NURBN1004: Obesity in Dandenong, Victoria - An EBN Research Report

This report presents an evidence-based nursing research project focusing on the high prevalence of obesity in Dandenong, Victoria. It identifies lifestyle factors and social determinants of health, such as lack of health education and cultural diversity, as contributing factors. The reflection section details the student's experience during fieldwork, including interactions with diverse populations and challenges faced. The report emphasizes the importance of culturally safe nursing care and effective communication in addressing health concerns. Recommendations include incorporating health education in schools and implementing culturally sensitive health programs. The student reflects on the need to improve their understanding of cultural influences on health and communication skills for future fieldwork. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and past papers.

Running head: EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1EVIDENCE BASED NURSING RESEARCH
Introduction:
In my field work I was instructed to choose a specific population for research and I have
chosen the population of Dandenong, Victoria. During my field work I have identified obesity as
one of the main health concern in the population. Among half of the adults and children are
overweight and the rate of obesity has increased by five folds in the last ten years. The lifestyle
factors such as unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, alcohol intake and substance abuse have
been identified as the risk factor of obesity in this population. Due to the consequence of obesity
other chronic disease such as cardiovascular risk, diabetes, respiratory disorder and cancer has
been found to be highly prevalent in this population (Marks, Barnett & Allender, 2015). The
people with several disorder such as Down syndrome and other physical disability have been
found to be more vulnerable to obesity due to their lack of body movement and the health issue
has increased there complication to an extent, hence obesity becomes the major health issue in
this population.
Social determinants of health:
According to Braveman & Gottlieb, (2014) it is important to consider the social
determinants of health of a specific population in order to identify the contributing factors of
rising health issue. In this population education and cultural diversity have been identified as the
social determinants of health that has impacted on the increased risk of obesity in this population.
Adequate educational resources and various educational institution is present in the population,
however, health education is not included in the education system. Hence, people lack
knowledge about positive health behavior that has influenced their health behavior and led to
high prevalence of obesity. On the other hand, people from diverse cultural background have
been found in the population, hence they have different perception of health. Therefore, health

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service based on a single perspective may be not effective for all people. Thus, it can be said that
lack of culturally safe health service is another social determinants that contributed to high risk
of obesity. According to the identified social determinants it can be recommended that, health
education needs to be incorporated in the school level education to create awareness about
obesity and its impact on health. Further, culturally safe health practice needs to be introduced
and health program focusing on the diverse culture of the population needs to be implemented to
promote healthy behavior and encourage the people to remain healthy.
Reflection:
Description:
I was instructed to conduct a field work based on a particular space and I have chosen
Dandenong as the population of interest. I have gathered information about the history, culture,
society, health condition and needs of the population in this field work. In this experience I have
learned about the process of social research and the way of interacting with people belongs to
diverse cultural background. I have linked the cultural and social factors of this population to
their health condition and health needs and identified major health issue and the contributing
factors. Such findings has led to the identification of effective interventions to address the health
issue in this population.
Feelings:
Throughout the field work I was excited due to encountering a new experience. Along
with that I was nervous as well, as I had to interact with new people with diverse cultural
background. It was a wonderful experience to access the opportunity to interact with the people
of Dandenong and understand their health concern. I thought I would face difficulties in

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interacting with the people, however, the supportive behavior and my communication skill has
helped me a lot and contributed effectively to the identification of different factors about this
population.
Evaluation:
The positive factor about this assignment was the opportunity to interact with various
people with different cultural background and understand their concern in order to introduce
effective interventions. However, I have faced difficulties to communicate with some people due
to their different English especially in case of the afghan people residing in Dandenong. Such
challenges has helped me to learn the way of interacting people with linguistic diversity. I have
learned about the way of effective research and how to use the findings in the practical work
during clinical practice.
Analysis:
As per the description of Pauly et al., (2015) it is important for a nurse to provide
culturally safe care approach that are acceptable for all. I have gathered knowledge regarding
culturally safe nursing care through academic work and evidence of other researchers. This
experience has provided the opportunity to understand the impact of diverse culture on health
status and importance of using cultural competence skill in order to provide quality care to the
people who belongs different cultural background. On the other hand I have identified that
communicating with people effectively would facilitate the way of understanding their health
concern and allow the health professional to introduce effective nursing care (Kourkouta &
Papathanasiou, 2014).
Conclusion:

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In conclusion I can say that, the experience encountered in this field work has helped to
build in-depth understanding regarding the way of researching health status of a population.
Additionally, I have learned about the importance of cultural safety in nursing care and way of
interacting with people with diverse culture. Further, I would like to improve my knowledge
regarding the health perception of different culture and focus on my communication skill, so that
I could gather more information about a population on other field work in future.
Action plan:
As I mention that I would like to improve my understanding regarding the cultural
influence on health behavior, I would like to research on this topic and gather more information
in order to improve my cultural competence. On the other hand I would like to join
communication workshop to improve my communication skill and interact more effectively with
new people during such field work in future.

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References:
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it's time to consider the
causes of the causes. Public health reports, 129(1_suppl2), 19-31.
Kourkouta, L., & Papathanasiou, I. V. (2014). Communication in nursing practice. Materia
socio-medica, 26(1), 65.
Marks, J., Barnett, L. M., & Allender, S. (2015). Peer Reviewed: Change of School in Early
Adolescence and Adverse Obesity-Related Dietary Behavior: A Longitudinal Cohort
Study, Victoria, Australia, 2013–2014. Preventing chronic disease, 12.
Pauly, B. B., McCall, J., Browne, A. J., Parker, J., & Mollison, A. (2015). Toward cultural
safety. Advances in Nursing Science, 38(2), 121-135.