Adolescents' Alarming Alcohol Abuse in Alexandria, Virginia - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the surveillance studies, around thirty percent of adolescents in the Alexandria Virginia community have been indulging in alcohol abuse, which is very alarming. The health risks posed by alcohol consumption are varied and not limited to heart diseases, liver diseases, and diseases related to the gastrointestinal tract, among many other risks (Spilková et al., 2015). Indulgence in alcohol consumption affects not only the adolescent or any individual Healthwise but also socially in the behavioral change (Carvalho et al., 2018). The impact of alcohol consumption has been seen in adolescents above 13 years of age and below 20 years, which are ages of elementary students. Therefore, this paper will stipulate the methods put across to educate the community on the need to help and curb the rising number of alcohol indulgence among adolescents.

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Assessment of the needs and the rationale

The Alexandria Virginia community has been reporting a rise in alcohol abuse. About a third of the adolescent in the community have been associated with indulgence in alcohol consumption. Thus, this number for such tender aged individuals is alarming and calls for attention and strategies to be laid by the healthcare personnel to educate the target population to see the decline in the number of adolescents indulging in alcohol abuse decline or even zero.

The population description:

The homeless shelter community in Alexandria, Virginia, is a community that presented quite interesting numbers of adolescents that indulge in alcohol and substance abuse. About three in ten adolescents indulge in alcohol consumption and abuse. Thus, it becomes a worrying trend in healthcare since the population that is the adolescents comprises of the main school-going children (Spilková et al., 2015). Hence if the population comprises young individuals that are adolescents, it becomes even more difficult for them to perceive concepts in class or sometimes even major effects like the children dropping out of school. Therefore, the issue becomes of relevance to be addressed by the healthcare professionals to create ways to teach the community to try and help in the declining the rising alcohol abuse among adolescents in the Homeless shelter community.

The health specifications of the ages of the target group, the adolescents in the Homeless shelter, are not stipulated. Therefore, using the CINAHL database (Lawrence, 2017), which contains details on articles with related studies of dealing with alcohol substance abuse. Guidelines and teaching frameworks will be drawn and therefore lay forth the content to be presented before the community.

Identification of the need:

The need to educate the community on matters of alcohol consumption indulgence among adolescents in the Homeless shelter was identified by the survey conducted in the zone and found the alarming percentage of adolescents that indulged in alcohol consumption. The survey showed that thirty in one hundred adolescents indulged in alcohol consumption (Britton, 2016). Thus, the survey created a basis for healthcare personnel to stipulate methods to create awareness and educate the community on the dangers of the underlying matter.

Through educating the community, the significant objective of salvaging the adolescents who already have indulged in alcohol consumption. Also, the other adolescents who may behave not indulged in alcohol consumption will see the underlying effects of alcohol consumption. (Britton, 2016). Therefore, they will also be aware of the underlying effects of alcohol consumption and, therefore, avoid even pressure from their peers to indulge in such substance abuse.

Educating the community about the findings of adolescent indulgence in alcohol is a very significant tackle in the matter. This is because every individual in the community will be aware of the cons of substance consumption. Thus, each individual will participate in ensuring that the consumption does not involve the adolescents or even older persons who do not consume alcohol moderately.

Readiness

During the survey, the team found out that the primary means to create awareness and improve community health in alcohol indulgence is through educating the community on the impacts of alcohol indulgence among adolescents. The healthcare team had researched enough on the mode of the delivery of the content to help in the reduction of alcohol indulgence (S. et al., 2018). For the applicability of the plan, a section of healthcare personnel had to perform a piloting segment of the strategy.

Therefore, the healthcare personnel had to select a section of the Homeless shelter individuals. A few of them that was in the accurate health range that was being targeted that is ages thirteen to below twenty years (S. et al., 2018). Thus, using the pilot study practicability of the study in the entire community was assessed, limiting the educational program and its strengths. The pilot study in the community was very relevant, so establish more inclusions that were to be made in the actual educational program.

Motivation

During the education program, the motivating factor was the community's willingness to be engaged in the education program, especially the adolescent of Homeless shelter. It could be a demotivating factor to the healthcare workers if the targeted group could show unwillingness in the matter being addressed or even not being present during the educational program on alcohol abuse among adolescents.

