NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 3 Disaster Recovery Plan Cultural, Social and Economic Barriers that Impact Safety, Health and Disaster Recovery Efforts

NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 3 Disaster Recovery Plan

Nurses and other healthcare providers play an important role in the promotion of the optimum health of their populations. They explore the available best practice interventions that can be used to ensure that the health needs of those that they serve are met. Nurses also engage in the elimination of barriers that affect the access to and utilization of care by their populations. Disasters however affect the attainment of the desired outcomes of health for the affected populations. In such cases, nurses work with other stakeholders to develop effective plans that will ensure recovery from a disaster. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the issues that will influence the interventions adopted to ensure recovery from a disaster.

Determinants of Health

As noted above, the role of nurses and other healthcare providers is to ensure the optimum health and health outcomes for their populations. However, the realization of the desired health outcomes depend on a number of factors, referred as determinants of health. The determinants of health include environment, social, and biology and their interaction to influence the health status of individuals. The internal and external environment of an individual determinants health. Internal environment such as the ability of an individual to respond to stressors influences their health. External environmental factors also influence health. They include issues such as environmental hygiene, access to healthy diets, food safety and security, policies related to health, and affordability of healthcare services (Donkin et al., 2018). Poor access to safe environments such as those characterized by pollution predisposes individuals to health problems.

Social factors also determine health. They include aspects such as social stratification, stigma, stereotypes, and social relationships that individuals have with others. Social factors such as stratification influences the access and affordability of healthcare services by the population based on the perceived social class. Biology-related factors such as genetics and gender also determinant health. Genetically transmitted diseases such as cancer and hemophilia affects the health of individuals at risk due to familial history (Berwick, 2020). Therefore, the interaction between biology, environment, and social factors determine the health and wellbeing of individuals.

Cultural, Social and Economic Barriers that Impact Safety, Health and Disaster Recovery Efforts

Culture, social and economic factors may affect safety, health and disaster recovery efforts in communities. The effective management and recovery from a disaster requires the understanding of the cultural needs, practices, and values of the affected populations. The understanding is important to guide the adoption of culturally-appropriate and adaptive interventions that will facilitate the recovery process. Poor understanding of the cultural values, beliefs and practices of the affected populations will therefore hinder the recovery efforts due to ineffective interventions being used (Turner-Musa et al., 2020). Social factors also affect safety, health and disaster recovery efforts. Social factors such as poverty, low level of educational attainment, stigma, and unequal access to healthcare will hinder disaster recovery efforts, safety and health of the affected. The unequal access to resources imply that the health needs of the diverse populations will not be achieved due to resource inadequacy. Low level of education will affect the acquisition of the desired behaviors and lifestyle by the affected populations, hence, poor recovery from a disaster. The economic barriers that affect safety, health and disaster recovery efforts include inadequate financial and social support, unemployment, low income level, and lack of adequate housing. The economic barriers hinder the effectiveness of the interventions that are adopted to facilitate the recovery process. For example, inadequate financial and social support will limit the implementation of resource intensive strategies that are needed for the recovery process (Donkin et al., 2018). Therefore, there is a need to minimize them to enhance safety, health, and success of the disaster recovery efforts.

Proposed Disaster Recovery Plan

The proposed disaster recovery plan focuses on optimal response, mitigating, and minimizing the impact of disasters on the community. The plan outlines its goals and objectives, resources, timelines, stakeholders, and recovery sustainability interventions that will be utilized in addressing disasters. The plan recognizes the need for active inter-professional collaboration in disaster response and recovery efforts. It also has in place the defined roles of the different stakeholders that wi