NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Sample Answer for NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Included After Question

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), “Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life… SDOH are one of three priority areas for Healthy People 2030, along with health equity and health literacy. Healthy People 2030 sets data-driven national objectives in five key areas of SDOH: healthcare access and quality, education access and quality, social and community context, economic stability, and neighborhood and built environment. Some examples of SDOH included in Healthy People 2030 are safe housing, transportation, and neighborhoods; polluted air and water; and access to nutritious foods and physical health opportunities”. 

https://www.cdc.gov/about/sdoh/index.htmlLinks to an external site. 

RESOURCES

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

To Prepare:

Reflect on the concept of social determinants of health as presented in the resources. 
Contemplate whether digital inclusion or broad band access should be added to the 5 key areas of social determinants of health.  
Using the optional outside resources or other peer reviewed journal articles, consider how electronic health records, mobile health, patient portals, or telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health.

BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 9

Post a description of your views on whether or not digital inclusion or broad band access should be added as a key area to the social determinants of health. Be specific and provide examples that support your position. Explain how electronic health records, mobile health, patient portals, or telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health. Support your explanation with the required or optional resources.   

BY DAY 6 OF WEEK 9

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches: 

Respond to a colleague whose views differed from yours on whether digital inclusion of broad band access should be added as a key area to the social determinants of health. Expand on your colleagues’ posting by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on the readings. 
Respond to a colleague who discussed a different health IT system than you did. Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ posting, synthesizing the readings to provide new perspectives on how the system can impact or be impacted by the social determinants of health.

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.

A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Title: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Broadband access should be added to the social determinant of health.

Broadband access should be included in the socioeconomic determinants of health. For clients to be totally involved in society and obtain healthcare activity in nowadays changing world of technology, they must have access to the internet that is low cost and dependable. Inequalities in health may get worse by a lack of access to the internet, and this can further make it difficult for clients to successfully cater to their health needs (Shaw &Donia, 2021). 

According to CDC (2022), social determinants are situations we are born, grow, work, live, and age, those are some of the factors that can influence our health and daily lives. For the population to be able to capture the whole picture of their life including health care in today’s changing digital world, access to broadband internet is essential. Receiving inadequate internet access can result in people not having adequate health care and making decisions about their health for example, a client can send his healthcare provider a message of signs and symptoms on the patient portal of an illness and the provider can send in medication and health education at any time.

Explain how electronic health records, mobile health, patient portals, or telemedicine can impact and be impacted by the social determinants of health.

First, making sure that all have the required knowledge and ability to utilize digital technology is called digital inclusion. This means that people must be able to use equipment such as cell phones computers and the Internet. Broadband and high-speed internet will allow the population to have access to digital technology and online services. 

Health information access: acts as a great way of storing client health information and can act as a great way for providers to exchange information with their clients. people depend on the internet for current health information, research their symptoms seek medical advice, and involved with healthcare communities a good example is on Facebook there is a group of people who are cancer survivors who help each other with coping mechanisms. Without broadband internet, individuals may not be able to get these services and it is very important for our population to seek out help on critical health-related issues. This can prevent people from making informed decisions about their well-being (Early& Hernandez, 2021).

Mobile health: mobile health apps can benefit both client and provider can also improve patient satisfaction and can prevent a hospital stay with the improvement of technology healthcare companies can provide a better outcome for example healthcare providers can use AI machine learning to study client data and provide more complete and personal care and do intervention and recommendation just by using a smartwatch or and app (Bryi, 2023).

Patient portals: secure access to your health account online you can manage your health online by giving getting access to making an appointment and attaching it to your calendar to get reminders so you never miss an appointment you can also cancel if need be. You can also get an E-Visit request prescription refills and renewals and view your radiology image and lab results.

Telehealth and telemedicine: Broadband access means clients can have remote access to monitoring and consultation and access to health care services especially those who live in outlying areas. It can further cut down on driving time and childcare just to name a few (Telehealth.HHS. gov, n.d). Lack of internet access limits the effectiveness of these services preventing people to receive care promptly.

Digital inclusion and broadband access can be seen as vital components of social determinants of health. With equal access to digital technologies, policymakers can look into this situation to address health disparity, prompt health education, enable telehealth, and enhance client overall outcome of communities and individuals.

References

Bryi (2023) Mobile app for healthcare providers Healthcare Apps for Providers, Employees and Patients (bryj.ai)Links to an external site.

CDC (2022) Social determinants of health CDCSocial Determinants of Health at CDC | About | CDCLinks to an external site.

Early J, Hernandez A. Digital Disenfranchisement and COVID-19: Broadband Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health. Health Promot Pract. 2021 Sep;22(5):605-610. doi: 10.1177/15248399211014490. Epub 2021 May 6. PMID: 33955266.

Shaw JA, Donia J. The Sociotechnical Ethics of Digital Health: A Critique and Extension of Approaches From Bioethics. Front Digit Health. 2021 Sep 23;3:725088. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2021.725088. PMID: 34713196; PMCID: PMC8521799.

Telehealth.HHS.gov (n.d) what is telehealth?What is telehealth? | Telehealth.HHS.govLinks to an external site.

A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Title: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

While I agree that Broadband should be included in the SDOH, who will pay for it? “‘We’re talking today about a major investment that we’re making in affordable, high-speed internet, all across the country,’ Biden said in a speech Monday, describing internet access as a critical economic resource allowing children to do their homework, for workers to find jobs and for patients to access health care” (Fung, 2023). This 42.5 billion dollar program will allow the individual states to create infrastructure in rural areas that has not been profitable for companies. However, once the infrastructure is in place, who will pay for it? Our monthly cost for Internet and cable is $185 a month. If the average American is already struggling to pay for rent and food, where will the money come from to pay for it? While there is a program in place for funding “The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household” (Affordable Connectivity program, n.d). 

