From the results of your windshield survey, you will identify health issues facing people in the community. You will prepare to teach your chosen family how to reduce the risk of and prevent the initiation or exacerbation of health-related problems in the community.
Alternatively, you may choose to work with individuals, families, or groups that access services at a community agency. (If you choose to visit an agency, make sure it is approved by your clinical coordinator and course faculty with the Agency Permission Agreement Form or Family Consent and Release Form.)
Consider the following areas in your community where you might find factors that contribute to health issues in the community:
Healthy food options
Geographic boundaries
Housing and zoning
Open space
Commons
Transportation
Social service centers and their locations
Stores, businesses, and industries
People and animals encountered on the street
Physical condition of the area
Racial and ethnic makeup of the population
Religious institutions/places of worship
Health indicators and morbidity and mortality data
Politics
Media
Signs of decay (e.g., conditions of roads, abandoned buildings)
Crime rate
Employment rate
Schools
Environmental factors (e.g., locations related to water treatment plants, garbage dumps, industrial pollution)
Public services (e.g., fire, police)
In collaboration with your patient population (i.e., individual, family, group), identify 3 current public health issues facing the individual, family, or group in their community. The family will prioritize and select 1 health issue to work on. Select at least 1 intervention for the health issue, including the available community resources. Ensure the chosen interventions are realistic and attainable.
Provide education and/or health counseling to the patient population about the selected health issues. This can be achieved with an individual, family or group. Limit each teaching session to 30 min. (15 min. teaching plus 15 min. for evaluation).
Evaluate the patient population’s understanding of the provided education or counseling. To do this, ask the participant(s) to tell you at least 3 key points that they learned from the health education/counseling you provided. Note: Key points in this context are elements of the education/counseling that are considered important to the patient and the nurse.
Write a 350-word summary of your interaction with the family. Include the identified public health issues, the health counseling/teaching delivered, and your evaluation. As you write your summary, be sure to reflect on the clinical objectives for the week; discuss how you met the objective(s).