Community Helath Issues and Trends - Essay Example

Health Education Plan and Group Process This health educational plan and group process focuses on the data collected from FriedmanFamily Assessment for MT’s family of five. Accordingly, the plan incorporates description of the family’s educational needs, establishment of a goal with three objectives for the family, three selected educational methods, a brief overview of the implementation stages and steps of the educational plan, and an evaluation of the educational process, which includes process evaluation and the educator.

Despite the emphasis on MT’s family, this educational plan is applicable to all Duvall’s Stage IV and V families. From the data collected, MT’s second born son, TT, aged 16, likes to hang out with his peers outside the family environment. His educational performance is below average as the data indicates that he is merely getting by 10th grade. Further to this, he is irresponsible and lacks a role model. He has also had a referral from the school due to behavioral problems. He has second-hand experience on the effects of the street association and peer influence from the incarceration of his big brother JT, who is serving time for burglary.

TT needs to be taught about the streets of Florida. He needs to understand that the streets house many criminal and drug cartels whose aim is to train and absorb young teenagers into their crime world through their peers. His brother’s incarceration should serve as an example, but with care not to invoke avenging emotions. The report also suggests that the family has poor eating habits, partly because of MT’s job requirements. TT, the 10th grade son, does not take the school lunch most of the times because he dislikes it.

He goes without breakfast and lunch, and the evening meals are a quickly fixed dinner of hot dogs, macaroni, and the likes. These are junk foods, which may have very serious health problems in the future (Stanhop & Lancaster, 2008). AT, nine years, has a thriving problem since birth and is underweight. She also has asthma that has resided recently. In general, all the members of the family have inappropriate eating habits that require urgent attention of nutrition education. Their nutritionist should provide the relevant eating habits and prescribe a diet for the family.

TT and the family at large need guidance and counseling education to improve. According to the survey report, TT has had a referral from school based on inappropriate behavior management. This is a serious matter considering his peer influence and his jailed brother, who may act as his martyr if not properly counseled and guided. In addition, he is depicted as irresponsible and does not keep the dentist appointments, only when a problem arises. He is in urgent need of guidance and counseling services that emphasizes on the importance of good behavior and health concerns.

The family does not communicate regularly. In fact, they rarely have meals together. This shows signs of poor communication between the family members. Having established the educational needs of the family, the objectives and goals of the best-fit education requirements are easy to formulate. For the lessons about the streets, TT needs to information and knowledge on how to make choices wisely. Demanding him to stay out of the streets will not solve the problem. The objective of the education will be to impact knowledge on how to maintain his friendship with the peers while at the same time keeping away from crime and drug problems.

The objective of the second problem concerning nutrition and eating habits will be to ensure that the family recognizes the health risks of inappropriate eating habits, and possibly design a diet schedule that will be adhered to by the family (Bensley & Brookins-Fisher, 2008). The last educational objective concerning the guidance and counseling for the family (and TT in particular) should focus on the qualities of a communicative family. In light of the educational requirements of the family, three methods would effectively resolve the major issues in the family: nutrition therapy, guidance and counseling, and anxiety (stress) management.

Nutrition therapy will deal with the effective methods of ensuring a balanced diet meal is served in the family, and affecting appropriate eating habits. The members of the family will be taught on the importance of balanced diet and the health consequences associated with poor diet. Guidance and counseling will focus on the virtues of a communication in a family set-up. This will include family time together, significance of education, crime and drug use, and health issues like regularity of appointments.

Stress and anxiety management for MT with focus on the effective coping mechanisms and strategies will help reduce MT’s stress and anxiety of being the sole provider. Part of the pan will be providing reassurance and comfort, and assisting her design a plan for managing the family responsibilities and duties around the house (Stanhop & Lancaster, 2008). The first step of implementing the educational plan is bringing the family members close together. This plan will work well with effective communication and a sense of belonging within the family (Bensley & Brookins-Fisher, 2008).

The next stage will be the educational part where the family members will have exposure to counselors and therapists. The last step will involve the actual implementation of the education under the guidance of a community nurse. The plan incorporates a goal-based evaluation approach with emphasis on the education process and the qualities of the educator. This will achieved through comparison of set objectives and the actual attained objectives, with regard to the characters of the educator. References Bensley, R. J. & Brookins-Fisher, J. (2008). Community Health Education Methods: A Practical Guide.

Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2008). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (7th Ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.