Chronic Ear Infection in Aboriginal Children

Question: Discuss about theChronic Ear Infection in Aboriginal Children. Answer: Introduction According to the Department of Health, Australia, chronic ear infection is a remarkable issue of health for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (Health.gov.au 2016). It is evident from the research reports that the extent of chronic ear infection for these children is up to 91% in the remote communities (Sparrow et al. 2016). The infection might ultimately result in hearing impairment that will have a profound impact on the behavioral problems, language learning and acquisition and the child's speech. This assignment is about Jay who is an Aboriginal and suffers from chronic ear infection and to support him and his family, an action plan or learning program will be developed. Action Plan Timeline Goal Intervention Rationale Outcome Initial Identification of the needs and goals of Jay Interviewing Jay and his family Closer inspection of Jay and evaluation of his illness Appropriate planning of the learning program 1st week Reduction of smoking habits by mother and grandmother of Jay Counseling by the center staff regarding smoking hazards Deposition of unhealthy particles in the ear like nicotine and related toxins aggravates the ear infection Quitting smoking habit to reduce the exposure of Jay to tobacco smoke and improving his ear infection 2nd week Reduction of the environmental risk factors including overcrowding and poor hygiene Arranging tutorial and practical sessions for Jay and his family to demonstrate the importance of hygiene and risks of overcrowding Parasites and germs rising from poor personal and domestic hygiene with noise pollution due to overcrowding promote the ear infection Improving the personal and domestic hygiene along with a silent environment for healing of the ear infection 3rd week Early identification of the symptoms of chronic ear infection to manage the problem at an early stage of the disease Educating Jay and his family by the center staff to identify the symptoms and its immediate reporting to prevent the growth of the disease Early detection of the re-appearance of the symptoms will prevent the recurring of the infection thereby accelerate the healing process of the disease Early management of the recurrent infections will keep the infection under control with gradual healing and no further development of the disease 4th week Educating Jay about ear health for increasing his awareness of the associated risk factors for the chronic ear infection Development of health promotion resources by the Center staff for Jay with screening activities for ear health Educating Jay will increase his compliance with the treatment procedure and disclosure of symptom abilities for ensuring his improved or continued hearing health Impact of educational intervention will be extended to the family members of Jay as they would also take initiatives for aligning with the treatment procedure for timely medical care The action plan has been developed considering a holistic, coordinated and culturally sensitive approach for Jay for managing his chronic ear infection as it is the responsibility of the enrolled nurse to follow the ethical guidelines prescribed for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. A set of indicators, known as the performance indicators, have to be in place for measuring the impact of the applied interventions as part of the action plan (Jervis-Bardy, Sanchez and Carney 2014). The indicators will determine throughout the period of four weeks the extent to which the impact and incidence to which the chronic ear infection has been treated for Jay and the extent to which the services of ear health is delivered by the community health center in an integrated, sustainable and safer way to Jay. The indicator will also measure the extent to which service planning and future policy are included for managing the ear health of Jay to prevent the recurrence of chronic ear infection (Dagan et al. 2013). The center staff members will have to be competent enough to identify and interpret these performance indicators to determine the implementation viability of the action plan. It is evident that the rate of the chronic ear infection is highest in the world among the aboriginal children (Yiengprugsawan, Hogan and Strazdins 2013). For Jay, the risk associated with the lifestyle should be reduced at the earliest by increasing awareness among the family members of Jay which should be culturally compliant and a preventive approach has to be designed for early identification of the recurrent symptoms. Improving the effectiveness of the services by the center staff will also reduce the impact of the disease on the learning and health outcomes. References Dagan, R., Leibovitz, E., Greenberg, D., Bakaletz, L. and Givon-Lavi, N., 2013. Mixed Pneumococcalnontypeable haemophilus influenzae otitis media is a distinct clinical entity with unique epidemiologic characteristics and pneumococcal serotype distribution.Journal of Infectious Diseases, p.jit289. Health.gov.au. (2016).Department of Health | Welcome to the Department of Health. [online] Available at: https://www.health.gov.au/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016]. Jervis-Bardy, J., Sanchez, L. and Carney, A.S., 2014. Otitis media in Indigenous Australian children: review of epidemiology and risk factors.The Journal of Laryngology Otology,128(S1), pp.S16-S27. Sparrow, K., Sanchez, L., Turner, D., MacFarlane, P. and Carney, A.S., 2016. Do tissue spears used to clear ear canal pus improve hearing? A case series study of hearing in remote Australian Aboriginal children with chronic suppurative otitis media before and after dry mopping with tissue spears.The Journal of Laryngology Otology,130(S1), pp.S11-S15. Yiengprugsawan, V., Hogan, A. and Strazdins, L., 2013. Longitudinal analysis of ear infection and hearing impairment: findings from 6-year prospective cohorts of Australian children.BMC pediatrics,13(1), p.1.