St. Louis Community Health Issues

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I live just south of the city of St. Louis, Missouri but I work in the City of St. Louis. There are many health promotion societal issues in this area and in the surrounding areas where I currently reside. The first societal issue that came to mind is the number of uneducated residents and the high incidence of STD’s we have in the St. Louis area. I am a firm believer of the positive impacts increased education can have on health outcomes. I agree with an article provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that states “more education is associated with better lifetime health . . . Improving school completion rates could improve population health, especially among the most disadvantaged, and reduce disparities in health” (Freudenberg,…show more content…
Louis area related to insufficient funding available, the access to health care and STD testing has become limited in the area. An example of this is provided by an article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch stating, “STD rates would be lower if the state hadn’t dismantled in the early 2000s its family planning program that provided a few million dollars a year to provide cancer screenings, contraception and STD testing and treatment to 30,000 low-income women”(Bernhard, 2014). Healthcare providers providing education to patients on the prevalence of STD’s in the area, symptoms to monitor for, and encouraging patients to get tested for STD’s on a yearly basis and or/ more often if showing symptoms of an STD is crucial in the St. Louis area. Offering STD testing in health clinics, urgent cares, and at well-visit check-ups is an excellent way to promote health by early detection and treatment of STD’s. Another suggestion is healthcare providers providing expedited couple therapy. This method has shown to assist with the early detection and treatment of STD’s, “Since 2011, health providers in Missouri can dispense multiple dosages of antibiotics for the sexual partners of people who test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea. Because health experts estimate that fewer than half of people who contract chlamydia and gonorrhea are diagnosed and treated, identifying sexual partners is essential to prevent the…show more content…
(2014, January 8). St. Louis again ranks high for two sexually transmitted diseases. Retrieved from http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/health-matters/st-louis-again-ranks-high-for-two-sexually-transmitted-diseases/article_26fa28ba-f419-5cfc-b3d2-3187a083d9f2.html Freudenberg, N. (2007, July ). From Lifestyle to Social Determinants: New Directions for Community Health Promotion Research and Practice. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/jul/06_0194.htm Jackson, H. (2014, December 17). St. Louis city ranks first in chlamydia infection rate nationwide. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved from http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-city-ranks-first-in-chlamydia-infection-rate-nationwide/article_bca5c137-1a31-50f1-ae47-487e29f83b52.html Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2015, September 27). District Annual Dropout Rate. Retrieved from http://mcds.dese.mo.gov/guidedinquiry/District and Building Graduation and Dropout Indic/District Annual Dropout

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