A review of the relationship between poverty, uninsured children, Essay

A review of the relationship between poverty, uninsured children, childhood obesity and the well-being index - Essay Example The current study aims to look at obesity and chronic obesity causing conditions since these are emerging as major reasons for negatively affecting the well being of people. Data for the study has been acquired from Gallup-Healthway’s Well Being Index  ® website from a survey conducted and compiled in 2009. Data was also acquired from the State Health Facts website for targeted states only. The data acquired from Gallup-Healthway was used to demarcate five states that formed the upper most and lowest tiers of obesity prevalence in the United States. The states of West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky exhibit the highest obesity rates while the states of Hawaii and Colorado displayed the lowest obesity rates (Mendes & McGeeney, 2012). The states were chosen in this order also because West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky are on the lowest rung of the WBI while Colorado and Hawaii are near the top of the WBI list. In addition to these statistics, three other variables were also used that include the population in poverty, the amount of uninsured kids and the amount of obese kids. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics were tabulated for the acquired data (shown in Appendix A). Gallup uses defined metrics in order to survey well being which can be listed as the Composite, Life Evaluation Index (LEI), Emotional Health Index (EHI), Work Environment Index (WEI), Physical Health Index (PHI), Healthy Behavior Index (HBI) and Basic Access Index (BAI) (Gallup-Healthways, 2009). The other variables used include the Population in Poverty (POP IN POV), uninsured kids and obese kids (State Health Facts, 2012). Results for the descriptive statistics are presented in the table shown below. Table 1 Descriptive Statistics WBI (Rank) State Health Fact (%) Descriptive Statistics for WBI and State Health Facts for the Nation Overall and the Five States Selected Descriptive Statistic COMPOSITE LEI EHI WEI PHI HBI BAI POP IN POV UNINSURED KIDS OBESE KIDS Mean 65.03 44.73 78.2 48.82 75.33 62.27 80.78 23.5 7.83 34.05 Median 64.95 44.55 78.5 48.9 75.7 62.15 81.1 23.5 8.5 33.55 Range 9.7 15.9 8.5 8.3 9.5 10.1 7.1 12 9 17.2 Standard Deviation 3.51 5.83 2.93 2.67 3.66 3.88 2.89 4.04 3.31 6.36 Standard Error 1.43 2.38 1.2 1.09 1.5 1.58 1.18 1.65 1.35 2.6 The mean and median for the Gallup data remain fairly close to each other for all reported metrics. In contrast, the data acquired from State Health shows some skewness for uninsured kids with the mean being 7.83 while the median is 8.5. The range for most variables being analyzed stays under 10 except for LEI (15.9), population in poverty (12) and obese kids (17.2). these variables could be expected to display larger standard deviations as well since the range of data is greater. In terms of the standard deviation, the highest value is displayed by obese kids (6.36) followed by LEI (5.83) while other variables display standard deviations of around 4. The standard error tabulation reveals similar res ults with LEI exhibiting a standard error of 2.38 and obese kids displaying a standard error of 2.6. In contrast, the standard error for population in poverty is 1.65 while other variables display standard errors of less than 1.6. Based on these results it could be safely assumed that the data acquired displays a near uniform distribution except for LEI and obese kids that tend to exhibit some skewness. Composite and domain scores by state as well as the

Surgical Patient Flow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Surgical Patient Flow - Essay Example In this descriptive and qualitative study, the data was collected through timings taken in the hospital interviews with the staff by following an elective orthopaedic surgical patient, beginning with the decision to operate followed by the timing in which the surgery was carried out. The main findings were the absence of a system in existence as surgical patient flow management to follow-up the complete patient journey and to synchronize the surgical steps as well as co-ordinate the various pieces of patient information needed. There is duplicity in the system while transferring the patient from the clinic to the case manager, and also in the way of determining the surgical day, which can very easily result in a step being omitted. An Official Translator needs to be appointed in the Operation Theatre to avoid incorrect communication to emit and to maintain patient privacy. It was concluded that action needs to be taken to implement the surgical patient flow management, integrate all the system related surgical patient needs, and to educate the patient about the steps that needed to be done. This dissertation has required the time and patience of a number of people whom I needed to interview in order to collect my data, and to each one of you whom I wish to keep unnamed at this point in time. I am grateful for your timely contributions. It is important to note the following individuals who have been involved with this project: Dr. Zaid Al-Zaid, Chairman of the Orthopedic Surgery Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, who spent many hours patiently and good-humouredly explaining surgical patient flow at KFSH&RC. His role as a Surgeon in the clinic is integral to the training of students. His assistance in the area of decision-making as well as linking valuable professional connections is greatly