Risks of CVD in South Africa. Free Essay Example

South Africa is one of the counties in Sub-Saharan Africa with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS, leading to less healthcare spending on Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease (Cainzos-Achirica et al.,2015). Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors are prevalent among the socio-economically challenged individuals in the North East Province of South Africa. The changing nutritional forms and the changing standards of living have accelerated the prevalence. Urbanization rate has increased in North East Province as a result of grown industrial companies, urban setting population intensification, high migration rates from rural to urban and enhancement in industrial action.
The men in the North-East Province of South Africa have an acquaintance with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the connection between CVD information and CVD risk aspects is not significant. Higher risks of CVD are closely associated with people with higher socio-economic status (SES) (Cainzos-Achirica et al., 2015). CVD burden is higher in people of higher SES in the initial stages of health alteration. Smoking is one of the significant risks of CVD, and men are the highest population of smokers. Health-promoting behaviors may lack with non-existence of meaningful correlation amid CVD knowledge and cardiovascular possibility features as any smokers have no realization of health repercussions of smoking. Men are less probable to adjust their way of life and reduce CVD risk without self-efficacy and personal proneness awareness.

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Priority Health Issue

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers to the conditions that affect the blood cells or the heart. It is associated with damaging the arteries in organs like the heart, eyes, kidneys and the brain. It is also associated with an increased blood clots threat and the building up of deposits full of fat in the arteries. Behavioral risk factors that increase cardiovascular diseases include a damaging consumption of alcohol, unhealthy diet, deficient body exercise and use of tobacco. These behavioral risk factors surface in individuals as conditions such as obesity raised blood pressure and blood glucose and raised lifeblood lipids.

Cardiovascular is more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other parts of the world with African men being more prone to the health condition. Detecting and thwarting the risk factors helps ease CVD effect (Burger, Pretorius, Fourie and Schutte (2016), can be done by individuals acquiring knowledge on CVD for them to identify perils and exposure. Medicines and counseling to individuals with a high risk of cardiovascular and those with cardiovascular disease are ways of detecting and managing the conditions at an early stage.

Health Promotions Strategies

Health promotion aims to empower and engage communities and individuals on healthy behavior choices and making changes that moderate the possibility of chronic ailments. Disease prevention, on the other hand, focuses on precise efforts targeting the reduction of the growth and severity of prolonged diseases. Preventive approaches ought to reduce recurrent and first events of CVD. The repetitive and first events constitute individuals in whom CVD has not yet clinically manifested and those already established with cardiovascular risk factors. People who have not yet developed CVD need primary prevention and those already found with CDV risk factors need secondary prevention.

Total risk approach applies to both those who have not and those that have been established with CVD. Propositions on public health have been proved, and this reduces future likelihoods of CVD epidemics. Broad population strategies support modification of lifestyle among those at high risks. Population-wide community health deterrence efforts are practical amongst the majority in a population who are individuals of moderate and low-risk levels. Emphasis on one strategy is determined by considerations on its resources, rate of effectiveness and attainable effectiveness. Approaches on CVD prevention strategies require a determination on who receives the treatment which is done by using risk prediction equations.

Risk stratification approach ensures the transparency and rationale of treatment decisions. Use of risk prediction charts in estimating the total cardiovascular threats. This approach makes the best use of the available resources in reducing cardiovascular risk by providing rational decision-making means. The method enables the matching of intervention intensity and degree of total uncertainty. More research is essential for confirmation of the effectiveness of risk stratification procedures in medium and low-income republics to benefit the healthcare system and the patients. The risk prediction charts can be used to clarify the likely impacts of interferences on their risk of developing CVD. The maps help healthcare professionals to pay more attention to those will benefit more.

Interventions by the health care system as an approach potentially can improve care quality and delivery. Effective strategies can result in CVD prevention on the onset, earlier recognition and improved disease control. Team-based care involves involving more than one care provider to work collaboratively with a patient. The caregivers identify disease risk factors, educate patients, modify and prescribe treatments as well as maintain a dialogue with patients. The teams may include community paramedics, nurses and doctors. The strategy is operational, especially among the low-income population as it is cost- practical as well as lowering cardiovascular disease. Coordinated drug therapy is a partnership between qualified prescribers and pharmacists aiming to the expansion of the scope of practice of the pharmacists. The connection increases the patient's observance to medical schedules and knowledge. Pharmacists work with the public as they are the most accessible care providers to the public. Reduced dosage as directed by the collaborative practice agreement (CPA) of the patient can reduce the visits made by a patient making it more straightforward for the patient to adhere to the medication. Clinical support for self-pressure monitoring reduces death and disability related to hypertension. The personal pressure monitoring goes along with patient autonomy, lifestyle modification, self-efficacy and empowerment (Burger et al., 2016). Education and person-management support focus on an individual managing CVD resulting in progressive cardiovascular endings. They are essential in low-income and rural settings where there are limitations for healthcare resources.