References

Affordable Connectivity program. (n.d.). Federal Communications Commission. https://www.fcc.gov/acpLinks to an external site. 

Fung, B. (2023, June 26). Here’s how much each state will get in the $42.5 billion broadband infrastructure plan. CNN. Here’s how much each state will get in the $42.5 billion broadband infrastructure plan | CNN BusinessLinks to an external site. 

A Sample Answer 3 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Title: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Amazing mobile health apps have shown promise in assisting self-management of hypertension/ high blood pressure, especially in cases of uncontrolled hypertension. Research suggests that lack of medication adherence is a major factor in uncontrolled hypertension. Some adults fail to take their medication because they either forget or don’t follow instructions. Among patients with “medication-resistant” hypertension, it is reported that more than half are not taking their medication as prescribed.

Remote patient monitoring via a mobile health app strengthens the ability of care providers to intervene as needed with options to
pre-schedule vital signs readings and engage in two-way communications, eg. One of my patients when at home uses a mobile app where in monitoring his vital before taking his medication and it registers so that the MD can review it and decided to increase or decrease or even change the medication, it also prompts the patient to monitor bp as he knows the office will call if no bp record shows for 2 days. Mobile health apps are interactive, enable text messaging and/or video communication, and can help to address medication non-adherence. Providers can push medication reminders, schedule blood pressure/ bio-metric readings, and motivate patients to comply with treatment.
When implemented as part of an overall post-acute hypertension care plan, mobile health apps may contribute to:

Improved patient/provider communication through consistent health monitoring
Reduced statistically high hospital readmission rates, with successful recovery at home
Enhanced patient engagement, medication adherence, and treatment compliance
Informed care coordinators who can promptly intervene if needed. thanks for sharing I learned a lot while reading your post.

References:

Lee P, Aikens J, Richardson C, Singer D, Kullgren J, Kirch M, Solway E, Smith E, Malani P. Mobile Health App Use Among Older Adults. The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. February 2022. Available

National Council on Aging “The Top 10 Most Common Chronic Conditions in Older Adults. April 2021. https://www.ncoa.org/article/the-top-10-most-common-chronic-conditions-in-older-adultsLinks to an external site.

A Sample Answer 4 For the Assignment: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Title: NURS 6051 SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Digital Inclusion and Broad Band Access involvement in Social Determinants of Health

Digital inclusion and broadband access are key components of social determinants of health and assisting in the health and well-being of society. Social, racial, and environmental factors have been termed social determinants of health (SDOH) (Romain et al, 2022). These are both major factors that allow patients and family members to access important information about their medical health. The world is continuously progressing to the use of technologies in healthcare. Broadband access would allow individuals who are in undeserved areas the use of telemedicine in order to access their doctors and healthcare team. SDOH has affected access to telemedicine and unfortunately exacerbated already existing inequities in the delivery of care (Romain et al, 2022). Broadband access would allow for seamless communication with healthcare professionals possibly leading to more timely management and better patient outcomes. Sadly the pandemic really exacerbated these inequalities. Virtual and synchronous clinical care has become a fundamental part of health care during the pandemic (Lyles et al, 2022). We must be practice in including this in the SDOH otherwise we will continue to see a growth of inequalities in the undeserved areas in healthcare.

Impact of Electronic Health Records, Mobile Health, Patient Portals on SDOH

There are many different electronic Technologies that can impact the social determinants of health. Society is slowly becoming a world where technology is the main use of communication, especially in healthcare. Without digital broadband and access to technologies health disparities may be exacerbated in the undeserved areas. Broadband access and the use of the following technologies will only aid in the assistance of furthering proper and stronger care.

Electronic health records: Electronic Health Records (EHR) are very beneficial when caring for patients. They increase the efficiency of healthcare workers while decreasing the amount of time that is spent on a patient. They allow for quicker access to medical records providing more accurate, up-to-date information about patients to enhance patient care (What are the advantages of electronic health records? | HealthIT.gov, n.d.).

Mobile Health: Mobile health platforms have the capability of empowering individuals to be more involved in their own care. Mobile apps have become an essential part of healthcare. They allow for access to point-of-care tools that may not have been accessible previously (Ventola, 2014). Mobile health not only benefits the patients but also physicians and healthcare. Many healthcare professionals are moving toward the use of mobile phones for communication and research. Having information about patients available at their fingertips allows for quicker response time to care providing more efficient care. One major motivation driving the widespread adoption of mobile devices by health care providers has been the need for better communication and information resources at the point of care (Ventola 2014).

Patient portals: Patient portals facilitate great communication between health care professionals and patients. They have become the primary way that patients schedule appointments, track lab values, and participate in their care. When patient portals become accessible, they close a gap of knowledge when it comes to their health.

References:

Lyles, C. R., Sharma, A. E., Fields, J. D., Getachew, Y., Sarkar, U., & Zephyrin, L. (2022). Centering health equity in telemedicineLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.. The Annals of Family Medicine, 20(4), 362-367. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2823Links to an external site.

Romain, C. V., Trinidad, S., & Kotagal, M. (2022). The effect of social determinants of health on telemedicine access during the COVID-19 pandemicLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.. Pediatric Annals, 51(8), e311-e315. https://doi.org/10.3928/19382359-20220606-04Links to an external site.

Ventola, C. L. (2014, May 1). Mobile devices and apps for health care professionals: Uses and benefits. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029126/Links to an external site.

What are the advantages of electronic health records? | HealthIT.gov. (n.d.). https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-recordsLinks to an external site.