Vila Health Disaster Recovery Plan Purpose
When a natural disaster or health threat hits a community, it is essential to have a comprehensive and well-designed recovery plan. It is necessary to assess the needs of the community and all its members to improve access to health services and level out inequalities in possible disaster situations. The recovery speed depends on resources and their proper allocation, so it is essential to use effective concepts such as the MAP-IT (Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track) framework. The Vila Health Disaster Recovery Plan developed and tested can help the community cope with the consequences of the disaster with minimal losses.
This Vila Health Disaster Recovery Plan will address the potential threat of the Monkeypox (MPX) outbreak in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area. MPX is an infectious disease characterized by fever, intoxication, and exanthema. Outbreaks of MPX in the US have occurred before, such as in 2003, and a global epidemic of the virus occurred in 2022 (Lee & Morling, 2022). The virus is transmitted from infected animals and from person to person through bodily fluids and infected materials (Lee & Morling, 2022). Health workers are advised to have a complete set of protective equipment when caring for an infected person, as these are contagious before the rash is completely gone. MPX is especially dangerous for the elderly, poor people, homeless, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases (Lee & Morling, 2022).
Vila Health Community Needs Assessment
Charlotte is a large city of 874000 people with metropolitan and suburban areas (Charlotte, NC). In Charlotte, 11.9% of the population is defined as poor, and 44.5% of poverty is blacks and women aged 25-34 (Charlotte, NC). These categories, together with pregnant women, the disabled, and people with chronic diseases, are at risk for the MXP outbreak (Lee & Morling, 2022). The advantage of Charlotte is the low percentage of people who do not speak English. Even migrant, Asian, and Mexican households use English as their primary language of communication (Charlotte, NC).
Healthy People 2020 goals and 2030 objectives
To create a Vila plan, you must build on the Healthy People 2020 and 2030 frameworks and the MAP-IT strategy. Healthy People 2020 and 2030 are roadmaps or frameworks to improve population health across the country and prevent disease. They define healthcare priorities for the coming decades based on the current situation and current scientific evidence (Ochiai et al., 2021). Healthy People 2030 differs from the previous version in greater sophistication – the number of topic areas and objects has been reduced, and intersecting and repetitive items have been removed.
Healthy People 2030 involves creating and funding programs in four main areas and promoting healthy lifestyles and well-being across the lifespan (Ochiai et al., 2021). Another important goal is achieving health equity through social programs, charity support, literacy, and increasing knowledge and action by activating leadership (Ochiai et al., 2021).
Thus, Healthy People 2030 encourages the creation of preventive education programs on hygiene and other precautions in case of a possible MPX outbreak. Moreover, hospitals and other government agencies should be informed about what to do if the virus spreads, as rapid diagnosis and isolation of infected people are key (Lee & Morling, 2022). MPX can leave severe consequences in the form of scars and systemic body damage. Therefore, poor population categories need additional support with vitamins, supportive therapy, proper nutrition, and physiotherapy.
Improving Health Equity
The catastrophe situation exacerbates existing inequalities in terms of health and access to medical care. Vulnerable categories of the population are the disabled, the homeless, migrants, the poor, and the elderly. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines persons with special needs as those who require additional assistance during disasters, such as assistance with transportation, medication, supervision, and English translation (Windsor, 2021). The first risk group is pregnant women, people with disability, and chronic diseases. Hospitals should have a date, inform them of the danger, and test for the virus. Other government agencies, such as schools and universities that have data on people with disabilities, should inform them of the dangers, precautions to take, and contacts for seeking help.
MAP-IT (Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, Track) framework
The MAP-IT framework is based on the Health People 2020 and 2030 initiatives and is used for disaster recovery in the event of disasters. This diagram describes a step-by-step path of actions to be taken in the event of an emergency.
