Community Health Nursing: Community Assessment of Halifax, Nova Scotia

Community health nursing
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Community Assessment
Introduction
The community that is going to be analyzed in this context is Halifax that is found in the east side province of Nova Scotia in the federal government of Canada. This is a community that has a population that is over 400,000 people where almost 300,000 live in an urban area (Raphael, 2009). The area was formed in the year 1996 via the amalgamation of Halifax County. The area is divided into 18 community planning areas that make administration of essential services be effected in a feasible manner thus benefiting the entire population.
Local area analysis
The area serves as a major economic hub in eastern Canada where there are various industries managed by both the government and private sector. Health services and education are given the required priority in this community where the government authorities have provided and equipped the necessary institutions and frameworks to ensure the delivery of quality services of that nature.
The locale of this area can be described by acknowledging that it is first of all found in eastern Canada in a region that has massive tourism attractions that provide massive income for the local business establishments. The area has nice and beautiful buildings that have been erected using modern and sophisticated architectural plans that are always appealing to the residents and visitors alike.
Social Systems
The social analysis of this area reveals that there are people of mixed races and social backgrounds inhibiting this area. Halifax is a cosmopolitan in the sense that people are engaged in various economic activities to earn their living. According to Raphael (2009), majority of the people are employed in the service and manufacturing industries where fishing, forestry, mining, and tourism are among the highest employers in the community. The community has some of the tallest buildings in the eastern region where the likes of Fenwick Tower and Purdy’s Wharf are among the tallest in Halifax. The community has both the urban and the rural sections where majority of the people stay in an urban setting. The rural areas appear to have a below standard infrastructural and other necessities set-up. The health conditions and situations in the rural areas are yet to hit the required thresholds thus warranting the continuous effort that has been dedicated to upgrading the situation.
The health care of people has been given top priority where there are mechanisms to deal with the health concerns of the community properly. There are enough and equipped hospitals, clinics, pharmaceutical and other health services offering institutions that are regulated by the relevant government authorities (Raphael, 2009). There is public insurance mechanism that helps the citizens to pay their hospital bills to facilitate adequate healthcare. Public health is one of the social amenities that are provided by the authorities in this area where community health programs are formulated and implemented for the benefit of the residents.
Population Analysis
The population of Halifax is growing tremendously where it is projected to click the 500,000 mark by 2015 given the rising number of births and immigration by people from other regions in Canada and those originating from abroad. Majority of the people are English speakers (90.24%) while those who speak only French account for nearly 2.63%. Those who speak non-official languages are 6.18 of the entire population while the remaining 0.95% speaks other multiple languages that are not well recognized by the government authorities (Raphael, 2009).
Community Health Issue
A. Health Challenges in the Community
Halifax community is facing massive health challenges that need adequate and coordinated interventional measures. Chronic disease management remains to be a health concerns that has to be addressed immediately for the sake of the local society members (Raphael, 2009). It has to be realized that a large number of people in this community are either affected or infected by chronic diseases that have been reported to be a massive cause of deaths among people of different age groups. There have been efforts to control and eliminate such diseases from traumatizing and killing people, but much success is yet to be achieved. The problem regards the manner in, which this disease is being managed by the stakeholders. It has to be observed that managerial lapses exhibited by the government and other concerned stakeholders have led to the failure in the desire to address the menace caused by chronic diseases.
B. Determinants of health that have led to increasing in chronic disease management lapses
There are many factors that indicate the managerial weaknesses that have led to increasing in chronic ailments in Halifax and Nova Scotia region as a whole. It is estimated that over 5000 people in this region die of four types of chronic diseases each year, which translates to over 1% of the entire population. Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic respiratory are the main killers in this category where managerial lapses are blamed for the increase in the deaths each year. According to Harris (2013), over 64% of all deaths in Halifax are attributed to the above mentioned diseases thus implying that the health sector management as a whole has failed to devise amicable and suitable measures that can help to fight these menaces effectively.
Statistics regarding the nature and types of chronic diseases blames the government and other stakeholders in their failure to facilitate publ...