DN713-03: Interpret the implications of epidemiologic studies on the development of population health interventions. Assess the value of multiculturalism and diversity in a global environment.

Population Health Care Delivery Project-Community Risk Assessment

Community risk assessment is a participatory process that draws communities, professionals, and other groups to assess various health risks and prepare to cope and risk reduction strategies for the identified hazards. Community risk assessment is integral to health promotion within communities. It utilizes scientific information to identify imminent risks, evaluate the risks and suggest measures to curtail these risks. The participatory discourses apparent during community risk assessments enable a consensual approach of community members in addressing these risks. Participatory discourses recognize variations in vulnerability and coping mechanisms among community members and suggest group-specific measures for curtailing these risks. This paper details a community assessment for children and adolescents.

Demographic and Social Determinants

The pursuit of healthy communities has fallen short of addressing specific risks associated with children and adolescents. Childhood and adolescence are developmental stages that present contextual variables to health promotional campaigns that may impede or promote these processes. Several socio-demographic factors have been identified as variables for health-related quality of life among children and adolescents. These include family status, race and ethnic disparities, cultural backgrounds, social connectedness, and access to education.

The family is an essential determinant of health among children and adolescents. Family-specific health risks for children and adolescents include poor attachment of parents with their children, parental substance use, dysfunctional families, lack of adult supervision, and sexual abuse, among others. Race and ethnic disparities are other traditional problems that have disadvantaged children and adolescents from minority communities across the U.S. Members of ethnic and racial minority groups are less likely to receive preventive care and experience higher morbidity and mortality.

Culture is another aspect of race and ethnicity that sometimes disadvantages children and adolescents. Culture affects the perception of health, beliefs on illness and causes of disease, and health-seeking behaviour. Multicultural and diverse communities are more likely to lag in specific aspects of healthy living not only because of the traditional disparities of these groups but also because of their inherent cultural alignments. Subica & Link (2022) note that health disparities are more common among ethnic and culturally minority groups across the globe. These disparities are majorly attributable to the inequitable distribution of resources and inherent characteristics of these groups that limit the utility of the limited health resources.

Community Infrastructure Variables

Community infrastructure variables are factors within communities that enhance the community’s capacity to promote health, prepare for and respond to various health risks and prevent disease. Community infrastructural variables provide a framework for planning, delivering, and improving community health. According to Dassah et al. ( 2018), access to, availability, acceptability, affordability, and proximity of community health infrastructures are factors that affect the capacity of a community to prepare and respond to various health risks. Li et al. (2018) assert that community infrastructures and the adequacy of community establishments are contributory factors to their health.

Availability details the adequacy of community resources or establishments that promote the health of children and adolescents. Acceptability details how available community infrastructures are aligned with the specific needs of the population in question. Community resources targeted at promoting the health of children and adolescents should be appropriate for them. These resources should also be based on perceived or anticipated experiential emotional and cognitive responses to the intervention targeted them. Geography or proximity details the traditional barriers to community infrastructural or establishments attributable to distance and other geographical barriers. Affordability of healthcare is another infrastructural variable that attaches costs to care services and interrogates the ability of communities to access these services.

Community infrastructural variables provide a foundation for community risk assessment. Understanding the correlation between these variables and the identified risks enables the establishment of a framework for mitigating these risks. Community infrastructures are the cornerstone of public health promotion programs targeting adolescents and children. The primary layers of vital community infrastructure are public health agencies and community health organiz