community-level strategic plan

Lisette Duque

West Coast University

Health Promotion and Disease

Community Assessment Part A

South Florida has one of the largest Hispanic population, according to the Department of Health there are 1, 765,623 Hispanic living in Dade county making up 66.6% of the county’s population. (Florida Health, 2015). One of the health risks in the Hispanic community is being overweight, 42.2% of the population is overweight. Different factors contribute to overweight; access to healthcare, less options for nutritious foods, poor diet environment, lack of exercise, and sedentary lifestyle. Being overweight has many negative health consequences and is linked to diseases including; hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sleep apnea, and diabetes types II, which Hispanics are at high risk for developing. “The prevalence of total diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) among all Hispanic/Latino groups was roughly 16.9 percent for both men and women, compared to 10.2 percent for non-Hispanic whites”(Alexandria, V., 2014).

Using Gordon’s Health Pattern framework, the community‘s nutrition can be assessed with the nutritional-metabolic pattern. It shows characteristics of the family’s typical food and fluid consumption and metabolism. The framework identifies data relevant to the community consumption habits and assesses different risk factors such as anorexia, bulimia, diabetes and obesity. (Edelman,C., 2014). The Community well-being or needs depends of the adequate dietary habits, food intake, and supply of nutrients and a lot is influenced by their culture.

One of the resources that enables to complete a community assessment is the Florida Health Department website. It provides general public information. The reports show health indicators where the minority population is adversely affected and provide comparisons to a reference population.

A significant public health threat to Florida's Hispanic community is unhealthy weight, and the Florida Health Department has reports on weight status information for a county and the state. Also, access and functional needs profile that provides pertinent information on the community’s health status like chronic diseases.

A concern is the community’s lack of physical activity. Lack of daily exercise is detrimental to ones health and it is a cause of overweight and chronic health conditions. To stay active, it is recommend exercising a minimum of 30 minutes per day to prevent unhealthy weight gain and diseases. Florida is a great place for people to stay active, the warm weather allows for outdoor activities all year long.

Some barriers to being physically active are lack of motivation, unable to afford a gym membership, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of places to exercise. When I visited California, I saw many fitness zone areas in parks that were free to the public; I was surprise to see many people being active. Florida can develop fitness zones in the Hispanic communities to enable proactive lifestyle for the individuals of the community. I believe more accessible public places for fitness will be ideal for those who cannot afford a gym membership, and contribute to motivating the community to get active.

In conclusion, many Hispanics are at risk for diabetes and other chronic conditions, in particular the individuals who are over weight and have a sedentary lifestyle. There are many benefits to a healthy lifestyle, once a person becomes active and loses weight, it will help with lower blood sugars, reduce chances of having a heart disease, and stroke.

References

Florida Health (2015). Minority Health Profile. Retrieved from http://www.flhealthcharts.com/ChartsReports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=ChartsProfiles.MinorityHealthProfile-Hispanic

Alexandria, V. (2014). Diabetes Among Hispanic. Retrieved form http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/diabetes-among-hispanics-all-are-not-equal.html

Edelman,C. (2014). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span, 8th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://vsaccess.vitalsource.com