (Community organization, 2010, para.1). There must be coordination and co-operation between social organizations and people to bring up a community practice to prevent Ischemic heart disease. Major sectors for community organizations are the participation of government, hospitals, schools, and media.

Social Planning

“Social planning is a process that helps communities identify strengths and weaknesses and determines ways to improve the quality of life in the community” (Social planning activities of community development Halton, 2010, para.1). It should be planned on how to reach the awareness of the disease among the people. There are neglected diseases that would challenge the well-being of humanity. Social planning is necessary to bring the challenges of disease forward.

Community Development

In the case of Ischemic Heart Disease, many organizations have to work together. There would be some positive changes according to the work of the organizations. Community development means the facilitation and support given to those organizations and individuals. This program such as community based-researches will help the researcher to identify the morbidity and mortality due to ischemic heart disease. Community-based demonstrations on the issues of the disease will help the people to understand the severity of the disease. “The Community Development Society (CDS) believes that community is a basic building block of society… community is complex and multi-dimensional and that the human dimension, which is capable of growth and development, is the most critical aspect of community” (The role of community in economic & disaster recovery, 2010, para.4).

Policy Analysis

“In the field of policy analysis and advocacy, the focus of the efforts has been on academia including the international professional and scientific bodies, governments of various countries including India and business communities” (Advocacy and policy analysis, 2001, para.1). The community practice should encompass policy analysis also to coordination between scientific bodies and business communities to tackle the problem of ischemic heart disease. Without the participation of the scientific body in issues, there will not be authenticity in the policies. It should include local bodies and international bodies. There should be an open discussion for the control of the disease.

Policy Advocacy

“Public policy advocacy is the effort to influence public policy through various forms of persuasive communication. The public policy includes statements, policies, or prevailing practices imposed by those in authority to guide or control institutional, community, and sometimes individual behavior” (Definition of public policy advocacy, n.d., para.1). Public advocacy plays a pertinent role in the communication of an issue. In the case of Ischemic Heart Disease, it is very important to control the disease. The main intention of public advocacy is to bring awareness through different forms of communication. There are various statements, policies, and prevailing practices to avoid the existing serious situation of ischemic disease. All these things should be informed through public advocacy. People will have misperceptions regarding the disease and it is necessary to change such misunderstanding prevailed in society and the individual behavior.

Human Service Management

Each program is run by various people who are professionals and who are not professionals. The practice becomes successful when everyone does his or her entrusted work. Human resource management assists them to maximize their production and participation in the program. “Human services management occurs in non-profit, governmental, and for-profit sectors and involves a wide variety of organizational structures” (Austin, 2002, para.1). There would be so many professionals working in a community practice since it includes various organizations, health professionals, fund providers, involvement of local people, etc. People in an organization or practice are human resources. The community practice for Ischemic Heart Disease also includes doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, leaders of the organizations, representatives of international bodies, researchers, and local people. The management of human resources including these professionals plays a crucial role in the well functioning of the organization thereby the good implementation of the practice.

Evaluation

Evaluation is the rib of every practice, conducted according to the duration of the practice. It could be done once a week or once a month or once a year according to the need. Here, the evaluation must be focused on the changes due to the practice in the society, reaching of the practice among the people, usefulness of the practice for the people and human resource management, coordination and cooperation between the professionals and the people. “Systematic evaluation is an integral part of the organization and delivery of community oral health care programs, ensuring the effectiveness of these community-based interventions” (Pertersen & Kwan, 2004, para.1). Evaluation will bring some important points on which the community practice should be revolved. It will show the new sphere of the action of the community practice. Evaluation is the basic element for every program. It finds out the advantages and disadvantages of the program. This helps to assess whether the program is helpful to the people or not.

The Community Mediation Programmes

“The community mediation programs have been able to remain flexible enough to borrow from, and straddle, various streams of professional thought-the most common being law and psychology, but also drawing on political science, peace studies education, policing, government, town planning, social sciences and others” (Spencer & Brogan, 2006,p. 139). Mediation helps us integrate knowledge from various disciplines. The information about Ischemic Heart Disease can be drawn from sciences, geography, law, and history. Mediation is an important factor in community practice.

Electronic Advocacy

“Electronic advocacy (also known as cyber-activism, online organizing, techno activism, and internet activism) is an emerging social work practice in which technologies such as email, websites, and podcasts are used for cause-related fundraising, lobbying, volunteering, community building, and organizing” (Electronic advocacy, n.d., para.1). Today there is no community practice without electronic advocacy. Information on the practice is conveyed through electronic media. The various factors of community practice are fundraising which is necessary for the function and run of the practice, lobbying to bring substantial social changes, volunteering to provide a higher quality of the practice, and organizing, and these are conducted by the use of electronic advocacy. Therefore, the advocacy on Ischemic Heart Disease also will be done through electronic media that can communicate very easily. The use of websites and e-mail are the main mediums of electronic advocacy. Everyone has the access to the internet today. Everyone can communicate anything within seconds. These advanced technologies are used for communication. Television is a medium for advertisement and news.

Conclusion

This paper is the epitome of what is community practice for ischemic heart disease. To get clear answers to all the above-mentioned questions, it is very important to identify the main characteristics of the community and evaluate its ethical, age, and social limitations. In this paper, the community profile helps to define the strong and weak sides of the community that is going to deal with IHD and its outcomes. Various factors of the community practice are properly described in the paper so that it becomes easy to define what factors may influence the development of the disease and which factors may be used to analyze and prevent this disease from spreading. At the end of the research, it was discovered that smoking is one of the predominant factors that lead to Ischemic heart disease. The main cause for the development of the disease is fatty and cholesterol contained food. Tension, anxiety, and stress should be avoided from life and the patient has to bring new lifestyles being pleasant with the environment. Each intervention aims to help the people, this is why it is necessary to clear up how the community can use its interventions and improve the health care system to help people be ready for the disease under consideration and take the necessary precautions in time.

Reference List

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