Literature Review

Abstract and Citation

My research topic was alcohol use in adolescents. The article’s title is “Adolescent alcohol use and parental and adolescent socioeconomic position in six European cities.”  The article’s title helped me identify that the article pertained to my research topic. The article’s title showed that this article would discuss adolescent alcohol use in six European countries.

The abstract summarized the main portions of the article. It has been divided into four sections: Background, methodology, results, conclusions, and the keywords in the article. The abstract revealed that risky behaviors in adolescents have a social pattern (Bosque-Prous et al., 2017). The abstract also included the age group of the study participants. The methods section revealed a cross-sectional study with 8705 participants from five European nations. This section has also described the dependent and independent variables.  The abstract section briefly summarized the study results, which gave an overview of the prevalence of alcohol use in adolescents. The conclusion section revealed that alcohol use was associated with the adolescent’s socioeconomic position and not the parents’ (Bosque-Prous et al., 2017).

Research Question

The research problem in this article is easy to identify. The research problem is a high rate of alcohol consumption among adolescents. Alcohol consumption is one of the top five risk factors for disease, morbidity, and mortality globally (Kendagor et al., 2018). Adolescents have a high rate of alcohol consumption due to risky behaviors. The risky behaviors in adolescents have a social pattern, with many studies linking adolescent alcohol consumption with socioeconomic position. Higher alcohol consumption was linked with higher adolescent income (Bosque-Prous et al., 2017). The research problem was presented with early statements in the literature review section.

The research question was to determine the link between adolescent alcohol use and adolescent socioeconomic position and parental socioeconomic position among adolescents aged fourteen to seventeen years (Bosque-Prous et al., 2017). It also aimed to analyze which socioeconomic position has a stronger link with adolescent drinking. Furthermore, it aimed to explore whether the links varied according to age group, gender, and country. This article is relevant to my research question. My research question was to determine the rate of alcohol use in adolescents. The article aims to determine alcohol use vis-à-vis gender, age, country of origin, and socioeconomic position.

Source

This article is a primary source of information. It provides a raw source of evidence from the research. The article researched six European countries to determine the association between socioeconomic position and adolescent alcohol consumption. The information and results from this study were first-hand since it conducted original research.

References

The article has forty-eight references.  The articles are relevant to my research topic. The articles in the reference section talk about the different factors associated with alcohol consumption among adolescents, such as age, socioeconomic position, gender, and the health effects of alcohol.

Content

The base perspective of this article is from the researcher’s point of view. The authors are epidemiologists and researchers who aim to discover the socioeconomic position of adolescents and parental socioeconomic position with alcohol consumption in adolescents. This article is well organized. The information and language are professional and scientific. The articles have been organized into different sections, making them easy to comprehend and understand.  The different sections of the article are abstract, background, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, author details, conflict of interest, and references. The abstract section provided a summary of the article. The background section provided a literature review, while the methods section described the study design, sample size selection, data collection, and data analysis. The result section describes the study results, while the discussion section analyzes the study results. The conclusion section concluded the main articles of the study while references provided all the sources of information used in the article.

Study Findings

The study findings are trustworthy. From the start of the article, the language and organization have been professional. The article exhaustively described the methodology for obtaining the results. The data analysis has been described well, which makes the results trustworthy.  The study results suggest a need for further research utilizing longitudinal data to identify the causative mechanisms driving the link between alcohol use and the weekly income of students and academic performance.  Apart from that, the research on the socioeconomic position in adolescent alcohol use should include measures of adolescent socioeconomic position since they appear to be more predictive of adolescent drinking than parental socioeconomic position indicators. The study shows that diminished alcohol accessibility and availability in adolescents should be reinforced by implementing stringent alcohol policies, including implementing higher controls on alcohol selling and higher alcohol taxes, among other policies.

