NRS 429 Topic 4 DQ 2 OLD SYLLABUS Discuss why nutrition is a central component in health promotion. What are some of the nutritional challenges for emerging populations? What roles do nutritional deficiency and nutritional excess play in disease?

 Which theoretical perspective, that guides the nursing process with assessment of the family, do you find to be the most helpful and effective? Why is this theory more appealing to you than the others?



Family Health Assessment is crucial in identifying the family’s strength and weakness in terms of access to quality and affordable care. The assessment also provides crucial information to the healthcare practitioners on the threats to achieving comprehensive health and general wellness for the whole population. Furthermore, the family assessment prepares nurses especially the Family Nurse Practitioners with the relevant skills required in the assessment of the family health patterns and be able to offer family-based solutions (Peterson-Burch, 2018). The concept has also proved to be instrumental in advancement of genetic interventions in some of the complex conditions.

Re: Topic 4 DQ 2
Nutrition is a central component in health promotion because it can either reduce or potentiate any of their current diseases. It can be used a tool to help reduce complication of a morbidity such as diabetes or heart disease (Whitney, 2018). It is important for nurses to properly educate about how noncompliance with their diet could lead to additional comorbidities such as obesity or diabetes (Whitney, 2018). Imbalanced nutrition is a common struggle for much of the American population. Having a nutritional deficit can be caused by a disease process or simply be related to inadequate consumption to promote health. For example, a patient with liver disease related to chronic alcohol dependence could be in a deficit because their body is not able to absorb nutrition properly (Bartlett, 2019). This requires them to need supplementations of vitamins and minerals to help with absorption. Nutritional excess is strongly correlated with causing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and hypertension (Whitney, 2018). In short deficits or excess can both cause comorbidities and a balance diet if recommended to promote health.

Here in the united states we have countless emerging population groups such as Arab Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Black/African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans/Alaskan Natives, Homeless, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning (LGBTQ), and Refugees. Regarding Homeless, African Americans, Native Americans, and refugees’ theses populations have high rates of poverty and limited access to resources which puts them at risk for nutritional challenges. One of the biggest challenges that they face is access to nutritious food. Cheap food is commonly highly processed and does not fulfill their daily nutritional needs. Additional sociocultural factors for these populations could include language barriers, knowledge of nutrition, limited ability to obtain or purchase food, and lack of or inadequate cooking and/ or food preparation arrangements (Bartlett et al., 2019). I also found an additional article that addressed how public aid is not always the answer, “Families who are homeless can be eligible for a wide range of income supports such as Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Section 8 or public housing, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicaid, and others. Unfortunately, many of these programs have been chronically underfunded” (Tobin & Murphy, pg. 6, 2013). This should be additionally taken into consideration when the nurse does any follow up for these at-risk population patients.

References:
Bartlett, J., Taylor, C., & Lynn, P., (2019). Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Care, Ninth Edition. Wolters Kluwer Health. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781975101336/cfi/6/4!/4/2/4@0:0.00