Next Steps Simulation: Connecting the CommunityOverview:This short assignment is the final section of your paper. It is intended to furnish students the opportunity to imagine scaling-up their researc

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Ventura County Health Indicators Gap Analysis

Name

Institution Affiliation

Ventura County Health Indicators Gap Analysis

The organizations and agencies concerned with the health concerns in Ventura County are limited in various ways. This includes the population they are dedicated to serving and how they reach them, how their audiences know them, and how they deliver their services. Most organizations and agencies are not fully effective due to such reasons, making their efforts toward neutralizing the health situation in the county impossible. This paper will analyze the knowledge of these organizations and agencies to the people, the gaps that exist in serving their purposes, and the possible corrective measures that can be applied to make them effective and close the gaps.

Organizations on Behavioral Health

Ventura County Behavioral Health

Existing (baseline) levels

The Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH) is a governmental organization that deals with different behavioral issues that cause health disparities among the population of Ventura county. It deals with drug and substance abuse issues and other mental illnesses with the vision of realizing a sober and mental health population. Being a government organization, it has full access to the county's health indicators data, allowing it to analyze the situations accurately it is concerned worth (Ventura County Public Health, 2019). The organization is aware that most of the people affected by drug abuse and mental illnesses are among the youth, offering free rehabilitation and treatment to youth under the age of 18 years (Vcbh, 2022). It is also aware of the vast abuse of prescribed drugs, especially those with opioids, reaching out to the various pharmacies for campaigns against the misuse of such drugs. The extensive knowledge on the awareness of the drug abuse and mental issues in the county is measured by the organization through assessing issues in society such as car crashes due to drug abuse, data of people coping with mental illnesses through self-medication that results from drug abuse and addiction, poorly performing students in the various schools, turnover rates and people missing work due to drug abuse issues, parents losing custody over their children as a result of drug abuse and the density of liquor stores in the county.

Needed Commitments

VCBH has a limited serving capacity to the county of Ventura in several ways. The organization offers its services in only six locations in the county. This means that it is not readily accessible to all the people of the county, especially those in the remote areas of the county. This limits the number of people reached by the service, making it less effective. The program is also limited in that it carries out campaigns to create awareness of the effects of drug abuse and mental illnesses, highlighting issues such as suicide and addiction, and then admits individuals that come out for help (Vcbh, 2022). This means that the organization does not cover individuals who cannot reach out. The professionals that are involved in the reach-out programs are also insufficient compared to the population of Ventura County. However, the organization's effectiveness is boosted by having partnerships with more organizations and agencies that are tasked with dealing with behavioral health issues. This extends their services to the population of the county through other agencies.

Gap Analysis

There is a need to introduce an integrated model in the VCBH that will see the organization reach a wider audience. This can be done by using community mobilization methods to ensure that affected persons are brought to the organization's reach, targeting areas where drug addicts are likely to be, and assuring individuals that are afraid of being prosecuted of complete immunity. This will increase the number of clients reached, increasing the organization's efficiency. The organization also needs to increase the number of available locations to increase its accessibility. They also need increase to increase the number of serving professionals to increase their effectiveness in reaching the intended population. The organization also needs to work with the respective local government to ensure that all liquor stores and pharmacies are licensed to deal with the high density of liquor stores in the area. Establishing a good rapport with the local population ad government will also increase the organization's chances of reaching a more significant population in the county.

Wellness Everyday

Existing (baseline) levels

Wellness every day is an internet resource that provides individuals of all ages with advice on handling mental health issues. The agency has a great deal of knowledge on mental health issues that face different people at different ages of their lives (Vcbh, 2022). While the agency is considered a relevant tool for helping individuals with mental health issues, it is limited to individuals who can access the website. The reach out to individuals who are in strategic laces is therefore unlikely to be reached. The agency has great knowledge of the audience that they reach out to, grouping them according to their age, from children, teenagers, adults, and older adults, grouping the different causes of mental health issues of these groups according to their environment and occupations. This creates a great deal of resources that are instrumental in helping the groups according to their needs, making it a helpful instrument.

Needed Commitments

Wellness every day has various dedicated professionals, making it capable of serving the clients that reach out for their services. However, the professional counselors available are not enough to serve the vast population that needs to be served. Its capacity, therefore, limits the clients that the agency reaches. It also defines its services to individuals who can access the internet, with a few planned on-ground mobilization campaigns.

