Vulnerable Population School Age Children Allapattah, Essay Example

Abstract

The Allapattah population has vulnerable school going children, given its demographics. The study examines the manifesting vulnerability, looking at diverse elements ranging from race to establish this phenomenon. It highlights concepts such as gentrification, depicting how it manifests largely. The vulnerability comes into perspective when considering issues such as diseases, obesity coming out strongly as one of the terminal ailments. The study looks at the fundamental aspects of the Allapattah population, looking at many dimensions. This ranges from the physical to sociocultural aspects. It also looks at the psychological aspects. Unravelling the health risks within the community setup, identifying the diagnosis, and prevention criteria makes the essence of the research. It also examines the nursing interventions for the benefit of the people, without overlooking the community strengths and weaknesses. Assessing the statistics on the issues affecting the community provides an understanding of the ideal issues it is facing.

Vulnerable Population School Age Children Allapattah

The vulnerable population for this study is school-age children in Allapattah. The population in this area is comprised of Hispanics at 71.2%, Blacks at 21.82% White at 6.83%%, and Asian mixed and other races at 0.75%. The population as of 2020 is 48,321 with a median age of 38.6 years. The strengths of the region include parks for recreational activities and good infrastructure. Besides, the area is close to Wynwood and Miami Design District which is essential for entertainment. The prices for businesses, properties, and homes are also economical and there are several resources in the community. However, the area has its share of weaknesses. They include high rates of poverty and crime and a lack of knowledge or communication.

Also, gentrification has begun its process which can make most people lose their homes. There is also only one high school in the entire region and cases of homelessness are on the rise. Nearly 50 percent of adults in Allapattah develop health issues at a younger age. Thus, young children have higher risks of developing obesity and other conditions. According to the assessment, the area is dominated by Hispanics and low-income communities accompanied by healthcare issues. Despite the availability of world-class hospitals, people lack the knowledge to identify the symptoms and causes of obesity. The low-income conditions result in unhealthy meals comprised of high levels of fats and cholesterol. Unhealthy foods contribute to the high chances of kids developing obesity and other related diseases.

Characteristics and Features

Biophysical, Physical Environment and Sociocultural Dimension

Allapattah is an urban area with significant Miami’s urban district. Almost half of the area is zoned and comprises of single housing families and less than 10% of free and clear area. No forest habitats in the area but several parks that incorporate basketball and baseball. A part of the Miami River passes through the park and there are zoned industries with freight and shipping firms and scrap metal businesses. These features determine the quality of air in the area. According to the numbers used by government agencies to rate the quality of air, the air quality of the area is good.

When air quality increases, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that most people are bound to experience adverse health issues (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2019). EPA also states that Allapattah is a heat island that witnesses high daytime temperatures. The area also has low nighttime cooling and general discomfort. People undergo respiratory difficulties, heat cramps, and exhaustion. As such, there are related mortalities. On the socio-cultural aspect, the people of Allapattah have a botanica as a plant and religious store. Some of the botanicas have live animals like pigeons, goats, chicken, and doves. Besides, they have a Curanderos who acts as a medicine man who uses animals, plants, and herbs in traditional healing. Animals are also sacrificed to ward off evil powers that the people believed caused the diseases.

Psychological/Behavioral and Health Care System Dimensions

Obesity compromises the wellbeing of school-age children. Obesity is associated with psychological and psychiatric disorders. Besides, obese children experience anxiety and depression, stigmatization, and eating disorders (Rankin et al., 2016). Behaviors like physical inactivity are associated with obesity among school-age kids. Children who participate in active physical activities can gain both immediate and long-term benefits like reduced fat. About the health care systems dimension, non-profit medical systems offer world-class care irrespective of the people’s ability to pay.

Leading Health Indicators

The leading health indicators according to the Healthy People report include access to health services. In Allapattah, most of the people are low-income earners which limits their abilities to access quality healthcare despite having world-class hospitals. However, there are primary care providers like St John Bosco Clinic that offers healthcare services to the population. Another health indicator is the availability of clinical preventive services. This involves having people diagnosed with diseases like diabetes which has an A1c value greater than 9% or D-5.1. Another leading health indicator is environmental quality.  Also, the population can be rated on nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. Allapattah has various recreational centers and parks where people can carry out physical exercises.

