course material

1. factors that impact population health
factors that impact population health While nursing care has traditionally been centered on
individuals, the emerging focus of population health allows nurses to take a broader view
for improving health outcomes. This wider perspective means that nurses may now
examine a range of factors that influence populations as a whole, rather than focus solely on
individual patients. This week, you will evaluate factors that impact population health, and
thus, the health care system. These factors include access to health care, individual
behavior, the social and physical environment, and genetics. You will also consider the role
of epidemiologic data in the process of evaluating the health of a population. Reference: U.S.
History.org. (2010). The electric Ben Franklin. Retrieved from *Analyze factors that
influence a population health issue *Apply the use of epidemiologic data to the design of
population health measures and policy initiatives Did you know that the United States has a
higher rate of infant mortality than Japan (CIA, n.d.)? Or, as Dr. Beilenson states in this
week’ s media presentation, that œyour zip code that you live in makes these differences in
health outcomes? To effectively develop policies and programs to improve population
health, it is useful to use a framework to guide the process. Different organizations and
governmental agencies (for example, Healthy People 2020) have created a variety of such
frameworks, which establish measures for assessing population health. These measures
frequently are derived from the examination of epidemiologic data, which include key
measures of population health such as mortality, morbidity, life expectancy, etc. Within each
measure are a variety of progress indicators that use epidemiologic data to assess
improvement or change. For this Discussion, you will apply a framework developed by
Kindig, Asada, and Booske (2008) to a population health issue of interest to you. This
framework includes five key health determinants that should be considered when
developing policies and programs to improve population health: access to health care,
individual behavior, social environment, physical environment, and genetics. To prepare:
*Review the article œA Population Health Framework for Setting National and State Health
Goals,• focusing on population health determinants. ¢Review the information in the blog
post œWhat Is Population Health?• ¢With this information in mind, elect a population
health issue that is of interest to you. ¢Using this week’ s Learning Resources, the Library,
and other relevant resources, conduct a search to locate current data on your population
health issue. ¢Consider how epidemiologic data has been used to design population health
measures and policy initiatives in addressing this issue. Post a summary of how the five
population health determinants (access to health care, individual behavior, social

2. environment, physical environment, and genetics) affect your selected health issue, and
which determinants you think are most impactful for that particular issue and why. Explain
how epidemiologic data supports the significance of your issue, and explain how this data
has been used in designing population health measures and policy initiatives. References
¢Kovner, A. R., & Knickman, J. R. (Eds.). (2011). Health care delivery in the United States
(Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing. ¢Chapter 5,
œPopulation Health• (pp. 85“ 102) Kindig, D. (2007). Understanding population health
terminology. The Milbank Quarterly, 85(1), 139“ 161. Kindig, D., Asada, Y., & Booske, B.
(2008). A population health framework for setting national and state health goals. JAMA,
299(17), 2081“ 2083. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Morbidity and
mortality weekly report (MMWR). State health statistics. Retrieved from HealthyPeople.gov.
(2010). Foundation health measures. Retrieved from State of New South Wales, Department
of Education and Communities and Charles Sturt University. (2012). Core 1: Health
priorities in Australia: How are priority issues for Australia’ s health identified? Retrieved
from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). Healthy People 2020.
Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Healthy People
2020 “ Improving the health of Americans. Retrieved from University of Wisconsin
Department of Population Health Sciences. (n.d.). What is population health? Retrieved from