Explore the national initiatives and determine if these approaches have meaning within your community and can offer a positive solution to some of the healthcare issues facing your community.
In Homestead, Florida, diabetes, frequent mental distress, and obesity are the three healthcare issues affecting the community. On a national scale, these are some of the same diseases disturbing health outcomes. The National Diabetes Prevention Program is one of the initiatives to reduce diabetes mellitus incidence and improve quality of life. This program has been implemented by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to partner with healthcare providers to provide tools and educational resources for patients (“National Diabetes Prevention Program | Diabetes | CDC,” 2021). For frequent mental distress, the National Institute of Health created a National Institute of Mental Health. On the website of this Institute, patients can access valuable information, education, and recommendations to provide a positive view of their disorders (“NIMH » Education and Awareness,” 2021). One of the goals of healthy people 2030 is to reduce the overweight and obesity statistics, help people eat healthily, and increase their activity levels. In the obstetrics world, the goal is to increase the number of women with a healthy pre-pregnancy weight; this goal is getting worse (“Increase the proportion of women who had a healthy weight before pregnancy — MICH‑13 – Healthy People 2030 | health.gov”, 2021). Finding initiatives to improve patient outcomes is not tricky, but finding the time and reimbursement to educate patients is challenging. Value-based healthcare should be the goal for private insurance and federal programs like Medicaid and medicare.
2. Discuss which strategies you would use to engage your local policymaker in discussing these national initiatives to advocate for change. Remember the excellent resources to determine national healthcare goals are at the NIH or Healthy People 2020 websites.
After creating this partnership, I will invite this legislator to health fairs and events to support our patients. I will request an interview with the legislator and summarize the benefit of implementing these programs in our communities. I will gather all available information to demonstrate the need of citizens in our area for this initiative. I would offer my constitutional support and contribute to post their picture on my private practice website as a supporter for the health of our community.
3. Compose a Tweet that describes how the Global Burden of Disease is impacting your community. Remember to be concise, as Twitter only allows 140 characters. Share your Tweet in the discussions.
Mental Health, Obesity, and Diabetes are all affecting our communities at levels above the rest of the nation. Please join the city mayor Steve Losner and me this Saturday at 9 am at Losner Park to receive more information on these diseases and how you can be prevented or improve it #healthyhomestead.
4. Finally, what are your thoughts on how Dr. Riley did with Congressman Aiken? What did she do correctly, and what could she have improved? As you consider your initial meeting with a Congressman, would you have prepared additional information or in a different way? Share your thoughts and perspectives.
Dr. Riley was assertive and concise. She addressed her concerns without hesitancy and portraited herself with confidence. The congressman was impressed by Dr. Riley’s knowledge. Too much pressure in an initial meeting could cause the congressman to feel uncomfortable and refuse to see Dr. Riley again.
-Danay Sosa
References
Increase the proportion of women who had a healthy weight before pregnancy — MICH‑13 – Healthy People 2030 | health.gov. (2021). Retrieved 13 October 2021, from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/pregnancy-and-childbirth/increase-proportion-women-who-had-healthy-weight-pregnancy-mich-13
National Diabetes Prevention Program | Diabetes | CDC. (2021). Retrieved 13 October 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/index.html#:~:text=The%20National%20Diabetes%20Prevention%20Program,risk%20of%20type%202%20diabetes.
NIMH » Education and Awareness. (2021). Retrieved 13 October 2021, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/get-involved/education-awareness ReplyReply to Comment
