Healthy People 2020 Initiative
Healthy People 2020 is a program orientated toward the improvement of public health in a variety of directions. It targets all communities and groups that experience the need for healthcare services of higher quality. In my organization, we employ the initiative that focuses on teen pregnancy prevention (TPP). The TPP issue is highly relevant in contemporary American society because among all the industrialized states the USA has the highest rates of teen pregnancies (McMahon, Hanson, Griese and Kenyon 218). This tendency needs to be addressed within the nearest time. The interventions of TPP carry multiple short and long-term benefits for the individuals and the country in general. For example, approaching this problem upstream healthcare workers improve public health, prevent morbidity and mortality of infants, minimize the rates of negative pregnancy outcomes, and save costs. The Indigenous populations have been recognized as those with the highest rates of TPP compared to all other nations dwelling in the USA (McMahon, Hanson, Griese, and Kenyon 219). In my organization, we deliver patient education and improve the health literacy of target Indigenous communities by teaching the adolescents about reproductive health and behaviors, contraception, STIs, prenatal care opportunities, and abstinence. The programs we deliver are culturally sensitive and work to connect the concepts of TPP with the religious and spiritual beliefs of the target communities. The communication is provided using adding courses in health literacy to school curriculums and cooperation with the community leaders.
Self-directed Work Teams
Self-directed work teams (SDWTs) are groups of workers who organize their activities autonomously. Self-government and collaboration are the basis of SDWTs. In nursing, self-directed work teams are often viewed as patient care improvement. The primary benefit of SDWTs is their collaborative nature that allows the participants of the groups to apply a mix of various professional skills and competencies to maximize patient satisfaction. Besides, SDWTs employ a decentralized leadership model and, as a result, the healthcare services are delivered and the patients’ needs are responded to faster and more precisely. SDWTs facilitate the speed of work and allow the teams to cover more patients within a shorter period. Some of the services can even be moved to the locations of the patients and provided right at their bedsides, and due to that the patients do not need to be moved to other departments, wait in line, and suffer from the clogged operations traffic in the hospital that occurs quite often.
Four Key Concepts Related to Collaboration
The four main concepts related to collaboration are teamwork, interactions (or interpersonal communication), ethics (or values), and responsibilities (duties or roles). The teamwork concept assumes that the members of one collaborative group are to organize their internal group dynamics in a way that allows them to share the processes of problem-solving and decision making with the inclusion of all members and mutual respect. The concept of ethics and values presupposes the orientation of the patient as the center of attention and care for the whole team. The concept of interpersonal communications is based on the team members’ ability to find a common language and collaborate harmoniously without clashing with one another. Finally, the concept of responsibilities and roles assumes that each participant of a team is to be aware of their duties in various situations and function productively without getting in the way of the roles of other members. Besides, in this concept, the strengths and weaknesses of each member can be evaluated and balanced out for the higher effectiveness of the group.
Works Cited
McMahon, Tracey R., Jessica D. Hanson, Emily R. Griese, and Den Yelle Baete Kenyon. “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Recommendations from Urban and Reservation Northern Plains American Indian Community Members.” American Journal of Sexuality Education 10.3 (2015): 218-241, Web.