Life Long Health Plan to promote Health among African American Adults
Introduction
According to research done by Ward (2013), the rate of occurrence of chronic diseases among African Americans adults in United States have increased. Diseases like cancer and heart attacks are on the increase among them. Most are being reported either suffering or likely to suffer from chronic diseases. One of the reasons as to why the prevalence of chronic diseases has increased is the lack of a proper health plan (Ward, 2013). The rise has created increasing costs and need for healthcare plan. If the prevalence of these diseases is to be reduced, then a health plan that promotes life learning process is needed (Johnson, 2011; University of Wisconsin, 2010b). Therefore, the development of a health plan is very important. A health plan that has lifelong strategies help to create awareness on the chronic diseases while at the same time educating African American adults on how to reduce this kind of diseases (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Lifelong learning in this case encourages reflection which in turn promotes meditations and development of a routine (Burns, 2010; Harper-Whalen, 2007). Therefore, this paper gives a health plan that promotes a lifelong learning.
Health Plan
Health plan must always have a goal to be achieved. The main goal of developing a health plan in the United States, in African American, is to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases such as heart attack (University of Wisconsin, 2010a). A health plan to African American frequently getting heart attacks is somehow different from that of individuals with diabetes.
- First of all, the name, date of previous checkup, birth and phone number is to be given. Secondly, the phone number of the physician is vital for reference. Thirdly, the doctor’s diagnosis and problem list is needed. This should be followed by past medical history in the last 12 months which includes all the dates of diagnosis, treatments and surgeries (Health Plan, n.d.). All these are primary data that should be in the health plan. The data is important for both the physician and patient. From the data, the patient will be able to know what increases the prevalence rate of chronic diseases. For a Black American with a high prevalence of getting a heart attack, the following health plan is needed, the person must continue with the medication given. This will involve taking medicines such as Metoprolol 50mg on a daily basis. Moreover, 20 mg of simvastanin should be taken just before going to bed (University of Wisconsin, 2010a).
- In addition to the fish oil, a DASH diet is recommended. The diet comprises of food that have a high percentage of potassium and calcium. Example of such kind of food is fruits and vegetables. This diet is usually low in fat, animal meat and sweets. According to studies done by medical doctors, dietary approaches used to stop hypertension reduce the rate in which a person gets heart attacks. The diet reduces the blood pressure to a level of 5.3 points. Due to the low fat and meat content, the cardiac blood vessels are not contracted to a point where blood increases its pressure to aid its flow (University of Wisconsin, 2010a).
- The diet is supplemented by a reduction in weight. Studies reveal that a fat individual is likely to get heart attack compared to a slim individual. Reducing weight decreases the chances of getting heat attacks to 2%. In order to reduce cholesterol level, there must be an increase of exercise. Take 40 minutes each day of the week but this varies according to the kind of exercise the individual likes. Exercise varies from running, walking to instruction from a trainer. The walk must be approximately 1000 steps each day. This helps in reducing cholesterol level. The exercise level varies with the amount of weight to be shade off. This should be supplemented with berries and grapes with a glass of wine together with 500mg Niacin depending on the stage of the disease (University of Wisconsin, 2010a).
- Check up after every six months. The checkup entails measuring the sugar and weight levels and lipid panels. This is done by a previous physician who had administered the medication and prescription on the first visit to the hospital. The physician is recommended since he or she is in a better position to mark an improvement in terms of weight reduction. According to the results obtained, medication of prescription can be adjusted accordingly (University of Wisconsin, 2010a; Nielsen-Bohlman, Panzer & Kindig, 2004).
Conclusion
A health plan is needed to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases among African American adults. A good health plan has strategies for lifelong learning. An example of such a plan entails or has several features. These features are the health history to know the causes, prescription given and details of the physician. In addition, it has the diet and routine exercises to be undertaken
References:
Burns, C. (2010). Building blocks of Nursing and Midwifery lifelong learning. Retrieved from http://www.health.qld.gov.au/nmoq/documents/qhnmsdf.pdf
Harper-Whalen, S. (2007). Promoting Lifelong Learning: Encouraging Reflection. Retrieved from http://www.mtecp.org/pdfs/Issue14%20Promoting%20Lifelong%20Learning.pdf
Health Plan. (n.d.). Sample Individual Health Plan. Retrieved from http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/emergencymedicalform
Johnson, M. (2011). Best Affordable Health Insurance Options for Young Adults. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-plans/articles/2011/01/13/best-affordable-health-insurance-options-for-young-adults
Nielsen-Bohlman, L., Panzer, A. M., & Kindig, D. A. (2004). Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Health Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/
