Health care must be evidence based, effective, efficient, and affordable. It must provide resources that meet the needs of the community as a whole. Nurse leaders must understand and thoroughly evaluate the environment to enable the efficient and equitable allocation of resources.
- What is a windshield survey? This is a method of gathering information about the status of a community either from a car or by foot. Conditions and trends in that community that could affect the health of the population are noted and the data provides context for making changes and/or improvements.
- What is an environmental analysis? This is an examination of the factors that can impact the health of a community, such as air quality, water quality, chemical and/or industrial waste.
- What are social determinants of health? These are included as a part of the environmental analysis. There are five domains: economic stability, education quality and accessibility, health care quality and accessibility, neighborhood and built environment (human-made surroundings such as parks, green space, buildings/infrastructure), and social and community context (types of settings in which people engage). [Resource: HealthyPeople2030].
This assessment provides an opportunity to examine the prevailing health conditions in a community by completing a virtual windshield survey and environmental analysis based on communities within the Vila Health System virtual simulation. Although Vila Health is a virtual lab, the communities represented in the simulation are real, enabling you to conduct an actual community health assessment.
Complete this assessment in two steps:
- If you have not already done so, complete the Vila Health: Environmental Analysis and Windshield Survey simulation.
- Review the “Vila Health: Environmental Analysis and Windshield Survey” resource to assist you to complete the assessment.
- Write your community health assessment including your windshield survey, environmental analysis with social determinants of health, and your summary of findings for the Vila Health Executives.
- Use Table 1 located in the assessment template to help you organize and document your findings. Include this as an appendix in your document.
The community health assessment requirements outlined below, correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. The Guiding Questions: Assessing Community Health Care Needs document provides additional considerations that may be helpful in completing your assessment. In addition, be sure to note the requirements below for document format and length and for citing supporting evidence.
- Assess, via a windshield survey, the general condition and needs of a community from a public health perspective.
- Analyze the environmental factors affecting population health in a community.
- Identify the social determinants of health in a community.
- Summarize windshield survey and environmental analysis findings for executive leaders.
- Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
- Support findings and conclusions with relevant and credible evid
Community Health Assessment
Your Full Name [no credentials]
School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University
NURS-FPX6218 Leading the Future of Health Care
Assessing Community Health Care Needs
Instructor’s Name
Month, Year
Community Health Assessment
Note: Delete this note and all instructions from worksheet before submitting it.
General Condition and Public Health Needs
Based on your windshield survey, summarize the general condition and needs of your selected community from a public health perspective.
Environmental Analysis
Social Determinants of Health
Based on your environmental analysis, summarize the environmental factors affecting population health in your selected community, including the social determinants affecting community health.
Executive Summary
Provide a prioritized summary of your windshield survey and environmental analysis findings for the Vila Health executives.
References
Appendix
Table 1: Windshield Survey and Environmental Analysis
Directions: Enter the information for each category in columns 2-5. Add additional rows for each category you might need.
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Category |
Questions |
Observations and Impressions |
SWOT Category |
References |
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Size of Community |
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Population |
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Demographics |
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Ethnicity/Diversity |
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Health Care Services |
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Education/Schools |
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Religion/Churches |
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Businesses |
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,
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
· Competency 1: Identify the challenges and opportunities facing health care.
· Assess, via a windshield survey, the general condition and needs of a community from a public health perspective.
· Analyze the environmental factors affecting population health in a community.
· Identify the social determinants of health in a community.
· Competency 4: Develop proactive strategies to change the culture of the organization by incorporating evidence-based practices.
· Summarize windshield survey and environmental analysis findings for executive leaders.
· Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
· Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
· Support assertions, arguments, propositions, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.
