The Problem of Tuberculosis in the American Local Community

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Table of Contents

Overview
First Part: Analyzing the Community
Intervention Strategies
Assessing the Project
References

Overview

The local community has always suffered from lack of critical information as regards to the prevention of tuberculosis. Many people in the community have little knowledge concerning the management and prevention of tuberculosis. This project will aim at coming up with mechanisms through which the community will prevent and manage the disease since it is considered one of the killer diseases among the locals.

The project will aim at empowering the community to take precautionary measures in addressing the challenges that the disease poses. In many hospitals, people are diagnosed with the disease yet preventive treatment is not given. Others contract the disease while in the hospital because of poor hygienic conditions and sanitation.

Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that affects each person in society if preventive measures are not adopted. The project will aim at changing the people’s perceptions towards the disease because people think that those close to them cannot infect them with the disease. The issue came into my attention after a reported case whereby a close relative could not take preventive measures when caring for the sick suffering from TB.

The healthy caregiver ended up contracting the disease simply because of ignorance. Indeed, research shows that many people contract tuberculosis out of ignorance. The project will mobilize the locals to utilize the available preventive strategies in keeping away from the dangers that the disease poses (Anderson, 1988).

The community deals with the issue in a very casual manner because it does not accept the reality that tuberculosis is real and can affect any family member. The sick end up transmitting the disease from one person to the other without knowing. The public health ministry is in charge of curtailing the effects of the disease, but it is reluctant to liaise with the community to resolve the issue.

Apart from the government, through the public health ministry, other stakeholders are also involved in dealing with the disease. However, other stakeholders, which are mostly non-governmental organizations, have failed in addressing the challenges that the disease poses. Many stakeholders are quick to provide curative measures instead of providing preventing measures.

Tuberculosis is a communicable disease implying that preventive measures would be better than even curative measures. Currently, the community utilizes isoniazed drugs to cure the disease because it was very effective in the 20^th century.

Moreover, the drug was cost effective and safe as compared to other forms of drugs in the market at the time. However, the drug is no longer effective in curing the disease in the 21^st century because of the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (Reamer, 1994).

In this paper, it is recommended that some strategies should be adopted, which will go a long way to prevent the spread of the disease. The intervention strategies will go a long way to help the locals in understanding the spread of the disease. This will definitely help them in controlling the spread of the disease in the community.

First Part: Analyzing the Community

The local community is a mid-level income community that does not have the highest level of education as compared to other Americans. The community lives peacefully meaning that interactions in society are based on traditional beliefs and principles. Members of society will never leave one of their own to suffer, even though the disease is said to be communicable.

The social bonds tying the community are very strong. In the community, the rate at which tuberculosis kills the locals stands at 32%. Similarly, the community relies on case management, direct-observed treatment, and short course as the only methods of prevention. Even though the community utilizes the above-mentioned strategies, the disease is still the burden among locals because its prevalence is shocking.

In this regard, correct knowledge and positive perception are considered some of the strategies that would bring to an end the effects of the disease. This means that the community must change its attitudes and practices if it is to wipe out tuberculosis. For this to happen, some community workers work must intervene using some of the best intervention strategies.

In the project, community members will be involved in discussions aimed at coming up with the techniques through which people suffering from the disease would be handled and treated. In one of the studies conducted in the community, it was established that tuberculosis is still a major public health problem.

The report suggested that the disease is mainly transmitted air. Based on this, the project will aim at sensitizing the community to ensure that fresh air is always available in closed places. The community lacks sufficient knowledge regarding the transmission of the disease.

When community members suspect the disease, they simply rush into self-medication treatment instead of seeking professional advice and treatment. In other words, the community has a tendency of addressing the disease without seeking consultation from the local clinics. According to medical records, the cure of tuberculosis takes at least eight months.

This knowledge is unavailable in the among the community members. Those suspecting to be suffering from the disease rely on friends and relatives for critical information regarding the cure and management of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is a serious disease that causes death if treatment is not sought at the early stage. The disease is transmitted in almost all settings implying that proper hygiene and other preventive measures play a critical role in keeping off the spread of the disease. Healthy individuals are at risk of contracting the disease in case they are exposed to the affected individuals.

In 1960s, countries utilized isoniazed drugs to cure the disease because it was very effective. Moreover, the drug was cost effective and safe as compared to other forms of drugs in the market. However, the drug is no longer effective in curing the disease because of the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (Agrawal, Udwadia, Rodriguez, & Mehta, 2009).

A number of countries have come up with policies and practices aiming at containing the influence of the disease in society. In the United States, management policies are based on a systematic evaluation of spread risks, either in the facility or in homes. In this regard, priority is always given to policies aiming at detecting the disease at an early stage because it is easy to manage it at a tender stage.

Upon detection of the disease, those with the symptoms of the disease are usually isolated in order to prevent further spread. This practice is usually considered a precaution because the disease is easily transmitted through the air. In country, the treatment of the disease takes place after detection and isolation.