References

Bosque-Prous, M., Kuipers, M. A., Espelt, A., Richter, M., Rimpelä, A., Perelman, J., Federico, B., Brugal, M. T., Lorant, V., & Kunst, A. E. (2017). Adolescent alcohol use and parental and adolescent socioeconomic position in six European cities. BMC Public Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4635-7

Kendagor, A., Gathecha, G., Ntakuka, M. W., Nyakundi, P., Gathere, S., Kiptui, D., Abubakar, H., Ombiro, O., Juma, P., & Ngaruiya, C. (2018). Prevalence and determinants of heavy episodic drinking among adults in Kenya: Analysis of the stepwise survey, 2015. BMC Public Health, 18(S3). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6057-6

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Read one of the articles listed below based on the topic of research you selected in Week 1.

Literature to read to answer the questions:

Alcohol use in adolescents
Bosque-Prous, M., Kuipers, M. A. G., Espelt, A., Richter, M., Rimpelä, A., Perelman, J., … Kunst, A. E. (2017). Adolescent alcohol use and parental and adolescent socioeconomic position in six European cities. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 646.

To complete this Assignment, write a 2- to 4-page paper answering the following questions:

Abstract and Citation:
Did the title assist in identifying whether the article would pertain to your research topic? Why?
Does the abstract clearly summarize the main features of the article? How?

Research Question:
Is the research problem easy to identify? Summarize the research problem.
What is the specific research question being asked?
Is the article relevant to the research question you developed? Why or why not?

Source:
Was the article a primary or secondary source?

References:
How many references does it include?
Are the references relevant and current for your research topic? Why or why not?

Content:
What is the base perspective of the article? In other words, is it from the point of view of an administrator, health care provider, health care deliverer, politician, researcher, or educator?
Is the article well-organized and sufficiently detailed for critical analysis? Provide an example.
Describe the various sections of the article. Does it follow the standard research process method? Why or why not?
Study Findings
Do the study findings appear to be trustworthy? Why or why not?
Does the article provide suggestions for additional research? Please explain.

Motivating Employees

The success of any organization depends on the motivation of its employees. Employee motivation is crucial for ensuring high levels of productivity, job satisfaction, and quality of work. However, maintaining employee motivation is challenging, and many organizations need help with it. This essay will discuss the demotivation factors at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital, one of the leading hospitals in the region, and how a communication system based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory can help improve employee motivation. The essay will also explore the impact of the proposed communication system on employee behavior and its potential benefits for the hospital’s financial performance and patient care.

Demotivational Factors at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital

As the director of health at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital, I have identified several major demotivational factors impacting the hospital’s employees. These factors include a lack of recognition and credit for nurses’ work, poor working conditions, limited career growth and development opportunities, and communication issues. These factors contribute to employee dissatisfaction, decreased motivation, and reduced productivity, ultimately impacting patient care and the hospital’s financial performance.

One of the most significant demotivational factors at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital is the lack of recognition and credit for nurses’ work. This can lead to unfairness and decreased motivation among nurses, resulting in lower-quality patient care and decreased patient satisfaction. Additionally, the poor working conditions, such as inadequate facilities for new mothers to pump breast milk for their infants and malfunctioning refrigerators, can cause frustration and discomfort among employees. These factors can ultimately lead to increased employee turnover and difficulty recruiting new employees, resulting in increased costs for the hospital.

Another demotivational factor at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital is the limited career growth and development opportunities. The hospital’s financial statements indicate that expenses are higher than the industry standard, and it incurs losses year after year. This suggests that limited career growth and development opportunities may lead to employee dissatisfaction and reduced motivation. Moreover, communication issues in meetings and conference calls, where some employees are quiet and never participate, can cause misunderstandings, reduced trust, and decreased employee motivation.

To address these demotivational factors, the administration must recognize and credit nurses’ work, improve working conditions, and provide more career growth and development opportunities. Additionally, communication channels must be improved to ensure employees are heard and valued. Failure to address these factors can negatively impact patient care and satisfaction, employee turnover, and recruitment, ultimately impacting the hospital’s financial performance.

