Community Resources Essay

Community Resources Essay

People’s health and quality of life are multifaceted. On one end, people must practice healthy lifestyles to prevent diseases. On the other end, achieving this goal requires knowledge, partnership, and support from health care providers and community resources. Such community resources include nongovernmental organizations, support groups, and community-based health centers promoting healthy living. They are valuable resources for people’s empowerment and acting as first responders when disasters strike. The purpose of this paper is to describe the functions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a community resource.

CDC’s Mission and Vision and Contribution to Public Health and Safety

Organizations should have a definite outline and a robust framework of their current business and future goals. From an operation viewpoint, an organization’s mission defines its current objectives and how to achieve them. The vision outlines the organization’s desired future position. CDC’s mission is to promote health and people’s quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. It envisions an American society safe from health, safety, and security threats, whether local or foreign (CDC, 2022). Such an approach ensures that Americans’ health is protected from local and foreign outbreaks and other threats to a healthy and quality life.

To accomplish its mission and vision, CDC engages in multiple activities to protect and save lives. As the mission states, CDC plays an active role in ensuring that threats, foreign and in the United States, are effectively controlled. It focuses on a broad range of diseases, including chronic or acute, stemming from human error or intentional attack, among others, whether curable or preventable (CDC, 2022). To achieve the desired outcomes, CDC fights disease and supports individuals and communities where necessary. In this case, it recognizes the importance of collaboration and partnering in fighting local and foreign threats.

Protecting people from diseases and responding when they emerge requires in-depth knowledge of causes, manifestations, and practical interventions. In today’s practice, health care organizations are highly encouraged to use evidence-based approaches to ensure that interventions are based on scientific evidence. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC searches for scientific information to improve knowledge about diseases and improve interventions (Mitchell, 2020). It is also very active in conducting critical science and amasses health information for protecting the nation from threats. Critical science includes advanced computing and lab analysis of data to find practical solutions.

Besides information gathering, CDC puts science into action to improve how Americans understand diseases and prevent them. Raghupathi and Raghupathi (2020) posited that differences in knowledge (education) lead to huge variations in health conditions across communities. Realizing this, CDC ensures that people understand what makes them sick and can avoid it by tracking diseases and developing effective control mechanisms. It further brings the knowledge gained to community health to save lives. Science in action is also witnessed through CDC’s efforts to detect and confront infections before reaching the U.S. borders (CDC, 2022). Such a proactive approach enhances national security as the nation intensifies efforts to keep people healthy, informed, and motivated to fight diseases and embrace healthy living.

People’s optimal health cannot be realized without engaging key stakeholders in the health care sector and influential leaders. However, the leaders should be adequately informed about people’s health, gaps, and efforts needed to create healthy societies. In response, CDC develops leaders and trains the public health workforce. A suitable example of the public health workforce that CDC trains includes disease detectives (CDC, 2022). Such training ensure that there are adequate human resources to detect illnesses, promote safe behaviors and healthy environments, and support CDC to respond to threats.

CDC’s emergency operations center (EOC) activations can perfectly illustrate how the organization engages in initiatives to support its mission and vision and promote public health and safety. In January 2020, CDC activated its EOC to support public health partners to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic (CDC, 2020). As a global health threat, the COVID-19 pandemic control requires partnership, monitoring, and intensified efforts to educate the public on stopping the virus. Another example of CDC’s initiatives is the inter-agency response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). CDC activated its EOC in 2019 to support the DRC and Ugandan governments to control the outbreak (CDC, 2020). Such initiatives have been pivotal in keeping Americans safe and informed about diseases, safety, and healthy living.

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Organization’s Ability to Promote Equal Opportunity

Across societies, people differ in cultures, religions, social classes, and access to opportunities and resources. These differences affect their attitude towards health and the approaches they use to live safely and healthily. Treating different societies discriminatively would only increase health disparities and create more barriers. In response, CDC supports communities equally since its primary goal is to keep all Americans safe from local and foreign threats. As a national nonprofit organization, CDC does not discriminate against any community regardless of its geographical location, beliefs, and culture, among other factors affecting healthy living.

Communities vary in health state depending on how they cope with social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers. Social determinants of health are a leading barrier since they affect people’s access to health care services and how they understand health (HIMSS, 2019). In response, CDC intensifies efforts to keep people safe depending on the urgency of need. Religious and cultural beliefs affect how societies perceive the health and needs of unique populations such as LGBTQ individuals. Jackson et al. (2019) found that LGBTQ individuals are socially discriminated against and face many challenges when seeking health care services. In response, CDC reaches all populations, including the sexual minorities, to ensure that their unique needs are adequately addressed. For instance, CDC carries out studies of the risk of Hepatitis B in men who have sex with men (MSM) and recommends testing and vaccination (CDC, 2020). It also guides regular testing for people with risk factors to ensure equal access to health care services depending on the magnitude of needs.

