Low Birth Weight Essay -- Medicine Medical Pregnancy Essays

Low Birth Weight Low birth weight (LBW) is a term used to describe infants that are born under 2, 500 grams, or less than five pounds eight ounces. This is a disorder that plagues certain races, age groups, and the poor. Seven percent of all infants who are born in the United States are born too small and eleven percent are born too soon ( Behrman). There are many risk factors that put a mother at risk of having a low birth weight baby, as there are many complications early and later in life for the child. There are certain women who are more likely to have a child who is born extremely under weight. These influences can be ethnic, environmental, and genetic. Recent studies have shown that thirty to forty percent of low birth weight children are born into African American families. In fact, black women are two times more likely than are white women to have low birth weight babies. If a woman does not gain very much weight during her pregnancy, then she is more likely to have a child with LBW. A small or petite woman is also more likely to produce very small children. The first born child in a family is also more at risk. Women who have had previous low birth weight children, low birth weight themselves, and or genetic disorders are all at higher risk of low birth weight (Behrman). Female babies are more likely than boys to be smaller at birth. Children who are born premature, or before thirty-seven weeks are more likely to have LBW. If a woman's placenta is irregular, then that could also inhibit the growth of the child. This is because of feeding difficulty while in the womb (Campbell). The age of the expectant mother is another deciding factor about whether the child will be of LBW... ...nitoring stress women can greatly reduce their chances of having children who suffer such great obstacles. Prenatal care is also very important. This small segment of our population deserves a fighting chance. Works Cited: Behrman, Richard E, and Patricia Shiono. "Low Birth Weight: Analysis and Recommendations." Online. Internet.25 Sept. 1998. (www.futureofchildren.org) Campbell, Dr. Neil. "Low Birth Weight Babies: Facts Sheets for Health Professionals." Online. Internet. 26 Sept. 1998. (http://hna.ffh.vic.gov.au). "Low Birth Weight At a Glance." Children and Family Canada. Online. Internet. 25 Sept. 1998. (www.cfc-efc.ca). "Low Birth Weight Babies..." Baby World. Online. Internet. 25 Sept. 1998. (www.babyworld.com). Zaichkin, Jeanette RNC, MN. Newborn Intensive Care: What Every Parent Needs to Know. Petaluma: NICU Ink, 1996.

