Community Assessment

Running head: COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

2

COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT 2

Community assessment

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Part 1: understanding the community

The community I live in has experienced a significant change in the setup, the way of life, behaviors, and many other essential communal aspects. Some of the changes have been brought about by the legislation and also a significant difference in what the people have believed in. Moral decadence, peers’ pressure, foreign influence, and a change in the lifestyle have also played a significant role in the changes. The community has been open for the changes in the last 20 years to avoid being left v behind in developments and better living conditions (California. Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Data Collection and Analysis Section et al. 2018). Some of the reason for the changes could be the changes in the healthcare structure and the advanced nursing practicians where they are advocating for better lives by campaigning for the community to participate in activities that will make them live healthily. Via the campaign and public talks, they are also fighting the current vice, taking the community by storm where individuals are accessing drugs and substances with much ease. This has been enabled by the foreigners who are coming into the community posing as investors. Drugs are also smuggled from far and wide, and they get a ready market within the community.

Some of the community changes that have been identified in the community touch on the way people have changed their lifestyles. They are no more exercising or getting involved in physical exercises. This has led to a sharp rise in the cases of heart diseases. Another factor recorded from the community is the use of drugs and substances by the younger generation. This challenge can be attributed to the fact that the state has relaxed the laws on drugs and substance abuse; the neighboring states have allowed the consumption and possession of hard drugs like cannabis (Pagliaro & Pagliaro, 2011). There have been programs online and via the TVs that have been encouraging drug usage and trafficking hence influencing the younger generation. The town I live in has approximately 1.2 million individuals, but the majority are living in the urban while a smaller population is living in the rural. The majority of the population are business people with moderate revenue, while the other population is living in the rural doing some farming and other activities (Antoine, 2002). The majority of the people have an alignment to the common cultural practices since they can easily trace their genesis as common. They have a more common and general skin color with little variation due to the fact that the community discourages interactions with outsiders. They are from the same bloodline; hence they have a stronger family bond. Their local language and dialect are expected, with little or no differences among the community. Their religious background is 89%$ Christianity,5% Islam, and other religions taking the remaining 6 %. The organization has a rich history in which they have been known to care for the environments and other natural features; hence in the past, there were little environmental destructions, but currently, there has been a lot of destructions, the tree is cut and also the ecosystem being at imbalance due to the disruptions and disturbances. Most of the population, around 54%, is made up of the youths who fall below 35 years and the aged also have a significant number by accounting for about 30%. Politically, the community is a strict follower of the democrat's ideologies since they see their rights and their ideologies being in line with the political party.

Part 2: Community Assessment

The community is currently affected by the incidences or problems associated with drugs and substance abuse and also ever skyrocketing rates of cardiac disease. The increase in the rate at which the youth are using drugs and substances in the community is alarming and calls for radical changed and other policies to curb the situation since it is a danger to the community (Steven B. Karch, 2019). There has also been a significant rise in the cases of cardiac diseases, which have been accelerated by drugs and substance abuse. A change in the lifestyle can be attributed to being the genuine reason for the sharper rise in heart diseases, especially by understanding that the lifestyle is responsible for obesity cases which is a risk factor for cardiac diseases.

The problem is frequently witnessed since in every `10 individuals, and there are 3 cases of obesity and 4 cases of heart disease. These figures make up to 40 %, which is a big number and need to be reduced. It has also been found that the frequency of meeting an individual in possession of drugs or substances is 43% which is also high. Among the youths in the community, there are those that peddle drugs and substance in the neighborhood, and other are known to traffic them while other are active users. There are also users who have been active in drug usage but have been taken to various rehabilitation facilities and have stopped (Steven B. Karch, 2019). The rate at which there is a possible relapse is also high and accounts for 18%. The intensity of drug and substance usage is high since most of the youths are being influenced by peer groups and also the media, which is posing a significant threat to the youths. There has also been negligence on the governments' side in which there have been lenient punishments to the drugs offenders, or they are getting small punishments like community work. Probations' duration at which the drugs and substances can be abused in the community is also along since without necessary steps being taken into consideration, and there is a chance that the duration for recovery may be long. The faster the authority will take action, the shorter the duration it will take.