Experimentation

A group of healthcare personnel conducted a pilot study on the effectiveness of the mode of delivery of the content on alcohol abuse among adolescents. The survey included five adolescent individuals, two females and three males. The sampled individuals, two of which turned out to be alcohol addicts (Britton, 2016). The experimentation method was almost accurate since the individuals were willing to listen and engage in conversation whenever necessary (Britton, 2016). However, the delivery method was a little bland though teaching was challenging since it did not have a follow-up and determine the effectiveness of the method later on. Therefore, the initial study's recommendations were to include the follow-up strategies and determine the applicability of the teaching strategies.

Potential barriers

When engaging a community, obstacles and hindrances always present themselves in various avenues of engaging the participants. The methods involved in educating the community on the effects of alcohol among adolescents, for example, in discussions, some of the individuals may give false information. Thus, inaccurate information may mislead the entire delivery process of the educational program (2018). For instance, an exaggeration of information from the participants like an extreme number of adolescences who indulge in alcohol consumption.

Other barriers that may be involved include communication barriers and time appropriateness of educating the community.

The educational strategy

The vital strategy of engaging a community effectively in matters relating to alcohol consumption is through communication and actively engaging the participant most, especially of the adolescent age. Also, including the health-related underlying factors in alcohol consumption emphasize the sensitization of alcohol abuse (Spilková et al., 2015). When the healthcare personnel includes details of the potential harm indulgences of alcohol consumption, especially on the health aspects like heart disease, liver diseases, and stroke among problems, the weight of the issue then becomes more interesting to address.

Methods

The various educational methods that could be applicable in addressing the alcohol indulgence among the adolescence they include;

Discussions as an educational strategy;

The healthcare personnel may create an open discussion with the Homeless shelter in the Alexandria Virginia community at large regardless of age grouping, but the main focus of the discussion should be on the adolescents of age 13years to below twenty years. The discussion matter should only be hinged on the reasons for alcohol indulgence of the teenagers (Spilková et al., 2015). The major focus should be on the factors that contribute to the indulgence of alcohol consumption in teenagers. The healthcare personnel should also be ready with responses on how they think the problems may be resolved. For example, on the issue of peer pressure that may be the greatest factor that has seen the number rise, healthcare personnel can advise teenagers to indulge in constructive activities during their leisure to avoid bad company.

Preparing of slides;

The healthcare personnel could prepare slides for presentation before a community. The slides should entail details on alcohol consumption among individuals and the various health consequences of alcohol indulgence, like heart problems (Basow, 2019). The slides should be prepared in such a manner that they are simple and comprehensive since the target audience is teenagers.

Distributing handouts

Handouts can be used as educational methods. The healthcare personnel can create handouts that display relevant information on alcohol abuse, specifically among teenagers. The handouts should always include details on the health effect of alcohol consumption. Inclusions of pictures and images of both the consequences of indulgence of alcohol consumption should be included (Basow, 2019). The healthcare details should also be included, like on good habits that discourage indulgence in alcohol.

Other efficient teaching methods can also be included, provided they are of relevance in the subject of regulating alcohol consumption in adolescents.

Financial needs

In this project, funds will be required to make handouts and flyers that will indicate the details of the seminars' day and venue. Moreover, resources will be required to create a PowerPoint presentation and access to a convenient internet connection. The healthcare personnel will be required to participate in the project voluntarily.

Conclusion

In summary, peer pressure among teenagers proved to be a major reason that is likely to contribute to teenagers' indulgence in alcohol abuse. During their free time, teenagers tend to interact freely and may influence each other on alcohol consumption. The advocacy of the massive health and social effects in the Alexandria Virginia community may decline in numbers to individuals who indulge in substance abuse. The emphasis on the health effects can be vital and may scare away the young generation in the indulgence in alcohol consumption. Also, emphasizing the effects to the community at large will help guide the societal morals of the individuals. Thus, addressing the adverse effects of alcohol will help to also discourage alcohol consumption in other teenagers in alcohol consumption practice. Consideration of the possible educational methods is vital so that the information is passed to the targeted audience accordingly without any hitches.

References

The advice in community pharmacy not effective in tackling harmful alcohol consumption says PHE review. (2018). The Pharmaceutical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1211/pj.2018.20205274

Basow, D. (2019). How a harmonized approach to healthcare can help end the integration lottery. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 25(3), 110–111. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjhc.2019.25.3.110

Britton, A. (2012). Do We Need Age-Specific Alcohol Consumption Guidelines? Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47(3), 203–203. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/ags023