Community behavior Essay

African American spirituality has woven collectively the best of African Anglo cultures to creatively shape their own African American identity. While black peoples have not been socially, politically or economically free in the history, the practice of spirituality has facilitated the development of different forms of cultural and spiritual freedom by interpreting, transcending and embracing, the constraints of an oppressive culture. Furthermore, the development of their own beliefs, norms, forms, practices, and structures has given rise to a culture and life that is a distinctive form of human survival, existence, and, freedom most importantly. The black churches as the centers of freedom influenced the praxis of African-American spirituality. They have become safe places where blacks gathered to embrace their combined concerns as a community of faith. They have been the only institutions in the African American experience that has continued relative independence from the domesticating influence of white pressure and overlords. Some black churches consider may be the last place to see integration due to the need to maintain a power base not available to black people elsewhere. After reviewing some aspects of worship as the context for cultural and spiritual freedom, black preaching in and out sides of the black churches are one of the most powerful expressions of freedom for black people in America. The ability to produce a soul language that defines truth into systems of meaning gives power and purpose to black people. Subsequently, Black community successfully adopts and adapts the structures of the much larger culture for their own purpose this practice comes from a double consciousness or translating. African Americans translated the experience of one kind to that of another which leading them to freedom. Therefore, black people spirituality gave freedom to the spirit and mind that the external condition could not take away. The religious approach is due to a deep faith in the sacredness of life that reaffirmed a personal dignity in blacks which resulted in the practice of nonviolence and mercy. Black community determines themselves how they responded to oppression. Various forms expressing improvisation and innovation from black soul forces constituted black culture. These forms under the subtitles black music, literature, humor, folk tales, sports, art and dance; and their worship forms under the headings of prayer, shouting, healing, dancing, singing praising and instrumental music transformation, teaching and preaching. These forms express that what is true and valuable will be determined by black community itself and will subvert and defy attempts of the larger culture to discern. Churches can prove to be of great importance as it helps in providing a psychological and physical assistance to their congregants by providing treatment and prevention oriented programs in the society. A great example from the history is the Black Church that has served through decades as an informal social guider. And its effectiveness posed people to research on the formal means. Substance abuse, support, health screening and education were some of the fields where the Black Church provided its services. Individuals and churches that are associated with it hold significant importance in the history as it created a chain between informal and formal system of care that benefited the society specially those who are marginalized or underserved. These programs were encouraged by many others like lay persons, natural helpers, and religious leaders. As far as these religious leaders are concerned, they made their finding in the treatment of mental illness and they made everyone realize that paraprofessional counselors are in no way less then the professional counselors. They made their achievement in four areas of community medicine: primary care delivery, health promotion and disease prevention, community mental health and health policy. The church had great potentials. It provided and outstanding performance in collaborating with formal care systems to maximize its programs. Eng et al. helped a great deal in promoting the church’s health care programs. Such â€Å"natural helpers† have gone through a training program where they learnt how to interact with the health professionals, resource mobilization, primary self-care skills and prevention, organization of educational and services-oriented activities. Whilst the lay advisors were supposed to foster social support, they were expected to promote a healthy general well-being of people and were asked to keep a close link with the formal care system. As far as the roles of religious leaders are concerned, they are not fully described in the health care literature. In the early 1970’s, a need for psychiatrics developed in rural areas, as these individuals were recognized the more underserved population. These investigations evolved and helped in the contribution of understanding the mental health status between the urban and the rural individuals. Social, economic and geographical factors are the attributes of such rural problems. The main difficulty in the rural life of South was to separate the effects of poverty from the effects of race, color, cast etc. but after some time the solution was discovered. But later it was discovered that only 3% of the licensed psychiatrics were practicing the rural areas and the rest were gone to nowhere. Rural populations were again left to the same position as it was before. â€Å"The Black Church has no challenger as the cultural womb of the black community. Not only did it give birth to new institutions such as schools, banks, insurance companies, and low income housing, it also provided an academy and an arena for political activities, and it nurtured young talent for musical, dramatic, and artistic development† (1990, 8) The factor of race still existed between these populations no-matter if it’s urban or rural; it also greatly affected the mental healths of each individual. Many theorists believe that White American have been always against the black consumers, because they have no understanding of black’s culture, traditions, beliefs etc. But on the other hand blacks are not either interested in consuming goods or services from the Whites. They are less likely to trust White therapists and try not to interact with them in any case. Studies proved that Blacks are interested in consuming goods and seeking services from the blacks due to the understanding of same culture and traditions, it is also based on the preference of similar attitudes and racial compatibility. The research grew further and further. The research helped in understanding the need to change and acceptance of cultural and attitudinal differences and system-levels barriers. Studies proved that racial identity can be a part of success. Here racial identity means that identification of diverse racial backgrounds; it includes the basic knowledge of one’s culture and traditions. Accepting the non normative behavior of minorities can also help in dealing with societies; therapists play a big role in understanding the culture background. Lack of understanding of cultural responsiveness may result in disturbance between racial differences and help seeking environment. As compare to white blacks are more tolerant of psychological distress. They are very quick in diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychosis and control such diseases in their premature stages. Individuals, interpersonal and system-level factors promote understanding of service utilization and psychiatric morbidity. They focus on individuals because individuals predict reasonable outcomes related to services and treatment. Researchers always pick out individuals to get correct outcomes; the individual factors include race, religiosity, beliefs about mental health and copying styles. Social support, stigma and social distance are included in interpersonal level. â€Å"The Black church tradition provided an environment for reapplying already learned processes for interdependence. Embedded within the individual were past experiences, traditions, values, and norms for emotions, cognitions, and behaviors conducive to relatedness and â€Å"interpersonal ness† that reflected a collective sense of belonging with, rather than to, caring, similar others† (2001, 40) Management of mental illness is essential to the social support in rural areas. An alternative to expensive or inaccessible impatient or out patient services are neighbors or extended families. Researchers have also identified the contributions made by natural helpers in promoting positive changes to the environment. Mental illness and health care systems motivated natural helpers to provide social support to the rural black communities. A powerful indicator of poor utilization of care is Stigma that is influenced by individuals and interpersonal levels. It discourages the search for formal services but encourages the social support and informal care systems. The study says that Blacks have higher levels of tolerating psychological distress; the main reason behind this is stigma and fear of hospitalization. This sometimes results in help-seeking from specialty providers but this happens only in extreme cases. This hypothesis shows the higher emergency level among Blacks compared to Whites, Asians and Hispanics. Informal systems are fostered by fear and stigma amongst the rural Blacks. It was noticed that poorer Blacks were more likely to experience distress, physical, mental and interpersonal problems as compared to wealthier Blacks. But as compared to Whites, 15% Blacks are less likely to seek help for emotional problems than their physical or interpersonal problems. Furthermore, Blacks seek help for their financial problems but this is limited to their geographical boundaries and economic barriers. The above study has made it clear that, urban counterparts provide more social and mental services as compared to the rural churches and it also have less links with the formal system and promote the informal systems of care. We also analyzed that White churches have more links with the formal system of care than Black Churches but Black Churches provide more social and mental health service.

