NURS_FPX4900_Assessment 4-1 Patient Health Problem Solution

Patient Health Problem Solution

HIV remains a major concern considering the high prevalence, challenges accessing therapies, and the risk of uncontrolled symptoms. The country needs to make progress in promotion and education, proactive prevention, and treatment that match patients’ values and preferences. In this project, I will highlight HIV prevalence, the need for effective change management and leadership, relevance of the Affordable Care Act, telehealth for HIV treatment, and ethical consideration. An estimated 1,189,700 American adults live with the condition (CDC, 2022). About 87% know their status, which highlights the need for proactive measures to make more people aware of their status and treatment pathways. Racial and ethnic disparities also persistent making groups such as African Americans at increased risk of infection. According to CDC (2022). African Americans account for 42% of all new HIV diagnosis, with Hispanic accounting for 27% of new infections. Individuals aged between 13 and 24 years are more vulnerable to HIV. Young gay and bisexual men also have high rates of HIV infections hence the need for increased surveillance.

Efforts to Improve HIV Prevention and Treatment

I will describe the need for proactive commitment to educating and interacting with patients and families to help them identify and utilize resources for improving symptoms. Evidence-based and patient-centered practices improve the quality of collaborations designed to address enablers and barriers to effective HIV management. Crowley and Rohwer (2021) encouraged healthcare providers to focus on interdisciplinary collaboration as a pathway identifying vulnerable groups and appropriate interventions for reducing social and economic burden. The efforts also encourage positive health-seeking behaviors and attitudes relevant for preventing the risk of delayed or postponed care.

Relevance of the Project

I will focus on patient-centered HIV promotion and education as a strategy for enabling patients to identify risk factors, prevention, and treatment efforts. I aim to encourage individual and collective commitment to identifying self-practices and community resources to facilitate timely diagnosis and handling of complications. Similarly, I understand the need for tailored interventions to monitor and control symptoms throughout the care process. Areri et al. (2020) encouraged patients to adhere to self-management patterns such as lifestyle modifications, medications, exercise, mindfulness activities that escalating symptoms. Evidence from peer-reviewed journal articles provide authoritative, purposeful, and current information on HIV management practices for patients living in low-income communities.

Leadership and Change Aspects for Successful HIV Management

Leadership facilitates effective HIV prevention, education, promotion, and treatment. The right leaders use diverse skills, knowledge, and experience to address complexities associated with disparities and challenges handling HIV symptoms. Leadership influence policy, advocacy, resource allocation, and decision-making. Familiarity with patient and families’ stories, challenges, and enablers of successful outcomes helps reduce cost of HIV management. The transformational leadership style is ideal for promoting shared aspirations and compassion to inspire everyone to go beyond expectations. The leader encourages collaborative relationships based on results-oriented attitudes and interdisciplinary approaches (Figueroa et al., 2021). The shared vision results in everyone envisioning a desired outcome. Further, the transformational leader initiates community-based outreach. On change management, I will focus on individual and community engagement, lower cost, and improve health equity for patients affected by HIV/AIDs.

Communication and Collaboration

Communication and collaboration remind nurses, physicians, and nutritionists to initiate consultations and engagements that promote positive health-seeking behavior among patients. Hurley et al. (2017) emphasized the need for excellent communication and collaboration to make individuals responsive to testing, risk of uncontrolled symptoms, self-management, and other aspects that improve quality of life. The process also links patients to primary care providers and specialists, and reduce stigma associated with HIV. The care team builds trust for higher satisfaction with clinical experience. With excellent communication, healthcare professionals maintain supportive relationships to provide adequate support for retention of care (Crowley & Rohwer, 2021). Patients feel empowered to set new health goals and adopt behaviors necessary to maximize care outcomes.

