NSG 4074 Week 4 Project-Community Health Promotion Project
Tana River County of Kenya
Population’s Demographics
The population size of the county is 547,201 as indicated by a census report in 2009. Out of the population, 48% are male and 52% are female. The number of young individuals makes up the largest part of the population with people under the age of 40 years taking 60% of the population and only 40% of the population being persons above 40 years of age. The county is characterized by a diverse sense of religion with 80% being those from the Christian religion, 16% Muslims and 4% other minute religions. Average family size is of 7 individuals per homestead. Moreover, the average age at marriage in the country is at 18 years.
Socioeconomics
Diversity in social activities characterizes the county because of the deep African culture that has never been eroded. For instance, traditional events such as circumcision ceremonies and marriage bring people together hence ensuring that the social culture is always maintained in the county. Moreover, there are several economic activities carried out by the population in the county. Such activities include small-scale farming, pastoralism, operating business, fishing, mining and quarrying and other small-scale economic activities (Martin, 2012).
Environmental hazards
Living around Tana River that is highly polluted as a result of illegal dumping from industries upstream, the locals are always at great risk of contracting water-related diseases. Moreover, on average, people tend to become sickly because of air-related illnesses after reaching only 30 years of age because of the unregulated mining and quarrying activities in the area that make the air unhealthy for human consumption. Again, the quarried land usually become dangerous as people fall into them at night causing injuries or deaths in severe instances (Smalley & Corbera, 2012). Moreover, when these pits become filled with rainwater and can cause drawing to people who may stumble into them.
Access to healthcare
The underdevelopment of the facilities in the area makes it hard for individuals to access quality healthcare in the area. Moreover, poor quality of education, as well as the number of those with formal education, has been the main reason for the backwardness of the county with respect to healthcare standards. It is because of this that the locals are forced to travel long distances to the nearest counties to find healthcare services.
Mortality and morbidity risk factor of the population
Various mortality and morbidity risk factors affect the population significantly in various ways. One of the mortality and morbidity risk factors is the extreme poverty levels of the individuals in the county (Ngaina et al., 2014). As a result, they cannot afford basic healthcare services and this increase the mortality rate in the county. Worst still, those essential health care services are not found in the county and this there makes them travel long distances to acquire them. Where the individuals do not put effort to obtain the health services their lives will be at stake, and this usually increases the morbidity and mortality rates.
NSG 4074 Week 4 Project-Community Health Promotion Project
Moreover, the airborne illnesses as a result of air pollution from quarrying activities also place them at risks of dying at tender ages. Finally, the other morbidity and mortality risk factor is ignorance of the individuals on the illnesses that affect them. Considerable large populations of individuals do not seek medical advice from health specialists but instead depend on traditional medicines. As a result, they put their lives in danger as in most cases such medications are not effective.
There are many health risk factors affecting the people of Tana River County One of the risk factors is an unbalanced diet. The district is affected by inadequate rainfall resulting in lack of food. Despite the fact that there is water for irrigation, poor drainage results in seasonal flooding that wash away farms, cattle, and homes. Therefore, an unbalanced diet is attributed to the lack of enough food. This factor encourages nutrition-related diseases such as rickets, kwashiorkor, anemia, and marasmus. Another risk factor is forced marriage. The county is known for forced marriages. This is risky for the health of girls as the men marrying them may be suffering from contagious infections. For instance, a teenage girl will be forcefully married to a 45-year-old man. Such a man may be suffering from a dangerous infection like HIV/AIDS. This puts the health of the girl of contracting the illness.
Moreover, aging is a health risk factor in the county. Aging is associated with a number of health issues. Most part of the population is living below the poverty line and therefore families have no means to protect the aging population. This has led to old-age associated disorder among the population. The disorders include high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Also, the population is faced with the health risk factor of alcoholism and smoking. The issue of many young people taking alcohol to the level of addiction is an issue in the county. It is attributed to idleness as a number of youths do not engage in schooling activities. This puts them at the risk of suffering from diseases such as lung cancer and liver cirrhosis (Huebert et al., 2014). This factor put them at the risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections such as Syphilis, gonorrhea and Herpes Simplex.
Addressing Health Issues
Water-borne diseases: A key strategy is spreading awareness in the community to educate them on the dangers of consuming the polluted water. This knowledge will reduce the number of people using the water directly thus reducing the number of people suffering from water-borne diseases. Also advising people to wear gloves and gumboots when walking through the water will be a critical health promotion strategy. The county and the national government should enforce stringent measure that restricts people from dumping pollutants into the river. The county government should come up with water treatment strategies to address the issue of people consuming polluted water (Ramírez-Castillo et al., 2016).
Nutrition-Related diseases: Since the area has a permanent river, educational programs on appropriate irrigation and farming method can be useful in solving the issue of lack of food that result in an unbalanced diet. Moreover, educating the population about a balanced diet and it’s important will be a step towards eliminating the nutrition-related infections. It is the responsibility of the government to provide accessible and health services to the county. This will reduce the number of children who die every year as of diseases like marasmus and anemia (Prüss-Üstün et al., 2016).
Age-related Health Issues: Establishing home care centers for the old members of the community is a good health promotion activity. These centers will provide better living standards to the aging population. Some of these health issues are caused by poor lifestyles. Educating the people on lifestyle diseases, their causes and prevention measure will be crucial in reducing the number of adults suffering from lifestyle disease. For the above illnesses, poverty reduction will be key in addressing them.
References
HUEBERT, R. C., & SHAH, V. H. (2014). Alcoholic Liver Disease. Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology Board Review, 265.
Martin, P. (2012). Conflicts between pastoralists and farmers in Tana River District. Spaces of Insecurity Human Agency in Violent Conflicts in Kenya, 167-193.
Ngaina, J. N., Mutua, F. M., Muthama, N. J., Kirui, J. W., Sabiti, G., Mukhala, E., & Mutai, B.1.(2014). Drought monitoring in Kenya: A case of Tana River County.
Prüss-Üstün, A., & Neira, M. (2016). Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks. World Health Organization.
Ramírez-Castillo, F. Y., Loera-Muro, A., Jacques, M., Garneau, P., Avelar-González, F. J., Harel, J., & Guerrero-Barrera, A. L. (2015). Waterborne pathogens: detection methods and challenges. Pathogens, 4(2), 307-334.
Smalley, R., & Corbera, E. (2012). Large-scale land deals from the inside out findings from Kenya’s Tana Delta. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 39(3-4), 1039-1075.
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Question 
NSG 4074 Week 4 Project-Community Health Promotion Project
In a Microsoft Word document, you will focus on health promotion for a population of your choosing. Please note that the title and reference pages should not be included in the total page count of your paper. Include the following in your paper:
- Identify the population you chose and analyze relevant information pertaining to the chosen population.
- Demographics
- Socioeconomics
- Environmental hazards
- Access to healthcare
- Analyze and discuss four mortality and morbidity risk factors for your selected population.
- Suggest a health promotion activity for each health issue identified from your analysis.