Discuss about the Community Portfolio for Evidence Based Research.
The term community health in its broader sense encompasses several aspects. The hallmark features of community health include the prevalence of strong social capital, devoted and aware community dwellers, a dynamic and healthy, social, physical and spiritual surrounding, accessible, affordable and reasonable facilities and funds in conjunction with a set up of control that is holistic and responsive to the community members in resolving the issues and addressing the social determinants of health. In a community placement the responsibilities and duties performed by the healthcare professionals particularly the nurses play a pivotal role to foster an environment for the inhabiting population congenial to their health and well being (McMurray & Clendon, 2013). According to the Local Government Area (LGA) Greater Geelong situated in regional Victoria, to the south west of the Melbourne metropolitan area and is the second largest city in Victoria, a vital place in the G21 region. It serves as the main service hub for business and industry, education and health, and a vast expanse of community services and facilities. Greater Geelong is well connected to Melbourne and adjoining areas through road and rail. The Wadawurrung Aboriginal people form the original inhabitants of the Geelong area. According to the current report, the resident population in the Greater Geelong is 217,574 and health assessment for this huge population is of profound significance to provide quality healthcare and allied facilities suitable for a sustainable development and healthy living (www.g21.com.au., 2016).
The demographic mix of the Greater Geelong community provides a grotesque overview of its population by its gender, age and ethnicity. As per the last census the population growth rate accounts for 0.95% and looking at the population structure based on the age distribution a balance of varied people from young to old may be observed. 22.3%, 54.9% and 22.8% include people belonging to the diverse age patterns of 0-17 years, 8-59 years and 60 years or above respectively. Average household size includes 2.4 persons. The gender specific population distribution exhibits a pattern for 51.4% females and 48.6% of males (www.geelongaustralia.com.au., 2016). Another dominant community of Greater Geelong consists of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and they exhibit a lower life expectancy due to higher rate of infant mortality and greater prevalence of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, respiratory diseases, ear and eye disorders and some forms of cancer. Data suggest that the cancer screening rates for bowel cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer in the population is 35.2%, 64.9% and 62.3% respectively. Health risk factors among the population including the 18 years and above comprise of smoking, lack of physical activity, not complying with the standard guidelines for healthy fruits and vegetable consumption, issues pertaining to overweight and obesity. Chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular abnormalities are also prevalent. Mental health concerns encompass deaths from suicide and self inflicted injuries, depression and anxiety, psychological distress and others (www.geelongaustralia.com.au., 2016).
Surveying the data available pertaining to the Greater Geelong community it can be witnessed that the females form a bulkt majority of the society with a 51% distribution while the males account for the remaining 49% and the proportion o females are found to rise with age. Couples with no children form the most common family type comprising 39% of the total family types. Further data analysis reveals that the Greater Geelong community stands for a mixed population with persons from diverse ethnic backgrounds. 0.8% of the total population only support for the indigenous people. Data from year 2006 and 2011 shows that an increase in the proportion of one parent family was evident (from 16% to 17%) with simultaneous reduction in the proportion of couple families having children aged under 15 years (from 29% to 28%). A 2011 data exhibits that as far as the rights of the LGBTI is concerned, same sex couples consists of 0.4% of all couples in Greater Geelong who shared the same household with the females forming 63% of total LGBTI couples and males 37% of the total. Cultural diversity in terms of language proficiency and religious affiliation is also seen with English being the most spoken language apart from Spanish, Italian, Dutch and others while Christianity was the most popular faith of the inhabitants (www.geelongaustralia.com.au., 2016). Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 came into force to supervise and help the local governments to protect public health comprising of both males and females. Thus the gender relations are well protected in the community through suitable policies and legislations. However research highlights that difference in participation to a particular research study varied widely among the males and females due to prevalence of sex specific concerns and therefore necessitates the improvisation of novel strategies for recruitment into epidemiological studies (Markanday et al., 2013).
