Final Project health needs

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT Community Health Needs Assessment for Senior Ctizens in the Hispanic Community Tamillia Cherry Walden University 1 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2 Community health needs assessment (CHNA) helps to establish health distresses of people in a given community, learn and understand factors impacting health; and to know more about resources, assets, and issues that affect these factors (Grant et al., 2015). CHNA uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques to gather and analyze data relating to health statuses and resources in a systematic way. The results of CHNA are used to guide decision making on matters of community health, develop a priority list of health problems in the community; and to develop, implement, and evaluate health improvement plans for the community. A typical CHNA will be interested in establishing health risk factors in the community for the entire community as a whole or for a selected population within the community. Example of risk factors includes malnutrition, aging, accidents, environmental hazards, and obesity (Braunstein & Lavizzo-Mourey, 2011). Thus, CHNA will focus on identifying and explain these risk factors as a way of primary prevention. Other factors of interest to CHNA include quality of life, morbidity and mortality rates, assets in the community, change agents, social and economic determinants of health, health equality or inequality, and community health information systems. For the selected community and population, CHNA will involve carrying out a study on the Hispanic community in the USA to understand the population of senior members, their health concerns which will include conditions like physical frailty, non-adherence to medication, dementia, availability of nursing homes, physical exercises, etc. This study will enable planners to know where the community stands in matters of health relating to the elderly. It will provide an insight into the issues affecting the well-being of this population and therefore help community health planners prioritize their efforts. Planning for community health requires the planners to know the factors that influence the health of community members. In order to improve community health, policymakers must COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT 3 first understand the underlying factors. CHNA provides them with the opportunity to understand the issues on the ground so that they know where to begin in improving community health (Pennel et al., 2016). Thus, CHNA are conducted to gain more insight into the status of community health and the underlying factors for the purpose of identifying issues for improvement. It is an essential part of community health improvement programs and is in fact considered as one of the most important community health improvement success determinants (Pennel et al., 2016). Final Project health needs

Community description According to the U.S. Census report in 2010, Hispanics are the most populous minority group.. In fact, there are more people who identify as Hispanic in the US than there are in any other region outside the Latin America world. By 2050, their population is projected to grow to over 130 million. Hispanics are the earliest colonial group of immigrants from Europe to settle in America. They started arriving as early as the 16th century. Currently, they account for over 16% of the US population equalling to about 52 million people. They occupy various metropolitan areas. Los Angeles, California has the highest percentage of the Hispanic population. Other cities like New York, Miami, and Houston also have a huge percentage of this population. Puerto Rico, New Mexico, and California are the leading states with the highest numbers of Hispanics. Within this population, the Hispanic elderly are many health needs. Essentially, they are facing challenges with accessing healthcare services. In most communities, the elderly face many challenges. For example, most of them are retired and therefore do not have a stable source of income. They are also physically frail and cannot perform their normal responsibilities. Most of them are vulnerable to mental health disorders and other health problems. COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT 4 I selected this population for the CHNA because they are a growing population whose health needs are on the rise. Yet, they continuously face segregation in healthcare settings that are supposed to provide them with the support they require (Fennell et al., 2010). Thus, CHNA will allow enough information to be collected to aid in further understanding their plight for the sake of health education and promotion (Gilmore, 2011). Most of them are poor and live in deplorable conditions. With regards to a report by the American Psychological Association, over 18% of older Hispanics are poor while only 8% of non-Hispanic whites are poor (Social Security Administration, 2016). They are thus some of the poorest groups after black Americans. Goals of CHNA The first goal is to understand the current status of health for the elderly Hispanics. This will include analyzing their mortality rates, health conditions, socioeconomic status, and other factors that affect the quality of life. The second goal is to understand the assets available for the elderly like the number of nursing homes so that they can be improved. Also, the CHNA will be done to establish the risk factors associated with old age for this population, rank them, and address them from a public health perspective. This will allow for these factors to be mitigated and their impacts reduced. Another goal would include an effort to understand the current policies in healthcare in general. Generally, healthcare policies must provide special care to disadvantaged people like the senior members in the society. COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT 5 References Braunstein, S., & Lavizzo-Mourey, R. (2011). Final Project health needs

How the health and community development sectors are combining forces to improve health and well being. Health Affairs, 30(11), 2042-2051. Fennell, M. L., Feng, Z., Clark, M. A., & Mor, V. (2010). Elderly Hispanics more likely to reside in poor-quality nursing homes. Health Affairs, 29(1), 65-73. Gilmore, G. D. (2011). Needs and capacity assessment strategies for health education and health promotion. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Grant, C. G., Ramos, R., Davis, J. L., & Green, B. L. (2015). Community health needs assessment: a pathway to the future and a vision for leaders. The healthcare manager, 34(2), 147-156. Pennel, C. L., McLeroy, K. R., Burdine, J. N., Matarrita-Cascante, D., & Wang, J. (2016). Community health needs assessment: potential for population health improvement. Population health management, 19(3), 178-186. Social Security Administration. (2016). Fast facts & figures about social security, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2016/fast_facts16.pdf Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT Community Health Needs Assessment Tamillia Cherry Walden University 1 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT Community Health Needs Assessment The Community Health Needs Assessment will utilize both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This will help enhance the ability to gain a better understanding of the factors affecting the elderly members of the Hispanic populace in the United States. The key informant and public forum methods will be used for qualitative data while interviews and questionnaires will be utilized for quantitative data. The proposed mixed approach is highly likely to promote multi-perspective outcomes. The primary goal of the key informant technique is to collect relevant data from community members who are in a prime position to understand the community needs. These participants will be sampled based on their institutional affiliation. Final Project health needs

