The first step in any effective project or clinical patient encounter is planning. This assessment provides an opportunity for you to plan a hypothetical clinical learning experience focused on health promotion associated with a specific community health concern or health need. Such a plan defines the critical elements of who, what, when, where, and why that establish the foundation for an effective clinical learning experience for the participants. Completing this assessment will strengthen your understanding of how to plan and negotiate individual or group participation. This assessment is the foundation for the implementation of your health promotion educational plan (Assessment 4).

Note: Assessment 1 must be completed first before you are able to submit Assessment 4. Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

Historically, nurses have made significant contributions to community and public health with regard to health promotion, disease prevention, and environmental and public safety. They have also been instrumental in shaping public health policy. Today, community and public health nurses have a key role in identifying and developing plans of care to address local, national, and international health issues. The goal of community and public health nursing is to optimize the health of individuals and families, taking into consideration cultural, racial, ethnic groups, communities, and populations. Caring for a population involves identifying the factors that place the population’s health at risk and developing specific interventions to address those factors. The community/public health nurse uses epidemiology as a tool to customize disease prevention and health promotion strategies disseminated to a specific population. Epidemiology is the branch of medicine that investigates causes of various diseases in a specific population (CDC, 2012; Healthy People 2030, n.d.).

As an advocate and educator, the community/public health nurse is instrumental in providing individuals, groups, and aggregates with the tools that are essential for health promotion and disease prevention. There is a connection between one’s quality of life and their health literacy. Health literacy is related to the knowledge, comprehension, and understanding of one’s condition along with the ability to find resources that will treat, prevent, maintain, or cure their condition. Health literacy is impacted by the individual’s learning style, reading level, and the ability understand and retain the information being provided. The individual’s technology aptitude and proficiency in navigating available resources is an essential component to making informed decisions and to the teaching learning process (CDC, 2012; Healthy People 2030, n.d.).

It is essential to develop trust and rapport with community members to accurately identify health needs and help them adopt health promotion, health maintenance, and disease prevention strategies. Cultural, socio-economical, and educational biases need to be taken into consideration when communicating and developing an individualized treatment and educational plan. Social, economic, cultural, and lifestyle behaviors can have an impact on an individual’s health and the health of a community. These behaviors may pose health risks, which may be mitigated through lifestyle/behaviorally-based education. The environment, housing conditions, employment factors, diet, cultural beliefs, and family/support system structure play a role in a person’s levels of risk and resulting health. Assessment, evaluation, and inclusion of these factors provide a basis for the development of an individualized plan. The health professional may use a genogram or sociogram in this process.

What is a genogram? A genogram, similar to a family tree, is used to gather detailed information about the quality of relationships and interactions between family members over generations as opposed to lineage. Gender, family relationships, emotional relationships, lifespan, and genetic predisposition to certain health conditions are components of a genogram. A genogram, for instance, may identify a pattern of martial issues perhaps rooted in anger or explain why a person has green eyes.

What is a sociogram? A sociogram helps the health professional to develop a greater understanding of these factors by seeing inter-relationships, social links between people or other entities, as well as patterns to identify vulnerable populations and the flow of information within the community.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Lesson 1: Introduction to epidemiology. In Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice (3rd ed.). https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section1.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy People 2030. https://health.gov/healthypeople

For this assessment, you will propose a hypothetical health promotion plan addressing a particular health concern or health need affecting a fictitious individual or group living in the community. The hypothetical individual or group of your choice must be living in the community; not in a hospital, assistant living, nursing home, or other facility.

To prepare for this assessment, first select a health concern or health need from the Assessment 01 Supplement: Health Promotion Plan [PDF] Download Assessment 01 Supplement: Health Promotion Plan [PDF]resource.

• Consider the populations potentially affected by that concern or health need, and hypothetical individuals or groups living in the community.
• Then investigate your chosen concern or need and best practices for health improvement, based on supporting evidence.

In addition, you are encouraged to:

• Complete the Vila Health: Effective Interpersonal Communications simulation. The information gained from completing this activity will help you succeed with the assessment. Completing activities is also a way to demonstrate engagement.
• Review the health promotion plan assessment and scoring guide to ensure that you understand the work you will be asked to complete.
• Review the MacLeod article, “Making SMART Goals Smarter.”

Note: You will need to satisfactorily pass Assessment 1 (Health Promotion Plan) before working on your Assessment 4 (Health Promotion Plan Presentation). In Assessment 4, you will simulate a face-to-face presentation of this plan to the individual or group that you have identified.

To complete your hypothetical health promotion plan, please use the following outline to guide your work:

Health Promotion Plan

• To begin, first select a health issue or need that will be the focus of your assessment from the Assessment 01 Supplement: Health Promotion Plan [PDF]  Download Assessment 01 Supplement: Health Promotion Plan [PDF]resource.
• After you select a specific health concern or health need from the resource above, next investigate the concern or need and best practices for health improvement, based on supporting evidence.
• Create a scenario as if this project were being completed face-to-face.
• Identify the chosen population and include demographic data (location, lifestyle, age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, income, education, employment).
• Describe in detail the characteristics of your chosen hypothetical individual or group for this activity and how they are relevant to this targeted population.
• Discuss why your chosen population is predisposed to this health concern or health need and why they can benefit from a health promotion educational plan.
• Based on the health concern for your hypothetical individual or group, discuss what you would include in the development of a sociogram. Take into consideration possible social, economic, cultural, genetic, and/or lifestyle behaviors that may have an impact on health as you develop your educational plan in your first assessment. You will take this information into consideration when you develop your educational plan in your fourth assessment.
• Identify their potential learning needs. Collaborate with the individual or group on SMART goals that will be used to evaluate the educational session (Assessment 4).
• Identify the individual or group’s current behaviors and outline clear expectations for this educational session and offer suggestions for how the individual or group needs can be met.
• Health promotion goals need to be clear, measurable, and appropriate for this activity. Consider goals that will foster behavior changes and lead to the desired outcomes.

Document Format and Length

Your health promotion plan should be 3–4 pages in length.

Supporting Evidence

Support your health promotion plan with peer-reviewed articles, course study resources, and Healthy People 2030 resources. Cite at least three credible sources published within the past five years, using APA format.