The community is well connected and accessible from the adjoining areas making the availability of quality healthcare and social support more convenient for the dwellers. Location advantage of the Greater Geelong community presents them with a number of opportunities regarding health and social support affairs. New national and state preventive health investments have emerged to provide sufficient resources for the local governments to be engaged in preparing and implementing health promotion interventions. Research practice partnerships have been identified as crucial factor in health promotion and management (Pettman eta l., 2013). Efforts are in progress to allow the community dwellers to receive sufficient food, water and clean air and environment necessary for sustainable development. Pollution levels are kept under control through regular monitoring and supervision through enforcement of suitable laws and guidelines. Waste disposal and management are also done on a regular basis to foster a clean and hygienic environment. Geelong Public Health and Wellbeing Planning Group are entrusted with the responsibility of providing services including aged and disability facilities, provision for open space and recreation, parks and support services, community development programs, engineering facilities, health and local laws, corporate strategy, family services, environment and waste management settings. All the members of the Geelong community are brought under the umbrella of safe, efficient and affordable public transportation facilities to ensure ideal physical environment congenial for health and well being (www.geelongaustralia.com.au., 2016).
Community wellbeing of the community dwellers are effectively addressed through proper community well being indicators that have been published in the community wellbeing report to get an overview of the existing social scenario among the resident individuals of Greater Geelong. The Barwon Health and Colac Area Health Oral Health Service initiatives to improve access to dental services for children may be cited as an example of the programs that aim to address the concerns effectively to promote healthy lifestyle (Mason et al., 2015). Additional support programs also facilitate healthy lifestyle through awareness and education regarding nutritious and healthy eating habits, discarding of tobacco use, drugs and alcohol abuse. The study conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics-2011 Census data suggests that 45.1% of the residents of Greater Geelong expressed through self-report that their health status was excellent or good and 90.7% voiced their opinions in favor of receiving support and help from friends, family or neighbors whenever required and 18% of them were identified as volunteers who helped out other people in need. Normative data revealed that the Greater Geelong inhabitants when assessed on Personal wellbeing Index scored 78.4 while the average Community Connection Score was 74.3. In today’s age of cutting age technology, internet access is a vital indicator of the social environment and data shows that 68.5% of the inhabiting population at Greater Geelong received internet through standard broadband network connection (www.communityindicators.net.au., 2016). Thus the social environment of the community can be mentioned as conducive and overall suitable to sustain proper livelihood of its inhabitants.
38,957 numbers of people in the Greater Geelong community belong to the age group of 0-14years. Therefore children health and developmental issues are analyzed and addressed in a manner to ensure better future for them. Immunizations and vaccination programs are conducted under the strict guideline of the regulatory authority to protect the children from possible fatal or non-fatal infectious diseases. Rates of immunization for 1 yr old 2yrs old and 5yrs old are 94.6%, 92.2% and 94.9% respectively. Breast feeding among the mothers in the community is encouraged up to at least 6months to render adequate immunity to the child (Stewart & Wilde, 2016, Lorig eta l., 2013).
The level of education and literacy among the community is quite satisfactory accounting for meeting or exceeding the benchmarks for reading as well as numerical ability in case of the children of 3years of age. The numbers of schools in the region are enough to cater to the needs of its inhabitants and play an integral part in promoting health and well being practices through classroom teachings and awareness programs (www.westvicphn.com.au., 2016, Forbes & Watt, 2015)
The data procured from the competent authorities provides a snapshot into the socio-economic condition of the concerned population where income is found to be satisfactorily distributed among the community members with the unemployment rate being 6.4% only. Wealth being recognized as one of the driving force for prosperity and well being in case of any population is found to be equitable in the Greater Geelong community thereby creating a balance in the financial status (Barcenilla-Wong et al., 2015, Runciman et al. 2012).
