This entire paper is about your vulnerable population (MIGRANT WORKERS!!!), so each topic listed in the paper needs to be related to your chosen population ((MIGRANT WORKERS!!!); from the introduction to the conclusion, it is about your chosen group.

The paper is to be five to eight pages in length, not including the title page, attachments, and reference pages. Note: Points will be deducted for going over the max of 8 pages (5 points for each page).

The paper will be divided into four sections.

Section 1 (Content can be found in Week 1)
Introduction
WHO’s definition of health
Applying the WHO’s definition of health to your vulnerable population.
The concept of vulnerable individuals and populations, in general and then related to your specific group.
Historical Perspectives of Health
Levels of Prevention – overview, brief
Primordial
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Quaternary
The role of nursing, specifically APRNs, in health promotion and disease prevention, and advocacy
Section 2 (Content can be found in Week 2 and 3)
Health disparities related to your vulnerable group
Cultural competency as a provider
Defining resilience and applying to the vulnerable, specifically to your group
Section 3 (Content can be found in Week 2 through 4. Don’t forget to use the media/website/video links, as they will provide a lot of great information). Focus on your specific vulnerable population group
Using Mechanic and Tanner’s 2005 article, is your vulnerable population a sinner or a victim and why?
Social justice related to your population
Low literacy within your population and how this affects their health
Evaluate your vulnerable population related to current Healthy People Initiative guidelines – what specifically relates to your group (Connect D and E)
Discuss one primary health concern for your population and include the preventive guideline related to this concern and how you might motivate this group to make behavioral changes.
Discuss use of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) with your vulnerable population – pros and cons. How can community-level plans/interventions influence individual and family health?
Discuss what resources are available within your community for your specific population.
Section 4
The conclusion of your paper should bring all your information together.
Discuss an approach for improving health literacy within your population
Discuss how, as an APRN, you can impact vulnerable individuals in your community.
Conclude with a summary of how we as a nation are doing with health promotion and disease prevention.
Note: This assignment is to be submitted in an APA paper format (that is, title page, title, introduction and purpose statement, body of the paper with a conclusion, appropriate citations, and reference page(s) along with attachments) as was your SmartThinking Report. Please make sure that ALL paragraphs are well developed, and have five to six sentences each, with citations for validity.  Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay Example

Population-Specific Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: Migrant Workers

Health promotion and disease prevention are the foremost objectives of nursing as a caring profession. The objective is to prevent disease from occurring in the first place. Having a healthy population means that the nurse must address the social determinants of health of particular population demographics and special population groups (Powell, 2016). In offering health promotion and disease prevention interventions, the nurse has to be cognizant of the fact that different special population groups have different social determinants of health that defines their health status. These could be the elderly, migrants, or adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of health promotion and disease prevention by the nurse for the special population of migrant workers.

World Health Organization (WHO) Definition of Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as not merely the absence of disease or injury but having complete well-being in the physical, social, and mental domains (Bickenbach, 2015). This definition is broad in that the concept of health should not be viewed in a simplistic manner but as a medley of several factors. For instance, common belief is that health is the absence of disease. Clearly, the WHO definition shows that this is not the case. One may therefore be disease-free but still be unhealthy in many aspects. Disease by its very nature manifests itself physically or mentally. It is through this reality that many would miss the social angle of disease just by thinking that a person is healthy due to the absence of physical and mental illness. This definition of health by the WHO inspires the concept of holistic care whose domains are the physical, the mental (psychological), the spiritual, the social, and the cultural. For a nurse to be effective and efficient in delivering quality nursing care, it is imperative that they offer this kind of holistic care. What that means is that the nurse will not only concentrate on providing care and limit interventional efforts to only those with overt physical and mental illnesses. This changes the view and perception of health and well-being as we know it.

Applying the WHO’s Definition of Health to the Vulnerable Population of Migrant Workers

The concept of vulnerable populations relates to population segments that have a unique defining characteristic that is common and applies to all members of the said population. It is this defining characteristic that makes them vulnerable. The characteristic may be a developmental stage, immigration status, age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The vulnerability in these instances comes about as a result of these populations having unfavorable social determinants of health. For instance, they may have low educational achievement, be unable to access quality healthcare, live in deplorable housing conditions, and have low household incomes (low socioeconomic status).