The etiology or the origin of the drugs and substance abuse in the community can be attributed to the lack of enough and considerable family involves. There has been negligence and lack of interest by the family members leading to youths getting into the vice without looking up to as role models. There is also a likelihood that the reason could be the early usage since it is readily available, the youths are using drugs from a tender age (Steven B. Karch, 2019). The highly addictive drugs are also readily available and can be a genuine reason for the cases being on the rise. At times individuals may be coming from families with a rich history of addiction, and it may run in the family tree. Another etiology is peer pressure which is known to be the biggest reason for drugs and substance abuse among the youths due to their tendency if being influenced. The last etiology is mental health disorder.

Some of the known genesis of cardiac diseases include the family tree. If an individual comes from such a family, there is a more significant tendency of the case manifesting. Another etiology is the change in the lifestyle where there is too much junk food composition, lack of exercise, drugs, and substances usages like alcohol and tobacco. Others include the consumption of foods containing high levels of cholesterols and incidences of blood pressure. Obesity cases also serve as an etiological reason for cardiac diseases.

The community is more vulnerable to the problems, especially by the fact that the organization is made up of getting youths who are many and they are vulnerable to cases of peer pressure in drug usage. Another characteristic of the community is that there are no clear policies that are in place to curb the situation. Another reason for the case of vulnerability is the fact that the families have drug users who are likely to influence others, and the majority is the younger population. The fact that the community has a tendency to consume junk foods and d the available foods are rich in cholesterol also serves as a feature towards vulnerability (Steven B. Karch, 2019). The strengths that make the community resilient in dealing with the problems can be attributed to the aspect of communism. The community is not happy when one of their own is suffering, and they will do their level best to shield the person from the action being taken against them. Another strength is the aspect related to the availability of the drugs and the substances in the region and the neighborhood, making it challenging to eliminate them from society and the community.

Some of the major institutions are making it difficult to deal with the challenge. It is impossible to visit any institution and miss family members who will not accept one of their own being punished. The other factor is that the right institutions like the correctional facilities are dealing with major cases that concern the state and not individuals where minor cases like drugs and substance usage are punished by community work or possible probation hence advocating for the vice to continue. Schools are lacking the right mentors, and the guidance and counseling sessions are not stressed by not being examined. Most of the churches are not popular with the youths who are the main culprits in the vice, and they are more vulnerable compared to the aged.

Part 3: Community & Policy Action Plan

It is true and essential to have the community buying into the changes. What needs to be covered in the possible difference is that the youths must be trained and be educated to avoid being taken into drugs and substance abuse. The community needs to buy to the act of having the policies in place to curb the cases and also have the legislations adhered to .there must be reinforcements in place to ensure that they reduce the drugs and substances available in the community. To deal with heart diseases, there is a need to have the government control and set standards for the consumable goods in the market. It is also essential that the changes must touch on alcohol and cigarette smoking which are known to be risk factors to heart diseases (Clark, 2015). To the youths who are more vulnerable to drugs and substance abuse, the best strategy is to control the availability and the movement of drugs in society. For the aged who are at a greater risk of heart diseases, the best strategy is to have the government controlling the consumable items in the markets and have a mechanism to control the levels of cholesterol in foods and lastly, hiking the price of alcohol and cigarettes to discourage consumption.

A policy that is supportive and able to influence the capability of the proposed community change is the community or public training and education on the vice. I believe the community is not well conversant, and they have little knowledge of the challenges; hence community training will be effective and will support the intended purpose (Clark, 2015). The policy that needs to be in place to make the plan sustainable includes the government intervention via laws and the government funding the projects; hence the community training will not stop due to lack of finances.

References

Antoine, L. B. (2002). undefined. Greenwood Publishing Group.

California. Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Data Collection and Analysis Section, California. Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs. Data Collection and Analysis Unit, & California. Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. (1980). undefined.

Clark, M. J. (2015). undefined. Pearson Education (Us).

Pagliaro, L. A., & Pagliaro, A. M. (2011). Handbook of child and adolescent drug and substance abuse: Pharmacological, developmental, and clinical considerations. John Wiley & Sons.

Steven B. Karch, F. (2019). undefined. CRC Press.