Major Motivational Theories

Of the three major motivational theories, I believe that Herzberg’s two-factor theory best fits the scenario at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital. Herzberg’s two-factor theory suggests that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction arise from two sets of factors: hygiene and motivators (1). Hygiene factors are those that relate to the work environment and the context in which the job is performed. Motivators lead to job satisfaction, such as achievement, recognition, and responsibility. This theory aligns well with the situation at the hospital, where employees are dissatisfied with working conditions, job security, and communication and are motivated by recognition and opportunities for career growth and development.

One example of how Herzberg’s two-factor theory applies to Kaluyu Memorial Hospital concerns the poor working conditions. The inadequate facilities for new mothers to pump breast milk for their infants and malfunctioning refrigerators are hygiene factors that cause employee dissatisfaction. If the administration does not address these factors, it can lead to decreased motivation and employee turnover, ultimately impacting patient care and the hospital’s financial performance. On the other hand, improving these conditions can help avoid dissatisfaction and foster motivation and job satisfaction.

Another example of how Herzberg’s two-factor theory applies regards recognition and growth opportunities. The nurses at the hospital feel that they do most of the work within patient care, but the doctors get all the credit. This is an example of a motivator that is not being met. To address this issue, the hospital could implement a recognition program that acknowledges all employees’ hard work and dedication, regardless of their job title or position. The hospital could also offer growth opportunities such as training programs or promotion paths that enable employees to develop new skills and advance in their careers. By providing these motivators, employees will feel more valued and motivated to perform better, which can benefit the hospital’s overall performance.

Communication System

As the director of health at Kaluyu Memorial Hospital, I believe that improving employee motivation is crucial to the hospital’s success. A communication system can significantly impact employee motivation (2). The following outlines a communication system that will have the greatest impact on improving employee motivation.

Regular Staff Meetings

The hospital will hold regular staff meetings to provide updates on hospital news, changes, and improvements. This will allow for open communication and feedback from all employees, including nurses and doctors.

Employee Recognition Program

The hospital will implement an employee recognition program to acknowledge and reward outstanding employees. This program will recognize employees who go above and beyond their job requirements and show dedication to the hospital’s mission.

Training and Development Opportunities

The hospital will provide training and development opportunities for all employees. This will include on-the-job training, seminars, and workshops to help employees improve their skills and knowledge (3). Allowing employees to develop their skills will show them that the hospital values their growth and development. Health and Wellness Programs: The hospital will offer health and wellness programs to promote employee well-being. This will include programs such as healthy eating, exercise, and stress reduction workshops.

Performance Feedback

The hospital will provide regular employee feedback on their job performance. This will include positive feedback, as well as constructive criticism, to help employees improve their performance. Flexible Work Schedule: The hospital will offer flexible work schedules for employees, allowing them to balance their work and personal lives. This will include job sharing, telecommuting, and flexible work hours.

The communication system outlined above will positively impact employee behavior in the following ways. The first positive impact is increased job satisfaction. Regular staff meetings, employee recognition programs, and training and development opportunities will show employees that the hospital values their work and wants to help them grow and develop. Secondly, there will be improved health and well-being. Health and wellness programs will promote employee health and well-being, reducing sick days and increasing productivity.

In addition, there will be increased motivation. Regular performance feedback and flexible work schedules will motivate employees to work harder and be more productive (4). Further, the communication system outlined above will result in improved teamwork and communication. Regular staff meetings and open communication channels will improve employee teamwork and communication. Lastly, there will be decreased turnover. By providing a supportive work environment and opportunities for growth and development, employees will be less likely to leave the hospital, reducing turnover costs. A communication system that includes regular staff meetings, employee recognition programs, training and development opportunities, health and wellness programs, performance feedback, and flexible work schedules will positively impact employee behavior, leading to increased job satisfaction.

Conclusion

Kaluyu Memorial Hospital faces several demotivational factors impacting its employees and, ultimately, patient care and financial performance. These factors include a need for recognition and credit for nurses’ work, poor working conditions, limited career growth and development opportunities, and communication issues. To address these factors, the hospital administration must recognize and credit nurses’ work, improve working conditions, provide more career growth and development opportunities, and improve communication channels. One of the most effective ways to improve employee motivation is through a communication system that includes regular staff meetings, employee recognition programs, training and development opportunities, health and wellness programs, performance feedback, and a flexible work schedule.

