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Running head: SENTINEL TOWN 1 Sentinel Town Mindy Munoz WGU Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing Field Experience L 127 April 9, 2020 SENTINEL TOWN 2 Table of Contents References.. ... ....................................................................................................................................11 SENTINEL TOWN 3 Sentinel Town A. Sentinel Town photo album-see attached B. Community Health Nursing Diagnosis Statement The field experience topic I chose was the lack of access to healthcare. Community Health Nursing Diagnosis: Increased risk of multiple health problems among Sentinel Town citizens related to lack of access to healthcare as evidenced by limited medical resources, lack of knowledge and no public transportation system. B1. Health Inequity/Disparity Sentinel Town is a low-income farming community filled with mostly immigrants and elderly citizens. The education level in Sentinel Town is below average. There is no public transportation system available for residents, the roads are in poor condition throughout the town with many potholes and are uneven, with no sidewalks to walk on. The vehicles seen around town are older models and some do not run. The roads are in such terrible shape that it makes walking or riding bikes difficult. Most of the residents are Spanish-speaking immigrants with no insurance for medical care. There is no EMS service available in town and the clinic has no after-hours care. There are no mental health services available. Sentinel Town does not have a pharmacy, so residents have to order medications via mail (Sentinel Town, 2017). B1A. Primary Community and Prevention Resources Elliot Evans is the local physician in Sentinel Town. He and the nurse, Dulce Lopez, will make house calls to see their patients as well as at the clinic during normal business hours. Dulce also teaches preventative care classes that are free to the citizens. Mail delivery is offered for medications as there is no pharmacy in town however, the Town General Store and service SENTINEL TOWN 4 station sell common over the counter medications. The local school has screenings for various things (dental caries, vision) and sends reports back to the child's parents (Sentinel Town, 2017). B1B. Underlying Causes The town clinic is open Monday-Friday until 5 pm. After hours or on weekends the residents have to travel into Sentinel City for emergency situations. No EMS service is critical as time is essential in some emergent situations. The lack of pharmacy in town makes it more difficult for the citizens to continue taking their prescribed medications, as mail delivery is not always reliable. The less than desirable roads of Sentinel Town cause a tremendous amount of issues for mail delivery, pedestrians, and transportation in general. Not only do the roads hinder the mail delivery, but the weather also contributes to the issue as it may be too muddy at times for mail services. Dr. Evans stated depression is on the rise in town and there are no mental health services available for the residents. Many of the residents are immigrants and Spanish is their primary language. Lack of proper communication in the town is a contributing factor to many of its barriers to healthcare services. There is no public source for information (newspaper, town bulletin). The only means of communication is by phone and word of mouth (Sentinel Town, 2017). B2. Evidence-Based Practice Having a primary care provider (PCP) who serves as the usual source of care is especially important. Primary physicians develop relationships with patients and provide integrated services while practicing in the family and community. Having a primary doctor improves your trust in the provider, better communication among patient and provider increasing a patient's understanding, and lower mortality rates from disease. At a primary physician, they prevent illness by promoting proper exercise and diet in healthy people with no current disease risk SENTINEL TOWN 5 factors. They prevent illnesses by encouraging childhood vaccinations on a recommended schedule. They can also identify patients who are in an at-risk category for certain genetic diseases based on their predisposition and intervene before symptoms arise. In addition to primary care of the patient and prevention strategies, emergency medical services (EMS) are a critical part of patient’s care because they provide basic or life-sustaining measures as needed. “Access to care often varies based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and residential location” ("Access to Health Services," 2020). B2A. Identification of Data There is no hospital in Sentinel Town, only a clinic with normal business hours making access to healthcare for citizens with long work hours difficult. The majority of residents are uninsured and the cost of a visit to the physician is costly. The majority of the population in Sentinel Town are Spanish speaking and do not have a higher education. While the physician and the nurse both speak Spanish, many of the immigrants are uninsured and therefore do not make visits to a primary physician. Immunization compliance within Sentinel Town is at or slightly above the national average for children, but well below the national average for adults. Over 94% of the children in