Short Report #1: Fight Over Obesity
Purpose
The purpose of this analysis is to investigate how food and food industries affect human life. Food has significant power over human health and therefore can substantially influence the future generations. To prevent the rate of obesity from growing in the population, people will need to learn how to care for one another by spreading the education about food. The country that is mainly targeted for obesity is America. It is a very powerful country with a lot of influence on the world’s population. If America does not improve its obesity situation, it may spread all over the world costing years of life. On the other hand, if America improves the way the food is presented, the entire world will follow and many countries will address and improve the health issues related to obesity. The number one killers in the United States are the weight related illnesses. If the weight and percentage of people who are obese does not lower, the amount of people affected by fat related diseases will continue to grow and the life span of the population will continue to diminish.
Methodology
The video that is analyzed in this short report is at the following link: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html . The talented British speaker, Jamie Oliver, is the leader of the presentation on the importance of food in our lives. This video contains several different types of representation of the food industry and its influence on our population. In the video, Jamie Oliver uses visuals to illustrate to the importance of the issue. He uses diagrams, pictures, videos and physical representation of how food is affecting people in the United States. To analyze this video, listening skills are the most crucial component. Not only does this video contains great visual aids, but also great speech and representation of the problem. To analyze this video I will carefully listen to the information presented and answer all the given questions in the rubric. I took notes as the video progressed to make sure I don't miss the important information. I carefully looked at the illustrations, charts, videos and diagrams to make sure that the idea of the presentation is well understood. This video requires not only listening skills, but skills related to attention and visual understanding of the material presented.
Discussion
The Problem
The problem stated by Jamie Oliver in the video is targeted towards the food industries and how they are contributing to the reduction of the life expectancy in the current generations. The main concern is that people do not have education about healthy foods and/or proper diets. Many families do not cook proper food and most of the times turn to junk foods. Kids that do not get educated about food by their parents, schools or the community lead to the increase weight in population. As time progresses, more and more schools turn to unhealthy diets presented during lunchtime. Some schools do not offer cutlery, forcing kids turn to such foods as burgers, hotdogs, pizza, fries and other unhealthy products. Education about vegetables is quickly vanishing. In the video, Jamie Oliver clearly states that some children do not know the appearance of simple vegetables that should be a part of their diet in every day life. Food industries are adding sugar and food coloring to the products to make them more attractive to the consumer’s eye and a sweeter taste to attract more kids. Jamie Oliver represented the amount of sugar every kid consumes each year in the elementary school just from milk. The amount is terrifying. If a change is to be made, the problem has to be addresses by the government and the people.
The Proposal
Jamie Oliver presented the problem in the way everyone can understand the importance of proper food. To solve the issue of overweight people, Jamie Oliver is turning to United States to set the example. America is a very influential country and has a lot of power, but it is also the number one country affected by obesity. To make a change in the community and the population, children have to be educated about proper foods and schools have to serve healthy food containing nutritious products. Fresh food has to be cooked daily and cooking education has to be provided to educate the younger population about proper food intake. Fast foods need to set boundaries on the amount of sodium, sucrose and fat they add in their products. Big brands and groceries need food experts in the store to help people shop and educate them about cooking and several types of products. Jamie Oliver is proposing that the more food experts are involved in the everyday routine of our population, the healthier people will be in the United States and this influence will spread to the rest of the world.
Assumptions/Concepts
The proposal presented by Jamie Oliver is very appealing to the eye, but to make such crucial changes many things have to be considered. Every parent wants a good life for their child and a better future. To agree with this proposition many points have to be taken under consideration. To change the food industries, the government would have to step in and push new limits on contents of the food those businesses provide. Fonds for healthier food in schools would need to expand causing tax increase. To force children to take food-educating classes, it would have to be made mandatory in schools. To have food experts at the stores would have additional cost to the companies that may not want to spent additional finances on such service. The main questions that concern the change in the food industry are: where will this additional fond come from? Will people want to have higher taxes for a better cause? Will the government want to deal and make such significant changes? Those questions need to be taking in consideration in order to make such a big change in a large country such as United States.
The Evidence/Reasoning
Jamie Oliver used very strong points on how the families are affected by obesity. He used visual representation of what obese people look like and how their families are affected by their weight and the consequences related to amount of years can a persons life be reduced by. He used fear as his strong point. He pushed people to be scared of dying, and of their children or close ones dying earlier than they should. He pushed people to believe if this change does not take place a lot of people will die or be ill because of the food we consume. He also mentioned that the change is being done in many places in United States, but fonds are hard to find. That was a good point he introduced, but it was the weakest of his presentation. Human beings do not want to put in money in something that may not succeed. Jamie Oliver states that there are ways how/where to get that money for the better future, if people are willing to look for them.
