Community Needs and Health Screening Initiative

Health Model

Health brief model is the most employed model in health promotion as well as health education. The theory was developed in 1950 with the aim of explaining the main reason for offering medical screening services that were being offered by U.S Public Health Service (Piot & Quinn, 2013). The screening services offered was mainly tuberculosis among others. The underlying concept of this model is that individual beliefs and perceptions about beliefs as well as ways to decrease the occurrence determine health behaviors (Koh et al., 2013). For people to adopt the recommended benefit for HIV screening, the perceived disease threats, as well as the benefit of the actions, must outweigh their perceived barriers to a given action. It means therefore that the model can be employed to influence the specific group of the population to undertake the screening (McCabe at al., 2014). In the United States, LGBT rights are now recognised and accepted in some states. The model will guide gay and bisexual men to understand the benefit of undertaking the HIV screening with the aim of combating the prevalence of infection. The reason why the rate of HIV infection among the black men who are gay and bisexual is high is that the uninfected individuals are likely to engage in unprotected sex with an infected individual

The Importance of Screening for Condition

The reasons for increased HIV infection among bisexual and gay men in the United States. In the United States, the most affected population is gay men and bisexual men. The rate of HIC transmission among Men having sex with other men (MSM) is higher compared to men having sex with women. There are social factors, biological and behavioral reasons that point out why the rate of HIV transmission is very high among the bisexual and gay .0men.  One of the reasons that provide evidence as to why the rate of HIV transmission is higher in gay and men who are bisexual is that the average transmission rate caused by anal sex is usually eighteen times higher that virginal intercourse. The risk associated with anal sex, which is unprotected, is apparently 1.4 per cent (Seth, Wang, Sizemore, & Hogben, 2015). There is a right rated of homosexuality in Miami city. Similarly, the rate of HIV transmission among the gay black and bisexual men is high.

The Targeted Population, Demographics and Statistics

Human Immune Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the immune system of infected individuals. The Virus causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS occurs because of opportunistic infections that affect individual infected with HIV. The virus attacks the CD4 cells that play a crucial role in supporting, controlling, and coordinating component of the immune system. In the United States, according to data from CDC, over 1.1 million people are living with the virus. Black American men who are bisexual and gay are the most affected population with HIV/AIDS in the United States (CDC, 2016). Over 82 per cent of the diagnosed population of men with HIV in the United States are bisexual and gay men. The black American who are bisexual and gay are the most affected by the virus as followed by their white counterparts. The number of HIV-infected bisexual and gay men in the United States is approximate 26375. The number of black bisexual and gay men is 10315 followed by 7570, which are white according to surveillance data released by CDC in 2015 (CDC, 2016). Community health nurses have a bigger role to play in promoting positive health practices as well as reducing the risk of new infection among bisexual and gay men with HIV/AIDS in the United States. They can accomplish this through educating the targeted population on the importance of adopting safe sexual practices as well as advocating for HIV testing. Additionally, community health nurses can play a significant role in guiding the infected individual on acceptance and healthy living and abstaining from sexual behavior. The role of nurses in community health centers also includes facilitating the access and uptake of retroviral drugs for affected individual (B, 2014). They also have a duty in promoting and developing community-based programs aimed at combating the spread of HIV and AIDS. The research will be located specifically in Miami; a region where the number of gay men and the rate of HIV transmission are high (Iannelli, 2016).

Screening Activity

Screening Tools

Various methods are applicable to screen for HIV. One of the most commonly used methods employs the use of strip containing immobilized antigen. The strip targets the antibodies that are produced against the virus. The testing takes around 5-10 minutes to obtain the result. In newborn screening, PCR can be employed. It involves the Use of primers that target the HV genetic material in a given sample of blood produced from the patient.

Screening Location

In this case, medical camps will be established in various places within Miami town. Banners and pamphlets will be distributed educating the city residence on the importance of undertaking HIV test. In various recreation facilities, medical experts will visit with the aim of teaching and educate the residence on the importance of undertaking the HIV tests.

The Cost

The entire operation will cost approximately $8,000. Some of the money will be used to pay the medical officers involved in the screening campaign. Importantly, some of the money will be used in organizing and planning for the entire operation.

The Expected Outcome

The aim of the screening campaign is to encourage more black and bisexual individuals to undertake HIV test. Understanding of one HIV status will facilitate the prevention and management. The overall outcome, therefore, includes the reduction of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the gay and bisexual men especially black in Miami.