Assessment Data Relating to Allapattah

Allapattah’s population as of 2020 comprised of 48,321 persons. This composition consists of more than 71% Hispanics, 21.82% blacks, 6.83% White, and Asians at 0.75% (Point2, 2020). Besides, the number of children is barely 1000. Being average income earners, the families cannot afford better meals and rely on foods that contain cholesterol and other obesity-facilitating components. The median age of people is 38.6 years. The median household in Allapattah earns $26,110. The risk factors for developing obesity among school-age children include genetic syndromes, physical inactivity, and diet.

Three Common Health Problems

Hispanic adults aged 20 and above, 48.3% of men and 34.4% of women, have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in Allapattah. Additionally, Hispanic men are more prone to CHD (Chronic Heart Disease) compared to their non-Hispanic and women counterparts. These factors are related to the economic disadvantages in the area. In Allapattah, Latin adults are more likely to develop diabetes at younger ages with a higher chance as compared to other races (Kenya et al., 2015). Diabetes is associated with poor diets and environmental conditions. It is also a breeding ground for other diseases due to its effect like kidney failure. In the Allapattah area, Spaniards lead in likeliness to develop stroke.

Diagnosis and Intervention

One of the health problems as described in part 5 of this paper is cardiovascular disease (CVD). The threats for CVD include poor dietary habits, tobacco smoking, and sedentary behavior. These factors cause overweight which results in obesity among the adults in Allapattah. CVD Also causes abnormal lipid levels, increased blood pressure, and diabetes (Aminde & Veerman 2016). As such, there is a need to conduct nursing interventions to avoid the long-term effects of the disease which include stroke, cancer, peripheral arterial disease, lung disease, and high coronary artery disease (CAD). Managing and addressing complex lifestyle behaviors demand the expertise of nurses and other health care professionals. Thus, intervention efforts are needed focusing on lifestyle programs that involve disciplines like medicine, nursing, dietetics, psychology, and physical activity. A defined strategy is essential and determines the impact and quality of the intervention and frequency of involvement of health care providers. a high-risk strategy is thus needed in Allapattah which involves a population that is at risk of vascular disease. Moreover, population approaches can achieve a substantial reduction of the risks in the entire community because it involves modification of the risk factors by many people and not just a few who are at higher risks.

Population Health Nursing Intervention

My choice of population health nursing interventions is community mobilization and coalition building. Coalition building involves developing mechanisms to address complex health problems at the local levels. In implementing this mechanism, the first step is developing collaborative partnerships that incorporate diverse staff members working towards a common objective. Thus will allow the Allapattah community to combine the resources from different sources and leverage them. Also, limiting the duplication of competing or parallel efforts when the team is working as a unit utilizes the resources. The coalitions will provide avenues for the development of public support issues affecting the community (Campbell et al., 2020). Another example is leveraging the resources with stakeholders to create better models of care and advocate in political landscapes. Also incorporating competent nurses at the frontline and in program management will help to utilize the resources properly.

For instance, one should for instance integrate the QCC Competencies for Public Health Nursing (QCC-PHN) with the AACN (American Association of Colleges and Nursing to ensure the public healthcare nurses are ready to enter into the public/community nursing programs. Community mobilization involves reaching out to various community industries and the creation of partnerships to deal with a particular stressing issue (Huberman et al., 2014). The strategy aims at introducing prevention efforts through empowering of the societies and groups to act on something that will facilitate change. It involves generating support, mobilizing resources, and fostering collaboration in the community. Among such intervention strategies involve securing strong leadership. In this, one should engage people like those who spearhead collaborations in the community. Another example is developing a formal structure that effectively manages change efforts in society. This strategy provides direction, facilitates dialogue between those involved, and coordinates outreach.

