California is the healthiest state globally, which means that the entire population is beneficial, from their children to senior citizens. Through the ‘Let’s Get Healthy California’ policy, the health systems prioritize health care systems and improve the system’s quality every day. The policy aims at lowering the cost of healthcare while enhancing equity in better health and care provision. The procedure is a collaborative partnership between the private and the public stakeholders imposed by lowering the re-occurrence of frequent ailments (Potere, 2022). Throughout the life cycle, the program’s goals include healthy beginnings, living well and end of life, redesigning the Health System, creating healthy communities, and lowering the costs of care provision. In this paper, I chose to discuss creating healthy communities.
Evaluate whether the goal was met
The first goal of the programs was healthy beginnings and communities, aiming to eradicate poverty, obesity, maltreatment, fitness, asthma, food consumption, and tobacco use. The goal has not been met in aspects such as childhood vaccination, which is still below eighty per cent. The children below eleven years had obesity compared to those using employment-based covers. Adolescents in the age bracket of twelve to seventeen years still suffer from obesity and overweight issues. The youth between ten to seventeen years represent seventeen per cent of the youth population (Let’s Get Healthy California announces local innovations to improve California’s health, 2016). Obesity in kids is a gate pass to other ailments such as the increasing menace of cardiac attacks, fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and the resulting condition of stroke.
The infant mortality rate is still high (4.2%) compared to the target of (4%). Black children contribute this number compared to white children, with the number of black children’s deaths being two times the number of white children (Chiamulera, 2009). There is a high mortality rate in children coming from poor populations, with the southern and central counties bearing the highest number.
Food insecurity is a measure of lack or shortage of access to enough food required for a healthy and active life for everyone in the community. Food insecurity is still paramount in the orange states in California, with an eighteen per cent food insecurity rate. The population consist of children, people with disabilities, senior citizens, and the homeless.
Evidence of Alignment to Goals in the Community
The Californian Home Visiting Program is a home visiting program covering home visits by public health officers to offer an intensive and positive parenting program to families in California. However, the participants of this mission suffer risks that include violence, low salaries, unstable housing services, and education (Nations, 2019). It focuses on improving maternal health outcomes while preventing injuries, abuse, neglect, and malpractice treatment.
However, creating a healthy community fails to identify the basic communal needs of the people of California. People suffer from hunger and food insecurity. There is still evidence of sick children, obese, and unvaccinated populations. These factors result in unhealthy populations and communities.
Summary
The policy of let’s get healthy California is not delivering as it is expected in California. The failures call for government intervention to realign and refocus on this plan. The government should intentionally fund the kitty to enhance the pioneer’s goodwill. The other challenge facing this scheme is the lack of interdisciplinary efforts among the stakeholders. In addition to this scheme, other health policies that accommodate the minor salaries from the poor communities should be adopted to support the policy. To ensure a healthy community, the government agencies must coordinate and plan accordingly to realize realistic goals.
References
Chiamulera, C. S. (2009). Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Futures. New York.
Let’s Get Healthy California announces local innovations to improve California’s health. (2016, January 6). Retrieved from Lake County News: https://www.lakeconews.com/news/health/44683-lets-get-healthy-california-announces-local-innovations-to-improve-californias-health
Nations, F. a. (2019). International Fund for Agricultural Development., UNICEF., World Food Programme., & World Health Organization. The state of food security and nutrition in the world: Safeguarding against economic slowdowns and downturns. Rome.
Potere, A. (2022, February 24). Healthy Beginnings: How Home Visiting Partnerships with Managed-Care Plans Give Kids the Best Start to a Healthy Life. Retrieved from First five la: https://www.first5la.org/article/healthy-beginnings-how-home-visiting-partnerships-with-managed-care-plans-give-kids-the-best-start-to-a-healthy-life/
write