Migrant workers in the United States are one such vulnerable population as the ones described above. To begin with, the term migrant workers in the context of this paper will be used to refer to those economic immigrants who have entered then US illegally and are therefore undocumented or without legal papers. They have come to the US to look for better economic opportunities but because they lack legal status they are at risk of exploitation. This is what makes them vulnerable. Because they have to pay bills and feed themselves, migrant workers will accept any pay given to them just to be able to survive. This means that they will have very low wages that cannot sustain a comfortable or dignified existence. They will therefore not be able to afford decent housing or send their children to formal school. When sick, they will not be able to get quality medical care since they do not have healthcare coverage and have illegal residency status. Healthcare in the US is very expensive and because of this, they will also not be able to pay for any services in cash. The end result is a vulnerable population that is ravaged by physical disease, mental health conditions such as depression, and social isolation brought about by the fear of deportation. Referring to the WHO definition of health, the vulnerable population of migrant workers do not have complete physical, mental, and social well-being. If they are not physically sick, they will be having psychological (mental) issues; and if not physically and mentally unwell, the fact of social isolation will remain. This very fact of social isolation even in the absence of disease robs the migrant worker healthy status or well-being. In other words, they cannot be referred to as being healthy according to the WHO definition of health.  Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay Example

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Historical Perspectives of Health, Levels of Prevention, and Role of Nursing

There is a rich historical perspective on health from ancient Greece to ancient Arabic time to biblical times. Since the dawn of civilization, health has been a central concern of man such that there are special persons in the society that have been specialized in ensuring its presence. These have been healers, seers, exorcists, and prophets. However, most of these historical anecdotes about restoration of health and wellbeing have been concentrated on the physical aspects of health alone. It is clear that historical healers were not aware early enough of the other domains of health such as social wellbeing and mental health. For instance, there are many historical episodes of ‘mental asylums’ where deranged people were placed. These were people with mental health problems who needed mental health care which unfortunately could not be provided at that time. It is herbal concoctions that have the longest history as interventions to restore physical health. These traditions still continue to date as alternative or complementary medicine (CAM). Slowly but surely, these have come to be accepted as alternative interventions to conventional medicine. This is despite the fact that most of the CAM interventions have no scientific scholarly evidence supporting their efficacy, as evidence-based practice (EBP) would require (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019). In history, the most known and revered historical figure associated with health is Hippocrates (460-375 BCE). He was a Greek physician of the Classical era who introduced ethical standards to medicine and is immortalized in the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians. He is also credited with treating many illnesses using the barks of particular trees which he had identified as having medicinal value. His restoration of health and competence as a physician is celebrated by the writings of his contemporaries like Plato.

Primordial prevention is targeted risk factor prevention by laws and policy. Primary prevention involves measures to prevent a vulnerable population from contracting a disease in the first place. Secondary prevention involves early detection of disease through screening. Tertiary prevention is reducing the severity of disease that has already manifested itself. Lastly, quaternary prevention involves measures taken to protect patients from “overmedicalization” (Kisling & Das, 2021). The role of nursing in disease prevention, health promotion, and advocacy especially advanced practice nurses (APRNs) is to offer primary care. This involves health education, treatment of common illnesses, and lobbying for better healthcare policy that will improve social determinants of health like living conditions and access to healthcare.

Section 2

Health Disparities, Cultural Competency, and Resilience

There are significant health disparities within the vulnerable population of migrant workers when compared to the general population of the United States. The rate of infectious diseases is higher among the migrant population of workers than in the rest of the population. This can be attributed to factors such as incomplete of lack of childhood immunization, poor living conditions, and lack of access to quality healthcare services. As a provider, one should be culturally aware and competent when they meet members of this vulnerable group. This is because these are persons coming from other countries and cultures that are different from that of the provider. One should especially be careful not to cause offense by antagonizing the beliefs of the patient from the immigrant worker population. Despite all the challenges they face, the migrant worker population is resilient and still thrives. They are important to the economy of the country and the remittances they make back to their families in their countries of origin run into billions of dollars.