Impact of Funding Sources, Policy, and Legislation

Nonprofit organizations’ scope of operations depends on funding sources, policies to guide their decision-making, and legislations that regulate service delivery. Relying on external funding implies that CDC’s service delivery is restricted to the financial support received and the decisions of funding agencies. Some agencies fund community education, while others choose disaster management, science and advanced technology, and disease tracking, among other CDC’s efforts. CDC gets funding from the budget authority, acquisition, and assistance. Acquisition involves purchasing supplies and services for CDC, while assistance involves grants and cooperative agreements (CDC, 2021). Funding determines service delivery since it determines partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and the type of services the CDC will be involved in.

Policy and legislation have much to do with regulating the organization’s routine practice. Policies and legislation imply that CDC does not work without the government’s control. Broadly, regulations that guide how HHS works also affect CDC. The organization is also bound to implement public health laws that Congress passes (CDC, 2021). Such regulations determine CDC’s partnerships and scope of service delivery.

Impacts of CDC’s Work on Health Needs of a Local Community

There are many local populations with unique needs in the United States. Unless their needs are studied in detail, it is challenging to support such communities to achieve their desired health outcomes. One of the local communities benefitting from CDC’s work is sexual minorities. In the United States, sexual minorities are victims of social and religious discrimination and lead in populations with mental health problems and struggling with substance abuse (Mereish et al., 2019). Assisting such communities requires an in-depth understanding of their needs and helping the government and the public to support them. CDC guides efforts to vaccinate and study the needs of gay and bisexual men. Such efforts improve the health of this unique community, vulnerable to discrimination, abuse, and social stigma (Jackson et al., 2019). As primary care providers, nurses can support CDC’s efforts to promote the health of sexual minorities. For instance, they can partner with CDC and other organizations to educate, gather data, and develop policies to protect the health needs of sexual minorities. Nurses can further serve as volunteers during vaccination efforts to help CDC achieve a better vaccination rate.

Conclusion

People’s health depends on a combination of many factors. Availability of community resources to support a community to live healthily is among the influential factors. This discussion has explored CDC’s efforts in creating safe and healthy communities. Its efforts include detecting and responding to health threats, promoting desired behaviors, and tackling health problems causing death and disability. It further advances the needs of unique populations such as LGBTQs.

References

CDC. (2020).CDC emergency operations center activations. https://emergency.cdc.gov/recentincidents/

CDC. (2020).Men who have sex with men and viral hepatitis.https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/populations/msm.htm

CDC. (2021).About CDC funding. https://www.cdc.gov/funding/about-cdc-funding/index.html

CDC. (2022).Mission, role, and pledge.https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.htm

HIMSS. (2019). Social determinants of health: Breaking down the barriers. https://www.himss.org/resources/social-determinants-health-breaking-down-barriers

Jackson, S. E., Hackett, R. A., Grabovac, I., Smith, L., & Steptoe, A. (2019). Perceived discrimination, health and wellbeing among middle-aged and older lesbian, gay and bisexual people: A prospective study. Plos One, 14(5), e0216497. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216497

Mereish, E. H., Sheskier, M., Hawthorne, D. J., &Goldbach, J. T. (2019). Sexual orientation disparities in mental health and substance use among Black American young people in the USA: Effects of cyber and bias-based victimisation. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 21(9), 985-998.https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2018.1532113

Mitchell, A. H. (2020). Preventing occupational exposures to infectious disease in health care.Springer.

Raghupathi, V., &Raghupathi, W. (2020). The influence of education on health: An empirical assessment of OECD countries for the period 1995–2015. Archives of Public Health, 78(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-020-00402-5

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• Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency to determine how it contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3-5 page report. You are interested in expanding your role as a nurse and are considering working in an area where you can help to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life within the local or global community. You are aware of several nonprofit organizations and government agencies whose work contributes to this effort in some way. You have particular interest in one of these organizations but would like to know more about its contributions to public health and safety improvements. You would like to report the results of your research in a scholarly paper that you could submit for publication.
Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency from the list provided. Determine how the organization or agency contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3-5 page report.
As you begin to prepare this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Nonprofit Organizations and Community Health activity. Complete this activity to gain insight into promoting equal opportunity and improving the quality of life in a community. The information gained from completing this activity will help you succeed with the assessment.
Choose the organization or agency you are most interested in researching:
• American Red Cross.
• Habitat for Humanity.
• United Way.
• Doctors Without Borders.
• The Salvation Army.
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• National Center for Transgender Equality.
• National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.
• Advocacy & Services for LGBT Elders.
• Equal Justice Initiative.
• National Alliance to End Homelessness.
• Urban Triage.
• World Health Organization.
• The Arc: For People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
• Alliance for Retired Americans.
• Futures Without Violence.
• Blue Campaign: What Is Human Trafficking?
• Covenant House.
• Cultural Survival.
Note: Remember that you can submit all, or a portion of, your draft research paper to Smarthinking Tutoring for feedback, before you submit the final version for this assessment. If you plan on using this free service, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24-48 hours for receiving feedback.
Instructions
Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency from the list provided. Determine how the organization or agency contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3-5 page report.
As you begin to prepare this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Nonprofit Organizations and Community Health activity. Complete this activity to gain insight into promoting equal