The plan’s first step is to mobilize all stakeholders, including authorities, hospitals, fire departments, police, and citizens. It is also necessary to prepare protocols of interaction and subordination for all participants in advance (Schoenherr et al., 2022). The next step is to assess the situation to minimize damage and optimize costs. An outbreak of monkeypox will require rapid vaccination of people at risk, as well as additional funds for medical staff and volunteers to help with management and diagnosis.
The fourth step is implementation, which involves the direct execution of the plan accurately and accurately through joint efforts, adjusted by a single leadership (Schoenherr et al., 2022). The plan’s implementation is to control the dissemination of information in the media and adequately inform the population. Mobilization of state structures for consulting the people and conducting diagnostics. Mobilization of medical institutions creates the logistics of moving and isolating patients so they do not come into contact with each other.
The last step is to track the process and analyze the work results based on feedback from different population groups (Schoenherr et al., 2022). Following the process will allow adjustments to existing protocols and follow-up plans and improve resource management.
Cultural, Social, and Economic Barriers and Proposed Strategies
Social, cultural, and economic difficulties include some features of the virus and modern society.
- Exposure of poor and homeless people to greater infectivity due to possible contact with the carrier and unsanitary conditions. The strategy is to inform the population and involve social workers to help the poor and the poor (Abbas et al., 2022).
- Diagnosis requires a long waiting period, which can lead to an infected person waiting a long time for a result and infecting other people. Strategy: Advise potential carriers to self-isolate, avoid public transport, and avoid sharing hygiene and clothing with others (Abbas et al., 2022). Strategy 2: dividing the flow of diagnosed people into different state institutions in order to minimize queues and crowds (Abbas et al., 2022). Strategy 3: Volunteers can perform home diagnostics on patients who are at risk (Abbas et al., 2022).
Timeline for the Recovery Effort
MXP is well controlled, so rapid action to diagnose and isolate infected people should lead to a quick end to the outbreak. Measures include:
- mobilization of medical institutions, other government agencies, volunteers and social workers, and the media.
- Information campaign in the media and government agencies.
- Diagnosis of vulnerable groups of the population at home and potentially infected people in medical institutions.
- Financial measures to support the population, to ensure preventive measures.
- Vaccination of people at risk.
Vila Health Recovery Plan: Expected effects
MXP has low mortality and infectivity, so previous outbreaks have been overcome within a few months. Therefore, the prognosis for the implementation of the plan is optimistic since monkeypox has no advantage in spreading in an urban environment. Access to the benefits of civilization and a vast network of medical institutions make it possible to monitor the spread of the virus and isolate infected people until complete recovery.
References
Al-Mandhari, A., Kodama, C., Abubakar, A., Hajjeh, R., & Brennan, R. (2022). Monkeypox outbreak and response efforts in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 28(7), 465-468.
Lee, A. C. K., & Morling, J. R. (2022). The global Monkeypox outbreak: Germ panic, stigma and emerging challenges. Public Health in Practice, 4.
Ochiai, E., Kigenyi, T., Sondik, E., Pronk, N., Kleinman, D. V., Blakey, C., Fromknecht, C. Q., Heffernan, M. & Brewer, K. H. (2021). Healthy People 2030 Leading Health Indicators and Overall Health and Well-being Measures: Opportunities to Assess and Improve the Health and Well-being of the Nation. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 27(1), S235-S241.
Schoenherr, J. R., Lilja-Lolax, K., & Gioe, D. (2022). Multiple Approach Paths to Insider Threat (MAP-IT): Intentional, Ambivalent and Unintentional Insider Threats. Counter-Insider Threat Research and Practice, 1(1).
Windsor, J. A. M. (2021). Emergency Management: A Case Study of Special Needs Populations and Disaster Preparedness. Masters Theses. 716. Web.
Abbas, S.; Karam, S.; Schmidt-Sane, M. and Palmer, J. (2022) Social Considerations for Monkeypox Response, Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP).
Charlotte, NC. Data USA. (n.d.). Web.