NUR4636 Child and Adolescent Health HW

Running head: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH Child and Adolescent Health Questions and Answers Florida National University Nursing Department BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing Prof. Eddie Cruz, RN MSN Nov 20th, 2019 1 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 2 1. Major indicators of child and adolescent health status Child and adolescent health are a public health concern in the United States. Carpenter and Givens (2015) identified a few significant indicators of child and adolescent health status. They include: Infant mortality It is the rate of deaths registered in babies under one year (CDC, 2019). The indicator is used as a reflector of a community’s health and an overall dimension of defining health and healthcare status. Causes include maternal complications during pregnancy, congenital health disorders, premature birth and low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and unfortunate incidents such as suffocation. Low-birth weight (LBW) and preterm births LBW refers to babies with less than 5.5 pounds at the time of delivery, while preterm refers to a situation where the birth occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy. The two are vital indicators of health in children and adolescents because they increase the likelihood of infant mortality or deaths below five years. They also raise the risk of physical and mental disabilities, including cerebral palsy, delays in achieving child development milestones, and visual problems, among others. The issues can progress to childhood and adolescent stages, with some of them affecting children through to adulthood. Childhood health indicators CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 3 During childhood, 1-11 years (CDC, 2019), children’s health issues include childhood obesity, vaccination, accidental injury, maltreatment, special care needs, and environment. Adolescent health indicators of health In adolescents 12-19 years (CDC, 2019), prevalent health indicators include sexual activity, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, and teen pregnancies. 2. Social determinants of child and adolescent health Social determinants of health (SDH) influence health outcomes in individuals and across communities. The Healthy People 2020 defines social determinants of health as, “conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks”(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2019). Some of the factors linked to preterm and low birth weight are minority status, age of mother at the time of birth, missing prenatal care, underlying health conditions of the mother, low socioeconomic status, and multiple births. NUR4636 Child and Adolescent Health HW

Infant mortality also has similar SDH, including the health of the expectant mother, quality and access to care, practices of public health, and socioeconomic factors. For the older children and adolescents, the SDH includes parent’s education and economic status, access and utilization of healthcare services, environmental and nutritional elements, and the safety and the security of the home environment. Poverty, use of healthcare, and racial-ethnic disparities have been found to specifically to have adverse effects on health indicators affecting children (Givens & Carpenter, 2015). The SDH determine access to care, quality of care, and the general health of children and adolescents. CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 4 3. Public programs and prevention strategies targeted at children’s health There are a few prevention strategies and federal programs whose aim is to improve the health of children and adolescents. Givens and Carpenter (2015) discussed some of the programs. One is the Affordable Care Act, a program that sought to increase the number of health insured individuals. Ensuring most people or parents are insured can improve access to care in children. Medicaid and CHIP is another public program, which provides health care services to persons as long as they are insured. Medicaid is run under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The federal government runs Medicaid services in collaboration with state governments. Three is the Community and Migrant Health Centers program, which was established to serve communities, more so, underserved populations. These programs attempt to address social determinants of health that affect individuals and communities, the benefits of which reach to children and adolescents whose parents are benefactors. Others, like the school-based health centers, provide preventive and treatment care services to all school-going children. Preventive measures are most recommended to improve Child and adolescent health. The health of children and adolescents is the responsibility of multiple stakeholders such as parents, government, community health nurses, and employers. The efforts of these groups can enhance health outcomes in these populations. The community nurse, for instance, can employ a few prevention strategies that can improve child and adolescent health. They include advocating for increased responsiveness by individuals and communitywide to the health needs of adolescents and children. Another way is by researching to inform the best prevention practices to address health CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 5 issues among children and adolescents. Third, community healthcare providers can promote healthy behaviors in the areas they serve. Parents, particularly mothers, should observe prenatal care, lead low-risk lifestyles (no smoking and no alcohol), follow immunization schedules, breastfeed exclusively for six months, and ensure safesleeping techniques and proper baby care. The health care professionals should assist mothers with the information they need to prevent infant mortality and premature births or low birth-weight (Givens & Carpenter, 2015). Preventive interventions can lower the risk of children being affected by various health issues. 4. Individual and societal costs of poor child health status The health indicators associated with children and adolescents come at a cost for individuals and society (Given & Carpenter, 2015). The effects are: 1) High healthcare expenses- For parents with children with poor health, they can be forced to spend more on treatments for their children, which can strain their household budget. 2) Reduced productivity in individuals- Where a parent has a child with special needs, they could require more time to take care of the child, meaning they might not attend to their jobs. The low productivity can have an impact on household income and in their standard of living. 3) Low performance in school- Education is considered a social determinant of health, which affects income in the future. Therefore, if a child cannot school, their future may be threatened. 4) Costs to society- The society loses the contribution of parents with their sick children, which affects the local, state, and national economy. As a CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 6 taxpayer, it could be taxed more to contribute money to children with poor health. Third, the children are future members of the labor force; therefore, if they do not attend school due to poor health, society may lack the skills needed for economic growth. CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH 7 References CDC (2019). Child development: Infants (0-1 year). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov Givens, S.R. & Carpenter, M.B. (2015). Child and adolescent health. Community public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (pp.286-313). St Louis, MS: Saunders Publishing. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2019). Social determinants of health. Healthypeople.gov. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinantsof-health Running head: COMMUNITY NURSING Yindra Burgos Farah Florida National University Nursing Department BSN Program NUR 4636 – Community Health Nursing Prof. Eddie Cruz, RN MSN November 20th, 2019 1 COMMUNITY NURSING 2 1. NUR4636 Child and Adolescent Health HW

