Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Discussion

Briefly describe your community and then describe your practice setting.

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The Dallas Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) consist of nine counties, which are also the counties of the Dallas Health Services Delivery Area (HSDA) (DCHHS, 2016). In 2017, the total EMA population was at 5,246,370 (DCHHS, 2016). Dallas county has a large population of black, non-Hispanic and Hispanic residents (DCHHS, 2016). Also, Dallas county has many disparities creating a population of people who live in poverty with little or no access to health coverage. The percent of people living in poverty ranged from 5.0% to 21.1%, 21.7% of Dallas county residents have no insurance, and 20.3% of residents have less than a high school diploma (DCHHS, 2016). Living in poverty, homelessness, lack of education, lack of health insurance, language barriers, and no transportation increases the risks for disease and health issues within the community (DCHHS, 2016). Many resources are available in Dallas county for these groups of individuals. Parkland Hospital serves as Dallas county’s public hospital and is known for the hospital where President John F. Kennedy died. Parkland hospital has many Financial Assistant Programs and Charity discount programs for patients with low income. Parkland hospital services the county and provides great resources for families in need. Furthermore, Dallas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is another setting that protect the health of Dallas county citizens by promoting healthy living through disease prevention and intervention. DHHS have many financial programs, free screenings, and vaccinations to help prevent diseases and promote safe and healthy living in the community.

What are the determinants of health in your community?

The conditions in which people live, work, learn, and play that affects the health, quality- of- life, and outcomes of an individual are social determinants of health (CDC, 2020). The main determinants of health in Dallas County, affecting community health, is living in low income households or housing authorities, the inability to find work, lack of education and illiteracy, unhealthy food choices, being exposed to violence in high crime communities, and having no health insurance (DCHHS, 2016).

What are the most prevalent health problems in your community or in your practice?

The most prevalent health problems in Dallas county are HIV in the homeless and gay population, obesity and diabetes, STDs in the teenage population and teen pregnancy, heart diseases, lung diseases, stokes, and cancers are all health problems widely existing throughout Dallas county (DCHHS, 2016).

Choose a population at risk and describe the health problem specific to that population.

Social economic factors and social determinants impact the prevalence of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Dallas EMA (DCHHS, 2016). Data from the Texas State Department of Health Services estimated 898 (3.9%) of 23,036 people living with HIV/AIDs were homeless in the Dallas EMA in 2018 (DCHHS, 2016). Poverty is the most common reason the homeless population is living with HIV/AIDS. People living in poverty often fear and stress about where their next meal will come, having enough income to pay the bills, and how to survive from day to day. Depression and psychosis can grow heavily on people living in poverty, forcing them into illicit drug use to cope. Drug addiction then becomes a problem and sharing of intravenous needles between person to person spreads HIV/AIDS. Also, the homeless are unable to get tested because they have little to no access to health care, so the mode of transmission continues without many of them knowing that they are affected. In addition, lack of education on disease prevention, such as the use of condoms and prevention of needle sharing, make the homeless population more susceptible to HIV/AIDS and many other diseases. The Public health nurse play a major role in decreasing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the homeless community. Public health nurses can help by reaching out to populations at risk and providing resources, education, prevention, and treatment over HIV/AIDS and many other communicable diseases.

Reference

CDC. (2020). Social determinants of Health: know what effects health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/

Dallas County Health and Human Services. (2016). Dallas eligible metropolitan area integrated HIV prevention and care. Retrieved from https://www.dallascounty.org/Assets/uploads/docs/rwpc/CDC_HRSA_Integrated_HIV_Prevention_and_Care_Plan_FINAL.p