Gap Analysis

The agency needs to commit to the more physical mobilization of individuals to increase the number of helped clients. The agency also needs to increase the number of physical locations that are accessible to the public to enhance service delivery. There is also a need to increase the number of professionals serving individuals who reach out to increase the serving capacity of the agency.

Know the Signs

Existing (baseline) levels

The agency is a purely online platform that helps mentally challenged and disturbed people to assess their situation, create awareness and move toward looking for a viable solution to their problems. It involves providing critical steps in identifying signs and symptoms that might indicate one needs help even when they are not aware. It is a global platform dedicated to serving as many clients as possible. The website has a vast pool of knowledge on mental health issues as it utilizes many resources, using the sole method of reaching out for help as a significant control measure (Vcbh, 2022).

Needed Commitments

This method is limited because it only encourages people to come out for help without necessarily providing physical and real-time resources for the help after reaching out.

Gap Analysis

The website needs to integrate its services by increasing dedicated professionals and partnering with more organizations and agencies to serve their purpose.

The Ventura County Opioid Abuse Suppression Taskforce (COAST)

Existing (baseline) levels

The COAST initiative has a wide variety of resources, increasing its awareness of the different forms and channels of opioid substance abuse. It has an instrumental inclusion of various professionals that are dedicated to solving the issue of medication abuse.

Needed Commitments

However, the task force has a limited number of professionals that are not able to reach out to the vast population of the county, leaving out a significant number of the population that would need their help ("Ventura County opioid abuse suppression Taskforce (COAST)," n.d.). The task force is also limited in that it only focuses on the abuse of opioid medications, dwelling little on heroin abuse, which is opted by most abusers of opioid medication as a cheaper alternative (COAST, 2022).

Gap Analysis

Therefore, the task force needs to increase the number of professionals to reach more individuals that need their help. There is also a need to establish a branch of the task force that dwells on dealing with other alternatives that opioid addicts seek to replace the expensive form of drug abuse. This means establishing a comprehensive task force that deals with all forms of drug abuse among the residents without only dwelling on opioid abuse. With these changes, the agency is likely to be more effective in controlling the behavioral health of the residents of the county.

Ventura County Rx Abuse & Heroin Workgroup

Existing (baseline) levels

This organization is a more comprehensive task force focused on dealing with the abuse of prescribed medications as well as heroin. The task force has the capacity to deal with the issue to some extent as it has partnered with various medication prescription centers as well as the government to track such behavior. With these resources, they have vast awareness of the prevailing issue.

Needed Commitments

However, the task force is hindered in that it has a few professionals dealing with the problem compared to the enormous population of Ventura county. It is also limited in the physical locations available, limiting the number of individuals they assess (VCCHNAC, 2019).

Gap Analysis

The organization needs to establish new locations that will enable them to reach more people and increase the number of professionals dedicated to reaching its vision and mission in the county.

Agencies and Organizations Addressing Health Access and Aging Person’s Illnesses

Medicare and Medi-Cal

Existing (baseline) levels

The two medical insurance covers are fairly effective in providing affordable care to the population of Ventura County, especially those with chronic illnesses and in their old age, as well as in all disabled residents.

Needed Commitments

However, the terms of qualification may limit the people that qualify to apply for the covers, such as the minimum wage that they earn and the retirement benefit plans (Roehr, 2020). This leaves out a significant number of people from accessing the service. The plans have a great source of knowledge on the health issues that exist in the United States, accessing different research material as well as the client's medical history. This enables them to cover major health issues in society, making them an ideal plan to cover primary health conditions in the population of Ventura County. The health insurance covers are also limited because they utilize the limited government funds to deliver their services (Roehr, 2020).

Gap Analysis

For more effective service, the plans need to revise the terms and conditions of applying for the plan to accommodate more people. The plan needs to be extended to all ages of the population for more effectiveness in providing care in society. The government also needs to invest more funds to make the services more efficient.

Organizations and Agencies Dealing with the Social Needs of Ventura County

Ventura Continuum of Care Alliance

Existing (baseline) levels

The Ventura Continuum of Care Alliance is dedicated to reducing the causes of homelessness in Ventura County by eliminating all issues that may contribute to the issue (COC, 2019).

