Assignment task:
Think about the identified community target problem in most communities. If this is a problem in your community, reply by stating additional risk and/or protective factors you think exist in your community regarding this problem.
The five levels of influence of the social-ecological model (i.e., individual, family, peer, school, and community/cultural) often interact and influence each other. Reply to the below post by stating how you think two of these levels might influence one another regarding the identified problem.
Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Black pregnancies end in fetal death compared with only 9 of every 1000 White pregnancies. This is an issue that affects the mother and infant. There are numerous factors that contribute to this. There are both risks and protective factors to consider when working with minority populations and addressing the issue of racism and health disparities. Risk factors are defined as characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level, these are typically associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n.d.). On the other hand, protective factors are characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of negative outcomes. These characteristics include income level, peer group, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and employment status. Risk factors and protective factors are important when adding health disparities within minority populations. Multiple factors contribute to these health disparities in minority populations such as variation in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias (CDC, n.d.). There are numerous community prevention and protective factors to consider. It would be beneficial for the individual to connect with healthcare and social support systems before, during, and after pregnancy. Education regarding pregnancy should be provided to pregnant mothers, this can help provide information on urgent maternal warning signs and could prevent premature death. Healthcare providers can also prevent deaths by asking questions to better understand their patient and things that may be affecting their lives. This could address social determinants of health. Healthcare professionals can recognize and work to eliminate unconscious bias in themselves and in their office on an ongoing basis. Hospitals and healthcare systems are play a very large role in prevention by identifying and address unconscious bias in healthcare system, standardizing coordination of care and response to emergencies, and improving delivery of quality prenatal and postpartum care, and training non-obstetric care providers to ask about pregnancy history in the preceding year (CDC, n.d.).