HCA 415 Week 5 Guided Response

Guided Response: Imagine you are a member of this community and have this health issue. Explain why you feel your needs are met or not met by the efforts your classmate plans to take to address it. Describe one more action that your classmate could take to better address the issue in their community.

Mark as Unread What are YOU going to do about it?        Natosha Smith Email this Author              4/13/2017 4:19:44 PM

1. Describe a significant health issue in your community or state.

The significant health issue in the state of Texas is the increasing amount of new cases of people with chlamydia.

2. Compare its significance to the national priorities of Healthy People 2020 goals (is it a national priority or just one found in your state/community).

This is a national issue that occurs too often and is the most common bacterial infection. Healthy People 2020 states that individuals with health insurance are being screened for chlamydia at least once a year however it is hard to account for those individuals whom do not have access to insurance.

3. Explain what type of effort it will take to fully address it (leadership skills, financing, organizational buy-in, stakeholders, perceptions, barriers)

The efforts necessary to fully address this health concern is for everyone to get the proper screening at least once a year. It is hard for individuals to recognize if this infection is a cause for concern as it is of a silent nature; meaning it’s unrecognizable to the untrainable eyes therefore, healthcare screenings should accomplished regularly. Stakeholders could campaign about the importance of being checked as well as promote care with certain healthcare organizations.

4. Evaluate the efforts YOU can take to address this issue. (As a public health practitioner, what is YOUR role such as: Will you develop, lead or be part of a public health program to address the issue? Will you work on financing, organizational buy-in, stakeholders…what are you going to do to address this concern?)

The efforts that I can make to address the issue is to promote regular checkups and Pap smear screenings for women by having health fairs within the community. This infection could affect infertility and pelvic pain therefore it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle. By advertising the importance of taking care of one’s self, this could affect the amount of individuals who will take the time to read the information presented to them and take action to better themselves.

TB week 5 disc. Elizabeth Danner Email this Author         4/13/2017 4:03:56 PM

In February of 2017 the most recent detection of tuberculosis was found at a local high school. Other cases have been found in high schools and middle schools in Nebraska, South Carolina, and Minnesota. Even though they are not saying if the person infected was a student, teacher, or staff member, they are saying that all schools affected have a high number of refugees attending, and each of these schools have special classes for learning English as a second language. They seem to be implying that refugees are not medically screened well enough to be attending public schools (Leahy, M., Feb. 2017).

A tuberculosis clinic was set up at the high school, and around 200 people were tested. Letters were sent out to all parents, and were also posted on web sites, explaining the situation, and, also alerting parents of the scheduled meeting, place, and time, to discuss this further, and face to face. They are concentrating on the people that had direct contact with the infected person. They also want everyone to know that this person has been quarantined and is no longer a threat to health and safety of the public. Also, students that they feel need to be tested for tuberculosis will be notified (Leahy, M., Feb. 2017).

All children need to be medically cleared to attend public schools, even refugees. It has never been an issue until now, when we are having to deal with large communities of refugees entering our neighborhoods. The average American has spent their whole life, from birth to entering school, and then entering middle school, and then high school, making sure we have been properly vaccinated to safely join the general population. Even prisoners are segregated from the general prison population until they have been medically cleared, to assure their safety and health. Refugees should also be medically cleared, and the state that they have been welcomed by, should also take responsibility for their health and safety.

. Leahy, Michael Patrick (Feb. 2017) Active Case of TB Reported at California High School http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/28/active-tb-case-reported-california-high-school/