Conclusion
Even though Jamie Oliver’s presentation is moving towards a better future, he did not answer/explain how it can be done. He stated the problem and how people are affected by it, but did not give a solution to the difficulty. He did not answer the most important question: what can we do to make this happen?
If the proposal would get adopted many changes will have to take place. Laws would have to be changed, education standards would need to be modified, fonds would need to be found and food industries would have to make modifications to their products. Those modifications may take many years to start a change in a single community. This proposal is unlikely to happen because of fonds that need to be contributed. Taxes are already high enough and people are unlikely to be happy about another percentage increase for such cause.
If the proposal does not take place our lives will continue the way they were. Yes, more people will be affected by the obesity, but it is their personal choice to be obese. If a person wants be in shape, they will be in shape. We have Internet resources that have all the information needed on cooking, healthy diets, organic foods, exercise and so on. Being overweight is a psychological problem of not being able to give up fatty foods and unhealthy ways of living. If a parent wants to have a healthy child, they can always pack their lunch for school and cook at home using good products from organic food stores and variety of vegetables and fruits. Obesity can be controlled by personal choice and the resources that are already given to us.
In conclusion, the speech by Jamie Oliver had a strong point on how much obesity can lower the life span of our close ones, but those simple changes can be done within a person by choosing the right path. It was a very moving presentation, but to make a change to society this may not be enough. He had great presenting skills with a lot of visuals, but not enough information on how to make the change happen in the targeted population.
Short Report #2: Product Evaluation
Purpose
In this scenario my work place is in the hospital. The purpose of the analysis is to apply critical thinking skills taught in class, as well as reporting and researching skills. In this analysis, Epocrates Delux and Patient Keeperare evaluated and compared to one another. In this report a theoretical scenario is taking place. In this scenario, a supervisor asked to complete a report on two products for hand held devices. Critical skills are used to evaluate the selection of applications for hand held devices. Research and reporting skills are present throughout the report by applying the information previously found for given scenario. The information found on the worldwide is closely evaluated and identified as a reliable source. Both offered products are closely reviewed. Strengths and weaknesses are stated for each application. Even thought there are two products researched and evaluated, only one product is recommended for the audience in the end of the report.
Methodology
It is important to identify what sources of information could be considered as consistent. The quantity of information that can be found on the Internet is enormous. Being able to recognize a proper source is significant in writing. Most of the sources I found were searched on Google Scholar. This way, only scholarly resource comes up in the search engine. You can find books, articles, journals and other reliable sources of information. To make sure the chosen resource is trustworthy you must check for the following: author of the literature, short summary, date of release, and name of the book or article. Once needed information is found, it needs to be read through and reviewed. In the articles I have found the two applications to use for this report. This time the websites of companies of the chosen products were used as resources. Those websites contain information on who is ahead of the company, products offered and their information, contact information, news, terms and conditions, private policy and client login. Appropriate search is extremely important in conducting a good report with appropriate information for the audience.
Discussion
Application One
The first application that I found to be a very good tool in helping medical staff is Epocrates Delux for smartphones. It can quickly access prescription drug and its safety information for more than 3,500 brand and generic names. The search can be done by the drug name or drug class. This application includes up-to-date detailed formulary information for national and regional healthcare insurance formularies. The app also includes drug pricing, pictures of the medication, safety information, manufacturing information, pharmacology information and has room for personal notes. This software also outlines drug interactions that are organized by category. Not only drug information is included, but also in depth information on diseases is presented as well. The information is frequently updated and carries all the needed information for a doctor, nurse or any health related professional. In addition, this product carries a medical billing code, a medical dictionary, infectious diseases, diagnostic, lab test, alternative medicine, pill ID, medical calculator and reference tables. Updates are free with a purchased license. The database is kept up-to-date and has the most current information.
The current application is a very strong tool for medical professions, but it also carries some flaws. There are two types of licenses that could be purchased. The cost for the one-year license is 199 dollars and cost for the two-year license is 299 dollars. The application works only on specific types of smart phones such as: iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile. To use this application, a wireless connection is required. Content is set to an automatic update every five days, upon launch of the application. Without wireless this application has no use and cannot be used (“Everything You Need to Care for Your Patients and Your Practice: Epocrates Essentials Deluxe,” n.d.). This product can benefit the entire hospital staff due to a large variety of information it carries. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital managers, medical interns, medical students, and pharmacy technicians can use this application to help them with their work. This application is carried by a small portable device and is easy to use in any conditions (M. Al-Ubaydli, 2008).
