Taylor Rodrigues (Public Health Trends)

Katy Campbell RN

Public Health Nurse

            For this assignment on health trends I was able to speak to a nurse who is involved with public health who works in North Carolina at Southeastern Regional Hospital. I have always been interested in one day living here and having my career here.

1.     The first trend that was mentioned was tobacco use. This trend was seen to be higher in North Carolina when compared to the rest of the United States. It was an objective of North Carolina public health to lower this rate. They were able to lower the rate but it is still higher than the average of the country. Tobacco use is a large concern because smoking it gives off second hand smoke and smoking or chewing it leads to cancer. Tobacco is a great reason for many premature deaths each year. Smoking is also a major risk factor for strokes, heart attacks and COPD.

2.     Another trend that she mentioned was obesity. This trend was seen to generally increase in the United States as a whole and in North Carolina as well. North Carolina was seen to have a higher trend when compared to the rest of the US. It was also an objective of North Carolina public health initiatives to lower the number of obese people seen in the state. Obesity puts an individual at higher risk for type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a stroke, coronary artery disease and many others. Encouraging children to learn healthy living and exercise while their young helps them gain habits of healthy living for the rest of their lives.

3.     She also mentioned another one that I wasn’t really expecting and found it pretty interesting. She said that she hasn’t necessarily noticed this trend but from the reports she knows that it is occurring. The trend is oral health. In North Carolina, the number of older people who had none of their normal teeth was much higher than the rest of the United States. Oral health is so important because that is the pathway to the rest of your body. Helping the public understand the importance of consistent brushing, flossing, and dentist visits can help lower gingivitis and increase oral health in North Carolina.

4.     She then mentioned the issue of health care access. This is a problem all throughout the United States but in North Carolina there are more people without health care access compared to the average of the US. It is evident that this is an issue across the nation because we hear talk of universal health care and Obama care. It is important to ensure people have access to health care so that when they need the help they are able to receive it. Health care can also help with prevention of diseases through educating and giving healthy living tips.

5.     The last thing that we talked about was physical activity. It was one of their public health objectives to encourage and increase the number of people who were engaging in physical activity daily. North Carolina has been found to be worse when it comes to physical activity compared to the rest of the US. People are encouraged to exercise 30 minutes a day, five times a week. Physical activity helps to keep your heart and mind healthy. It keeps you in-shape and lowers your risk of diseases. It can lengthen your life and increase your quality of life as well. Physical activity is so important and easily missed if we are not making a schedule for ourselves and making sure we are getting the exercise we need. I think that eating healthy can also be incorporated in exercising daily. If we are not eating healthy our exercising is not as effective as it could be

Overall it was a good experience learning more about public health trends in North Carolina. It was interesting seeing what the trends were and how they compared to the rest of the Untied States. It was also interesting researching a little bit and learning more about these trends and about how to prevent them.