Abstract
Many underserved populations face numerous health problems such as HIV, cancer, poor living conditions, and terminal diseases. HIV treatment compliance among African American women depends on the social support availed by relatives and public health workers. This essay gives a detailed description of HIV/AIDS among African American women. It also outlines the best leadership practices that can improve the level of social support.
Introduction
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS continues to increase among women in different communities. Most of the “affected women are usually young and economically unstable” (Edwards, 2006, p. 679). Many African American women are also affected by this condition. This situation makes it impossible for them to realize their potentials. Such women must adhere to specific HIV treatment regimes in order to suppress the virus. There is a strong relationship between the nature of support and HIV treatment compliance. A proper understanding of this relationship can be instrumental towards providing the required support to many African American women with HIV/AIDS.
Description of the Public Health Leadership Issue
Fried, Piot, Frenk, Flahault, and Parker (2012) believe that many African American women with HIV do not get quality social support. Such individuals are usually financially unstable. They also lack supportive family members thus affecting their economic potentials. Some factors such as “turbulent relationships, HIV-positive husbands, lack of care, and stigma affect the people’s HIV medication adherence” (Edwards, 2006, p. 683). This situation explains why proper emotional support is needed to improve the level of HIV medication adherence.
Public health leaders should play a significant role towards empowering every underserved community. They should pioneer the best practices, ideas, and approaches in order to promote the best health outcomes (Reinhard & Hassmiller, 2014). I have selected this public health issue because it is very interesting. As well, it will equip me with better leadership competencies. This interesting health leadership issue will identify the most appropriate support required by different African American women (West, Eckert, Steward, & Pasmore, 2014). The study will outline various instrumental, financial, and emotional support systems that can empower more African American women.
Applying the Information Gathered in Class
The ideas and concepts gained in class will support my role as a future scholar-practitioner. To begin with, I have acquired powerful leadership competencies from our class readings. I will use such competencies to develop innovative programs that can assess and address the needs of many women with HIV/AIDS. For instance, I will identify the best models of care that can improve the level of HIV medication adherence (Parsons & Cornett, 2011). The approach will target more African American women with HIV.
I will also use the information obtained from this course to offer quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Such QI initiatives will encourage more women to embrace different HIV therapies. My leadership skills will promote the best ethical practices in public healthcare (Day et al., 2014). For example, I will encourage more family members to support their affected relatives (Nahavandi, 2014). New researches will identify better opportunities, practices, and systems that can increase the level of HIV treatment compliance.
Conclusion
Public health leaders should use their skills to assess the health and social needs of different communities (Burke & Friedman, 2011). African American women with HIV can benefit a lot from effective public health practices. Innovative public health strategies should therefore be used to improve the social and emotional support availed to every African American female with HIV/AIDS.
Reference List
Burke, R., & Friedman, L. (2011). Essentials of Management and Leadership in Public Health. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Web.
Day, M., Schickle, D., Smith, K., Zakariasen, K., Moskol, J., & Oliver, T. (2014). Training public health superheroes: five talents for public health leadership. Journal of Public Health, 10(1), 1-12. Web.
Edwards, L. (2006). Perceived social support and HIV/AIDS medication adherence among African American women. Quality Health Research, 16(5), 679-691. Web.
Fried, L., Piot, P., Frenk, J., Flahault, A., & Parker, R. (2012). Global public health leadership for the twenty-first century: Towards improved health of all populations. The Changing Landscape of Global Public Health, 7(1), 1-12. Web.
Nahavandi, A. (2014). The Art and Science of Leadership. Upper-Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Web.
Parsons, M., & Cornett, P. (2011). Sustaining the pivotal organizational outcome: magnet recognition. Journal of Nursing Management, 19(1), 277-286. Web.
Reinhard, S., & Hassmiller, S. (2014). The Future of Nursing: Transforming Health Care. The AARP International Journal, 1(2), 1-12. Web.
West, M., Eckert, R., Steward, K., & Pasmore, B. (2014). Developing Collective Leadership for Health Care. Center for Creative Leadership, 1(1), 1-36. Web.