Section 3

Sinners and Victims, Social Justice, and Low Literacy

By referring to Mechanic and Tanner (2007), the vulnerable population of migrant workers can be described as both sinners and victims. They are sinners because one may argue that they brought upon themselves their situation because they decided to leave their countries to come to the US illegally. For this, they may not be viewed favorably or worthy of assistance. On the other side, they are victims because the push circumstances in their home countries may have included factors beyond their control. These include civil war and natural catastrophes.

The element of social justice applies to the vulnerable population of migrant workers because they are human beings. As human beings, they have human rights and all ethical requirements apply to them. They have a right to food, shelter, and health. Low educational achievement as a social determinant of health immensely contributes to the poor health status of the migrant worker population. This is because they may not understand the importance of preventive actions such as early screening for colorectal cancer.    Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay Example

Healthy People Initiative and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Healthy People Initiative is an approach to guide the national health policy on disease prevention and health promotion. Its objectives are redrawn every decade and the current ones are for Healthy People 2030. The goals relating to the vulnerable migrant worker population include having a healthy life free of preventable diseases, removing health disparities and barriers to equity, having the socioeconomic infrastructure that promotes health and wellbeing for all, engaging leadership (advocacy), and promoting healthy behaviors (ODHP, 2021). One primary health concern for the migrant worker population is the high rate of infectious diseases. The related preventive guideline is complete immunization of children and improvement in the living and sanitary conditions. Motivating thus group to make behavioral changes will involve concerted efforts at repeated health education.

The Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach is a methodology of solving problems affecting particular communities and populations by involving the affected in implementing the solution (Health Outreach Partners, 2011). The pros of using the approach are that he migrants will be responsible for their own health. The cons are that the low educational achievement (illiteracy) of the migrants will hinder the effective participation of the group to preventive measures. Community-level interventions can influence individual and family health through behaviorism (observing the benefits others get when they engage in good healthy behavior in the community). There are quite a number of resources available in the community for migrant workers. These include feeding programs, voluntary repatriation programs, and home assistance programs for the homeless.

Section 4

Summary/ Conclusion

The migrant worker population in the US is a vulnerable population that requires protection considering that they are more of “victims” than “sinners” (Mechanic & Tanner, 2007). There is need to improve their social determinants of health and to engage them in the solutions to their problems through the use of the CBPR approach. This is the best approach for improving health literacy within this population. As an APRN, the impact one can bring on vulnerable populations in their community is basically through advocacy for policy change. This can be done individually at the local representative level or through the professional nursing organization that gives a unified and magnified voice. In summary, the US as a nation is still lagging behind in health promotion and disease prevention. This is despite the efforts of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Promotion (CDC).

References

Bickenbach J. (2015) WHO’s definition of health: Philosophical analysis. In Schramme T., Edwards S. (eds) Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_48-1

Health Outreach Partners (October 1, 2011). Applying principles of community-based participatory research to your program. https://outreach-partners.org/2011/10/01/applying-principles-of-community-based-participatory-research-to-your-program/#:~:text=The%20key%20principles%20of%20CBPR,as%20a%20unit%20of%20identity.&text=Building%20on%20the%20strengths%20and,in%20all%20phases%20of%20research

Kisling, L.A., & Das, J.M. (2021). Prevention strategies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537222/

Mechanic, D., & Tanner, J. (2007). Vulnerable people, groups, and populations: Societal view. Health Affairs, 26(5), 1220-1230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.26.5.1220

Melnyk, B.M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, 4^th ed. Wolters Kluwer.

Office of Disease Promotion and Health Prevention [ODPHP] (2021). What is the Healthy People 2030 framework? https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/About-Healthy-People/Development-Healthy-People-2030/Framework

Powell, D.L. (2016). Social determinants of health: Cultural competence is not enough. Creative Nursing, 24(1), 5-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/1078-4535.22.1.5  Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay Example