Going Towards the Light (Dealing with the Dark Ages) essays

Going Towards the Light (Dealing with the Dark Ages) essays It has been asked if it is fair to consider the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages or was it only a continuation of trends that were long underway by the time the Renaissance occurred. Can we say there was no true political expansion? Would we be accurate in saying there were no new thoughts or ideas? Did our ancestors truly halt all thought and spiritual growth to wait for the Renaissance? I should think not! Although there may have been only one great empire with no great shift of political and religious thought, the Middle Ages were far from being devoid of activity and upheaval. This was an incredible age of transition. This period is integral in the growth of western civilization as it goes towards the light. Dark Ages they were not! For several hundred years, from about the first to around the fifth century AD, Rome was the greatest power in Europe, ruling Britain and the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. However, in northern Europe, there were fierce tribes that were only held at bay by the Romans. Around 400 AD, the Roman Empire began to weaken and the northern tribes moved across the continent of Europe and plundered the city of Rome. The Roman Empire collapsed and was gradually replaced by many small kingdoms ruled by a strong King, Prince or Noble. These kingdoms and principalities often were heavily influenced by the Holy Roman Empire and would rarely go against its wishes. The Roman Catholic Church was the single, largest unifying structure in medieval Europe. It touched everyone's life, no matter what their rank or class or where they lived. With the exception of a small number of Jews and Muslims in Spain, everyone in Europe was a Christian during the Middle Ages from the richest king down to the lowest serf. It was the important stabilizing and unifying force that Europe needed to move through this period. This helped form a rudimentary form of government known as the Fe...

Roswell

Roswell There's a key difference between the skeptical/scientific outlook and the paranormal/pseudoscientific approach: practitioners of the latter tend to persist in their cherished beliefs regardless of all evidence casting doubt on them. Let's look at one case in which a supposed mystery had been solved, yet continue to be promoted as if ordinary solutions were unknown, and the question still remains; Did it happen? The most famous of all UFO and alien stories is that of Roswell, made legend in movies, television shows and hundreds of books. According to the story, the U.S. government and armed forces have tried to hide the crash of an extraterrestrial spaceship outside Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947. Some versions of the tale claim alien bodies were recovered and the crashed alien craft was secretly "reverse-engineered" by government scientists to give us such technological advances as the integrated circuits used by today's computers.Roswell, NMThe majority of the public would like t o believe in the idea that Roswell never happened, but that may not be the case.There are two many underlining factors that point to the fact that Roswell did occur. The debris retrieved from the site of the "crashed flying saucer" near Roswell, all the evidence recovered, the government cover-up of what actually transpired, and the witnesses who must have seen the incident upclose. But never has a credible witness - out of the thousands who must have been involved over the years in keeping the secret of the United States holding and researching extraterrestrial bodies and spacecraft - ever come forward. Never in five decades has a piece of hard evidence been found to support the ET claims. And meanwhile a very reasonable explanation has been offered to cover all the facts. Yet the hype about Roswell persists. So you be...

