Disease Prevention Teaching Project 1

Disease Prevention Teaching Project

Name

Institution
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Introduction

In my windshield survey, I choose the Lower Richland community which is in Richland

County. Ideally, from the data I collected from the windshield and family assessment, it is

evident that the health status of the community is at a poor level and hence requires actions from

various agencies to improve the health status of the community members. Moreover, from the

survey, there is evidence of drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, teenage pregnancies,

pollution, and automobile accidents within the area where most community resides. At the same

time, due to the high population of African Americans, there is a high probability of the presence

of chronic illnesses and other infectious diseases which include, diabetes, obesity, hypertension,

coronary artery diseases, mental disorder, and sexually transmitted diseases (STI) that are a

major concern within Richland County and communities. Importantly, due to the high

vulnerability and cases of mental disorders in the county, I will address mental health care at the

South Carolina Department of Mental Health- Lower Richland Clinic agency.

Assessment of the community based on the Windshield Survey

Ideally, based on the Lower Richland community windshield survey I will assess the

following data overview namely, signs of decay, housing and zoning, boundaries, service

centers, parks and recreational areas, race, ethnicity, religion, health status, protective services,

employment rate, crime rate, schools, health indicators and morbidity, street people and animals,

and public services in comparison to surrounding areas. The boundaries of Lower Richland

primarily contain man-made structures such as roads and railway lines as well as natural features

such as rivers and forests. Moreover, the area is also marked by fences from individual farms and

government premises including industrial and commercial units that surround most residential
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homes. There are official names that are created by community members that include road signs

to mark the area.

Lower Richland housing and zoning is with featured older and modernized houses. They

are classified as three-story, wood-framed residences and single-family houses in rural areas. The

houses are quite identical to one another, and there are traces of an unhealthy environment

throughout the neighborhood. There were also vacant houses identified. The neighborhood has

stayed unchanged for some time; nonetheless, homelessness in the region is increasing, while

risky sexual behaviors have declined. Some of the neighborhoods are not vibrant. As one is

required to travel some distance to access a refreshment center.

Consequently, there are recreational areas, open spaces, and parks such as Congaree

National Park that community members and tourists from other places visit. At the same time,

bars, parks, arcades, and schoolyards are among the major open spaces that community members

utilize for hangout sessions. The common areas are usually open to anyone except membership

recreational places. Additionally, various groceries and supermarkets are located in various

towns within the community. Drug stores and pharmacies are also within the area the areas

where most members of the communities live. Additionally, residents travel to workplaces via

bicycle, motorcycles, and cars. The employment rate is average as some various factories and

organizations provide job opportunities to the residents. Public transportation is also available

within the area even though it is not reliable due to a limited number of buses from various

transportation companies. The crime rate in the area is not high although there are some cases of

violence in some neighborhoods. Hospitals such as Lower Richland clinics are accessible for

community members to get healthcare services. Street people are usually seen in various towns

and residential places with unusual dress codes and habits. Stray pets, dogs, and cats are also
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available in both town and rural areas. Police and fire departments are also within towns such as

Hopkin and provide services to the community.

There are social agencies within the area such as Richland community center, Hannah

House Homeless Center, and All God’s children Daycare Center in Hopkins among others. At

the same time, there are several schools such as Lower Richland Highschool and elementary

schools as well as daycare for children. Additionally, most of the individuals in the area are

Christians with various churches visible in various neighborhoods of the area. Nevertheless, the

community is also rich in culture with different races and ethnicity. On the same note, Lower

Richland is primarily dominated by African America people who constitute a large percentage of

the total population although there are white people present in the community.

Public health issues facing the community

As mentioned above, the community contains various social determinants of health such

as lack of education, low income, and inequality in health care services due to lack of insurance

coverage. Moreover, some of the public health issues facing the Lower Richland community

include; homelessness, chronic illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, mental disorder, teenage

pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism, and drug abuse among others. However,

mental disorder is the main issue that community members in Lower Richland face and affects

many families as it results from depression, drug abuse, and other psychological factors.

Recommendations

According to the South Carolina fact sheet, 706,000 adults were diagnosed with a mental

health disorder in 2021. Moreover, 183,000 adults in South Carolina have a serious mental

illness. At the same time, 52.6 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 17 did not receive
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mental care while 220, 000 adults lacked insurance coverage to cater for mental health services

(NAMI South Carolina, 2021). This indicates that the number of individuals in the Lower

Richland community is also high and requires intervention from agencies such as the Lower

Richland clinic which is under the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. This agency

can develop programs at schools and the community to educate community members on ways of

dealing with mental health issues as well as providing guidance and counseling to inflict positive

changes on the residents. At the same time, Lower Richland clinic can incorporate lifestyle

intervention to change nutritional, physical, and psychological behavior that put community

members at risk of having serious mental illnesses (Hamish et al., 2021). On the same note, the

agency can also collaborate with the national government and South Carolina state government

to ensure the residents have access to health insurance coverage for their mental conditions.

In conclusion, Lower Richland clinic can provide a disease prevention teaching project

that constitutes a community educational curriculum with details on how to prevent mental

illnesses from exacerbating. Moreover, the clinic should increase the number of community

health nurses to provide mental education in schools and social gatherings to enable community

members to understand how to detect mental illness and the proper channel to access help.

Importantly, providing mental health first aid courses can enable members to recognize

substance use issues and learn how to help an individual who is developing or experiencing a

mental health crisis (Rural Health Information Hub, 2022).

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References

Hamish Fibbins, Law Edwards, Rachel Morell, Oscar Lederman, Philip Ward, & Jackie Curtis.

(2021). Implementing an Exercise Physiology Clinic for Consumers Within a

Community Mental Health Service: A Real-World Evaluation. Frontiers in Psychiatry,

12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.79112

NAMI South Carolina, 2021. Mental Health in South Carolina.

https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/StateFactSheets/SouthCarolinaStateFa

ctSheet.pdf

Rural Health Information Hub, 2022. Rural Project Examples: Mental Health.

https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/project-examples/topics/mental-health