Case management principles and practice

¶ … Management

Pregnant figureswomen are a group of special interest as far as smoking is concerned. It is not only their own pregnanthealth that needs to be considered but also that of their unborn child. Because of this it is felt that it is important to achieve short-term abstention as well as smokers long-term cessation. It is thought that currently one quarter of pregnant women smoke. For some pregnant women, their pregnancy is good reason to stopmajority smoking but for others they keep on smoking throughout could their pregnancy. It is often thought that effectiveness of smoking cessation can be improved by a combination of smoking individual and public (Van Wheel, 2007).

Since the mid-1980s, national low birth weight and preterm rates have continued to rise. It is thought that this is due to limited maternal education, young maternal age, unmarried status, poverty, lack of prenatal care and smoking are associated with poor newborn and maternal health outcomes and contribute to infant mortality (the Birth Companions Program, n.d.).

Medical difficulties that are associated with adolescent pregnancy include poor maternal weight gain, anemia, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. These complications seem to be the greatest for those who are very young. Poverty, lack of education, and inadequate family support appear to contribute to a lack of adequate prenatal care. This is seen as accounting for the majority of negative health outcomes for the adolescent mother and her child. There is increasing evidence that pregnant adolescents are at increased risk for domestic violence. Younger mothers are more likely to be single parents and to receive no prenatal care or care only at the end of their pregnancies. These mothers are also less likely to finish high school (American Academy of Pediatrics: Care of Adolescent Parents and Their Children, 2001).

In an effort to provide efficient and effective care to patients the U.S. healthcare system has done a lot to redesign its delivery system. Developing an approach to meet the high demands of patients and to best utilize resources has become a necessity. The result is the common use of what is called a multidisciplinary team approach. This approach provides better care than the old way when it just involved the doctor and patient. When properly put into practice, a multidisciplinary team approach results in positive outcomes. "With a diverse group of healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, and health educators, social service and mental health providers there is more certainty that all of the needs of the patient will be met" (Veronica, 2007). The most important member of the multidisciplinary team is the patient themselves. They are at the center of the team. This approach is a good example of holistic health care (Veronica, 2007).

Multidisciplinary teams consist of people from different disciplines that come together for a common purpose. This approach is used in a variety of different setting including healthcare, education, mental health and criminal justice. The concept is that it is best to address an issue or problem from all angles not just one. The Multidisciplinary team is typically used in difficult, many-sided cases and situation where a comprehensive response has the best chance of achieving success (Veronica, 2007).

Using a multidisciplinary team approach in order to treat a 14-year-old pregnant teenager who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day would involve using various services. These would include nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, nutritionists along with other support staff. Using this approach would help address the challenges that young pregnant teenagers may face, both physically and socially. Through group discussions and interactions with other teens, young women and their partners empower and educate one another as they progress from pregnancy into parenting (Shetty, 2009).

This would require an approach that would involve midwives, nurses; community-based young people's services and targeted youth support services. The basis of the program would be to help the teenager to quit smoking in order to improve her overall health and that of her unborn child's. It should offer advice and support on childcare, parenting and health-related topics. An intervention program should be set up as soon as possible in order to better improving the health of the unborn child (Teenage pregnancy, n.d.).