Sources

Thant, Zaw Min. 2022. Assessing the Determinants of Myanmar Government Employees’ Job Satisfaction through Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. p. 153967542211371. https://doi.org/10.1177/15396754221137193.

Tumi, Najameddin Sadeg, et al. 2021. Impact of Compensation, Job Enrichment and Enlargement, and Training on Employee Motivation. p. 227853372199535. https://doi.org/10.1177/2278533721995353.sagepub.

Akhtar, Serena. 2023. The Effect of Training and Development Methods on Employee Satisfaction and Performance in Commercial Banks. p. 30–47. www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1108825.

Agbanu, Innocent Immoneghame, et al. 2023. Flexible Work Arrangements and Productivity of Sales Representatives of Book Publishing Companies in Nigeria. p. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.52547/ijime.3.1.1.

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Overview
Imagine that you have been appointed the director of health at the Kaluyu Memorial Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya—a for-profit hospital. The facility is also a referral hospital and receives severe cases of accidents and chronic and communicable diseases, and it houses an HIV/AIDS ward. As you settle into your position, you realize that the employees always act scared as they approach their superiors. Some of the employees deliver files and leave your office in a hurry.

As you make your routine departmental visits, you observe tension among the nurses and doctors, and there is a sentiment that the nurses tend to do the majority of the work within patient care but the doctors get all the credit. You notice that the employees are always looking forward to the end of their shifts when they can go home. You notice that some of the doctors come back to work wearing the same unwashed clothes as the previous day. Too many employees are calling in sick, and many of them give weak reasons for their tardiness.

There is also a sense that doctors and nurses dominate other employees in similar positions. In meetings and conference calls, some employees are quiet and never participate. You notice that people with families tend to gather and talk quietly on breaks. The new mothers working for the hospital have to use bathrooms to pump breast milk for their infants, and the refrigerators do not work well. Looking at the hospital’s financial statements, you realize that the hospital’s expenses are higher than the industry standard, and it incurs losses year after year.

Note: You may create or make all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment.

Preparation
As part of your preparation for this assignment, please read the following:

The Future of Healthcare LeadershipLinks to an external site..
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (And Job Enrichment).
Achievement Motivation Theory. (Includes information on McClelland’s theory on acquired motives.)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Basic Needs.

Healthcare Technology

Identifying, selecting, implementing, and managing technology in clinical settings to achieve meaningful functionality is always complex. Today, with a range of options available to choose from and the changing healthcare environment, it is always important that healthcare managers in care facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes, identify the challenges their institutions would wish to address and then choose the right technology that can match these shortcomings (Darvish et al., 2014). Involving healthcare workers, such as nurses, when mapping and building the technology is also necessary to ensure that the technologies being developed and rolled out meet global safety and quality standards and are within the technical specifications required to function effectively in clinical environments. Engaging nurses during the planning step ensures that all staff members are informed of the newly built technologies and applications, which can reduce medication errors or complexity of use. It guarantees that all workflows and processes used in a particular work environment are mapped out and tailored in the new application (Darvish et al., 2014).

It is essential to define what electronic healthcare records (EHRs) are, their impact on the quality of decision-making, the process of selecting and implementing them, their cost implications, and the role nurses play in selecting and evaluating these applications.

Technology App Used in Healthcare to Facilitate Decision-making – Electronic Healthcare Records

The term electronic health record (EHR), sometimes defined as an electronic medical record (EMR), refers to the digitized form of a patient’s paper-based chart. An electronic health record is a real-time digital record that makes patient data/information instantly available in a secure manner to authorized users, including nurses, doctors, pharmacists, laboratory technologies, researchers, and so on. A majority of healthcare professionals regard an EHR as one of the integral parts of the decision-making process in clinical settings because it contains a broader view of patient data with a click of a mouse. It carries a patient’s labs and test results, radiology images, allergies, immunization dates, treatment plans, medications, diagnoses, medical history, as well as demographics. EHRs enable providers to access evidence-based information that they can use to make critical patient care decisions and help streamline and automate provider workflow (HealthIT.gov, 2019).

