Heart Disease in Oregon
Because its effects worsen at a faster rate each year, heart disease remains Oregon's biggest health problem. It is prudent to address this type of health issue because research suggests that heart sickness is the main cause of mortality/death in Oregon (American Heart Association, 2016). According to the data collecting worksheet, heart disease is frequent in all individuals and could impact the entire population if nothing is done. It is more frequent in men than in women, and its frequency rises with age (Mendez-Luck et al., 2015). According to the findings, older persons are more prone to develop heart disease. Additionally, CDC notes that heart disease is also prevalent on people smoking tobacco, and the obese. The disease contributes to 27% of all the deaths according to 2015 report (Mendez-Luck et al., 2015). Preventing and mitigating cardiac-related illnesses will eventually reduce the mortality rate in America, particularly in Oregon State.
Poverty and Heart Disease
CDC reiterates that heart disease is more prevalent in people smoking tobacco, and the obese (American Heart Association, 2016). The central contribution towards this fact is the lack of proper education on substance use as well as the correct choice of diet. Poverty is also related to obesity because poor people often face hunger due to low income that makes them lack awareness and access to adequate nutritious foods. Due to the economic demands, several people in Oregon are still lying below the poverty line which limits them from attaining the required wellness (Schofield et al., 2011). Thus, individuals under this category occasionally lack access to proper health care services due to the inability to cater for health benefits such as CDHPs.
Community Interventions
The community, as well as the Oregon healthcare department, consistently campaign against smoking as a strategy to address the issue. According to the report published by the American Heart Association (2016), smoking is one of the causes of heart diseases. The initiative, which has been in practice for the last two years, entails campaigns that discourage people from smoking as well as encouraging the technique of higher taxation on tobacco to limit smokers from buying more cigarettes. Potential activists communicated to the community about this program through social media, door-to-door awareness campaigns, and the use of billboards. Distributing free nutritious food to the vulnerable is also another intervention which is in practice (Galloway-Gilliam, 2013). The more affordable meals preferred by low-income persons contain a lot of calories that add additional weight gain, which eventually results in heart disease. Lastly, establishing free or affordable gym services furnished with necessary equipment and a gym instructor in every neighborhood has successfully encouraged people to do physical exercise, hence cushioning them from acquiring heart disease (Mendez-Luck et al., 2015). The community, in partnership with the World Health Organization, heightens the physical activities by organizing monthly tournaments such as racing, football, and athletics within Oregon since 2013.
Creating Awareness and Medical Camps
Creating awareness has been depending upon conducting civic education across the state. The civic education often covers all the target groups: poor households, people smoking tobacco, the obese, and the elderly. CDC and WHO advertise the aspect of civic education together with neighborhood campaigns about heart disease in all conferences and through media (Galloway-Gilliam, 2013). For instance, they hold live television and radio interviews to create more awareness regarding the measures put in place. The interviews always occur monthly at night when people are at home. Organizing quarterly free heart disease medical camps is another program targeted by the organization. The initiative will seek donors who can fund free health camps where target people can go and find heart-related medications. The plans entail diagnosis, counseling, and training about healthy living.
Role of Public Health Providers
All these interventions work with the help of public health providers who feed the activists with relevant data as well as enhancing the decision-making process. Various activities conducted by nurses contribute to fixing the causes of the observed defects as well as advancing awareness campaigns (Mendez-Luck et al., 2015). Public health professionals mitigate the disease through employing techniques such as the establishment of public smoking zones to thwart the effect of passive smoking, spreading civic education regarding heart failure, and establishing free medical camps for the affected persons (Schofield et al., 2011). Also, the participants always eliminate the causes of the problem by organizing free training equipment and activities to help in initiating weight loss.
Public Health Nursing and Support
Public health nursing has been at the forefront to spread awareness campaigns in Oregon. Nurses, as well as other professionals, voluntarily educate personnel and give pieces of advice on the topic of nutrition. The American Heart Association (2016) reiterates that training people on cardiac-related disease mitigation strategies lowered the aftermaths of heart diseases in Oregon by 25 percent as from 2013. The federal government and nonprofit organizations, such as public health providers, occasionally finance activities established for eradicating heart diseases in the state (Mendez-Luck et al., 2015). The idea also includes the provision of necessary resources and coming up with more staff in the field of nursing to address the health issue.
Enhancing Positive Health Outcomes
Increasing positive health outcomes may call upon the support of healthcare organizations and government institutions that also recommend similar programs to enhance and finance the programs addressed above. CDC should work towards developing new policies connected to the advances in science and technology. They need to fund activities aimed at preventing atherosclerosis and high blood pressure, particularly at the community level. On the other hand, the government through the Oregon state department needs to strengthen public health providers and create training opportunities, modeling standards, and resources for continuous technical support for various agencies and their partners (American Heart Association, 2016). The World Health Organization should also work with other regional and global partners to achieve the required benefits of sharing knowledge and expertise in heart disease and stroke prevention with these partners. Together with the federal government, CDC, and the World Health Organization must enhance data sources and systems to monitor focal indicators necessary for heart disease and stroke prevention and to evaluate policies and program interventions strategically.
References
American Heart Association (2016). A Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 17 April 2017, from www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/action_plan/pdfs/action_plan_full.pdf.
Galloway-Gilliam, L. (2013). Racial and ethnic approaches to community health. National Civic Review, 102(4), 46–48.
Mendez-Luck, C. A., Bethel, J. W., Goins, R. T., Schure, M. B., & McDermott, E. (2015). Community as a source of health in three racial/ethnic communities in Oregon: A qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 1–10.
Schofield, R., Ganann, R., Brooks, S., McGugan, J., Bona, K. D., Betker, C., Dilworth, K. Watson, C. (2011). Community health nursing vision for 2020: Shaping the future. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 33(8), 1047–1068.