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention

Primary prevention involves initiating efforts that influence healthy directions, behavior, and eating habits of children. It consists of obesity prevention program elements that are evidence-based implemented in community settings, schools, preschools, and healthcare clinics. Such programs include the Coordinated Approach to Child (CATCH) and many others (Liebert, 2015).  Secondary efforts of obesity prevention are activities directed to kids who are at a higher than average risk of developing obesity. An example includes a three-month intensive phase involving the Mind Exercise Nutrition Do it! (MEND) for preschool kids and school-aged children. Tertiary prevention is intended to prevent the consequences that arise from obese and it is considered treatment. An example of tertiary prevention is cardiac rehabilitation programs that intend to soften the impact.
Behaviors and Community Weakness that Bar Implementations

It is not easy controlling and managing what people eat. One can advocate for a proper diet, but cannot monitor what people eat. Thus, even though there are programs that aim at controlling the emergence of a certain disease, not everyone will do as told. Moreover, economic disparities influence an implementation plan. Low-income communities cannot afford better diets but rather go for sustainable meals. When the diets affect their lives, they still stick to them because it is what they can afford. This has contributed to the persistence of certain diseases like cancer, obesity, and diabetes in communities comprised of low-income earners.

Community Strengths and Population Behavior That Support Implementations

Places, where people can afford proper diets without compromise, are characterized by good health care. Such communities are comprised of either middle or high-income earners. Also, such people tend to frequent hospital visits for check-ups and other services. As such, implementation of prevention programs becomes easier and people can change diets if need be to prevent certain illnesses like obesity and diabetes. Also, communities that embrace prevention programs at the population level and not individual basis have higher chances of eliminating diseases from their midst. Another community strength is access to proper medical facilities. When a society has a well-built infrastructure, it becomes easier to implement disease prevention strategies.

Conclusion

Allapattah area is comprised of low-income earners. As such, the population is at risk of poor diet diseases which also affects young children. This condition is associated with obesity among school-age children who suffer from consuming foods full of cholesterol and fat. However, nursing intervention measures like community mobilization can help to change this narrative. When communities cooperate to educate the masses on the dangers of fatty foods and failure to carry out physical exercise, cases of obesity and related diseases will be few. From the studies, we have found out that CVD, diabetes, and obesity are related conditions attributed to poor diets. Establishing the building of coalitions can help reduce such cases by using the community resources to advocate for a change in the people’s lifestyles. Communities that have proper access to healthcare facilities encourage implementation of prevention programs while those like Allapattah with low-income earners make it difficult to implement the same.

References

Aminde, L. N., & Veerman, L. (2016). Interventions for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases: a protocol for a systematic review of economic evaluations in low-income and middle-income countries. BMJ Open, 6(12).

Campbell, L. A., Harmon, M. J., Joyce, B. L., & Little, S. H. (2020). Quad Council Coalition community/public health nursing competencies: Building consensus through collaboration. Public Health Nursing, 37(1), 96-112.

Hoelscher, D. M., Butte, N. F., Barlow, S., Vandewater, E. A., Sharma, S. V., Huang, T., … & Oluyomi, A. O. (2015). Incorporating primary and secondary prevention approaches to address childhood obesity prevention and treatment in a low-income, ethnically diverse population: study design and demographic data from the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) study. Childhood Obesity, 11(1), 71-91.

Huberman, B., Klaus, T., & Davis, L. (2014). Strategies guided by best practice for community mobilization. Advocates for Youth. org.

Kenya, S., Lebron, C. N., Chang, A. Y. H., Li, H., Alonzo, Y. A., & Carrasquillo, O. (2015). A profile of Latinos with poorly controlled diabetes in South Florida. Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 5(2), 26586.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2019). Overweight and Obesity. NHLBI, NIH.   https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/overweight-and-obesity

Point 2 Homes. (2020). Allapattah Population and Demographics, Median Income. Point2. https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/FL/Allapattah-Demographics.html

Rankin, J., Matthews, L., Cobley, S., Han, A., Sanders, R., Wiltshire, H. D., & Baker, J. S. (2016). Psychological consequences of childhood obesity: psychiatric comorbidity and prevention. Adolescent Health, Medicine, and Therapeutics, 7, 125.