Health concerns for teenage pregnancy
NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 1 Health Promotion Plan CG
Health promotion is vital in influencing people to be in control of their health and preventing factors that might negatively impact the well-being of individuals. Health promotion can be defined as adopting the practices and behaviors that enable one to have a healthy living. Thus, it is the adoption of a lifestyle that enables one to be in control of all the factors that affect the well-being of an individual. On the matter of teenage pregnancy, it is m imperative to educate the adolescents about the health impacts of teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy exposes adolescents to health risks such as mental health illnesses, abortion, and pregnancy complications (Cook & Cameron, 2017). Teenage pregnancy can occur either intentionally or unintentionally. The environment and lack of awareness are some of the factors that immensely contribute to the increase in teenage pregnancy. The environmental factors can be culture or a teenager living in an environment that encourages teenage pregnancy. Lack of awareness refers to a lack of information to the teenagers on the health risks of teenage pregnancy. Therefore, due to the health risks such as abortion, suicide due to stigma from the community, and other health complications caused by teenage pregnancy, it is imperative to create awareness about adolescent pregnancy.
NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 1 Health Promotion Plan CG
Underlying assumptions and points of uncertainty in the analysis
The underlying assumptions in the causes of teenage pregnancy can be categorized into individual and environmental factors as the causes of unprotected sex among the teenage population, resulting in unintended pregnancy (Fisher et al., 2020). The individual factors include thoughts of being a parent by the teenagers, drugs and substance abuse, and misconceptions about using protection. Drugs and substance abuse is considered an individual factor because it is a decision by a teenager to abuse drugs that influences have a view about unprotected sex the teenage pregnancy. In some instances, having unprotected sex under the influence of drugs and substances distorts the reason reasoning of the teenagers, making them vulnerable to unprotected sex hence teenage pregnancy (Fisher et al., 2020). Drugs and substance abuse can also be an environmental factor, especially when it is due to peer pressure influence. The thoughts of becoming a parent to teenagers arise from the misconceptions about being a parent and the obsession of the teenagers. The result of this is teenage pregnancy due to a lack of awareness about teenage pregnancy and its impacts on an individual. The misconceptions that protected sex has negative health effects on an individual also is another individual factor that contributes to unprotected sex among teenagers.
Lack of sex education as an environmental factor contributing to teenage pregnancy refers to the naivety of the teenagers and lack of knowledge about sexual practices and their impacts on individuals (Garney et al., 2019). For instance, a significant number of adolescents become pregnant because of a lack of awareness about teenage pregnancy and its health impacts on an individual. Poor parenting as an environmental factor refers to a lack of parental guidance in issues and experiences that affect teenage lives. For instance, teenagers growing up in an environment where the parents are always absent leads to a lack of guidance resulting in making wrong decisions such as having unprotected sex or getting pregnant as a teenager (Kaphagawani & Kalipen, 2017). Peer influence, especially where there is a lack of parental guidance and sex education, is another factor contributing to the rise in the cases of teenage pregnancy. In this context, peer influence refers to behaviors and practices that fellow teenager engage in, which influences the reasoning of teenagers to engage in behaviors that result in teenage pregnancy. Some of these behaviors are drugs and substance abuse, making teenagers exposed and vulnerable to unintended pregnancy. Most teenage pregnancies being unintended is also another underlying assumption.
Why a health concern is essential for health promotion within a specific population
Health concern on teenage pregnancy is imperative to the current and even next generation because of its impacts on the health and well-being of this population. Therefore, creating awareness about teenage pregnancy and its health impacts on teenagers will reduce the cases of teenage pregnancy and its impacts such as suicide, pregnancy complications, and abortion-related risks (Kaphagawani & Kalipen, 2017). Creating teenage pregnancy awareness will not only prevent abortion-related risks, teenage pregnancy complications, and suicide but also prevent sexually transmitted diseases. A significant number of teenage deaths reported result from pregnancy complications and suicide. Suicide committed by pregnant teenagers is due to society’s stigmatization of teenage pregnancy. Therefore, creating a teenage pregnancy awareness will provide teenagers with sex education and the negative impacts of teenage pregnancy, leading to a reduction in the cases of teenage pregnancy.
NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 1 Health Promotion Plan CG
The current population health data
Teenage has a great impact on the social and economic status of society. In the US, between the years 1991 to date, teenage pregnancy has reduced from 60% to 22%. The main cause of this significant reduction in the cases of teenage pregnancy is the government’s efforts through creating awareness about teenage pregnancy and impact health, social and economic impacts (Garney et al., 2019). However, despite the government’s efforts, the United States still remains one of the countries with the highest number of cases of teenage pregnancy. In 2010, CDC declared teenage pregnancy a must-win battle in the US and globally due to its social, economic, and health impacts on the teenage population. After that, CDC came up with a program that incorporated an evidence-based approach to preventing teenage pregnancy in the US. Such intervention would be implemented through partnership and collaboration between CDC and the relevant public health organizations.
The factors that contribute to health, health disparities, and access to services
One of the main factors that contribute to the rise in the cases of teenage pregnancy, access to care, and health disparity is drugs and substance abuse. Drugs and substance abuse result in reckless behaviors demonstrated by teenagers, which makes them vulnerable to unintended pregnancies. (Garney et al., 2019) Some of the reckless behaviors portrayed by the teenagers after abusing drugs are engaging in unprotected sex and the young girls being taken advantage of by peers who abuse drugs. Lack of sex education also contributes to the cases of teenage pregnancy due to naivety and lack of knowledge about teenage pregnancy by the adolescent population. For instance, with the knowledge of sex education, teenagers are aware of the use of protection during sex and contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
The importance of establishing agreed-upon health goals in collaboration with hypothetical participants
Based on the identified causes of teenage pregnancy and its social, health, and economic impacts, there is a need to set health goals to reduce the rising cases of teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy impacts ado scents socially through society’s stigma they are subjected to. Economically, it limits teenagers from achieving their goals which cripples them financially (McFarlane et al., 2019). Teen pregnancies also have health impacts on the teenagers, such as pregnancy complications, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental illnesses. Therefore, the first goal should be to improve sex education among teenagers. The second goal is to make contraceptives accessible to teenagers. Sex education conducted through school curriculums will create awareness about the negative impacts of teenage pregnancy. Making contraceptives through healthcare facilities and educational institutions will also reduce the causes of teenage pregnancy.
References
Cook, S. M., & Cameron, S. T. (2017). Social issues of teenage pregnancy. Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Medicine, 27(11), 327-332.
Fisher, C. M., Kerr, L., Ezer, P., Kneip Pelster, A. D., Coleman, J. D., & Tibbits, M. (2020). Adolescent perspectives on addressing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted
infections in the classroom and beyond. Sex Education, 20(1), 90-100.
NURS FPX 4060 Assessment 1 Health Promotion Plan CG
Garney, W. R., Wilson, K., Nelon, J. L., Hays, C., Garcia, K. M., Muraleetharan, D., … & McLeroy, K. (2019). Understanding innovation in health program planning and
development. Evaluation and Program Planning, 73, 226-231.
Kaphagawani, N. C., & Kalipeni, E. (2017). Sociocultural factors contributing to teenage pregnancy in Zomba district, Malawi. Global public health, 12(6), 694-710.
McFarlane, S. J., Kim, S., Kirch Schneider, K., & Dubey, S. (2019). Cultural factors influencing teenage pregnancy in Jamaica. Culture, health & sexuality, 21(8), 929-945.
