Community Health Insights: Analyzing Abundant Home Health

School

Dallas County Community College**We aren't endorsed by this school

Course

KINE 3353

Subject

Nursing

Date

Dec 11, 2024

Pages

Uploaded by UltraAardvarkPerson81

Assignment 5.2: Experience Trip/Interview Report1. Community Organization or Agency: What is the organization your interviewee works for? a. Describe the selected community organization or agency in terms of area, location, geographicboundaries, etc.Abundant Home Health, LLC arranges care to patients where needed the most. The centrally located in Arlington, Texas at 2221 Ave. J Arlington, TX 76006. Abundant Home Health offers services to patients throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area as well as Denton and McKinney (Home, 2021b).b. Describe the services or impact provided by the selected community organization or agency.Abundant Home Health, LLC is designed with patients in mind. They offer services from 24-hour nursing care to Occupational and Physical therapy needs; all in the comfort of a patient’s home. Working with patients’ physicians, Abundant Home Health places care to patients where needed the most. Other types of services offered are diabetic management, home health aide, and wound care (Home, 2021b).2. Physical Environment: Describe the area/community around the community organization or agency a. Describe indicators of growth or decline (i.e., is this a “thriving” community or does it feel “run-down” and what evidence supports this? Is there new or ongoing construction? Are buildings, roadways, and public areas clean and well-maintained, or do you see dirt, trash and debris or graffiti?The area that Abundant Home Health is in is an established community near popular landmarks such as the ATT Stadium and Six Flags. There is ongoing construction on roadways and expansion. This is not an area of concern for safety or wellbeing. b. What are the places for employment in the community? With the office being centrally located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, places for employment in the community are throughout Dallas and Fort Worth, as well as Denton and McKinney. It is an in-home care service that serves geriatric patients in need of healthcare services from home. Healthcare professionals are not required to go to the office daily as traveling to the homes of the patients are their place of work.

3. People: Describe the following people that you see in the communitya. Describe community members including demographic information: age, gender, race, and ethnicity (i.e., what sorts of people do you see: young, old, male, female, single families, multiple families, generational families, etc.? Estimate % for each group you see).I was not able to shadow Nurse Patty for the demographic information, but after speaking with her, majority of her patients are of the geriatric population. This includes 80-90% of patients who have been recently hospitalized and have been released by doctors to recover in their homes, while others are receiving medical care for ongoing injuries. Close to 10% of who she cares for are men, leaving majority of who she cares for are women. These are all individuals who are living alone, while very few are in a generational home (Patty, 2024).b. Does the population in the surrounding community seem to be homogeneous or diverse (as evidenced by—for example—hair styles, clothing, signs in languages other than Spanish, restaurants, festivals, etc.)?Abundant Home Health is in a middle-class area with no indications of other languages, aside from English, and standard clothing and hair styles. Patty states that are many patients who are of Hispanic as well as Filipino and Caucasian. This is only a fraction of patients receiving services from Abundant Home Health and cannot categorize in caring only for these populations as many healthcare workers are employed here. This is only a depiction of what Nurse Patty sees and cares for currently. c. Describe healthy lifestyle behaviorsobserved (i.e., exercise, relaxation, healthy eating, wearing helmets while biking, seat belt usage, availability of fresh produce in grocery stores, etc.) Note the age, ethnicity, and race of persons (estimate %) observed participating in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Depending on the patient’s conditions and physical abilities, Nurse Patty states that she helps patients with tasks such as walking, wound care, and medication distribution. Occupational and Physical Therapists employed by Abundant Home Health can assist patients in the comfort of their home to do daily activities providing mobility and exercise programs. Home aides provide services such as cleaning areas of the home, daily errands for patients, and bathing or dressing (Home, 2021b).d. Describe any health and/or safety risk behaviorsobserved (i.e., what are the lifestyle risk behaviors of people). Do you see people drinking, smoking, fighting, etc.? Do you see overweight/underweight people?

Those who are home alone are at higher risk of falling, leaving the patient in the fallen position until someone else can help. There is also the risk of having unhygienic conditions due to pets or the lack of house upkeep (Home Healthcare - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration, n.d.-b).e. Are their indications of safety concerns including: signs of violence, gang, graffiti, drug, and/or criminal activities? Do you see bars on windows, etc.? Note the age, ethnicity, and race of persons observed (estimate %).There are no signs of violence or criminal activities within the area of the office. There are no bars on the windows of the office or any additional security around the building. As for the patients’ communities, most are in areas that are well established that are deemed safe and secure, according to Nurse Patty. f. Describe any indicators of people living in poverty.While I did not observe people living in poverty, according to further research, people 65 and older who receive home health care are on a fixed income. This is given that they are no longer working and are living fixed funding such as retirement, social security, or pensions (Ankota, n.d.-b). 4. Interviewee Profile: Describe the person you interviewed and his/her role in the community organization or agencya. Name and position of person.The interview I conducted was with Patty Cortez, a Nurse of Abundant Home Health, LLC. She provided information regarding her current role, what AbundantHome Health is, and how they serve the community through their healthcare skillsand knowledge. It is apparent that she cares for her job and enjoys what she does as it makes a great impact on the geriatric population within the community. b. Primary job description and main responsibilitiesPatty’s primary responsibilities are to travel to each patients’ home to provide medical care. She sees a variety of patients (mainly geriatric patients over the age of 60) who have recently been released from a hospital stay. Also, she see’s patients who are managing existing illness or disease such as diabetes and monitoring their progress and outcomes of treatments. These in home visits last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the situation. c. How what he/she does relates to the mission of the community organization or agency.Patty explains that through her religious believes as a Christian, she aligns with Abundant Home Health’s values. Through her professional skills and faith, she