Battle of Fort Necessity in the French and Indian War

Battle of Fort Necessity in the French and Indian War In the spring of 1754, Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie dispatched a construction party to the Forks of the Ohio (present-day Pittsburgh, PA) with the goal of building a fort to assert British claims to the area. To support the effort, he later sent 159 militia, under Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, to join the building team. While Dinwiddie instructed Washington to remain on the defensive, he indicated that any attempt to interfere with the construction work was to be prevented. Marching north, Washington found that the workers had been driven away from the forks by the French and had retreated south. As the French began constructing Fort Duquesne at the forks, Washington received new orders instructing him to commence building a road north from Wills Creek. Obeying his orders, Washingtons men proceeded to Wills Creek (present-day Cumberland, MD) and began work. By May 14, 1754, they reached a large, marshy clearing known as the Great Meadows. Establishing a base camp in the meadows, Washington began exploring the area while waiting for reinforcements. Three days later, he was alerted to the approach of a French scouting party. Assessing the situation, Washington was advised by Half King, a Mingo chief allied to the British, to take a detachment to ambush the French. Armies Commanders British Lieutenant Colonel George WashingtonCaptain James McKay393 men French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers700 men Battle of Jumonville Glen Agreeing, Washington and approximately 40 of his men marched through the night and foul weather to set the trap. Finding the French camped in a narrow valley, the British surrounded their position and opened fire. The resulting Battle of Jumonville Glen lasted about fifteen minutes and saw Washingtons men kill 10 French soldiers and capture 21, including their commander Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville. After the battle, as Washington was interrogating Jumonville, Half King walked up and struck the French officer in the head killing him. Building the Fort Anticipating a French counterattack, Washington fell back to Great Meadows and on May 29 ordered his men to begin constructing a log palisade. Placing the fortification in the middle of the meadow, Washington believed the position would provide a clear field of fire for his men. Though trained as a surveyor, Washingtons relative lack of military experience proved critical as the fort was sited in a depression and was too close to the tree lines. Dubbed Fort Necessity, Washingtons men quickly completed work on the fortification.  During this time, Half King attempted to rally Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca warriors to support the British. On June 9, additional troops from Washingtons Virginia regiment arrived from Wills Creek bringing his total force up to 293 men. Five days later, Captain James McKay arrived with his Independent Company of regular British troops from South Carolina. Shortly after making camp, McKay and Washington entered into a dispute over who should command. While Washington held a superior rank, McKays commission in the British Army took precedence. The two ultimately agreed on an awkward system of joint command. While McKays men remained at Great Meadows, Washingtons continued work on the road north to Gists Plantation. On June 18, Half King reported that his efforts were unsuccessful and no Native American forces would be reinforcing the British position. Battle of Great Meadows Late in the month, word was received that a force of 600 French and 100 Indians had departed Fort Duquesne. Feeling that his position at Gists Plantation was untenable, Washington retreated to Fort Necessity. By July 1, the British garrison had concentrated, and work began on a series of trenches and earthworks around the fort. On July 3, the French, led by Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, Jumonvilles brother, arrived and quickly surrounded the fort. Taking advantage of Washingtons mistake, they advanced in three columns before occupying the high ground along the tree line which allowed them to fire into the fort. Knowing that his men needed to clear the French from their position, Washington prepared to assault the enemy.   Anticipating this, Villiers attacked first and ordered his men to charge at the British lines.   While the regulars held their position and inflicted losses on the French, the Virginia militia fled into the fort. After breaking Villiers charge, Washington withdrew all of his men back to Fort Necessity. Outraged by his brothers death, which he considered murder, Villiers had his men maintain a heavy fire on the fort through the day. Pinned down, Washingtons men soon ran short of ammunition. To make their situation worse, heavy rain began which made firing difficult. Around 8:00 PM, Villiers sent a messenger to Washington to open surrender negotiations. With his situation hopeless, Washington agreed. Washington and McKay met with Villiers, however, the negotiations went slowly as neither spoke the others language. Finally, one of Washingtons men, who spoke bits of both English and French, was brought forward to serve as an interpreter. Aftermath After several hours of talking, a surrender document was produced. In exchange for surrendering the fort, Washington and McKay were permitted to withdraw back to Wills Creek. One of the clauses of the document stated that Washington was responsible for the assassination of Jumonville. Denying this, he claimed the translation he had been given was not assassination but death of or killing. Regardless, Washingtons admission was used as propaganda by the French. After the British departed on July 4, the French burned the fort and marched to Fort Duquesne. Washington returned to Great Meadows the following year as part of the disastrous Braddock Expedition. Fort Duquesne would remain in French hands until 1758 when the site was captured by General John Forbes.