The researcher will collect information from 10 key informants including 2 elected county officials, 2 hospital administrators, 2 administrators from the social service department, 2 representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, and 2 physicians. This process will be implemented in 5 fundamental stages including: Identification of the key informants by their names and position in their respective institutions, construction of interview questions – the key informants will be engaged in a focus group meeting where the matters will be discussed expressively, data gathering and organization – this will be done by the facilitator, data interpretation – will be done by the researcher, and scheduling individual meetings with the key informants for further discussion of the data interpretation. There is a broad range of factors that inspire the researcher’s choice of this data collection method as it relates to the advantages. First, it is an inexpensive way of accessing relevant information on the community (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The use of a focus group 2 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT saves the resources that would otherwise be utilized in printing and information assessment (Carter & Beaulieu, 1992). Final Project health needs

This factor is augmented by the fact that the participants will be best positioned to discuss the dynamics behind the systemic patterns. Second, this approach facilitates the continual affirmation of data. Such is often the case as further meetings with the informants can be scheduled to improve the accuracy. Third, it accommodates input from individuals with diverse perspectives. One primary challenge with the key informant approach is the collection of bias information. The level of bias in the current research will be minimized by the reliance on a focus group rather than working with a single informant. Either way, it is important to acknowledge the fact that bias cannot be fully mitigated in a research that seeks information from community representatives. The public form method is useful for researchers seeking to understand social phenomena from multiple viewpoints. It involves the elicitation of information from a significant number of community residents. The researcher will conduct a public forum incorporating community members and leaders (Carter & Beaulieu, 1992). The members will comprise of common residents while the leaders will comprise the key informants to be utilized in the preceding method. The key informants’ presence in the public forums is expected to add value in the data collection process. This process will be implemented in 4 primary phases: Development of discussion themes and questions, selection of a strategic location, advertisement of the event to invite the public – this phase will necessitate financial assistance. Also, focus will be placed on elderly Hispanics in the vicinity, and acquisition of recording equipment – this too might require funding. Considering the scope of a typical Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) procedure, a public forum seems like the most appropriate way of obtaining information on 3 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT the issues affecting the community. Such is the case as it promotes active participation of different societal members. Like the key informant approach, it is highly flexible in the sense that it can accommodate a wide range of techniques. However, it is an expensive method  that will require financial support for advertisement, setting up the venue, and recording the proceedings. Final Project health needs

This factor poses the key challenge to the researcher. While telephone method is often utilized in qualitative research, it is quite effective under the quantitative approach when applied in a structured manner. In this case, it suffices to state that the interview questions should be close-ended and typical across the participants to improve statistical evaluation (Carter & Beaulieu, 1992). Note that the participants will be reached through online platforms including Facebook and Twitter. Those who agree to participate will be interviewed on phone then their responses will be tallied since the questions will be close-ended. This approach saves key research resources including time and money. It can be fully automated if the participant figures increase beyond expectation – the process will utilize Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI). However, The response rates in such surveys tend to be low; hence, the researcher expects a low turnout. A low turnout will jeopardize information accuracy. Questionnaires are almost similar to the telephone interviews since the participants will be given similar questions in both techniques. The questionnaires will be distributed through online and print mediums (Carter & Beaulieu, 1992). The print option will be relevant considering the fact that the researcher seeks to understand the needs of the elderly regardless of their low internet usage. Like the interview results, the filled questionnaires will be quantitatively analyzed to enhance the investigation. 4 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT The questionnaires will be sent to a large audience at little costs. Second, the participants are highly likely to offer truthful feedback due to the anonymity (Carter & Beaulieu, 1992). This factor is essential in the proposed research since it explores community health needs. Disadvantages. Inasmuch as the questionnaire approach will reach a huge number of people, it is expected to record low participant feedback. This sentiment follows the conventional belief that most of the individuals who receive questionnaires fail to return them (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The senior population in the American Hispanic community is quite marginalized in the community health setting. This factor is pretty devastating, especially now that a significant number (18 percent) of them live in deplorable conditions (Gilmore, 2011). The data collection process will be geared toward obtaining information on nursing homes, government supplements, outpatient facilities for common conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and community projects aimed at the population of interest. For now, it suffices to assert that the mentioned resources are limited; hence, they cannot fully serve the senior Hispanics. Final Project health needs

The choice of resources to be researched wa s grounded on their (the resources) impact on the target population’s quality of life in general. In this view, care resources such as nursing homes, government supplements (e.g. food stamps), and specialty facilities are essential in the proposed study. It also appears wise to add that it is not clear whether the marginalization of the Hispanic elders in the community health spectrum results from racial prejudice or other systemic factors. Perhaps, the investigation will shed light on the matter. 5 COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT References Carter, K.A. & Beaulieu, L.J. (1992). Conducting a Community Needs Assessment: Primary Data Collection Techniques Retrieved from https://commdev.org/userfiles/files/1880_file_HE06000.pdf Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications. Gilmore, G. D. (2011). Needs and capacity assessment strategies for health education and health promotion. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 6 … Final Project health needs