Strategies for Empowerment
Strategies
Despite the fact that the Miami-Dade community cannot be characterized by excessively poor economic growth rates or any other factors that affect health literacy of its population, the lack of awareness about some of the current health concerns is drastic in the specified area (Florida Department of Health, 2013). Therefore, a reconsideration of the current approach toward the promotion of healthy lifestyle and patient awareness should be viewed as a necessity. Particularly, the introduction of IT tools and social media as the means of maintaining the consistent communication with the target population should be accepted as a necessity.
According to a recent report, obesity and comorbid disorders (especially asthma and diabetes) must be listed among the key issues that the residents of Miami-Dade are currently facing (Florida Department of Health, 2013). Therefore, the active use of social media as the means of building awareness and encouraging the target population to accept the suggested healthy lifestyle must be considered as an option.
Role
A community health nurse will have to perform several roles when managing the identified issue. Educating the Miami-Dade community members is the first step toward improving patient outcomes and preventing the instances of health problems among Miami-Dade residents. Apart from an educational role, a nurse must also assume the one of a communicator. To be more specific, a nurse will have to deliver essential information to the citizens of Miami so that they could recognize the existing threats and choose the behaviors that will help minimize risks (Florida Department of Health, 2013).
Communicable Diseases: Rubella
Strategies
To prevent the instances of rubella contraction in the Miami-Dade County, FL, one will have to consider designing an enhanced communication framework for providing the target population with the necessary information. One will need to use the MMR vaccine. It should be noted, though, that, to encourage the residents of the identified community to be vaccinated, one will also have to carry out a massive health promotion campaign that will allow building awareness among the residents of Miami-Dade. Furthermore, prejudices that the local citizens may have developed toward the very concept of vaccination will have to be eradicated with the help of a healthcare program. For this purpose, one will have to consider using modern social media, including Facebook, Twitter, etc., to raise awareness regarding the importance of vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013).
Risk Groups
Children and young adults should be viewed as the most vulnerable populations when considering the issue of rubella as a crucial healthcare concern in Miami-Dade, FL. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Therefore, the college students should be the first to be provided with the necessary medication and healthcare services. As stressed above, the active use of modern media as the platform for building awareness among young people will have to be deemed as one of the key strategies in the management of the problem. As a result, the essential information will be disseminated among students successfully. Moreover, an array of complications associated with rubella, such as congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), can be avoided once the approach mentioned above is deployed. Therefore, the application of the framework identified above and the further reconsideration of priorities with the focus on the multicultural needs of customers should be deemed as the priority for healthcare organizations. It is assumed that the identified strategy will help improve patient outcomes in Miami to a considerable extent.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Measles outbreak in an unvaccinated family and a possibly associated international traveler – Orange County, Florida, December 2012–January 2013.
Florida Department of Health. (2013). Miami-Dade County: Community improvement plan.