Quality, Safety, and Cost Considerations for HIV Management

Managing HIV is expensive for patients in underserved and under-resourced communities. The population has low incomes, limited access to primary care providers and specialists, under-developed infrastructure, and constrained access to mental, physical, and emotional wellness facilities. My literature search revealed that the cost of HIV care is about $1,800 to $4,500 every month. The lifetime medical costs for those infected at the age of 35 is about $326,500 (Ritchwood et al., 2017). Costly ART medications make up 60% of the costs, which makes patient vulnerable to uncontrolled symptoms in the absence of financial incentives for drugs and therapies. Lifestyle modifications, exercise, and adherence to therapies help reduce the cost of HIV management. I also noted that patients are likely to discontinue drugs due to high cost of care. Patients need accurate and complete information through proactive education and promotion to access primary care providers, specialists, ARV, and other resources for managing HIV (Ward et al., 2020). Expanding and equipping community health centers make preventive and primary care services available and accessible by more patients. Delivering culturally competent care reduces health disparities by making the care team responsive to clients’ values and preferences. Diversity of primary care providers and specialists enhance the quality of programs that support access to prevention and treatment. The goal is to overcome the risk of delayed or postponed care common in under-resourced and under-served communities.

Practice Standards and Appropriate Health Policy

The findings from peer-reviewed articles showed the need for nurses to communicate with patients non-judgmentally. Understanding patients and families’ values and preferences makes the care team appreciative of calls for compassion, respect, and empathy when handling patients (Rouleau et al., 2019). Nurses, physicians, therapists, counselor, and others initiate and maintain open communication to encourage informed conversations about mental health, sexual behaviors, and other risks associated with HIV. The care team also understands structural issues, the need for flexible appointments, and accurate knowledge of patient contact details to design health goals that match patients’ expectations. Rouleau et al. (2019) urged healthcare professionals to help patients overcome anxiety, fear, and hopelessness. The efforts mean responding to social, cultural, and psychosocial priorities. For policies, I identified the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as the ideal legislation that promotes access to quality, affordable, and safe care. ACA encourages interdisciplinary collaboration for efficient utilization of health resources (Ginossar et al., 2021). Satre et al. (2020) indicated that patients and families benefit from savings on medications, access to preventive care, screening, and counselling that support self-care. Flexible access to Medicaid and flexible payment bundles promotes positive behaviors and prevents the risk of undesirable disease progression. As such, ACA’s provisions enhance equity in accessing prescription drugs, preventive services, mental health care, and HIV management.

Technology and Care Coordination for Diabetes Management

Healthcare providers can take advantage of electronic media for HIV prevention and treatment. Telehealth is among the tools that enhance access to HIV promotion and education, behavioral intervention, and support for people with HIV (Melissa et al., 2021). The flexible connection between primary care providers, specialists, and patients facilitates seamless access to information on drugs needed to sustain viral suppression (Melissa et al., 2021). Telehealth conversations also promote medication adherence by educating patients about tests, appointments, consistent measuring of viral loads and CD4 levels, and the need for positive health-seeking behaviors across the continuum. I also considered care coordination as an essential aspect of this project. The concept facilitates patient engagement and consistent long-term and comprehensive HIV case management (Irvine et al., 2021). Nurses, physicians, nutritionists, therapists, and others initiate case management programs to match psychosocial, cultural, and other individual needs. The team makes referrals and manage information flows to connect patients with essential healthcare services. Watson et al. (2018) also indicated that patients benefit from improved access to medications, education, and counseling to reduce health disparities. Thus, telehealth and care coordination encourages development of individualized care plans to enhance access to home visits, medications, follow-ups, social support, and other services necessary for improving quality of life.

Community Resources

• Antiretroviral Treatment Access Network: Links HIV positive individuals with essential health services such as primary care providers and specialists. The resource keeps patients engaged where case managers build relationships, understand health goals, and help individuals feel comfortable across the continuum (Watson et al., 2018). The network also engages patients about necessary medical care and social services available to improve quality of life.
• Community HIV Medication Program: Designed to reduce out-of-pocket costs associated with ART. Patients benefit from increased access to medical care to alleviate financial burden of HIV.
• Hope and Help platform: Enhances access to medical and non-medical case management. The resource facilitate access to counseling and food pantry services that improve medication adherence and increase access to services.

Conclusion

HIV is a serious concern and reinforces calls for new and better opportunities for addressing disparities. The condition encourage collaborative practices where different healthcare professionals and relevant stakeholders design and implement medical and non-medical services that help improve quality, cost, and safety of treatment. Proactive HIV prevention, wellness, surveillance, and community-based programs strengthen leadership, communication and collaboration, and care coordination designed to prevent the risk of uncontrolled symptoms. Expanding access to health coverage also allows patients to access prescription drugs, preventive care, and HIV social support programs easily.