Demographic factors and their impact on health status and health care services

Epidemiology and Breaking Communicable Diseases at a Link Within the Communicable Disease Chain

The objective of this study is to answer as to how demographic factors affect health status, health-related behavior, or the use of health care services. Race is one demographic factor that affects health status, health-related behavior and the use of health services. For example, African-Americans "can expect to live an average of five fewer years than whites. When sex is included in the analysis, white women have the longest life span of 80.3 years, while African-American men have the shortest of 68.8 years." (Sidney S. Spivak Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, 2005, p.2) Striking differences are also noted in the racial and ethnic differences in infant mortality rates in that African-American infants are reported to have the highest of all mortality rates and are "more than twice as likely as white infants to die in their first year of life." (Sidney S. Spivak Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, 2005, p.2) Reported as factors affecting health status, health-related behavior and access to health care services are individual-level behavioral factors including "preventive behaviors [including] "the frequency of preventive exams, health-promoting behaviors, physical activity and adequate sleep as well as health-compromising behaviors such as smoking, use, and abuse of alcohol and addictive drugs." (Sidney S. Spivak Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, 2005, p. 3) Research has shown that African-Americans are not as likely white Americans and Asian-Americans to "engage in preventive health practices related to diet, smoking, exercise, and use of screening tests." (Sidney S. Spivak Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, 2005, p. 3) Also cited are cultural practices of racial and ethnic groups, which help explain the differences among these groups in health status, health-related behavior, and access to health care services. Social stigmatization is reported as making Asian-Pacific Americans from seeking medical care and gay African-American men are cited as more likely to hide HIV-positive diagnosis as well as being less likely to seek early treatment than are white Americans. (Sidney S. Spivak Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy, 2005, paraphrased)

Part B

This study seeks to answer how communicable diseases can be broken at a link within the communicable disease chain and if there are steps that a nurse can take to facilitate this process. It is reported that disease control measures can be used as a method of "breaking the links to the chain of disease transmission." (Nursing411.org, 2013, p.1) In the event that one of the links in the chain is broken and "disease will not occur." (Nursing411.org, 2013, p.1) Each infection chain for a specific disease generally has at least one link that is more vulnerable and easier to break than the other links. (Nursing411.org, 2013, paraphrased) Methods of breaking a link in the chain of a disease include what is termed 'isolation' or the "separation of infected persons from other during the period in which the infection is communicable." (Nursing411.org, 2013, p.1) The second method of breaking the chain of infection in a disease is that of 'quarantine' or the "restriction of movement of a well person who has been exposed to a communicable disease." (Nursing411.org, 2013) The third method of breaking the chain of infection in a disease is that of 'medical surveillance' which is comprised by "observing and supervising someone who, through association with a disease source, may have been exposed to the disease." (Nursing411.org, 2013, p. 1) The fourth and final method of breaking the chain of infection in a disease is that of 'prompt and adequate treatment of disease source" which is reported to assist in the "destruction of the infectious agent and subsequent reduction in the reservoir of disease agents." (Nursing411.org, 2013, p.1)