provides knowledge and care for others within the community to make a difference. She is very thankful to be able to continue to do this job and has a great appreciation for a company that aligns with her values too. d. His/her vision for the future as that relates to either the community organization or agency and/or to his/her position (i.e., top three goals for the organization)Her vision for her position in the future is to continue to reach as many homes as she can to leave a lasting impression on patients and their medical situations. In-home health is such a vital part of healthcare allowing patients to recover and continue to live their ‘normal’ lives outside of a hospital setting. She says that it isimportant for patients to recover in an environment they feel a belonging to, surrounded by those they love. While that isn’t the case for some, it is still comforting to recover in a place that is familiar. e. How he/she got to this position.Patty came to the United States in the early 1990’s from the Philippines. She knew she always wanted to be a nurse and received her license before arriving in the US. Once she gained citizenship, she was able to go through the proper channels to receive her BSN that allowed her to work in a hospital setting. Through her experience and connections within hospital setting, she was recruitedby other nursing friends to work in home health and pursued a nursing job at Abundant Home Health. f. Advice for undergraduate students seeking careers in Public Health“There is so much to be said about Public Health; how it is a great steppingstone into anything healthcare related. But when it’s all set and done, you must have that passion for the people and their health.” She also stated that while helping thecommunity is a rewarding career, taking care of yourself is just as important. Without a healthy mind and body of a caregiver, there can’t be a healthy outcome for the patient. (Patty, 2024).

Submit your photo here:5. Analysis and Summary: In this final section, you will analyze and summarizethe information you observed during the assignment, including a brief summary of how the community organization or agency is related to your particular health issue or topic.a. First, address the three core functionsand 10 Essential Servicesof public health as those applyto the services provided by the community organization or agency. List one service or program provided by the organization and describe how that service or program is a component of the three core functions and 10 Essential Services of public health. (Must be at least two well-developed paragraphs.)

The assessment and policy development Abundant Home Health work well for the community. There is a referral system used to better understand the patients’ medical needs. From the referral, Abundant Home Health will match patents with healthcare professionals based on the type of care needed and their location. Their policy development allows for a variety of acceptable insurances including Medicare and Medicaid (Home, 2021b).Abundant Home Health assures that their patients are taking care of as their values are of a Christian belief. It is their mission to create safe environments within the patients home to better serve each patient’s needs. With their faith-based values, it is important to Abundant Home Health that the healthcare professionals provide patients with the services and attention they deserve. It is a smaller company compared to larger corporations. This gives patients personalized care with attention to detail amongst their healthcare professionals (Home, 2021b).b. Second, focus on the key community-related issues associated with your health issue or topic and how the community organization or agency is serving those needs to improve health for the community. (Must be at least two well-developed paragraphs.)The key community-related issues associated with the health issue I chose is elderly abuse. The geriatric population continues to grow while health complications related to age rise. It is unfortunate that there are several cases of elderly abuse that go undetected. Elderly abuse is seen in many forms, from physical wounds like bedsores, to emotional abuse that can lead to depression and anxiety (The National Council on Aging, n.d.). Patty states that in school she learned of elderly abuse and what to look for in a patient when studying geriatric care. She says that unfortunately it is something that she does see occasionally and is equipped with the proper resources to report incidences accordingly (Patty, 2024). Like all home health care facilities, Abundant Home Health is no different in taking the safety of their patients seriously. There are hotlines that vary from state to state to report these kinds of abuse incidences. Elderly Abuse Guide for Law Enforcement (known as EAGLE) is a directory for each state to guide those to report incidences within a specific state (University of Southern California - EAGLE, 2022). Outlets such as EAGLE allow for individuals to submit their concerns to receive justice for elderly abuse enforcing laws to keep them safe. It is important to report any type of abuse, whether it is done by family or caregivers, or even the patient themselves. 6. References—in this section list any references that you included (i.e., cited sources in APA format)Home. (2021, August 6). Abundant Home Health, LLC. https://www.abundanthh.com/

Home Healthcare - Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). https://www.osha.gov/home-healthcare/#:~:text=These%20hazards%20include%20bloodborne%20pathogens,and%20unhygienic%20and%20dangerous%20conditions.3 Common areas of risk in home health & how to address them. (n.d.). Homecare Magazine. https://www.homecaremag.com/march-2019/risk-management-safety#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20most%20common,admission%20of%20each%20new%20patient.Ankota. (n.d.). Home care industry Overview and statistics. https://www.ankota.com/home-care-industry-overview-and-statistics#:~:text=About%2070%20%25%20of%20those%20using,diabetes%2C%20and%20cerebral%20vascular%20diseases.The National Council on Aging. (n.d.). https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-elder-abuseUniversity of Southern California - EAGLE. (2022, October 18). State specific laws - EAGLE. EAGLE. https://eagle.usc.edu/state-specific-laws/Cortez, Patty. (2024, February 7). Interview with Patty Cortez regarding Abundant Home Health, LLC [Zoom Virtual Meeting]

7. Appendices—in this section include any artifacts that you collected during your assessment that better provides a picture of the community (i.e., community map, photos, etc.) Abundant Home Health, LLC Home Office on Google MapsAbundant Home Health, LLC Home OfficeGoogle Images