It should be noted that practices aiming at preventing the spread of the disease in the local community are different from those applied in other parts of the country. This is because of low level of understanding and high ignorance. The level of supervision, funding, support, and monitoring of the policies and practices are poor in the local community.

While the main concern of other parts of the country is to detect the cases of tuberculosis in society, the main concern of this local community is to ensure that technical excellence is achieved in the treatment of the disease (Vijay, Swaminathan, & Vaidyanathan, 2009). This project will aim at ensuring that stakeholders play their roles to bring about technical excellence.

While the sick are taken to hospitals, clinics, emergency care giving centers, correctional facilities, home-based healthcare centers, long-term care centers, outreach settings, and homeless shelters in many parts of the country, the sick in the local community are taken care by their families mainly because many people are unable to afford the costs associated with specialized care.

Moreover, the local government is yet to come up with extensive policies aiming at helping those suffering from the disease in the community. In the community, caregivers are perceived to be in danger of contracting the disease because they interact with the sick quite often.

Though the main worries of the government are that those suffering from the disease and are not yet diagnosed pose a great danger to the healthy population, no solution has ever been provided. In this regard, this project will ensure that policies will be made to ensure that those with the disease and are not diagnosed are identified as quickly as possible to avoid any further infection.

In the care giving institutions, those with the disease are usually identified, secluded, estranged, and relocated to prevent patient-patient transmission. In any care giving institution, caregivers are trained to diagnose the disease before proceeding to offer any form of help.

In diagnosing the disease, some of the symptoms are usually observed, including frequent coughing, which is usually longer than three weeks, extreme pains around the chest, bloody sputum, serious loss of weight, persistent fever, colds, sweating in the night, malaise, and exhaustion. The project will ensure that the community is sensitized to understand the above symptoms.

Intervention Strategies

To reduce the cases of tuberculosis infections, a number of strategies intervention strategies are recommended. The social worker will be working hard to pass these strategies to the concerned stakeholders. Some of the strategies would be communicated to the community while others would be passed to the ministry and health, as well as the non-governmental organizations.

The intervention strategies include administrative controls, environmental controls, and respiratory controls. It is understood that the community has some policies and practices aimed at controlling the disease, even though they are not usually applied fully.

In fact, people rely on traditional control mechanisms and practices, which are highly ineffective. Administrative controls are meant to reduce the risk at which an individual is exposed to tuberculosis (Small, & Madhukar, 2010).

Ecological management strategies are employed majorly to prevent the absorption of globule nuclei. The community would be advised to employ respiratory control policies mainly to reduce the spread of the disease in certain areas.

Regarding administrative control, a number of policies would be suggested. Unlike in the current state of affairs whereby people with tuberculosis are allowed to interact freely in society, the campaign will aim at sensitizing society to assign caregivers the responsibility of ensuring that infection control is perfected in any setting.

In this case, the caregiver would always be assigned the role of ensuring that infection control assessment is undertaken in any setting. Apart from using the services of caregivers, the government would be urged to established a plan, which would outline the procedures related to detection, separation, and treatment of the affected.

In this case, the support of the government would be crucial in accomplishing this mission. The public would be sensitized that it is the responsibility of the regime under the administrative control policy to provide the suggested laboratory dispensation and testing apparatus.

Assessing the Project

To establish whether the plan would have worked, an analysis would be conducted. The worker would conduct a SWOT analysis before executing the project before it might be having some strengths, as well as weakness. For any project, there are usually some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. One of the strengths of the project is that it incorporates the affected into the program.

This means that they will be willing to comply fully. The weakness is that the project would not have sufficient funds since organizations would be reluctant to fund a sensitization project. Apart from conducting a SWOT analysis, the social worker will also conduct an evaluation before, during, and after the project.

Before the project, an analysis regarding the preparedness and readiness of the community to participate will be conducted. During the project, an evaluation on how the project is doing would be of essence.

If the project seems not achieve its objectives, the social worker would be forced to terminate and find out what could be the problem. After the project, an evaluation on the impact of the project on the local community would be performed.

References

Agrawal, D., Udwadia, Z., Rodriguez, C., & Mehta, A. (2009). Increasing incidence of Fluoroquinolone-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mumbai, India. International Journal of Tuberculosis &Lung Disorder, 13(1), 79–83.

Anderson, J. (1988). Foundations of social work practice. New York: Springer Pub. Co.

Reamer, F. G. (1994). The foundations of social work knowledge. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.

Small, M., & Madhukar, P. (2010). Tuberculosis Diagnosis, Time for a Game Change. New England Journal of Medicine, 363(11), 1070-1504.

Vijay, S., Swaminathan, S., & Vaidyanathan, T. (2009). Feasibility of Provider-Initiated HIV Testing and Counseling of Tuberculosis Patients under the TB Control Program in Two Districts of South India. PLoS ONE, 4(11), 1-7.

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