Assessment 02: Community Resources
NURSFPXWRITERS.COM
NURS-FPX 4060
Community Resources
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a leading US and international public health agency that protects and improves community health. This assignment examines how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) promotes equity and quality of life and how financing, policy, and law affect service delivery. Goals and vision guide the CDC’s public health and safety activities. It also allows nurses to participate, expanding the CDC’s reach and assessing its local community impacts.
Contribution to Public Health and Safety Improvement
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is essential for global and domestic public health. The CDC’s mission statement, “to protect America from health, safety, and security threats, both foreign and domestic,” guides its health promotion and disease prevention efforts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024a). Following its beliefs and objective of “healthy people in a healthy world, through prevention,” the CDC improves public health and safety. The CDC promotes proactive, comprehensive public health. This plan covers infectious, chronic, preventative, and at-risk epidemics. The organization focuses on prevention to improve long-term health. Their purpose and vision encourage health fairness and access to health resources, enabling effective interventions.
Emergency response and global disease surveillance demonstrate the CDC’s mission and vision. The CDC mobilized personnel, materials, and information to combat the West African Ebola pandemic. This study supported CDC efforts to safeguard world health and promote prevention. The CDC sent public health communication, infection control, and epidemiology experts to contain the disaster, saving many lives and ensuring global health security.
Local and Global Initiatives
The CDC delivers local and worldwide health programs to achieve its mission and vision. Many local CDC health equity programs exist. Community-based activities by the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) promote healthy lifestyles to minimize type 2 diabetes (McManus et al., 2022). This program promotes a healthy population by addressing a preventable health issue through community participation, lifestyle coaching, and education. The DPP’s diabetes reduction shows the CDC’s health promotion and prevention efforts. The Global Health Protection Division of the CDC prevents health threats (CDC, 2024). This component helps countries improve their health systems and outbreak response times. Supporting foreign immunization projects like the Measles and Rubella Initiative shows how the CDC’s mission and aims to shape its overseas activity. The CDC aims to prevent and eliminate diseases to create a healthy world; their efforts have reduced infant mortality.
Implications
Evaluating mission-driven outcomes is one method to assess the effectiveness of CDC’s role. Their quick response to public health emergencies and prevention efforts has saved lives and prevented disasters. The CDC suggested mask use, social isolation, and immunization during the COVID-19 epidemic. In keeping with the organization’s aim to promote health and prevent illness, these activities reduced transmission rates and protected at-risk individuals. To address health challenges, the CDC uses research and data-driven solutions. Using “Tips From Former Smokers” and other CDC tobacco prevention programs helped people quit smoking (Murphy-Hoefer et al., 2020). The initiative has helped millions quit smoking and promotes the CDC’s goal of preventing tobacco use by using real tales to advise against smoking.
Organization’s Ability to Promote Equal Opportunity
The CDC helps many communities achieve equality and quality of life. Their priorities include removing systemic barriers and eliminating health inequalities. The CDC prioritizes health equity by providing important health resources and preventative measures to all, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or area. The agency’s efforts to identify and remove physical, social, cultural, and economic health equity barriers indicate its dedication.
Effects of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Physical Barriers
Social attitudes, linguistic challenges, and societal stigmas might hinder community access to quality healthcare, according to the CDC. The CDC supports culturally adapted health interventions and education to address these challenges. For instance, REACH works with community groups to create culturally sensitive health promotion methods (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024b). These collaborations increase culturally relevant health information and community health program participation. CDC training and resources prepare healthcare providers to provide culturally sensitive care. Many patients can trust, respect, and feel understood.
The CDC addresses cultural barriers in healthcare to promote health equality and empower communities to make health decisions. Economic disparity limits access to healthcare, food, and shelter, contributing to health disparities.
The CDC targets economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to reduce these inequities. The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program reduces lead exposure in low-income neighborhoods, where environmental dangers disproportionately harm children (Ettinger et al., 2019). CDC funds community-based projects and promotes stable housing to reduce financial health barriers. Geographic isolation and poor infrastructure may limit healthcare access. Strategic cooperation and innovative technologies help the CDC overcome these challenges. Telehealth programs that connect underserved areas to doctors are supported by the CDC. Using technology, the CDC reduces regional health disparities by providing rapid medical treatment to isolated patients.
Implications
In public health, the CDC prioritizes equitable opportunity and quality of life. These efforts cause severe challenges and repercussions. The CDC needs steady funding, strong collaborations, and ongoing review to address systemic health inequalities and community needs. Health equity projects require collaboration between organizations, government agencies, community groups, and hospitals due to complex social and political situations.
Impact of Funding Sources, Policy and Legislation
Funding, policy, and legislation help the CDC protect public health and safety. The CDC’s services depend on its funding. The agency relies on annual US government appropriations. A large budget allows the CDC to improve research, disaster preparedness, and disease prevention. Budget cuts might render low-income communities worse by cutting programs or eliminating crucial health services. Funding affects the CDC’s health emergency response. For example, the CDC could not swiftly deploy resources during the 2016 Zika pandemic. This delay highlighted the necessity for flexible funding for the CDC to respond quickly to public health disasters.