Identify and discuss the major indicators of child and adolescent health status. Health disparities refer to the difference in health care access between people of different ethnicities (Mersha, 2015). Some ethnic groups may have an easy time with medical cover and proper health care, while other ethnic groups may feel excluded from quality health care and medical cover. Children from such backgrounds or even more impoverished families that cannot access medical care could be prone to higher mortality rates, and the strain on their families may lead to anxiety and depression. Health disparities do not only mean difficulty to access health but also that some ethnic groups are prone to specific health conditions more than others. An example is a survey carried out show that more African American children have asthma, and the severity is even higher according to hospital visits. The study also shows that the mortality rate in children of ages 1- 4 years old is higher in African American children compared to white children (Mersha, 2015). Chronic Disease Conditions: the number of children and adolescents that have chronic diseases or conditions has increased throughout the years, with a number as large as 10 million children having been diagnosed with asthma (Graham, Gouick, Krahe, & Gillanders, 2016). Asthma is one of the prevalent chronic diseases that affect children and adolescents. Other chronic disorders affecting this group of people include ADHD. Morbidity and mortality rate: the mortality of young children from the age of 1- 4 is common through suffocation, drowning, and injuries. The death in adolescents and youths is commonly caused by accidents, especially motor vehicles, infectious diseases, homicide, chronic illnesses, and suicide due to mental problems – the most common chronic disorders amongst this group of people being asthma and diabetes. COMMUNITY NURSING 3 Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections among adolescents (Graham, Gouick, Krahe, & Gillanders, 2016). 2. Describe and discuss the social determinants of child and adolescent health. Some social determinants may include behavior in regard to health, especially in adolescents. Engaging in sexual activities increases the risks of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, some of which are deadly and incurable, therefore putting their lives and health in danger. Other behaviors include taking alcohol and other hard drugs that, at times, lead to chronic diseases or even death from overdose. Such acts may stem from peer pressure or bullying (Mersha, 2015). Social class is another determinant of children’s health. Studies show that children from low-income families have higher risks of suffering from chronic diseases and mostly suffering from mental issues like anxiety that may be brought about by the pressure of their living conditions. Lack of proper access to medical care or medical cover means that they are limited to the health care they receive. Parents of such children could also suffer from anxiety brought on by the pressure and stresses of providing. Adolescents and children with happy, supportive families and peers tend to socially and mentally develop better and healthier. With an excellent support system by their side, children can smoothly transition from one stage of life to the other without fear or stress, and thus chances of them falling into depression or having anxiety are reduced (Mersha, 2015). Mental health issues mostly, if not all the time re caused by the environment dynamic one is brought up in, so if the home environment is peaceful and fulfilling, chances of a mental problem occurring are slim. COMMUNITY NURSING 4 3. NUR4636 Child and Adolescent Health HW

Mention and discuss at least 2 public programs and prevention strategies targeted to children’s health. Infant Health and Development is a program that focuses on early care and education (ECE) for children with special needs and their families (Chu, 2016). This program provides care for young children to prepare them for when they enter kindergarten while their parents are working by promoting behavioral, social, and emotional development. This program can be expensive, and most households with low income might not be able to put their children through this program. Another public program is the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that targets children’s health and well-being by targeting parents with children that have special needs or disabilities. Their strategy is to give parents of such children parenting skills that will help them cope with their children’s conditions by teaching them how to interact and better parent these children. Parents with special needs children typical go through more frustrations and stress compared to other parents, and the program works to give these parents the required skillset and tools to cope with these frustrations and stresses while still creating a healthy and loving environment for the child to thrive (Chu, 2016). The program’s number one goal is to ensure that the frustrations and tensions that parents of kids with disabilities go through don’t affect the quality of parenting towards their children. COMMUNITY NURSING 5 4. Mention and discuss the individual and societal costs of poor child health status. The individual cost of poor child health status is that parents may suffer loses of their children as this mean mortality rate of this group in society will have skyrocketed. A community full of broken parents with either dead, ailing, or at risk of death or sickly children will crumble under that weight, and the situation might make the productivity of the family to decrease as most time is spent on the health of the child (Chu, 2016). Parents will miss days off work and at extremes even leave work to take full care of the sick child. Such an extreme measure puts a strain on the finances of the family as they are required to foot hospital bills. Society might not be fully or well equipped to handle the costs of poor child health status as this means children’s mortality and mobility will increase, this is sure to put a strain on a community or individual who is directly involved or related to the child. A society that has poor child health status won’t have much of a future if the rate is high (Chu, 2016). They should work towards making sure that the health status of children is improved to reduce the number of children that contract diseases, die from injuries sustained, or have mental issues in society. Access to quality health care for all regardless of ethnicity or social class should not be a question. COMMUNITY NURSING 6 References Chu, M. (2016). What’s Missing In Most Of Our Early Childhood Degrees? Focusing More Deeply On Relationships And Learning With Infants, Toddlers, And Their Families. Journal of Early Childohood Teacher Education, 264-281. Graham, C. D., Gouick, J., Krahe, C., & Gillanders, D. (2016). A Systematic Review Of The Use Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (Act) In Chronic Disease And Long-Term Conditions. Clinical Psychology Review, 46-58. Mersha, T. B. (2015). Self-Reported Race/Ethnicity In The Age Of Genomic Research: Its Potential Impact On Understanding Health Disparities. Human Genomics, 911. Nies, M. A., & McEwen, M. (2015). Community/Public Health Nursing. Promoting the Health of the Populations (6th ed). …