The number of volunteers meant to reach out and help those in needs account for a fraction of the community in Greater Geelong. More youth participation in volunteering would act to rule out the existing crisis of limited healthcare support staff to handle the ill geriatric or disabled population that are on the surge as per last consensus (Harris-Roxas et al., 2012). Encouragement for partnership[s in health and well being is fostered through regular follow up sessions and improvisation of community activities in the form of social events or gatherings. Thus social exclusion is effectively prevented as well (McGorry, Bates, & Birchwood, 2013). Therefore those who are impoverished are attended and taken care of well to promote a sense of oneness among the inhabitants of the community.
Community services are client centered in Greater Geelong rendering self care and choice for its inhabitants. The various programs and policies associated to health services are the direct harbingers of such propositions. The Geelong municipality accounts for a number o such health plans and strategies that encompass Geelong Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2014-2017, Greater Geelong Community Health Needs Assessment 2014 and Greater Geelong Physical Activity Strategy executed under the patronage of the Geelong Council (www2.health.vic.gov.au., 2016). Equal access to affordable care is encouraged in the community to incorporate all the community dwellers among the health regime. Evidence based researches support that enhancing incidental physical activity has substantial public health potential and the measures are well governed by the competent local healthcare service facilities (Reynolds et al., 2014). Rehabilitation centers and centers for disabled offer scope for the people in need to get back to their normal lives as far as practicable.
Indicators of community advocacy initiatives to promote health literacy include local health planning, identification of loopholes and opportunities for services at a local level to better target facility. Improved coordination and integration within primary healthcare setting and other healthcare sectors attribute to improvement in patient access to care through supporting the introduction of initiatives that aim to prevent and mange diseases in general practice and primary care and to steer more efficient use of health resources. The statistics for health service provides evidence that 226 general practitioners with 66 general practices in 1 public hospital and 3 private hospitals along with 1 Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organization (ACCHO) are relentlessly trying to generate the optimum outcomes out of a given medical condition (Moore et al., 2013, Milte et al., 2014). Mentally ill patients are also subjected to appropriate and adequate treatment regime through community healthcare facility.
Conclusion
Assessing the community health among the Greater Geelong dwellers it was perceived that the challenges thwarting the lifestyle of the persons mostly emanate out of certain social and physical factors. Lack of physical activity resulting in the rising trends of overweight and obesity is quite evident in the community with concomitant increase in the tendency of smoking and alcoholism. Dearth of consumption of recommended amount of dietary nutrients consisting of nutritious fruits and vegetables has also been identified as the chief reasons for the increasing incidences of metabolic syndromes and associated health symptoms. The unsatisfactory rise in the rates of breastfeeding among the community women is also a matter of concern as the immunity of the next generation is directly dependent upon this behavior (www.geelongaustralia.com.au., 2016). Therefore efforts should be taken adequately to address these brimming issues and implement remedial strategies accordingly. Further concerns regarding the mental health particularly for the adolescents and youth are observed and early intervention is highly recommended to mitigate these problems and provide respite to the distressed (Mackenzie & Thielking, 2013). Thus, a holistic approach to problem solving is recommended to ensure better health and well being of the Greater Geelong community dwellers.
References
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Forbes, H., & Watt, E. (2015). Jarvis’s Physical Examination and Health Assessment. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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Lorig, K., Ritter, P. L., Plant, K., Laurent, D. D., Kelly, P., & Rowe, S. (2013). The South Australia health chronic disease self-management Internet trial. Health Education & Behavior, 40(1), 67-77.
Mackenzie, D., & Thielking, M. (2013). The Geelong Project: A community of schools and youth services model for early intervention.
Markanday, S., Brennan, S. L., Gould, H., & Pasco, J. A. (2013). Sex-differences in reasons for non-participation at recruitment: Geelong Osteoporosis Study. BMC research notes, 6(1), 1.
Mason, A., Mayze, L., Pawlak, J., Henry, M. J., Sharp, S., & Smith, M. (2015). A Preventative Approach to Oral Health for Children in a Regional/Rural Community in South-West Victoria, Australia. Dentistry, 2015.
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