Legislation and policy affect CDC services equally. The Public Health Service Act and ACA authorize and guide CDC public health programs (FAS Project on Government Secrecy, 2021). CDC’s roles, funding, and engagement in national and worldwide health programs are stated in these statutes. Policy and legislative improvements can boost or hinder the CDC’s service delivery, depending on their goal. The ACA’s focus on preventive care funded community health projects, allowing the CDC to expand its chronic disease prevention programs (Miller, 2024). Congress may help the CDC reduce health inequities by supporting its goal to promote and prevent illness. Policy changes that cut funds or authority can hurt the CDC. The CDC struggles to address major health issues due to legislative limits on public health research, especially gun violence funding.
Potential Implications
Communities can obtain health services that improve health and prevent illness when resources and regulations are appropriate. Well-funded immunization programs provide life-saving immunizations to all socioeconomic groups. Herd immunity makes people healthier and more disease-resistant. However, limited policies or financing can have serious repercussions. Community groups, including cancer screenings, mental health services, and disaster aid, face financial shortages. Lack of resources can worsen health inequities, especially in marginalized populations with many healthcare hurdles. Cutting funding for socioeconomic determinants of health initiatives could impair health outcomes for low-income, homeless, and food desert groups. However, legislative and bureaucratic red tape slows the CDC’s response to public health emergencies, putting communities at risk.
Impact on Health and Safety Needs
Disease control has a major CDC impact on local communities. CDC immunizations have reduced measles, polio, and flu rates. These programs collaborate with regional and municipal health departments to protect the most vulnerable. Through outbreak reduction and herd immunity, vaccinations protect populations from deadly diseases. Immunization clinics receive direction, financing, and assistance from the CDC, reducing disease and hospitalizations and saving lives. CDC provides evidence-based diabetes, hypertension, and obesity programs in many communities. Local health agencies can use “Healthy People 2030” to improve community health education and outreach (Mager & Moore, 2020).
The CDC works with schools to improve nutrition and physical education to fight childhood obesity and promote lifelong health. These measures boost community well-being, lower healthcare costs, and improve health. Moreover, CDC reduces local environmental health concerns. ATSDR programs combat lead and water pollution. The CDC focuses on recognizing and reducing these risks to prevent major health emergencies, especially in environmentally sensitive areas. These events protect residents and raise awareness of environmental health risks.
Involvement of Nurses in Organization
According to CDC, nurses can improve community safety and health (CDC, 2024b). Nurses may participate in community health activities, including immunization and health education. Nursing practitioners must be trusted to advocate immunization and preventative care to communities. Nurses can boost immunization rates and teach families how to stay healthy by volunteering at immunization clinics and school health activities. Nurses can also participate in CDC community-based research and data gathering. Nursing can detect health trends, track outbreaks, and assess public health policies. Their patient encounters and clinical experience can inform CDC policies and activities. Underprivileged nurses can identify and resolve health inequities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the CDC follows its purpose and vision to safeguard and improve public health. The nonprofit promotes community health and safety by addressing social determinants of health, disaster preparedness, and illness prevention. Despite changing legislative agendas and diminishing funds, the CDC fights health inequities and seeks equity. The CDC relies on nurses’ public health policy advocacy, emergency response, and community health efforts.
References
CDC. (2024a). About the Division of Global Health Protection. Global health. https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/organization/about-division-of-global-health-protection.html
CDC. (2024b). Professional Wellbeing. Healthcare workers. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/healthcare/impactwellbeing/professional-wellbeing.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024a). About CDC. About CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/about/cdc/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024b, May 8). About REACH. REACH. https://www.cdc.gov/reach/php/about/index.html
Ettinger, A. S., Leonard, M. L., & Mason, J. (2019). CDCʼs lead poisoning prevention program. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 25, S5–S12. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000000868
FAS Project on Government Secrecy. (2021). Scope of CDC Authority Under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46758.pdf
Mager, N. D., & Moore, T. S. (2020). Healthy people 2030: Roadmap for public health for the next decade. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(11). https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8462
McManus, E., Meacock, R., Parkinson, B., & Sutton, M. (2022). Population level impact of the nhs diabetes prevention programme on incidence of type 2 diabetes in England: an observational study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 19, 100420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100420
Miller, M. (2024, July 10). How the Affordable Care Act Improved Access to Preventive Health Services. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-the-affordable-care-act-improved-access-to-preventive-health-services/
Murphy-Hoefer, R., Davis, K. C., King, B. A., Beistle, D., Rodes, R., & Graffunder, C. (2020). Association between the tips from former smokers campaign and smoking cessation among adults, United States, 2012–2018. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd17.200052
