One of the major focuses of healthcare professionals over the years is population health which refers to the health outcomes distribution within a particular population, determinants of health that impact the distribution, and the interventions and policies that affect the determinants (Bor et al., 2017). Therefore, population health study is important since it ensures that there is better healthcare delivery and patient health. Among the strategies that can be applied in studying and critically analyzing a population, the health problem is the epidemiological approach which includes exploration of various aspects such as the role played by environment and culture in health issues and how personality impacts health outcomes. Therefore the purpose of this assignment is to define a health problem and research methods. As such, various aspects will be explored including, the problem and the environment selected, the problem in terms of person, place, time, and the magnitude of the problem.
One of the most chronic conditions is hypertension. High blood pressure exposes patients to other chronic conditions such as cardiovascular conditions. Indeed, due to the revised definition and threshold of hypertension in the last five years, the cases of cardiovascular conditions have been on the rise (Ferdinand et al., 2020). Using the 140/90 mmHg as the threshold in hypertension diagnostics criteria, various populations have been shown to experience different burdens as caused by hypertension. One group of people or population that has shown in the past and present to have worse outcomes are the African American population. From recent statistics, African Americans at 40.3 % were noted to possess a greater burden of the disease as compared to other populations such as Hispanic, Asian or white (Ferdinand et al., 2020).
Patients with hypertension usually need careful and consistent care management. Even though they can largely be managed as outpatients, they still need to follow various management strategies in their home environment. As earlier indicated, the selected population in terms of person are African-Americans living with hypertension. Even though the condition is chronic, most patients can live in their homes and attend clinics as directed by the care team (Forde et al., 2020). Hypertension, like many other chronic conditions, has various adverse impacts. In the USA in particular, hypertension is a major public health problem as it raises the risk for cardiovascular diseases affecting close to thirty percent of the USA adult population.
High blood pressure has a significant risk for deaths in the African American community due to cardiovascular complications. Indeed, the rates of death have been shown to be high among African Americans as compared to other races. Due to the recent developments in the field of hypertension management, the rates of mortality due to hypertension have been on the decline among Hispanic blacks and whites. However, such an impact has not been observed among African Americans as enhanced rates of mortality are being observed (Jurascheck et al., 2018). Hypertension also comes with various complications such as premature deaths and disabilities due to end-stage renal disease, stroke, and myocardial infarction. The higher prevalence of the condition among the African-American population and the enhanced negative impacts calls for the identification of modifiable risk factors amenable to behavioral solution among this population to help in mitigating the risk of developing the condition.
Hypertension also remains at the top of the list of modifiable risk factors for developing cardiovascular diseases. Even though the condition is most prevalent among African Americans, it also disproportionately impact African American men and women. From a recent study, it has been shown that the condition is more prevalent at 46.3% among African American women as compared to African American men at 45% (Spikes et al., 2019). The enhanced prevalence rates have been associated with various factors such as racism, medical racism, lifestyle risk factors such as little physical exercise, poor access to quality food, high fat diet, and high salt, resistant hypertension, and earlier hypertension.
The enhanced rates of hypertension among African Americans have also been connected to inactivity, obesity, low potassium intake, and high sodium intake. In addition to the fact that hypertension is more prevalent among African Americans, the condition is also observed at relatively earlier ages, presents with enhanced severity, and is usually connected to disproportionate organ damage levels in comparison to other groups.
The adverse
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