Needed Commitments

The organization, however, does not have any sufficient knowledge of the problems as they depend on the resources presented by the different communities to make their decisions. It is a more community-based organization than an independent organization seeking to help society. The capacity to tackle the subject issue is insufficient as they depend on well-wishers in the community, such as landlords, to deal with the issue (COC, 2019). However, they have the capacity in that they have professionals who deal with counseling the affected individuals to overcome the burden of mental stress, reducing the causes of mental illnesses as a result of stress-related access to shelter.

Gap Analysis

The organization, therefore, needs to establish a more definite method of dealing with homelessness, such as providing the affected subjects with temporary or permanent shelter through independent means. It also needs to formulate a well-defined way of accessing more reliable data and the cause of homelessness in the county to develop more effective ways of dealing with the issue.

2-1-1 Ventura County

Existing (baseline) levels

This is a referral service that is useful to users who reach out for help to connect with organizations and agencies concerned with their issues. The service is very effective as it acts as an essential link between individuals seeking assistance and various resources. The services have a vast pool of knowledge of the multiple issues that cause health problems in the county, as well as the various resources that are concerned with the various issues presented. The service has the capability of helping the various ethnic groups and races that occupy the county as they offer their services in about 150 languages, making it an effective tool.

Needed Commitments

However, it is limited in that it does not offer direct help to its client but rather connects them to other resources. Also, the service has no plan to follow up on whether the different clients are helped efficiently after the connection.

Gap Analysis

To establish a more effective way of helping the community, the service needs to consider various methods., Firstly, the service needs to provide direct help to the clients, such as providing them with counseling services. They also need to follow up to establish that the clients were helped accordingly with the connected resources.

Food Forward and Food Share

Existing (baseline) levels

With the agency being a regional board that deals with providing a balanced diet to the population, it has various strengths and weaknesses. The agency makes use of surplus food produced by the farmers and the multiple markets, making it possible to reach food-insecure residents.

Needed Commitments

However, this faces significant challenges in certain seasons of the months when there is no surplus food, making it less effective during such times (FOOD FORWARD, 2022). The agency has an advantage in that it has partnered with many well-wishers, making it possible to feed many people throughout the year. This also enables the organization to gather as much reliable information on the food security concern of the region.

Gap Analysis

The agency needs to create a program that is more concerned with all seasons of the year without depending on the surplus production of food in the county. It also needs to make more partnerships to raise enough resources for the population.

Conclusion

The health indicators of Ventura County have remained unchanged over the years as a result of the ineffectiveness of the various agencies and organizations concerned with correcting the situation. The inefficiencies result from gaps in serving their duties, incapacity to carry out their duties, and lack of knowledge in their subject field. To correct these, the various bodies need to adjust accordingly. With the adjustments, it can be projected that the health of the population of Ventura County will have a significant improvement in the coming years.

References

COAST. (2022, March 31). County Opioid Taskforce – Ventura County responds. Ventura County Responds – Addressing the Opioid Crisis. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.venturacountyresponds.org/working-together/county-opioid-taskforce

COC. (2019). Continuum of Care. Home. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.venturacoc.org

FOOD FORWARD. (2022). Food forward: Ventura County. United Way of Ventura County. https://www.volunteerventuracounty.org/agency/detail/?agency_id=53866

Roehr, B. (2020). The health of private insurance in the US during COVID-19. BMJ, m2606. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2606

Vcbh. (2022). About VCBH. Ventura County Behavioral Health. https://vcbh.org/en/about-us/about-vcbh

VCCHNAC. (2019). Health Matters in Ventura County. Ventura County Community Health Needs Assessment. A Report by The Ventura County Community Health Needs Assessment Collaborative. Dignity Health | Hello human kindness. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.dignityhealth.org/content/dam/dignity-health/pdfs/chna/chna-st-johns-pleasant-valley.pdf

Ventura County opioid abuse suppression Taskforce (COAST). (n.d.). Bureau of Justice Assistance. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/awards/2018-pm-bx-k040j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwimovrk4-v3AhXs8LsIHcZFA9sQFnoECAgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbja.ojp.gov%2Ffunding%2Fawards%2F2018-pm-bx-k040&usg=AOvVaw1wvdNE_QmD7yQ7tQCRwv0a

Ventura County Public Health. (2019). Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.healthmattersinvc.org