The Application’s Impact on Quality of Decision-making

Electronic healthcare records are multifaceted digital tools that support a broad range of decision-making processes. When healthcare professionals – such as nurses and physicians – have access to accurate and complete patient data in real-time and instantly, they can deliver quality, safe, and better clinical care. Primarily, EHRs have been found to boost the ability of clinicians to make accurate and prompt decisions related to disease diagnosis – which have been associated with reduced medication errors, improved quality, reduced hospital stay, lower cost of care, and better patient outcomes.

Study findings have also indicated that adopting EHRs can improve the quality of care by improving liability prevention and risk management processes. This is because EHRs can provide clinical reminders and alerts, make it simpler to consider all areas of a patient’s condition, support the therapeutic and diagnostic decision-making process, allow evidence-based decisions at the point of care, prevent adverse effects through built-int safeguards, enable the collection of all relevant data in on place, and promote aggregation, evaluation, and communication of patient information. A study by Holt, Warsy, & Wright (2010) also found that EHRs significantly improved coding and documentation in clinical settings, such as an increase in the application of ICD code (by 11 percent).

The Process of Selecting and Implementing the Application

The process of implementing new technology in a clinical setting involves multiple steps and different individuals, from health IT developers to users of the technology, including nurses and physicians. The exact steps involved in the section and implementation often vary from expert to expert, with some splitting them into four, others seven, and others more than ten. For the sake of this assignment, the steps of making critical decisions about an EHR will be broken down into five broad categories: assessment, planning, acquisition, implementation, and management (Berkowitz & Swan, 1993).

The assessment step involves the creation of an advisory committee to evaluate and review the needs and requests for the EHR in a facility. The committee also serves an important role in reviewing the budget requests for the replacement of new technology and sets strategic and mission-based priorities. The second phase, planning, permits the healthcare facility to define and set short-term and long-term goals for the new EHR technology. This process often entails an audit of the present tools, examining technologies in other care facilities, and evaluating the EHR trends. An accurately defined plan will subsequently help in the purchase of the appropriate technology as well as its management. It gives the facility greater flexibility and an upper edge in budgeting for staff training, negotiating acquisition costs, and servicing, upgrades, and support. Before implementing or rolling out the technology, the IT team must choose the most appropriate way of launching the EHR, such as the “incremental” or “big bang.” The management step, sometimes known as the pre-implementation phase, involves monitoring the technology to assess its benefits or achievement of the pre-determined goals formed during the planning phase. This step involves gathering feedback and data for continual upgrades and improvement in the future.

The Costs Associated with the Application

Planning, purchasing, and implementing an EHR framework in a healthcare facility is both labor-intensive and costly. The costs can be categorized into installation, training, software, hardware, hosting, software licensing, and so on. The total practice cost is $220,500, while the average cost per physician is $44,100. The following table breaks down the first-year EHR installation and management costs for a 5-physician practice setting.

Expenditures	1-Year Costs
Vendor costs (training, interface, and software)	$50,500
Hardware costs (printers, desktop computers, database server)	$60,000
Other costs (surge protectors, remodelling, wiring, hosting, etc.)	$10,000
Project manager (half-day for nine months)	$30,000
Project team	$60,000
Training time (staff)	$10,000
Total per practice	$220,500
Total per physician	$44,100

Nurses’ Roles in Selecting and Evaluating the Application

Nurses, as frontline workers or end-users of electronic healthcare records, play a fundamental role in selecting and evaluating the technology’s efficacy and effectiveness. In terms of selection, nurses provide clues that define the exact workflows and processes that the technology will be built for based on their work environment and skills, as well as the programming language that will be used, including the terms and abbreviations. The technology will specifically be tailored to match the specific and unique work environments of nurses and their capabilities to achieve maximum implementation. For technologies already built, nurses help select applications that match their work environment’s specific needs and skillsets. It is also important to note that nurses understand the shortcomings of the existing patient data recording and sharing platform and are, therefore, in a better position to guide the technology developers or vendors on what needs to be done to achieve maximum results in their work environment.

