Injury Risk Related to environment
The Risk for Injury related to Environmental Conditions
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The Risk for Injury related to Environmental Conditions
Community health helps to enhance, maintain, improve, and protect different population groups’ health status within specific communities. (Lehman and Sanders, 2007). Primary healthcare programs and solutions help to reduce risk factors and increase health promotion and prevention. There are multiple health problems affecting individuals within specific communities based on the location and population within a particular community. The health problem identified in the community assessment is the increased risk for injuries related to environmental conditions. More specifically, the community does not have sidewalks to enable citizens to walk around town safely. Individuals, especially children and senior citizens, experience increased falls and accidents due to weak and frail bodies and inadequate strength. This activity aims to communicate with adults about the issue, suggest a health promotion program to address the problem, and determine how to evaluate that program’s success in promoting the community’s overall health.
Health Promotion Program
Senior citizens are the most affected by the lack of sidewalks within a community, leading to more individuals experiencing falls and injuries when visiting walking in town. Providing adequate transportation services for senior citizens would be a better and improved way to help them get around town quickly and efficiently (Sylvestre, Christopher, and Marcie, 2006). Accessible transportation is essential in ensuring access to vital services such as grocery shopping and medical care. In essence, this program will also help sick and injured individuals get to the medical facilities without experiencing problems that could damage their existing health problems. Part of aging well involves individuals being able to interact with other people in the community. Thus, the availability of accessible transportation means allows older people to live independently within a community, prevent loneliness and isolation and minimizes the need for long-term care placement. In other words, it improves their social, psychological, and emotional lives. Many senior citizens do not drive and rely on family and friends for transportation. Nonetheless, these individuals are not always available, and older people must find resources such as public transportation as it is a vital support service that acts as their only connection to the people in the community and the outside world.
In this case, the transportation program will provide door to door services and fixed-route with scheduled time and services. It will help senior citizens move around town as well as go back home easily and safely. Door-to-door services will require individuals to give notice on their intent to ride on a bus from one specific location to another, while fixed-route services will take passengers from specific stops at different locations. Ridesharing programs would help senior citizens avoid falls and related injuries on the road and improve their health by enabling them to visit senior centres and adult daycare and attend their health-related appointments.
If approved, this program will be funded by the local government and other charitable groups within the community. More importantly, it is cost-effective as it involves developing transportation services that can be used by all individuals in the community. The government will provide two minibuses to help individuals move around town more efficiently at all times. It will focus on senior citizens in the whole community rather than just one individual.
Evaluation
The program’s success will be determined by the number of senior citizens who go to the hospital from injuries from walking around town in the next three months. A reduced number of senior citizens taken to the hospital due to falls and related injuries when in town means that the program effectively reduces the risks of injuries related to environmental conditions. Also, improved health outcomes and overall well-being among the older populations will show the program’s effectiveness. It will take about three months to achieve change in behavior among all senior citizens as individuals accept and adapt to the new transportation program.
Literature Review
According to Gorman, Jones, and Turner (2019), the aging population increases globally. Thus, the provision of accessible and safe transportation services remains a top concern for older individuals, health care providers, caregivers, and overall communities where they live (Meyers, 2019). Accessible public transportation services are crucial as they allow older individuals to live independently. Many senior citizens choose to age in their homes and communities. According to Meyers (2019), successful community living for older people requires access to medical care and other essential services, such as transportation to go to and from town.
The study by Shrestha et al. (2018) supports the health promotion program by suggesting that accessible transportation helps older individuals to go shopping, attend their health care appoints, or even got to work. According to the article, the natural aging process is characterized by physiological issues and changes that may profoundly affect mobility. Thus, they get into accidents and fall easily if they do not have proper support. As older individuals today become more active than before, public transport would play a critical role in maintaining their lifestyle even when they cannot drive. Fundamentally, implementing an adequate and accessible public transportation program and services as a health promotion program will profoundly increase older individuals’ quality of health and life by reducing falls, promote their sense of freedom, and enhance their independence.
References
Gorman, M., Jones, S., & Turner, J. (2019). Older People, Mobility, and Transport in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of the Research. Sustainability, 11(21), 6157.
Meyers, G. (2019, December 9). Transportation challenges for the elderly. SendaRide – Safe.Secure.Stat. https://www.sendaride.com/2019/12/09/transportation-challenges-for-the-elderly/
Lehmann, U., & Sanders, D. (2007). Community health workers: what do we know about them. The state of the evidence on programs, activities, costs, and impact on health outcomes of using community health workers. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1-42.
Shrestha, B. P., Millonig, A., Hounsell, N. B., & Mcdonald, M. (2017). Review of public transport needs of older people in European context. Journal of population ageing, 10(4), 343-361.
Sylvestre, G., Christopher, G., & Snyder, M. (2006). The mobility needs and transportation issues of the aging population in rural Manitoba.