Community clinical links is also an effective strategy that connects the healthcare systems with community programs in reducing chronic diseases. Integration of community health workers with the community promotes access to services as well in addition to improving competency and quality of service delivery. They increase health knowledge by involving the community in activities such as informal counseling, community education and social support, which will enhance health outcomes. Medication therapist management constitutes health care providers who guarantee the best patient therapeutic results. It is more effective for multiple chronic patients as it identifies uncontrolled hypertension, advises the patient on health adjustments, and teaches patients on medication and CVD remedies.

Background of the Issue

CVD is one of the leading health problems that cause a high mortality rate, economic burden and morbidity worldwide. Some of the fundamental risk elements for CVD are physical dormancy, smoking, liquor, meagre diet, obesity and hypertension. Hypertension has been established as a big challenge towards health in the African continent with South Africa having the uppermost hypertension rates in the world. CVD has a high prevalence among African men. More than 60% of South African men who are over 50years are suffering from hypertension (Burger et al., 2016). Poor implementation of preventive measures and dominant risk factors are a concern in reducing CVD prevalence (Piepoli et al., 2016). Prevention can is done at the individual level, especially on those already identified with CVD risk by tackling behavior modification and positive risk aspects. Prevention becomes effective with the elimination of risk behaviors, which makes it possible to prevent most of CVDs and at least half of the cancers.

Health Promotion Impacts on the Population

The South African men of North East Province have little knowledge of the relation between CVD and cardiovascular risk factors despite them having a high CV risk and being knowledgeable on CVD risk causes. CVD burdens the economy, especially the low and medium-income nations where South Africa lies. There is a limitation of the available resources for the management of CVD due to the contending health priorities. Up scaling the integrated, cost-effective approaches is a vital task as directing the limited resources towards those who will benefit most is domineering. Identifying the CV risk issues and implementation of actions that reduce the CV risk factors will curb the CVD impact on health.

Article Findings Comparison and Differentiation

The risk scores based on office or laboratory predicted that similar vulnerability factor profile to be lesser in high-income republics. The range of 40-60 years proportion of high CVD risk lied between 1% and 425 whereas middle and low-income countries lie between 25 and 13% (Ueda et al., 2017). Both the office and laboratory bases scores classified a population more significant than 80% to be low or high risk. Office model underestimated the CVD risk among diabetic patients. Individuals with borderline CVD risk need more tests to identify those with high chances. The charts are to facilitate the risk-based approach implementation as health caregivers are provided with the necessary risk assessment tools that can be used without laboratories. The diabetic diagnosis integration with CVD programs will improve diabetes supervision and timely uncovering.

The article on the connection concerning CV risk and CVD reported that a third of the participants are smokers and regular alcohol consumers. The population demonstrated an elevated mean fasting blood glucose and men having an overweight value (Burger et al., 2016). The group lied between medium and high risks of CV. The men indicated to have substantial CVD knowledge but a weak knowledge on the factors of CVD knowledge and CV menace features interconnection. CVD is as a lifestyle disease; thus, lifestyle modification can help control its prevalence. Behaviors that promote health need be incorporated in reducing the impact of CVD. Personal susceptibility awareness for smokers is crucial for smokers towards lifestyle modification and CVD reduction.

Discussion of Evidence-Based Interventions

Nurse research is one of the approaches recommended. Future studies should validate and develop a standardized instrument for CVD knowledge for valid designation of health involvement plans. There is a need for further research on the relationship between self-efficacy, risk perception, behavior change and knowledge. Nursing education entails increasing individual knowledge on CV risk elements to create self-efficacy and risk awareness. Nurses can do much in the regulation and prevention of CVD by counseling on health behavior and delivering accurate information on CV risk factors prevention to patients (Newman et al., 2017). Nurses thus need relevant training to support precarious conducts and health campaigns. There is a requirement for considerable nursing practice in CVD control and prevention.