NURS-FPX 5003 Health Assessment and Promotion for Disease Prevention in Population-Focused Health ​​​​​​​Interview with a Healthcare Professional

NURS-FPX 5003 Health Assessment and Promotion for Disease Prevention in Population-Focused Health

Interview with a Healthcare Professional

Conducting interviews with healthcare experts is a valuable and informative approach to gain insights into the diverse populations served by healthcare organizations and their healthcare needs. By combining healthcare data with the real-world experiences of healthcare professionals, more effective strategies and plans can be developed. Understanding how healthcare professionals typically communicate with patients, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, is essential to provide them with adequate health information for informed decision-making.

Additionally, healthcare professionals can contribute to the development of best practices by observing the work of industry leaders. Implementation of best practices ensures compliance with relevant standards and healthcare guidelines. For this review, Dr. Mud Swamp, overseeing West Virginia College’s schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and various affiliated health programs and clinical initiatives throughout the state, was interviewed. Dr. Swamp earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a medical degree from West Virginia College (West Virginia University, n.d).

Strategies for Addressing Identified Healthcare Needs

Various strategies can be employed to identify the healthcare needs of a community, including interviews with healthcare professionals and community leaders, stakeholder meetings, surveys, and demographic data analysis. According to Aron (2019), the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is a powerful tool for accelerating organizational improvement. In clinical settings, the PDSA cycle is used to assess the quality of care and determine if improvements or changes are necessary. An external evaluator can assist organizations in planning and implementing changes and then assessing their success.

Healthcare disparities, such as providing lower-quality care to sexual, ethnic, and gender minorities and individuals with low health literacy, persist in the United States (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2021). The Cultural and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards were introduced in 2000 to address these disparities. In 2013, enhanced National CLAS standards were introduced to help healthcare organizations ensure health equity, with a focus on minority groups with low health literacy. Providing CLAS requires cultural humility and competence at the provider level (Minority Health, n.d.).

Criteria for Evaluating the Strategies

To evaluate the effectiveness of strategies, program organizers should consider questions such as “What achievements has the organization made during this period?” “How many diabetic patients were served?” and “What challenges positively influenced program implementation?” As Dineen-Griffin et al. (2019) suggest, healthcare organizations can either hire an external evaluator or assign an internal staff member to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems for future decision-making. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC defines six evaluation criteria: relevance, soundness, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, along with two principles for their application (Alcayna and O’Donnell, 2022).

According to the interview, West Virginia College hospitals employ various methods to provide Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) to diabetic patients. The organization uses a patient-centered communication style and addresses cultural barriers to care. To ensure effective interactions between a proactive care team and informed, engaged patients, care aligns with elements of the Chronic Care Model (Timpel et al., 2020).

Healthcare professionals can influence and engage the healthcare team, patients, and communities through various communication methods, including groups, face-to-face meetings, campaigns, and surveys (Gehlert et al., 2019). Patient outcomes can be improved by effectively communicating complex health information to diverse patient populations. For instance, it is more effective to convey to diabetic patients that maintaining a specific blood glucose level is crucial to reduce their risk of amputation and future complications related to kidneys and nerves, rather than simply instructing them to keep a specific blood glucose level. By gaining a deeper understanding of populations with low health literacy, the challenges associated with communicating with at-risk populations, and evidence-based best practices, healthcare providers can develop a framework to enhance health education.

Benefits of Adhering to National CLAS Standards