Community Health Strategy in Woburn, Massachusetts Research Paper

Summary of the community health strategy

The community health strategy is aimed at assisting the community of Woburn Ma in dealing with health problems faced by them because of contaminated waters. There is a need for strengthening the role of the community in ensuring health development through improved knowledge, skilled and active participation is health related community activities. 

Discussion of three community-based problems faced by Woburn, Massachusetts regarding health status identified in the assessment process

There are three community based problems that Woburn Ma faces regarding health status identified in the assessment process. The leukemia outbreak from contaminated waters has led to negative health outcomes in Woburn because of the increased amount of children diagnosed with leukemia. The fact that toxic waste was seeped into local water wells means that the outbreaks of leukemia in the community of Woburn are caused by human factors, namely improper human activities. The first problem is the lack of collaborative efforts in addressing the problem of water contamination in the community. According to researchers, “Woburn has a 130-year industrial history that resulted in significant local deposition of tannery and chemical manufacturing waste” (Costas et al., 2002, p. 23). Because of improper collaborative efforts, the problem of water contamination is still acute in the community of Woburn. The second problem is the failure to comply with the established environmental standards on maintenance of wells. As a large number of childhood leukemia cases identified in the community of Woburn was caused by the consumption of drinking water from municipal wells, there were insufficient and ineffective methods used to reduce the degree of water contamination (Fuch, 1996). According to the past studies, researchers proved that “corporate pollution was responsible for the illnesses, and the affected families utilized two new applications of science: popular epidemiology and clinical ecology” (Fuch, 1996, p. 165). The third problem faced by Woburn Ma is the failure to provide adequate control of water quality. There are still many challenges that are associated with control of water quality in Woburn’s household wells and local springs intended for water supply. These three community based problems affect the health status of community members to a great extent; therefore, due attention should be paid to development of effective interventions for improving community health.

Description of two potential interventions that would be included in the health strategy

There are two potential interventions that would be included in the health strategy, namely health promotion programs that help to provide specific protection against low quality of water (new technologies to clean drinking water, educational programs, immunization, etc.) and  screening procedures that help to provide early diagnosis of leukaemia caused by water contamination (Molldream, 2006; Zanella et al., 2010). The level of prevention for the first intervention is primary. Due to measurement activities, it is possible to reduce the risk of exposure to leukaemia in the local  population. The level of prevention for the second intervention is secondary. It is possible to detect health problems at the early stage and use the proper intervention to improve the state of health.

Discussion of an effective teaching and learning strategy that would be utilized in implementation of the health strategy

There is a need for developing the proper teaching and learning strategy that would be utilized to implement the proposed health strategy. This strategy should include the proper activities that are essential for learners’ understanding of the key information about leukaemia and how to prevent it.

The teaching and learning strategy should strengthen critical and reflective thinking, evaluation of the proposed methods of prevention and foster collaborative learning. Seminars and lectures should be used to allow learners obtaining relevant information about leukaemia and prevention methods. It is critical to will meet the needs of different learners, placing emphasis on their age and culture. There is a need for designing the programs to deal with the differences in learning styles. Due to identification of learners’ current knowledge, their beliefs and attitudes, it is possible to succeed in developing an effective teaching and learning strategy.

Discussion of a logical process for developing a health strategy based on the identified community-based problems

The logical process for developing the proper health strategy based on the identified community-based problems is easy to understand. First of all, it is necessary to develop an effective plan of actions in order to manage community members’ participation in activities, establish time-lines, identify resources, and select the methods for collecting information, interpretation of results, and decision making. Secondly, it is critical to conduct assessment of the needs of local population, new trends in improvement of water quality and resolve issues that may affect strategy implementation. Thirdly, it is necessary to review the plan of actions in order to make improvements and assess how the health strategy contributes to the established public health goals. In other words, the health strategy for the community of Woburn should include several health promotion programs that can be helpful in provision of specific protection against low quality of water (e.g. new technologies to clean drinking water, educational programs, immunization, etc.) and screening procedures that can help to provide early diagnosis of leukaemia caused by water contamination (Molldream, 2006; Zanella et al., 2010). Community members should have a good understanding of the importance of water quality control, which should be conducted on a regular basis. Thus, this health strategy could be effective in addressing the identified community based programs: lack of collaborative efforts in addressing the problem of water contamination in the community, failure to comply with the established environmental standards on maintenance of wells and failure to provide adequate control of water quality.

References

Costas, K., Knorr, R. S., Condon, S. K. (2002). “A case–control study of childhood leukemia in Woburn, Massachusetts: the relationship between leukemia incidence and exposure to public drinking water,” Science of the Total Environment, 300(1/3): 23-35.

Fuchs, M. E. (1996). “Woburn’s Burden of Proof: Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Health,” Journal of Undergraduate Science, 3: 165-170.

Molldream, J. J. (2006). “Vaccination for Leukaemia,” Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 12(1): 13-21.

Zanella, F., Lorens, J. B., Link, W. (2010). “High content screening: seeing is believing,” Trends  in Biotechnology, 28(5): 237-245.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

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freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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