Public Health Issue

PART A- Wk 2 Discussion - Public Health Issue Use any ZIP CODE in Tampa FL Select a zip code near you to use as the target community in this week’s discussion and summative assessment. Select the zip code that includes city government offices (e.g., city hall, city library), retail stores, schools, and housing. Review at least 1 community health needs assessment (CHNA) report prepared by the closest nonprofit hospital serving the selected community. • Search online for [name of hospital] CHNA or for your [zip code] and CHNA report. • Select 1 issue of importance for the community as identified in the CHNA. Use this issue to describe levels of prevention in the assignment and to identify possible roles for local community and public health nurses. Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: • Identify your selected community’s zip code and the health issue of concern for that population. • Provide examples of each level of prevention as applied to the selected health issue in your identified community. For example, if you had identified Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as a health issue, the levels of prevention and associated examples might be: • Primordial: Encourage cognitive abilities in infancy and childhood, such as pretend play activities, and smoking prevention strategies in adulthood. • Primary: For people without any signs or symptoms of AD, individuals are encouraged to stop smoking, exercise, and participate in cognitive exercises, such as board and video games. • Secondary: Identify preclinical AD and/or early screening and identification of AD with screening instruments; continue primary prevention strategies. • Tertiary: Continue primary and secondary prevention activities and physical therapy; involve case managers. PART B-Wk 2 - Summative Assessment: Advocacy, Patients, and the Community There are 2 parts to this assessment: • Part 1: Choose a health care law or policy at the state or national level and write a letter of advocacy to a state or federal legislator in support of the health care law or policy. You are not required to send this letter to the legislator. • Part 2: Research a community agency of your choice. Analyze current community needs specific to the prevention of communicable diseases and develop a teaching plan with and for your selected patient population. There are several sub-parts within Part 2. Part 1: Advocacy Letter Part 1a: Research Read the Writing Letters to Elected Officials page on the Community Toolbox website (https://ctb.ku.edu/en). Work onsite with a public health or community agency representative who is employed for an organization in your state that can affect key public health issues to complete Part 1a. Identify 1 global health care issue that impacts health populations in your zip code through law or policy at the state or national level. Ensure it is one that it is crucial that continued funding be approved. You can find this information by: • Visiting the Healthy People 2030 website to identify a health care issue • Searching the Congress.gov website to determine if there is pending action or established policy supporting the identified health care issue Research the health care law or policy to determine: • The main purpose of the selected health care law or policy • The main population affected by this health care law or policy • How this health care law or policy affects the population it is intended to serve • The impact of current domestic and global issues on this health care law or policy Investigate the need for advocacy (i.e., support of and strategic approach toward supporting) for the health care issue you selected. To do this, use data from the community health needs assessment (CHNA) report from a public hospital or health facility in your zip code. Identify 1 state or federal legislator representing your selected zip code. To do this, search by address to identify your legislators using the Congress.gov website. Determine the selected legislator’s level of support for your selected health care issue in your community. If necessary, call the legislator’s office and ask an aide what actions are being taken on behalf of the community on that issue. Part 1b: Advocacy Letter Writing Complete this letter by yourself. Write a concise, 350-word letter of advocacy to the legislator on behalf of your organization that you collaborated with in Part 1b regarding the health care issue. Use the format described on the Writing Letters to Elected Officials page on the Community Toolbox website and do the following in your letter: • Acknowledge the legislator. • Write a compelling argument(s) about the importance of the health care issue in the local community and the need for advocacy. • Provide data supporting your proposed strategy to address the health care issue. • Establish yourself as a professional ally to the legislator in regard to the health care issue.