Learn how nurse advocates can improve the transmission and delivery of culturally specific educational resources for California's minoritized populations and combat chronic illnesses with ANA\California Member and media-trained nurse, Karina Miranda, MSN, RN.
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Jared Fesler 0:17
Welcome to the Amplified RN News Show where we're turning up the volume on nursing news in California. Today we're going to be diving into the topic of navigating health inequities. And we're going to be taking a closer look at healthcare education disparities and California's minoritized communities. We're joined by ANA\California member and media-trained nurse Karina Miranda. Karina, thank you so much for being here. Could you tell us a little bit why you're an expert on this topic?
Karina Miranda 0:43
Jared thank you so much for having me here today. I'm Karina Miranda. I am a public health nurse advocate. I am a nurse administrator for the last six years, and I have been a registered nurse for the last 19 years. I'm also the CEO and founder of New Horizons Nursing Care.
Jared Fesler 1:04
Wonderful. Thanks for being here. So can you tell us a little bit about this problem? We're talking about disparities here today, what exactly is the issue and who is being affected?
Karina Miranda 1:16
The issue is that we're having inequality in the healthcare delivery and transmission of education to all the minoritized communities in California.
Jared Fesler 1:30
And so if there's a lack of information is what you're saying, right? Being able to access that information in these communities. Why is that? Can you define that problem a little bit more for us?
Karina Miranda 1:47
It's because a lot of these communities, they lack the resources, education and funding that they need in order to thrive in their communities, and to help them with their chronic health illnesses. And a lot of times, they don't have the resources that they need, like, the right foods that they have to eat, or the right screening that they need, or they lack healthcare.
Jared Fesler 2:22
And so I would imagine that healthcare professionals at some level are giving information emailing or handing out brochures or something like that. Why isn't that working?
Karina Miranda 2:36
Because, for example, when a patient is diagnosed with a chronic illness, such as diabetes, for example, the way that it works is that they get diagnose, they get prescribe medication, and then they get referred to a nutritionist, who then goes over the list of medicate the list of foods that they can eat, or they could not eat. But what happens is that when these patients go home, sometimes they don't have the appropriate foods to eat, because they don't have the money. Or, and other times, they don't know how to do grocery shopping, and or they don't know how to cook the foods, like they'd go home with a less that they don't know what to do with. And that is simply not working.
Jared Fesler 3:27
So essentially, there's a gap in the information that is truly needed. And in terms of they may get some information but then need the follow up advice and education in order to properly implement those. And are you seeing that this is now negatively affecting those chronic illnesses within these communities?
Karina Miranda 3:51
Yes, it is. Because if they're diagnosed with a chronic illness, then in order for us to improve their A1C levels, for example, if they're diabetics, then we need to make sure that they not only take their medication but also that they eat their appropriate foods that are low in carbohydrates, and that that is going to help them lower their a one C. About 90% of the population nationally are diagnosed with at least one chronic illness. 30% of the population in California have at least one chronic illness and 10.5% are diagnosed with diabetes. And among
Jared Fesler 4:46
Those numbers seem high.
Karina Miranda 4:49
Yes, yes, it is very high.
Jared Fesler 4:52
And you know right before we jumped on this call we had been talking about farmers' markets, but in many of these communities, I would have to imagine and correct me if I'm wrong, Karina that farmers markets, or at least the access to specific types of produce and healthy foods may not be more readily available. Is that correct?
Karina Miranda 5:15
That is correct. And the other day, as I was telling you, I was at the farmers market, and I noticed that they accept EBT. And it made me think, why don't we? Why don't we work with farmers' markets, to bring it into those lower socio-economic communities, and work with those farmers markets so that our communities have access to healthy foods, or maybe even create other systems that can help them have access to more quality foods that they need in order to improve their health.
Jared Fesler 5:54
Now, this is a great train of thought here. Let's talk more about the solutions. You know, that's something that the public could be able to tap into. What about the health care professionals and our policymakers? What role do they play in this solution?
Karina Miranda 6:11
They play a big role, because through their policies and their funding, we're able to create programs that our communities need. I think that at the system level, we need to, we need to conduct environmental scans to see what our communities already have, what they don't have, and assess what they have in order for us to work with those community-based organizations and bring it to our patients. Because or medical professionals, what they're doing really good right now is that they're conducting assessments for social determinants of health. But there's a gap in connecting those resources that they are accessible to our communities and bring it to them. So we mass meet or patients where they are in order for us to improve their health.
Jared Fesler 7:12
So what would you say is the first step for the community first step for healthcare professionals, and for policymakers to really get the solutions put forward and create these partnerships?
Karina Miranda 7:26
I think for number one, it will be to conduct an environmental scan to see what we have, what we don't have and what is needed. But most importantly, is to listen, actively listen to our patients to see what their needs are, do they need housing? Do they need food? Do they need access to care? Do they need transportation, those are the social determinants of health that will help them improve their health and their quality of life, and that will help them thrive. If we are able to ask the community to help them to bring those resources to them, we will be able to eliminate inequalities and improve their health.
Jared Fesler 8:16
Well, Karina, this is a fascinating topic and clearly a few things can be done to help address this issue. Really appreciate your time and coming on to the Amplified RN News Show and talking about the health inequities in access to education for these minoritized California communities. Thank you again, and for those tuning in to the amplified our new show. We'll see you in the next episode.
Karina Miranda 8:38
Thank you.
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