Rights, Equity and the State assignment questions

Rights, Equity and the State questions - Assignment Example Naturally, human beings possess moral rights. Any actions that lead to the violation of these rights is illegalized to guarantee human beings an acceptable, honourable, and copious living. Rights serve to compel the state from acting in a certain way, positive rights, or to prevent the state from acting in a certain way, negative rights, for the welfare of humanity. The multidimensional association between political and economic structures have had an immense impact on the provision of human rights. Citizens can only break out of poverty if they are given rights. However, the current economic grants economic rights such as the right to own property to a few privileged individuals while most are left suffering and exposed to insecurity, a factor that is also bolstered by marginalization. Lack of economic rights reduces individuals to a state of inability to act thus human rights are straightforwardly compromised. Similarly, the political structure does not prioritize enforcement of human rights as they are not enshrined in the law. The enforcement of legislative powers also obstructs enactment of economic rights of subjects. Negligence of and feebleness of some leaders further makes it hard for them to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion as ways of guaranteeing human rights. Most citizens are economically and consequently politically deprived making it difficult for them to claim their rights thus increasing their susceptibility. Since it is part of Canada’s constitution, it is considered a supreme law and surpasses any other law that seems to contradict it. Social and economic rights such as the right to decent living are not covered by the Charter. In its subdivision 15, the Charter specifies equality rights prohibiting any form of discrimination while other sections address political and civil rights. Moreover, the Charter has a

Community development nursing Written assignment Essay

Community development nursing Written assignment - Essay Example To determine the role of the community nurses, the ecological factors that foster the substance abuse problems in this age group were determined, again through the review of literature. The current approach can be based on preventive approach designed through knowledge about these factors, many of which individual, familial, and social may be effectively controlled through social modifications. Awareness about this problem would thus be most important. From the community nursing point of view, due to the scope of exposure and interaction with the individuals within the community may help deliver care to those who are affected and prevent the risk factors that may prove to serve the purpose of achieving control on this problem. Worldwide, the recent reports from mental health care and primary care facilities indicate the significant importance of community health and public health policies in care for substance abuse and mental health disorders. Despite government initiatives, it is unfortunate that research in this area is limited since there is a paucity of literature on substance abuse services or related mental health intervention approaches provided in the community care settings (Druss, et al. 2006). More pertinent may be the fact that with the changing scenarios of this problem, how the services can be adjusted or evolved over time. Therefore the question arises how the community practitioner delivers the care necessary for people with substance abuse with the dynamic care needs of these clients, or it is impossible to deliver care in the community, specially by the community nurses for this problem The Problem and its Magnitude In Hong Kong a survey conducted during the 2008-09 school year revealed increasing prevalence and problem of youth substance abuse. In comparison to the survey conducted 4 years earlier, this survey revealed an 1% point increase in prevalence of substance abuse among school students, which currently is 4.3% of the school students. It is more prevalent in the adolescent age groups, and the magnitude of the problem can be conceived from the epidemiologic data that among 12 year old school students, 4.6% declared that they had abused substances or drugs. When compared to the same data 4 years ago, which was 2.4%, there is a clear trend of lowering of the age of substance abuse. These data should be interpreted with caution since in many such cases, these surveys fail to reveal the actual prevalence due to fear of admitting abuse. Although these surveys can offer scientific data, it is important to understand the trend that may facilitate services that can combat youth drug problems, whi ch has become very serious in Hong Kong. The "2008-09 Survey of Drug Use among Students" documents also reveals some very important information that are useful from the community nursing perspectives. This clearly states that the drivers of the decision to abuse substances among the youth reside in the community. The first is availability and the second is the hidden nature of the youth substance a