Kindergarten have received their vaccinations. Vaccinations for adolescents are 80% or higher, including the HPV vaccine. Lack of a pharmacy in Sentinel Town is effecting the residents because sometimes their medications are not delivered on time. According to Dr. Evans, over half of the residents in Sentinel Town are obese and many die from obese related diseases (Sentinel Town, 2017). SENTINEL TOWN 6 C1. Social Media Campaign Objective In Sentinel Town, I would like to see an increased use of healthcare services in town for annual checkups. These annual checkups include children and adults. The key to decreasing health disparity is primary prevention and early detection/intervention if necessary. By increasing the number of annual well check-ups, it will significantly reduce the mortality rate of our residents and improve our overall long-term health. C2. Social Marketing Interventions Sentinel Town has poor internet and many of the residents do not have the capability. Their main source of communication is by word of mouth and the telephone. For this reason, I feel SMS/text messaging would be the most beneficial way to reach our citizens. We could send out text messages weekly with different informative health information, dieting tips, exercise tips, appointment reminders, and statistics of disease in our area. It would also be important that the messages be sent in the appropriate language for the patient we are contacting. The physician and the nurse can also make podcasts or Youtube videos to send via text over the telephone for patients/citizens to watch in their own homes. These videos can be done in English and in Spanish as both of the medical professionals are bilingual. C3. Description of Social Media Platform As stated in the above section, the text messages will include informative health information regarding a variety of topics. Diet information, exercise tips, appointment reminders, clinic hours, and statistics on diseases in our area would be sent in the masses. Billboards can be seen by people passing by and catch their attention, even though it is not considered social media. The Youtube videos that can be done by the physician and the nurse I feel would be most beneficial to the residents as they are getting to see the providers and can SENTINEL TOWN 7 listen to what they are saying in the video. With the majority of our town being undereducated, there is a chance that some citizens would not be able to read the text messages that are sent. C3A. Benefits of Social Media Platform Text messages can give information to a large number of people in a short amount of time. You can do it with the click of a few buttons. In addition to the text messages, the videos they share can be very informative to the citizens regarding health issues in and around Sentinel Town. These videos done by the clinic physician and nurse could also be demonstrations of different things; a video of what will consist of a normal well check-up, demonstration of proper exercises for certain muscle groups, videos of how to access social services if you or your family are in need of assistance or even a chance for open discussion or questions. C4. Benefit to Target Population The target population for increased access to healthcare is the entire community of Sentinel Town. Each citizen in the town will benefit from increased knowledge and awareness about taking charge of their own health and the benefits of taking care of yourself properly. Engaging our citizens will only increase their confidence in our healthcare system and improve their own knowledge. D. Best Practices for Social Media There are many best practices when considering using social media to promote your platform. First, you must consider your audience, their demographics, and the amount of effort needed. Next, it’s recommended to go where your majority is. In Sentinel Town there are no spots to just “hang out”, so people converse over the phone or in person. The way to reach our citizens is by using their phones to get their attention. The information should be accurate and factual, not speculation or hearsay which is why the messages and videos would be done by the SENTINEL TOWN 8 healthcare professionals of Sentinel Town. Encouraging participation and making it easy to share with others is key. Providing messages in different formats increases accessibility and reinforces the message, which is why we would have written texts and videos that will be sent. More than 90% of adults have mobile devices so this is why we chose the social media platform of SMS messaging and videos. Set realistic goals, evaluate your efforts and learn from them ("CDC Social Media Tools," 2019). E1. Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities The citizens of Sentinel Town will use the info for their own disease prevention and health awareness. The town Sheriff of six years, Jack Carter, would request the funds for the media campaign from higher government power. Dr. Evans and Dulce will be the ones producing the videos with trusted and factual information for our citizens. These two healthcare professionals would also be responsible for the informative texts that are sent to the public. The texts regarding clinic hours, appointment reminders and vaccination schedules can be computergenerated [Show More]

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