Peer Editing task

Words: 1,654

METHODS

Objective 1: Assessment of the CFH Program

The first objective included creating an assessment tool to evaluate whether the Certified Family Homes (CFH) program meets the needs of the elderly residents in the program using best practices in public health. This objective specifically met the public health foundational competency of selecting methods to evaluate public health programs.1 The assessment tool was designed to determine if the four categories of needs, which are physical, psychological, intellectual, and social, are being met through this program. An emphasis was placed on nutritional health and well-being as well as disease prevention when assessing these four categories of needs.

The first step to creating this evaluation tool was to research the specific needs of the elderly population. Information about the senior population that was provided by the CFH program was also used to determine their specific needs. The second step of this process was to research the CFH program itself. This research was first accomplished by reading information provided by the preceptor, who is a Region 7 provider for the CFH program. After reading the rules and regulations of the program, it was also important to understand the provider training that is involved. Therefore, the next step in the process was to read information on all the training and other processes involved when hiring providers and what their role in the program involved.

After thoroughly determining the specific needs of this population, a meeting was held to discuss this information. The Region 7 provider and practicum preceptor provided more information and discussion regarding this project. A resident of the CFH program in Region 7 was also interviewed to get her input from her point-of-view regarding the needs that have and have not been met by this program.

After the research as well as the meeting and the interview were accomplished, the assessment tool was created. This evaluation tool used physical, psychological, intellectual, and social categories for the design. Best practices in public health were also used to ensure the program is ethically sound by demonstrating respect for local norms and cultures.2 A total of 13 physical needs, 9 psychological needs, 16 intellectual, and 18 social needs were used as subcategories for the assessment tool. Each subcategory was rated using a scale of 1-4 based on how well each need was met by the program. A score of a one indicated poor, a score of a two indicated fair, a score of a three indicated good, and a score of a four indicated excellent.

After designing the evaluation tool, another meeting was held with the practicum preceptor to get her input and provide a chance for her to make any corrections or suggestions to this assessment tool. The CFH program was then assessed using this evaluation tool. After determining the scores, the specifics on what the CFH program does well was highlighted and recommendations to enhance the program were suggested through a final meeting with the Region 7 specialist and provider. Finally, the first objective was measured through the final results of this assessment.

Objective 1 used best practices in public health because it helped to determine if the program was relevant to the needs of the community.2 In order to determine if it was relevant, a problem analysis as well as a needs assessment of the elderly population in the program needed to be accomplished before completing the next two objectives.2 The next two objectives included developing nutritional health content and creating the health promotion and disease prevention handbook.

Objective 2: Nutritional Health Content

As previously discussed, the information gathered from the evaluation of the CFH program was needed to accomplish the next objective. The second objective focused on creating PowerPoint presentations to for the purpose of giving the CFH program providers the nutritional information that is needed for their residents. These educational presentations focused on nutrition for the elderly population. The second objective addressed the nutritional competency from the explanation of the role of macro- and micro-nutrients for nutritional health and well-being that was accomplished through this content by using PowerPoint presentations.1 This objective accomplished the public health foundational competency that involved communicating audience-appropriate public health content.1

The first step for creating the PowerPoint presentations was using best practices in public health by reviewing the assessment of elderly needs to make sure the content was relevant to the needs and setting of the community.2 The second step was to have a discussion with the practicum preceptor to determine what specific educational information she wanted in these PowerPoint presentations. After determining what she felt was needed for the program, information about elderly nutrition was researched using peer-reviewed sources from the library, government sources, and previous information already researched during the previous courses taken from the Liberty University’s Master of Public Health-Nutrition program. The various information that was researched included any aspect of nutritional health specifically for the elderly population in the CFH program. The topics included the general nutrition information as well as nutrition information as it is related to physical activity, psychological health, social health, and chronic disease.

After the preceptor discussion and the elderly nutrition research, the next step was to create the PowerPoint presentations that included elderly nutritional health content. Four presentations were created to educate the Region 7 providers of the CFH program about the nutritional needs of their elderly residents. The first presentation that was created was the Nutrient Needs presentation that included the general nutritional health information for the elderly, including the importance of consuming nutrient-dense foods daily. It also included recommended dietary changes for older adults, such as limiting sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams daily and increasing intake of foods high in beta-carotene to meet vitamin A needs.3

The next presentation that was created was the Social, Economic, and Psychological Factors That Could Affect the Health of Older Adults presentation. This presentation included the psychological and emotional conditions that affect nutritional health that mentioned senior depression and alcohol abuse. The various eating difficulties of seniors were also discussed in this presentation.

The third presentation that was created was about physical activity of the older adult population. This presentation presented the general recommendations for elderly exercise and the nutritional aspects related to physical activity. The benefits of physical activity, such as helping maintain the ability to live independently, were discussed as well.4 The final presentation discussed hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

After the PowerPoint presentations were created, they were presented to the practicum preceptor and Region 7 provider for final editing, discussion, and approval. The presentations were then given to the Region 7 specialist for final inspection and presented to the 250 providers in Region 7 to learn more about nutritional health of the total of 400 elderly residents in the program.5 Finally, the second objective was measured through a summary of each PowerPoint presentation that contained nutritional health content.

Objective 2 used best practices in public health because it was ethically sound by ensuring that the benefits outweighed the harm to both the individuals and community.2 This public health content also displayed using best practices in public health by being both effective and efficient. For instance, it was cost-effective because the content was deliverable to the providers online, and it also described the types of supporting evidence available.2

Objective 3: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Project

The elderly nutritional health content that was created for the second objective that was used to accomplish the third objective project. Objective 3 used the public health foundational competency that involved designing a population-based project.1 A handbook of guidelines for the elderly in the CFH program that will be used by both the Region 7 providers and residents was accomplished. The nutrition competency was also addressed by applying the principles of nutrition to health promotion and disease prevention.1

The first step of creating a small handbook of guidelines was to plan what the handbook would look like. The goal was to use best practices in public health to make it cost-effective and easy to make and distribute.2 It was determined that the handbook would use four sheets of paper that would contain information on both the front and the back of each page. There were two pages, or sections, of content on each side of each piece of paper.

The second step was to add the information that would be beneficial to both the elderly population in the CFH program and their providers. This included a discussion with the Region 7 provider and practicum preceptor in additional to more research. The sections that were included in the handbook were Eating Well Tips for Older Adults on the first page, Nutritional Risk Assessment on the second page, Additional Recommended Dietary Changes on the third page, Preventing Age-Related Conditions on the fourth page, Chronic Disease Prevention on the fifth page, and ended with Foodborne Illness Prevention on the back cover. Additional research showed that an educational program for providers that included a summary of the information in the form of a pocket book was successful by increasing both their knowledge and confidence in treating patients while reducing the number of proportion of patients with their specific health concerns.6 This demonstrates that need for a handbook that would be used as a reference of nutritional information in addition to the presented nutritional health content created for the providers.

Finally, the handbook was turned into the Region 7 provider and practicum preceptor for final revision. After final revisions were made, the handbook was given to the CFH program’s Region 7 specialist to review and distribute to 250 providers and 400 residents in Region 7.5 Finally, the third objective was measured by the outline of the handbook of guidelines for the providers and residents. Objective 3 also used best practices in public health because it engaged the CFH community, it was ethically sound by considering vulnerable groups, was cost-effective, and was replicable by using resources that are generalizable to other settings.2

References