i. Discuss two modifiable health behaviours that affect the health of the FIFO community with reference to the Australian Health Performance Framework.
ii. Describe some of the challenges that nurses may experience when working with the transient FIFO community.
Using Stage Two (2) of the Health Promotion Planning Cycle, develop the following for the FIFO community, to address one of the risky health behaviours identified in the workplace health-screen.
i. Describe how Janelle can engage with the FIFO community to build capacity and enhance the wellbeing of the FIFO community members?
ii. Please address all of the following points in your Action Plan:
a. 1 x SMART goal
b. 2-3 strategies/activities
c. Evaluation
iii. When developing your Action Plan, consider the role of the nurse AND one or more of the following:
a. members of multidisciplinary teams;
b. community groups;
c. volunteer organisations
Answer 1
In this case study, Reece belongs to Fly-in fly-out community, working in a remote community of Weipa, Queensland. From the scenario, it comes to attention that the workers of this community have a poor diet and mostly depend on quick and easy meals. As they are away from their families, for entertainment, they involve in unhealthy behaviours like alcohol consumption and smoking. Therefore, it is found that members of the FIFO community engage in unhealthy lifestyles which is a major determinant of health.
Modifiable Health Behaviours Affecting Health
Two modifiable health behaviours that affect the health of the FIFO community with reference to the Australian Health Performance Framework are alcohol consumption and inadequate fruit and vegetable intake (AIHW, 2021).
As per the opinion of ADF (2019), alcohol dependency is dominant among the FIFO workers in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. Cause of this high alcohol consumption is separation from families, poor socioeconomic status, social exclusion, extended working hours and variability of living conditions, and mental stress (Calling et al., 2019). In remote areas, there is inaccessibility to education, employment, and affordable and quality services like housing, food, and healthcare services which influence alcohol intake among the people in this community (Rebar et al., 2018).
According to AIHW (2019), it is found that in 2017-18, Australians in the lowest socioeconomic areas of age group 18 or over did not meet the fruit and vegetable guidelines than the people of higher socioeconomic status. 53% of people in the lowest socioeconomic group did not meet the fruit intake guidelines whereas 94% did not eat vegetables (Grech, et al., 2017).
As per the opinion of AIFS (2020), food insecurity is prominent in Australia. People suffer from food insecurity due to inaccessibility to a balanced diet which is the outcome of financial and geographical barriers of people in remote areas or lack of nutrition literacy to buy and prepare healthy food (Lima et al., 2021). People in the FIFO community suffers from poor diet-related health issues and rely on quick and easy meal due to their long working hours, separation from families, inaccessibility, and affordability of a balanced diet (Seivwright et al., 2020).
Challenges Of The Nurses
Various challenges are handled by nurses in working with the FIFO community. There is a huge range of patients with several clinical appearances, therefore nurses must be generalists (HealthTimes, 2017). This means there is a deficiency to access to ways that help in the specialisation. FIFO communities are incapable to propose satisfactory resources and worthy IT or communication systems, which could come down to the absence of management and uniformity in the healthcare organisation.
Nurses in FIFO communities have to manage professional seclusion due to a lack of access to family support and networking prospects. Working hours are longer due to a shortage of staff, which sometimes leads to self-care problems and stress (Haddad et al., 2022). Medical errors due to nurses' burnout and lack of technology lead to violence against the nurses (Whiteing et al., 2022). Differences in language and culture affect the communication between patients and nurses. Age, sex, and ethnicity sometimes become barriers to providing care to the people in the community (May et al., 2021). It is challenging for the nurses to help people to reject their perceptions and accept healthy lifestyles and behaviors. Frequent death of people in the community due to poor healthcare services affect the mental and physical well-being of the nurses (Hunt et al., 2016).
There is an underrepresentation of health professionals associated with isolated communities within healthcare organisations which can prove unsatisfying for nurses.
Answer 2
Capacity Building And Well-Being Of The Community
Janelle can engage with the FIFO community to build capacity and enhance the well-being of the community members. Capacity building is a wide choice of strategies and developments which have the final goal of the welfare of the members of the community through improved health practices (DeCorby-Watson et al., 2018). To achieve this Janelle first has to train the members of the healthcare setting and provide them with the skills and knowledge which are beneficial for both the community and the healthcare providers. Partnership with other healthcare providers or community leaders helps to give ideas of resources required to plan and implement health programs (Melo & Alves, 2019). This strategy will help to overcome the barriers to approaching the members of the community and increase the well-being of the members (Government of South Australia, 2022). Then Janelle with other efficient nurses, healthcare providers, and community leaders helps to raise the knowledge, and consciousness of the FIFO workers about the impact of an unhealthy lifestyle on mental, physical, and social wellbeing (James et al., 2021). Janelle also trains the workers with skills that will help them for self-development and solve the causes of such unhealthy behaviour on their own. It will assist them to grow a sense of self-confidence and help in the decision-making process for wellbeing.
Action Plan
1 SMART goal for the people in the community to the reduction of alcohol consumption is:
I will help to reduce the consumption of alcohol by the people in the community by at least 2 glasses at the end of the next 1 month. After 1 month, a workplace health Screen will be conducted and workers who will meet the goal will be appraised. Workers will be guided to visit the support team every week for the next month. Strategies will be taken to achieve the goal.
Two prominent causes of alcohol consumption are the huge availability of alcohol and poor mental health in the FIFO community. Therefore, along with the community workers and other variety of partners promotion of alcohol by the local authority will be banned (CDC, 2022). It will eventually decrease the availability of alcohol in workplaces, and pubs. Education related to the effective management of alcohol use will be promoted (NSW Government, 2020). To improve the mental health of the workers, fatigue management training will be given to promote good sleep and will reduce the dependency on alcohol. Workers will be trained in coping strategies and self-care. Various motivational videos on a healthy lifestyle will be presented in a culturally safe way.
Evaluation of the care plan will be done by workplace health screen after 1 month of care action and making a survey on the workers about the effectiveness of these strategies in their life.
Role Of Nurses And Other Members
Community health nurses should provide treatment in a culturally safe way. They will provide health education to decrease the occurrence of disease and death. To increase the effectiveness of the action plan, a variety of partners along with the nurses are needed in the working group (NIH, 2021). A multidisciplinary team helps to analyse the issue, develop the plan and provide the care jointly. It brings together the expertise and talents of different backgrounds. It can deliver integrated care (Taberna et al., 2020). Community groups act as a bridge between the community people and healthcare providers. Community groups help to assess the problems in the community and their causal factors. Community leaders due to their acceptance and trustworthiness, motivate the people in the community to accept healthy behaviours (Haldane et al., 2019). Volunteer organisations work via delivery of services, providing advice, and training.
References
ADF (2019) Alcohol and Other drugs in regional and remote areas Retrieved 12th July 2022, from https://adf.org.au/insights/regional-remote-aod/
AIFS (2020) Understanding food insecurity in Australia Retrieved 12th July 2022, from https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/understanding-food-insecurity-australia#:~:text=In%20Australia%2C%20food%20security%20is,Indigenous%20population%2C%20depending%20on%20location
AIHW (2019) Poor Diet Retrieved 12th July 2022, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/food-nutrition/poor-diet/contents/poor-diet-in-adults
AIHW (2021) Australia’s health performance framework Retrieved 12th July 2022, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/australias-health-performance/australias-health-performance-framework
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