Ventura County Strategic Plan (Essay Sample)

Ventura County Public Health
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Ventura County Public Health
Ventura County Public Health Department serves the County of Ventura in the State of California. Ventura County has an approximate population of one million residents and covers over 1,845 miles, covered by the Los Padres National Forest (Health Matters, 2020). The department has a vision to ensure that Ventura County becomes the healthiest county in the United States of America (VCPH, 2020). Ventura County has a Public Health Strategic Plan for 2015 to 2020, which outlines a set of objectives to improve the county's residents' health through different tactics. Ventura County will be the focus of the Activity Four Assignment. The write up highlights the five key strategies in the five year strategic plan that Ventura County has enacted to promote health and health care delivery to the people.
As a County Public Health Agency, the department focuses on acquiring community driven partnerships and collaboration agreements. Focusing on coordination of different resources and assets helps to achieve the stated objectives of the County (Health Matters, 2020). Currently, healthcare agencies are experiencing the most challenging year as a result of the relative efforts to control and suppress the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. The pandemic challenges the efficiency of the Public Health Department in planning and management (John Hopkins University, 2020). Since the Public Health Strategic Plan for the July 2020 to July 2025 is still not publicly available, this research will focus on the County's Strategic Plan for July 2015 to June 2020.
The Ventura County Public Health Department acknowledges that the environment is a significant determinant of individuals' health status. In this regard, the county commits its resources to enable residents access to the healthiest environment (Health Matters, 2020). The approach helps the department effectively control public health issues that mainly arise from environmental hazards and negligence. While some environmental factors are complex and tied with socio-economic status, Ventura County champions health equity by advocating for new, flexible, and sustainable funding to address social determinants of health (Health Matters, 2020). The drive aligns with the County's strategy of moving public health focus from the individual to the community (VCPH, 2020). To ensure a healthy living environment, Ventura County has focused on reducing incidences of violence against children. In this regard, the County targeted to ensure that at least 90% of the children served by the Child Abuse Protection Program (CAPP) would remain in their homes and outside of the Child Welfare System (Health Matters, 2020). The County also strives to ensure that communities can support active and healthy living environments.
In the Strategic Plan, the County focuses on health equality. There is need to manage preventable and chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, and diabetes which in 2012 contributed to 61.8% of all deaths in Ventura County (Health Matters, 2020). The County acknowledges the impact of socio-economic status in diagnosis and treatment of these diseases and conditions (VCPH, 2020). Lifestyle and behavioral choices are related to these conditions. However socio-economic status plays a huge role in determining access to healthcare and healthcare information which contribute to patient education to enable individuals make healthier choices (WHO, 2020). The County emphasizes measures to reduce healthcare disparities between socio-economic groups. While the Strategic Plan acknowledges the inherent political difficulties in reducing socioeconomic disparities, it proposes policy initiatives to manage disparities in access to healthcare and healthcare information.
The creation and enhancement of healthy and safe environments is key to health promotion. The five-years strategic plan focuses county resources to deliver healthcare information and services closer to the residents, especially those low in the socio-economic strata. The County has also instituted measures for the future, including lowering the delinquency rates in high schools and ensuring that fewer students drop out of school before graduating (Health Matters, 2020). Proper education equips the learners with the tools for a better life and ensures that students can support a healthy living environment, translating into healthier populations. In the Strategic Plan, the County outlines a plan to provide education to 40 licensed daycare providers to reduce the percentage of children with personal belief exemptions (Health Matters, 2020). Ventura County Public Health has invested in public-private partnerships such as local daycares to bring healthcare information closer to the people.
The county appreciates the need to invest in preventive healthcare. As such, health department works with retail marketers to increase the variety of healthy foods offered to promote healthier diets in the community. Such measures enable the County to address health needs and preventive interventions to low income earners. Besides, co-opting daycare providers aids the County to promote healthy environments among the most vulnerable demographics. The manner that the public health system interacts with other facets of social life facilitates the effective implementation of healthcare in all policies. The interaction makes healthcare information and accesses a central pillar to enact all public policies, which enables the County to support a robust, healthy living environment for its citizens.
In Ventura County, there is adequate coordination between the public health system and the healthcare delivery system in general. This coordination is essential to the achievement of the healthy community that the Ventura County aims to achieve. In preventive healthcare, Health Matters (2020) notes that the Ventura County Public Health Department implemented reforms to ensure that vulnerable populations have continued and reliable access to preventive healthcare services. The County aims to improve the use and contributions to evidence-based public health science and practice. The County has also established partnerships with other counties in the Lead Remediation Project to