Data collection used to determine how to improve the conditions within a specific setting is very important. In the community health care setting, the use of real-life experience with patients and supervision of a preceptor, as the case manager, will apply. The data from treating the members of this community is to apply to assess the needs of the health sector. This will include; assessing the current information using the patient data in the emergency room and applying the data to improve the health sectors. One chief function of caregivers is to help prevent disease, and intervention methods should be focused on prevention and not treatment. This paper describes how a practicum agency can use assessment data to improve health conditions.
The need assessment data includes data on the record of diseases report, preparedness of the health facility, and measures of prevention by the community. This data should help identify the most common illness, improve the readiness within the health facility, and increase disease prevention in the community. However, patients’ needs vary from each other. A good example is a patient who comes to the emergency room with asthma and expects their condition to be maintained and provided with drugs that will help stabilize (Stefaniak et al., 2018). This differs from a patient with malaria who will be treated and taught prevention measures after that. Individual patient assessment desires differ from the community’s wants. The data on health needs include patient illness with specific diseases and the patients’ progress.
To prioritize the health needs of patients, it may be essential to have information on patients’ behavior, environment, and genetic predisposition. A good example is the asthma patient; the environmental conditions of the patient should be taken into consideration to avoid subsequent attacks (Iriarte‐Roteta et al., 2020). Another example is a diabetic patient would benefit from data on lifestyle as their condition can easily be managed through their lifestyle.
The data from the practicum can establish a support program, increase screening facilities, and offer health education to the patients. The support program helps patients suffering from addiction, makes them feel accepted by the community, and helps them overcome their habits. Screening facilities allow for early detection and management of disease at a primary or early secondary stage (Gillies & Schabath, 2020). Moreover, health education benefits the entire community in the prevention is better than cure campaign. Health workers should prioritize the prevention of disease rather than treatment.
The practicum agency used the available data to improve the outcome of their programs. First, they collaborated with some health providers to form an online platform where patients could interact with health providers and ask them questions about their health status (Yang et al., 2019). This helped in the prevention of disease and reducing the crowding in consultation. Moreover, it also reduced the consultation fee for those who could not meet the expenses since the consultation on this platform was free. Second, the agency focused on promoting health equity by championing for provision of health services for the less fortunate. This was done by agitating for the construction of more health facilities and the employment of more health providers to ensure that all people can access health services despite their financial status.
During the practicum, I engaged in community-based activities such as taking care of the homeless, treating the uninsured members of the community, and educating members of the community on the importance of preventive health. During this period, I handled a patient who was having rheumatoid arthritis. At first, I thought the patient had rheumatic fever, but I understood how the clinical signs and diagnosis differed through preceptor consultation. The patient with rheumatic arthritis is just one example of how the practicum enabled me to improve critical thinking, clinical judgment, and clinical reasoning. Clinical judgment, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning are essential aspects for all health officers, from physicians to care providers. All care providers must be well equipped to make proper clinical judgments.
My preceptor and other community providers gave me a whole new perspective on the population and their needs. Through their experience, I grasped that your patient’s well-being is your utmost priority. One ought to do all the best to ensure the patient leaves for home a satisfied person. I picked up this through an incident where my preceptor treated an insured patient against the hospital policy, claiming that the administration would deal with the rest of the processes. His work was to ensure his patient was treated and not determine whether the patient was insured. Patients trust healthcare providers to take good care of them and lead them to good health.
In conclusion, working with the practicum agency and my preceptor provided me with an experience that would be useful for me in my clinical practice and for the achievement of the needs of society. I learned how to assess community needs from individual to community-based assessment. Moreover, I understood how assessment needs data can achieve health care goals and better the healthcare provider of a population. I look forward to more of such opportunities as they not only shape your academic life but change your all perspective of life.