W5P- Nursing Illness & Disease Management Across Life Span profile

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W4PD-Illness and the Disease Management across Life Span

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The successful process of prevention and the treatment of heart disease and stroke is

achieved through the provision of the knowledge to the patients, informing the population

about the facilities helping in the treatment and management of the conditions, and ensuring

that the affected individuals receive the necessary support required to overcome these

diseases. There are various resources that patients diagnosed with stroke and heart disease

can rely on. Center for the Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) is making an effort through

its Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) to collaborate with the

partners across the government, public health, healthcare providers, and the private sectors to

ensure that there is an improvement, detection, and the control of the heart diseases and the

stroke risk factors. This is done with a focus on hypertension and the high cholesterol level

(Yarnoff, et al., 2019).

There are several programs (resources) that are supporting the goals set by the CDC

through its DHDSP. One of the programs is the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke

Program (PCNASP) which is funding 9 states to ensure that there is a coordination of the

systems of care to help in the improvement of the quality of healthcare for the patients who

have been diagnosed with a stroke. The Coverdell program is working to make sure that all

the citizens of the United States are provided with the highest quality of healthcare for stroke

by offering support to the coordinated healthcare system for the stroke disease. The creation

of the effective stroke system of care is important in ensuring that there is the monitoring of

the improvement in the quality and patient care from the time at which the patient is

diagnosed with a stroke, through emergency medical services transportation to the healthcare

facility, during hospitalization, and through their discharge from the facility to the outpatient

care (Benjamin, et al., 2018). In terms of eligibility, all acute care healthcare facilities that

serve the general population are considered to be eligible for the program.

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Another program is the Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across

the Nation (WISEWOMAN program). It helps women in understanding as well as take part

in the reduction of their exposure to these illnesses. It also provides services that help in the

promotion of a long-term hear healthy lifestyle. The services offered by the WISEWOMAN

program are funding the heart and stroke risk screening process for example screening for

diabetes and hypertension among others. These services are available within the local

facilities, offices of the physicians, and the community healthcare facilities (National Center

for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020).

Women found to be having elevated blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol

levels are assisted by this program. Upon the discussion of the clinical risks, the history of the

illness, body weight, the nutritional status, and the physical activity; the patients or

population are motivated to take part in setting their objectives and are then referred to the

healthy behaviors resource support, educational materials offered through training and

community-based organizations for example the YMCA. The eligibility for the program

involves the individuals with low earnings, individuals with no insurance cover, individuals

who are not fully benefiting from the insurance program as a result of the under-insurance

especially women of ages 40 to 64 years who had previously benefitted from program

(National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020).

The Sodium Reduction in Communities Program (SRCP) is another resource that is

aimed at increasing the availability of lower sodium foods while at the same time engaging

the food sector in ensuring that there is a reduction in the sodium levels in the packaged and

restaurant foods. The benefit of this resource is that it ensures that the members of the public

are safe from the risks of heart diseases and stroke. This is achieved by making sure that the

packaged and the restaurant food have a lower content of sodium. The CDC through its

DHDSP is working with the SRCP to ensure that there is teamwork with the foodservice

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distributors and food industries to ensure that there is an increase in the number of low

sodium foods in the country. There is no eligibility for this program and it is aimed at

ensuring that all members of the public are benefiting from the services offered to reduce the

risk of exposure to heart and stroke diseases (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention

and Health Promotion, 2020).

The integration of the resources into a plan of care

The prevention of heart diseases and stroke involves the promotion of healthy

lifestyle behaviors. Therefore, SRCP is integrated into the plan of care in educating the

patients as well as the population to ensure that there is low consumption of salty foods to

reduce the exposure to the two diseases. The SRCP program can be used to support the

communities in creating a more healthful food environment that is targeted at expanding the

evidence-based approaches to address the sodium intake (Long, 2018).

Similarly, the choices of a healthy lifestyle to prevent exposure to heart diseases and

stroke especially among women can also be achieved through the integration of the

WISEWOMAN program into the plan of care. Through the employment of health trainers,

women are encouraged to adopt the lifestyle behavioral changes that help in the reduction of

the risk factors and the symptoms of stroke and heart illness (Long, 2018).

Fight against heart illnesses and stroke requires collaborative work amongst

healthcare providers. This includes the participation of the nutritionists to recommend the

required amount of the salt to be used as well as the physical exercise trainer to educate

hypertensive patients on the amount of physical exercise to take part in. The integration of

Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program into the healthcare plan is helping in ensuring

that there is a culture of teamwork across the healthcare system to improve stroke care and

save the lives of the population (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health

Promotion, 2020).

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The potential advantages and disadvantages for the vulnerable population in seeking the

resources

One of the advantages of using these resources for the vulnerable population for

example patients diagnosed with or exposed to stroke or heart disease is the reduction in the

risk of exposure. The SRCP is helping in ensuring that there is an increased availability of the

lower sodium foods while engaging the food sector to ensure that there is a reduction in the

sodium levels in the packaged as well as restaurant foods (National Center for Chronic

Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020).

There are also improved healthcare services to the population concerning providing

care to the patients. The Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program is helping in ensuring

that there is the existence of stroke systems of healthcare that is important in caring and

supporting stroke patients throughout their healthcare journey. The Emergency Medical

Services (EMS) agencies and healthcare facilities are involved in the collection and analysis

of the data about stroke patients and healthcare. These units share the best practices and data

thus working to help in improving patient care (National Center for Chronic Disease

Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020).

The disadvantage of the SRCP program is that it is not guaranteed that the

vulnerable population will be safe from the high salt content. Many processed foods are

directly made at home with an increased level of salts. This makes it impossible for the

population to be safe since working with the foodservice providers and the food industry

partners does not guarantee the low consumption of low salt in the remote areas and the

homes of these vulnerable populations (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and

Health Promotion, 2020).

Another disadvantage of the resources is that the transition from the EMS might be

affected by the lower number of healthcare providers for example the nurses. The reduced

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number of nurses to handle the emergency services means that the services offered at the

emergency services are affected. Poor services at the emergency services due to the

inadequate healthcare providers leads to the development of the complications of

hypertension thus leading to heart diseases and the development of stroke. This reduces the

effectiveness of the PCNASP (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health

Promotion, 2020).

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References

Benjamin, E. J., Virani, S. S., Callaway, C. W., Chamberlain, A. M., Chang, A. R., & Cheng,

S. (2018). American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention

Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart disease and stroke

statistics—2018 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation,

137(12), e67-492. https://doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000558

Long, C. R. (2018). Reducing the intake of sodium in community settings: evaluation of year

one activities in the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program, Arkansas, 2016–

2017. Preventing Chronic Disease, 15. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.180310

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020, October 7).

Heart Disease and Stroke. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/heart-disease-

stroke.htm

Yarnoff, B., Khavjou, O., Elmi, J., Lowe-Beasley, K., Bradley, C., Amoozegar, J., . . .

Teixiera-Poit, S. (2019). Estimating Costs of Implementing Stroke Systems of Care

and Data-Driven Improvements in the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program.

Prev Chronic Dis, 16, e134. https://doi:10.5888/pcd16.190061