Finally, in terms of evaluating the technology, nurses serve an integral role in giving project managers and vendors feedback (including technology shortcomings) related to the efficiency and effectiveness of the technology. These clichés are often needed to determine improvement areas and make relevant upgrades (Patricia, 2015).

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be argued that technology implementation for decision-making purposes in healthcare settings is often a complex and multifaceted process. An electronic healthcare record (EHR) is a classic example of health IT archetypes that have been standardizing the recording and sharing of patient data in clinical environments, replacing paper-based records. EHRs have improved the quality of patient care by improving communication among healthcare providers, ensuring that nurses, pharmacists, and physicians share accurate patient information in real time. EHRs have also played an important part in ensuring care providers make informed and accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions. Implementing an EHR system can be broken down into five broad phases, including assessment, planning, acquisition, implementation, and management. Finally, it is important to note that nurses play a vital role in not only selecting but evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of healthcare technology, such as EHR.

References

Berkowitz, D. A., & Swan, N. M. (1993). Technology decision making: A constructive approach to planning and acquisition will require a paradigm shift. Health Progress, 74(1), 42-47.

Darvish, A., et al. (2014). The role of nursing informatics in promoting quality of health care and the need for appropriate education. Global Journal of Health Science, 6(6), 11-18. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v6n6p11

HealthIT.gov. (2019). What is an electronic health record (EHR)? Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehr

Holt, J., Warsy, A., & Wright, P. (2010). Medical decision making: a guide to improved CPT coding, Southern Medical Journal, 103(4), 316-322. doi: 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181d2f19b.

Patricia, D. (2015). Clinical nurses lead the charge with EHR. Nursing, 45(10), 25-26. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000471426.47075.d2

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Term Paper

Healthcare Reforms

The Healthcare Industry is dynamic, and reforms are constantly underway. The healthcare system reforms are under constant discussion across the globe to ensure the reforms are on the right path. Reforms can be defined as purposeful and sustained changes involving the who, how, and what of the healthcare system’s actions (Auener et al., 2020). Healthcare reforms can further be classified into global and partial reforms. The global reforms are aimed at reshaping the healthcare system as a whole. Often, global reforms are developed and implemented when several changes have taken place in society, including political, demographic, social, ideological, cultural, technological, and economic changes.

On the other hand, partial reforms are made to change one aspect of the healthcare system to sort out a specific issue. Partial reforms in the majority of the healthcare system elements can result in a global reform. There has been a serious debate over the efficiency of radical and swift reforms compared to the incremental approach. The implementation of reforms is influenced by factors such as political will, the government structure, the degree of stakeholder support, and the economic status (Sparkes et al., 2019). Essentially, radical reforms may not be sustainable technically and politically. However, the incremental approach can result in sustainable policies even in unstable economic and political environments.

In the United States of America, there have been constant discussions regarding healthcare reforms, including healthcare service accessibility, quality, justice, sustainability, affordability, and healthcare funds expenditure. The mixed public and private healthcare systems are the most expensive in the US (Brown, 2019). To overcome the challenges of healthcare affordability, the government has had major discussions of certain reforms to reduce the cost of healthcare services. Among the policies still under discussion is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was enacted to reform the public and private health insurance systems.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The ACA is the US national reform aimed at making healthcare services affordable to all US citizens regardless of an individual’s economic status. The law was first enacted in 2010, and since then, approximately 20 million US citizens have been insured (Courtemanche et al., 2018). The policy’s main goals were to decrease healthcare costs while increasing benefits, fund and promote health prevention, improve the healthcare workforce, and ensure quality healthcare in the healthcare systems (Mclntyre et al., 2019). However, the policy has received rebellion from particular government stakeholders. Besides, there was a mandate in 2019 to increase the healthcare insurance premium, which would have led to the majority of the US population being uninsured. Fortunately, the current government is expected to support the ACA through the expansion of Medicaid eligibility to also include low-income citizens. Besides, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid eligibility was further expanded, and a waiver was introduced to help reduce COVID-19-associated deaths (Auener et al., 2020). Given the benefits the law gives US citizens, the law should be maintained, and the reforms should only be made to sustain the law rather than scraping it off.

