Module 3: Identify Specific Audience for Community Educational Project
Community Education Project Audience Identification
The selection of an appropriate target audience for the community education project is the first step in ensuring the educational content is well-structured, thereby promoting the project’s success. It also helps in identifying the instructional methods that the educator will use to deliver their content, ensuring the selected methods meet the audience’s learning needs to promote understanding (Bamdas et al., 2022). For my community educational project, my selected audience is the geriatric population, elderly individuals aged 65 years and above. The audience comprises one of the health populations that is considerably vulnerable due to health needs associated with ageing, including chronic illnesses, psychological changes, and psychosocial factors. This discussion explores the processes and criteria I will use to select my target audience and my personal and professional connection to my target audience.
The geriatric population was selected through a structured process that involved a community health needs assessment, an analysis of current healthcare trends, and a review of patient education gaps. According to Rayan-Gharra et al. (2022), community health needs assessments help identify populations that require additional interventions, allowing for the planning of targeted interventions accordingly. Similarly, the community health needs assessment was necessary to help determine the most appropriate audience for my community education project. My assessment revealed the increasing health needs that require attention among the geriatric population. For instance, despite the high prevalence of chronic illnesses in the population, most older adults lack knowledge on managing their health effectively, leading to poor outcomes.
Additionally, I analyzed current healthcare trends, which indicate an increase in the number of people in the geriatric population. The increase can be linked to improvements in healthcare and overall life expectancy. However, a large percentage of this population is living with chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Most of these conditions require ongoing self-management. Therefore, educating them on self-management practices to promote their health outcomes and wellbeing is a good opportunity for the community educational project, which will have a positive impact on individuals in the population.
Furthermore, the criteria used in the selection process included the opportunity for educational impact and alignment with project goals. Individuals in the geriatric population often encounter health literacy barriers, functional limitations, and fragmented care, all of which can be improved through structured community educational initiatives (Kennedy et al., 2021). Among the project goals are to empower the audience with skills and information to enhance self-management, prevent complications, and improve the quality of life. Since older adults are at risk of preventable complications such as falls and poor nutrition, which can be mitigated through educational support, the target audience meets the criterion.
I have both a personal and professional connection to the geriatric audience. Having worked with the elderly and caring for an aging family member, I have witnessed the health, social, and physical challenges that accompany aging. Therefore, I have a deep sense of responsibility for older adults. Professionally, I have interacted with elderly patients on various occasions, during which I have appreciated the role of patient education in improving their health outcomes. Therefore, my professional experiences with the population have shaped my understanding of their needs and fueled my dedication to serving them through educational initiatives. Delivering the educational project will help foster empowerment, self-efficacy and improved outcomes among older adults in the community.
References
Bamdas, J. A. M., Averkiou, P., & Jacomino, M. (2022). Service-learning programs and projects for medical students engaged with the community. Cureus, 14(6), e26279. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.26279
Kennedy, M. A., Hatchell, K. E., DiMilia, P. R., Kelly, S. M., Blunt, H. B., Bagley, P. J., LaMantia, M. A., Reynolds, C. F., 3rd, Crow, R. S., Maden, T. N., Kelly, S. L., Kihwele, J. M., & Batsis, J. A. (2021). Community health worker interventions for older adults with complex health needs: A systematic review. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(6), 1670–1682. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.17078
Rayan-Gharra, N., Ofir-Gutler, M., & Spitzer, S. (2022). Shaping health: Conducting a community health needs assessment in culturally diverse peripheral population groups. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21(1), 131. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01735-z
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Discussion Question:
What are the processes and criteria you will use to select your target audience? What is your personal and/or professional connection to your target audience?
