Community health assessment uses primary and secondary data to illustrate the health of a community. The primary data can be collected through first hand processes such as surveys, listening sessions, interviews and observations. Secondary data can be obtained from journals and other entities or similar purposes. The data might include information on tax, obesity, income inequality in the community, smoking rates, unemployment, and teen births, physical and cultural data (Harkness, & DeMarco, 2016). The data and indicators provide information on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The data can be found at county heath ranking and roadmaps websites, prevention status reports and governed sites.
How Data Helps In Determine the Health Care Needs Of a Community
The data can be used to monitor progress and determine whether action have the desired effects. For instance if a health care is introducing some medication for chronic illnesses they can use the data to assess if the medication is getting the desired effect (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2016). The health assessment data would also be used to show gaps in health care service. For instance it can be utilized to determine the medication that people need or the preventive strategies to alleviate suffering by some treatable diseases. In some communities it can be used to formulate the diet therapies that would be sued by people suffering from diabetes.
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A Strategy for Obtaining Data Needed For a Community Health Assessment
A strategy for obtaining data for community assessment would be done in stages. First the researcher will define the scope. Then they will go on to collect data and then determine the key findings. The research will set priorities and create an action plan. Lastly the finding will be shared with the relevant authorities. The assessment can be done by an individual or by a team. An organization might also need to partner with other institutions.
Potential obstacles to obtaining the data
The data used for health assessment can be found in government institutions and medical reports. There may be a major problem in accessing the documents and getting the permission. Sometimes the reports need to be purchased and the budget for the research might not have a provision for such expenses. Some patients might fail to respond well to interviews and surveys. This might make the process of acquiring data to be difficult. In some communities getting the focus groups, physicians and other community workers to respond in the research might be difficult (Pennel et al., 2015).
Factors that affect the health and wellness of a community,
Genetic composition is one of the factors that determine the health and wellness of the community. Genetic compositions determine if people are at risk of suffering some diseases. This is the reason why people are asked about the family’s health history. Genetics composition determines 30 percent of our community healthcare needs (Sampson, Gearin, & Boe, 2015).
Behavior is the other factor that determines community health. This affects issues such as exercise, diet and habits. This affects community health due to the fact that people use it to indulge in drug and substances abuse. The issue of drug abuse is impacting the community and a making people fail to perform their responsibilities as expected (Sampson, Gearin, & Boe, 2015). Other factors include economy and social and psychical environment.
Obtaining information on the factors that affect the health and wellness of a community
Besides doing first hand data collection, researches can turn to technology to obtain information. The internet has a wide range of data that can be used to describe and analyze the community health and wellness. Through the internet it is also possible to make compatriots of the situation in one community and the other (Sampson, Gearin, & Boe, 2015). Technology can also be used to trace people who suffer Alzheimer’s disease. This information can be used to provide better care for people in the community. It can also be used to show gaps in the community health.
Establishing the validity and reliability of data used in a community health assessment
The data would be varied if it represents a big portion of the community. When doing the survey the respondents should show the diversity and the needs of the community. It would be important to have respondents from different profession, sexes, ages and class (Sampson, Gearin, & Boe, 2015. If the research is done in one locality it might be biased and unreliable.
References
Harkness, G. A., & DeMarco, R. F. (2016). Community and public health nursing: Evidence for practice . Wolters Kluwer.
McKenzie, J. F., Neiger, B. L., & Thackeray, R. (2016). Planning, implementing & evaluating health promotion programs: A primer . Pearson.
Pennel, C. L., McLeroy, K. R., Burdine, J. N., & Matarrita-Cascante, D. (2015). Nonprofit hospitals’ approach to community health needs assessment. American journal of public health , 105 (3), e103-e113.
Sampson, G., Gearin, K. J. M., & Boe, M. (2015). A rural local health department–hospital collaborative for a countywide community health assessment. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice , 21 (1), 23-30.