To begin with, the healthcare system of the United States has long been facing various challenges. These challenges include healthcare inequities, poor healthcare outcomes of the US population, a majority of uninsured citizens, and inadequate healthcare prevention systems. By introducing the ACA, the US healthcare system was observed to have improved, with millions of citizens being insured. The other advantages of the ACA include the decreased cost of healthcare, reduction of healthcare resource expenditure, promotion of health prevention, and reduction of the previously existing health inequities (APHA, 2022). For this reason, the government should aim at maintaining and improving the ACA for a better healthcare system.

References

APHA. (2022). Why Do We Need the Affordable Care Act? Apha.org. Retrieved 21 March 2022, from https://www.apha.org/~/media/files/pdf/topics/aca/why_need_aca

Auener, S., Kroon, D., Wackers, E., Van Dulmen, S., & Jeurissen, P. (2020). COVID-19: a window of opportunity for positive healthcare reforms. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 9(10), 419. https://dx.doi.org/10.34172%2Fijhpm.2020.66

Courtemanche, C., Marton, J., Ukert, B., Yelowitz, A., & Zapata, D. (2018). Effects of the Affordable Care Act on health care access and self-assessed health after 3 years. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 55, 0046958018796361. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0046958018796361

McIntyre, A., & Song, Z. (2019). The US Affordable Care Act: Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLoS medicine, 16(2), e1002752. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002752

Sparkes, S. P., Bump, J. B., Özçelik, E. A., Kutzin, J., & Reich, M. R. (2019). Political economy analysis for health financing reform. Health Systems & Reform, 5(3), 183-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2019.1633874

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imary Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions with your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:

Healthcare reform is a constantly discussed topic in the U.S. healthcare system. Various influences, including political, societal, and real-time events (think COVID-19), all help to shape the discussion surrounding reform as it relates to the U.S. healthcare system. This link contains a tracker of all current pending or introduced reform legislation.

Among the biggest talking points relating to the healthcare reform discussion over the past decade has been the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and whether it should remain as it is, be improved upon, or be dismantled and a new system put in its place. Review the most current attempt at modifications to the ACA in this link.

Do you feel that the ACA should be left alone as it is, be kept in place and improved upon, or be removed completely and a new set of legislation put in its place?
Discuss your reasoning for your conclusion and why or how it can be accomplished.
Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-200 word reply about his or her Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

What did you learn from your classmate’s posting? What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

Health Behavior Change

Healthy living is increasingly dominating the global conversation. Many health groups and promoters of community health and healthy living are now focusing on maintaining health amidst an uprising of sedentary lifestyles across the global population. One way that stands out is physical activity. Physical activity remains a focal point for conversation around healthy living. Exercising maintains significance in promoting human health. It is an effective preventive measure for various chronic illnesses. With modernization dominating contemporary society, technological solutions to the disappearing natural spaces that are available for exercise are available. Treadmills and other gym equipment exist that serve the very purpose walking and other forms of exercising do. In my pursuit of improving my physical activity, I have identified walking on a treadmill as a viable option for improving my physical health. This paper details physical activity as a behavior change of interest.

Research Summary

The significance of physical activity in promoting human health remains a widely studied topic in medical research. The article “The Promotion of Physical Activity and Health-Related Factors during Pandemic for Children and Adolescents: A Review Article” details the significance of physical activity for children and adolescents. According to the article, physical activity is integral to the mental and physical growth of teenagers and children. Along with nutritional support, physical activity improves brain health, strengthens muscles and bones, and improves the ability to execute daily tasks. The benefits of physical activity in preventing obesity and being overweight underpin its necessity for all.

