Case Study: Optimizing Health in the Community

A local community health center has identified many uninsured patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of various degrees of severity. Although the community has a hospital based pulmonary rehabilitation program, many insured patients are not eligible and the uninsured cannot afford the fee-for-service charges. A community respiratory therapist who volunteers with the Community Health Center has suggested that they develop an interdisciplinary team to provide group care for their patients with COPD. The goals for the program are: • Establish baseline clinical and quality of life measures for the participants. • Involve various healthcare professionals to assure optimal health status for the individuals • Decrease the participants’ use of the local emergency room and reduce hospitalizations over a twelve month interval. Write a 3-page paper in which you develop the model of group care in which you would address this population including the various health care professionals you would involve and what their roles would be. Your paper should: • Address the incidence of COPD in the nation as well as in your local community or state as well as a definition of the disease. I • Identify the measures you will assess for the baseline health assessment and for ongoing assessment. • Discuss some of the characteristics of the health education you will provide based upon your knowledge of the disparities of vulnerable uninsured populations from your text. USE LEVEL 3 WRITING GUIDELINES