Communtiy
...iagnosed with congestive heart failure than in Chicago. According to the American Heart Association (2006), risk factors for heart failure include high blood pressure, smoking, being overweight, eating food high in fat and cholesterol, not exercising and having diabetes. The BRFSS indicators show that South Shore residents have a high number that have not exercised in the past month, currently smoke, are obese, and do not have fruit consumption daily. The rate of people diagnosed with long term diabetes is 24.9 which is 34.5% higher than the rate of Chicago residents. The rate of short term diabetes is 15.7 which is 51% higher than the rate of Chicago. These indicators show that the risk factors for heart disease or prominent within this community which increases their risk of getting heart disease and dying from heart disease. The second leading cause of death in South Shore is Cancer. The rate of cancer deaths is 268.0 which is 34.3% higher than residents of Chicago and 28.0% higher than national data. The 2010 goal for the mortality rate of cancer is 158.6/100,000 people. South Shore is 40.8% higher than the 2010 goal for the United States. According to the American Cancer Society factors that increase a person’s risk of cancer include smoking, obesity, no physical activity, and unhealthy diet. The BRFSS indicators show that residents rated high for current smoking, obesity, no exercise in the past month and non-daily fruit consumption. There are also a high number of residents that do not have a health plan, which increases their risk for cancer. The majority of the population in South Shore is African American women, who have an increased risk of dying from breast cancer. The BFRSS indicator shows that the number of women who have never had a clinical breast exam is average. Since this risk factor is average this may help to decrease the amount of women in the community who die from breast cancer, but the other high risk factors increase the probability of people in this community who may be diagnosed or die from cancer or heart diseases. Prevention and early detection can help to decrease the amount of cancer and heart disease, but South Shore residents are not taking part in a prevention type lifestyle and a high number do not have health plans that can help with early detection. These may be reasons for South Shore’s increased mortality rates for heart disease and cancer. An illness that is a concern for the South Shore community is adult asthma. The number of people living with adult asthma in South Shore is 47.9/10,000 people. This rate is 83.9% higher than the 2010 goal of 7.7. People living with adult asthma in South Shore are 39.8% higher than the amount in Chicago and 75.4% higher than the amount of people in the United States. Compared to Blacks in the United States, South Shore residents, who are predominantly black, have an 84.5% higher adult asthma rate than African Americans living in the United States. South Shore residents are 66.3% more likely be diagnosed and live with adult asthma than residents of Chicago. According to the American Lung Association (2005) risk factors of asthma include smoking, family history, allergies and medications. Medications that cause or increase asthma symptoms, are medications that treat heart disease or high blood pressure (American Lung Association, 2005). A large number of South Shore residents currently smoke, have not worked out in the past month and are obese; these factors could be reasons for their increased rate of adult asthma. Given that South Shore was built on swampland and have older homes there could be an increased amount of mold in the community. Pollution can also cause asthmatic symptoms because of all the various chemicals in the pollution. Stony Island Avenue is one of the borders of South Shore and there is a large amount of traffic that passes through South Shore everyday. The pollutants from the exhaust of cars and trucks that pass through South Shore and the high BFRSS indicators mentioned above could be reasons for the increased rate of adult asthma. Nursing Diagnosis There are three important nursing diagnoses for the South Shore community after review of the demographic data, mortality and morbidity rates. The first priority nursing diagnosis is: 1. Deficient knowledge among South Shore residents related to health care as evidence by the BRFSS rate indicating a high number of residents do not have a health plan and the crude death rate is higher in South Shore than in Chicago. This is a priority nursing diagnosis because the majority of residents in South Shore are between the ages of 15-44. Given that this group is the majority the mortality and morbidity rates are high in diseases that usually occur later in life. This could prove that the education and understand of healthcare is not high in this community. Inside the South Shore community there is one hospital and four hospital affiliated health centers, through these facilities residents should be able to gain knowledge about healthcare, but without any kind of heath plan individuals will not take the time or the money to receive an annual exam. The death rate in South shore is 25% higher than the death rate in Chicago. This rate may be increased because the residents of South shore may not be aware of a way to prevent disease or who to seek for early detection of disease. When a person does not have an insurance plan or a healthcare plan it is less likely that he/she will receive care unless they have no other choice, but by that time it may be too late to reduce the effects of the disease on the person’s body. Healthcare professionals within this community may find it beneficial to inform residents of free clinics near or around South Shore. They can begin to help them find ways to qualify for healthcare if they are eligible and do have not taken advantage of this opportunity. Although residents may not come in for an annual check-up at least they will know where they can go for care that is not too expensive. Knowledge is the key to understanding, without the knowledge about healthcare the individuals of South Shore may not be able maintain a healthy lifestyle. 2. Risk for ineffective health maintenance among South Shore residents related to lack of knowledge in risk factors pertaining to chronic illnesses as evidence by BRFSS rate indicating high risk for currently smoking, obesity, and have not exercised in the past month and mortality rates of heart disease and cancer are higher than the Chicago and national rates. The mortality rates of heart disease and cancer are significantly higher than the rates of Chicago, the United States, and African Americans nationally. As stated before the risk factors for these diseases include smoking, obesity, and poor nutrition and exercise. The BRFSS rate shows that the residents of South Shore have a high number of people who smoke, are obese, and have not exercised in the past month. Exposure to risk factors does not necessarily mean that a person will get cancer, but reducing the exposure to the risk factors reduces the chances...