In the wake of the pandemic, where contagion measures were at full scale, children and adolescents’ ability to indulge in physical activities was limited. While this served to lower the risk of spreading the virus, it ushered in the possibility of problems associated with prolonged restrictions on exercising and other forms of physical activities (Jee, 2021). The introduction and utilization of digital platform-based physical activity guides proved the difference in the pursuit of health maintenance among children and adolescents. Such platforms provide several indoor exercise options for all who use them. These platforms remain effective in promoting physical health in restricted spaces. Regular utilization of such platforms has been associated with improvements in body mass index, good sleep, lowered incidence of obesity and overweight, and overall physical well-being. This highlights their significance in modern society.

The article “Population Strategy for promoting physical activity“ details population strategies for promoting physical activity. As per the article, the development of population-based strategies for enhancing physical activity remains necessary to lower the social burden of physical inactivity. The author opines that the negative health effects of physical inactivity, such as increasing predisposition to chronic illnesses, underpins the need for a systematized approach to enhancing physical activity. In this regard, employing multi-strategic community-wide interventions may be necessitated across all communities. This may include formulating policies that promote exercising and other forms of physical activity in workplaces, creating awareness of the perceived benefits of physical activity, and communicating various forms of exercise and technical aspects of these activities.

Creating awareness of the significance of physical activity and communicating the various forms of exercise for all communities remains an important strategy for promoting community health. Communication serves the purpose of expanding communities’ knowledge of various aspects of physical activity as well as their significance in promoting community health (Kamada, 2020). It adopts social marketing techniques and is targeted at delivering value to influence individuals’ behaviors to their benefit. Of significance in these communication processes is the ability of health authorities and administrators to educate communities on indoor and outdoor exercising modalities available for them and how best they can leverage community resources such as the Internet to improve their indulgence in physical activities.

Consistently, the article “Invest in Physical Activity to Protect and Promote Health: the 2020 WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior” details WHO recommendations on physical activity. As per the article, physical activity remains a public health promotion strategy. Its significance in improving the health of communities and lowering disease burden highlights the need for governments across the globe to devise measures to promote physical activity opportunities (van der Ploeg & Bull, 2020). Investing in the physical community offers a better guarantee of freedom from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and remains the best strategy in preventive healthcare.

Conclusion

The articles highlighted the significance of physical activity in promoting individual and community health. Both indoor and outdoor activities uphold significance in maintaining physical health and preventing chronic illnesses. The dawn of the COVID pandemic gave insights into how various online tools can be leveraged to enhance indulgence in physical activities. Various digital platforms exist that can be used to monitor daily exercise and offer recommendations on exercises that can be executed in closed spaces. Indoor activities such as walking on a treadmill serve a similar purpose as jogging and outside walking. Such forms of physical activity can be valuable in areas with limited walking spaces or in adverse weather conditions.

Going forward, I intend to stick to my plan of walking on a treadmill for one hour daily. Walking on a treadmill every day has near-similar benefits to outside walking and jogging. It helps improve cardiovascular functionalities, relieve stress, and improve muscle and bone strength. The calorific burn released from walking on a treadmill will also help me maintain a healthy body weight.

References

Jee, H. (2021). The promotion of physical activity and health-related factors during a pandemic for Children and adolescents: A review article. Iranian Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v50i10.7493

Kamada, M. (2020). Population strategy for promoting physical activity. Nutrition Reviews, 78(Supplement_3), 86–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaa088

van der Ploeg, H. P., & Bull, F. C. (2020). Invest in physical activity to protect and promote health: 2020 WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-01051-1

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In this assignment, you will do research on the personal health behavior you have made a contract to change and write a 3-5 page research paper about this.

Important life skills include finding and understanding health information, analyzing the validity of health information sources, and using that information, all components of health literacy. Further,  this assignment should be useful and will improve your successful health behavior change.  To help narrow down your research,  use the library tutorials or request a library consultation during business hours and at least 24 hours in advance.