Discussion A

The population I will focus on for the practicum are college students and their sexual health. This

group of young adults are at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and have higher rates

of transmission than any other age groups. College age students tend to engage in risky

behaviors, media being a primary factor of influence, and some may have limited access to care

or underinsured and not seek treatment (CDC, 2018). The community of practice I will be

working with is a un iversity in Southern California and I will collaborate with the director of

student health services located on the university’s campus. Sexual health education among

college students is an important health disparity, with nearly half of all new STIs being reported

from those age 15 -24 years of age (CDC,2018). Interventions are needed to bridge the gap of

sexual health education and transmission of STIs

DISCUSSION B

I am from the Southeastern Virginia Region of the state. To be more precise, my area is Hampton

Roads of Virginia. My area has a population of 1.7 million. It is divided into 7 major cities; Virginia Beach,

Norfolk, Ch esapeake, Hampton, Newport News, and Suffolk, which is the largest city in Virginia. I

currently have 2 jobs with my primary job being in home health and long -term care of patients in the

community. I also work at a hospital on the mental health unit whe re I take care of mentally ill and

substance abuse patients who are in crisis.

Social determinants of health are the situations that people are born into, environments in which they

grow up and live in and where they work. They are the non -medical factors that influence health

outcomes. More specifically social determinants as they relate to mental health are associated with

income inequities, poor education, cultural opinions and biases, poor access and affordability of health

care, food insecurity, housing insecurity, adverse early life experiences, and social exclusion. A c learer

understanding of the effects of these social determinants and how they can be prevented should be

placed in the hands of the politicians and policy makers to inspire change (Compton & Shim, 2015). An

example of how policy makers changed the course of a mental health crisis is when Senator Creigh Deeds

was faced with a mental health crisis in his own home. His son, Austin Deeds suffered from Bipolar

Disorder and psychotic behaviors. He (Austin) had been hospitalized on 2 -3 previous occasions. As Senator Deeds noticed his son displaying more dangerous behaviors, he tried to get him admitted into a

hospital. He could not find a bed available in the state so he stayed at home with his son. After receiving

a warning by his son, the senator did lock h is bedroom door that night. The next day the senator was

outside tending to his work when his son came up behind him and nearly stabbed him to death.

Subsequently, the son killed himself and the senator survived after being in critical condition. After the

senator returned to work he got together with the general assembly to pass legislation called, "The Bed -

of-Last -Resort" law. This law states if a person is found to be a danger to himself or others the state is

mandated to find a bed or the patient wi ll be admitted into the state's mental health hospital (Northam,

2014).

The most prevalent mental health issue in my community is a conglomerate of disorders that fall

under Anxiety Disorders. These other disorders are panic d/o, post traumatic stres s d/o, obsessive

compulsive d/o, and phobias which make of 40 million Virginians. Major Depressive d/o is the next

prevalent making up 14.8 million of the population. These patient dealing with depression also have a

higher rate of suicide. The next mos t prevalent is Bipolar d/o affecting 5.7 million Virginians.

Schizophrenic patient make up 2.4 million of Virginians (NAMI, 2008).

Populations most affected by serious mental disorders are people ages 18 -25 and twice as many

women are affected than m en. This population has the highest rate of mortality as well due to higher

incidents of accidents, homicides, and suicides. The majority of these deaths are attributed to chronic

physical health conditions that get overlooked or undermined because of me ntal illness. This population

also indulges in more risky behaviors like smoking, substance abuse, unhealthy diets, and lack of physical

activiteies (Dworak -Peck, 2021).

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