The current application is a very strong tool for medical professions, but it also carries some flaws. There are two types of licenses that could be purchased. The cost for the one-year license is 199 dollars and cost for the two-year license is 299 dollars. The application works only on specific types of smart phones such as: iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile. To use this application, a wireless connection is required. Content is set to an automatic update every five days, upon launch of the application. Without wireless this application has no use and cannot be used (“Everything You Need to Care for Your Patients and Your Practice: Epocrates Essentials Deluxe,” n.d.). This product can benefit the entire hospital staff due to a large variety of information it carries. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital managers, medical interns, medical students, and pharmacy technicians can use this application to help them with their work. This application is carried by a small portable device and is easy to use in any conditions (M. Al-Ubaydli, 2008).
Application Two
The second application that could have a great use in medical industries is PatientKeeper Mobile Clinical Result. This application provides physicians with information on patient clinical data. This application supports BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad (N. Lewis, 2010). Physicians need an easier way to access and work with patient information. This application is designed to make work flow faster, reduces the amount of paper used, and help practice better medicine. PatientKeeper is expert in connecting healthcare information systems across the hospital to create a single software work environment. PatientKeeper has four key areas:
- clinical,
- financial,
- documentation
- and Health Information Exchange.
In this application a physician can find his patients, allows entering or ordering lab test and other services, electronic prescriptions, record charges, medical history of the patient and view of clinical results. PatientKeeper is a free application that designed strictly to be used by physicians (“PatientKeeper Physician Information Technology: Connectivity Physician Workflow Meaningful Use,” n.d.). According to the company, the software can be configured to the workflow of each physician. Screens can be changed to fit the requirements of each physician. Lab results could be displayed in multiple formats such as: lists, graphs, tables, or fishbone (N. Lewis, 2010). Disadvantages of this software include: limited amount of technology carriers, need of wireless connection and targeted use towards physicians. This application can be useful in any medical field where physicians are present. It provides easy access to the patient’s medical information.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In the conducted research, information on what companies and/or drug brands are still missing in Epocrates. If more time and resources were given, more in depth research could have been done on how much information is missing in this application and how accurate the pricing information is.
In PatientKeeper the resources did not state how secure the software is and how it is protected from being hacked. If more time was given to expand on research for this product, the research on what kind of protection systems are used for this application could have been done.
Out of the two given application I would recommend my hospital to purchase Epocrates Delux. This application combined many formularies and needed references for the hospital setting. By using this application, hospitals can save money on buying expensive reference literature every year. This software is portable, easy to use and it is updated frequently and not just once or twice a year. Also, this application can be used by a variety of health professionals and not just physicians.
References
Thomas, G., & Botha, R. A. (2007). Secure Mobile Device Use in Healthcare Guidance from HIPAA and ISO17799. Information Systems Management, 24(4), 333-342. doi:10.1080/10580530701586060
Lewis, N. (2010, October 29). pdaMD.com Content. pdaMD.com: Medical and Nursing software, PDA and Smartphone resource for today's mobile healthcare professional.. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.pdamd.com/content?id=249
Linhoff, M. (n.d.). Mobile computing in medical and healthcare industry. Mobile computing in medical and healthcare industry. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from subs.emis.de/LNI/Proceedings/Proceedings15/GI-Proceedings.15-22.pdf
Luanrattana, R., Win, K. T., & Fulcher, J. (2010). Adoption of mobile technology in a problem-based learning approach to medical education. International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 4(3), 294-316.
Al-Ubaydli, M. (2008, March 31). iHealthBeat. Smartphone Computing Moving Into Docs' Office. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.epocrates.com/gomobile/articles/iHealthBeat.pdf
Everything you need to care for your patients and your practice: Epocrates Essentials Deluxe. (n.d.). PDA Medical Software. Medical & drug software for iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Palm & Windows PDAs. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.epocrates.com/products/iphone/deluxe.html
PKblog. (n.d.). PatientKeeper Physician Information Technology: Connectivity Physician Workflow Meaningful Use. PatientKeeper Physician Information Technology: Connectivity Physician Workflow Meaningful Use. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.patientkeeper.com/
