XBCH : Community HealthCare

Community Health

Many ethnic or minority groups suffer from different health issues. As a community health director of a local health department, I found it essential to create an intervention program which would aid in preventing one of the critical health issues impacting the minority groups. Diabetes is a significant health issue affecting the Native Americans. It is a community health issue because it leads to disability, poor health, loss of life, and negative impacts on the economy. The Native Americans are among the minority ethnic groups engulfed with diabetes due to poor health which manifests itself as a result of unemployment and poverty (James, 2015). It is important to note that poverty and unemployment lead to deterioration of health due to lack of nutritious or balanced diet, access to primary care, stress, and physical inactivity. Research conducted by the American Diabetes Association show that the Natives American especially the Alaska Natives have the greatest rate of diabetes in comparison to any other group in America (Pettitt et al., 2014). The American Diabetes Association states that this is as a result of limited access to healthy foods and poverty. The Natives Americans have been consuming cheap fatty foods after they lost a more substantial proportion of their land.

I believe Lifestyle intervention program is most appropriate for overcoming diabetes among the Native Americans. The intervention program would target physical activity, diet, and smoking as well as alcohol cessation (Aminov et al., 2016). Behavioral intervention would as well form a unique part of the program. Cultural sensitivity of lifestyles would enhance as well as promote the effectiveness and appropriateness of the intervention program. The intervention would address the language and cultural characteristics of the Natives Americans by engaging the members in their local languages through experts and educating and counseling them on the benefits of balanced diets, physical activity, cessation of alcohol and smoking, and eversion of fatty foods. The intervention program would not extensively go against the community’s culture but advice the members on what ought to be avoided to eradicate or prevent diabetes.

My plan for delivering appropriate care and health education encompasses forming a team of clinical experts who would work at the local hospitals to care for the patients. The team would also involve counselors who will offer advisory services to the individuals who have diabetes. Notably, the advises would encompass the diets the patients should eat, encourage them to take part in physical activity, and discourage them from consuming fatty foods, processed foods, alcohol, and cigarettes.  

Notably, the objectives of the program would include educating people on the risk factors of diabetes, offer support, guidance, and coaching to people having diabetes, and help people understand how to manage diabetes (Hsu et al., 2015). Other objectives would involve educating individuals on the importance of healthy eating, physical activity, healthy coping, blood sugar monitoring, cessation of alcohol and smoking, and taking medications. On a similar note, the program intervention would aim at assessing the conditions the Native Americans live in and draw recommendations which can aid in improving their health and prevent or eradicate diabetes.

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