Community health is a very important aspect of nursing. For my Advocacy project I focused on bringing awareness to the community of Canarsie in Brooklyn about health and wellness.  Only one life is granted to us and we need to be aware of the things that we put into our bodies, and how to take care of ourselves so that we do not fall into bad habits that lead to diseases.  I went to a church called Mount Pisgah SDA when it was health and Temperance week. The day was will filled with information on how to keep healthy spiritually, mentally, and physically. My focus was nutrition. Afterwards, blood pressures were done, as well as glucose screenings Height and weight.

To contribute to this day I was given the opportunity to present to the people at church on healthy eating. A lot of the resident in Brooklyn and Canarsie come from the Caribbean. The Caribbean diet is filled with sugar and carbohydrates which turns into glucose when broken down. As a result we have a lot of people in the community and in the church, who is suffering from food borne illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. As a society we can’t continue to engage in health-destroying eating habits that are detrimental to our health.  These illnesses can be prevented if taught what the better food choices are, and how to engage in portion control.

To make sure that they at least walked away understand diabetes and how it works, I presented a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation explained what the disease was and way to prevent it. It also gave them the different food options that they can substitute to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. I also gave an estimate of how much carbohydrates they are suppose to take in daily and the food that are equivalent. In terms of hypertension, I taught them about them about the different substitutes that they can use instead of salt, for example citrus fruits.  Not forgetting exercise, and water intake. I told them that working out can help decrease sugar levels because the muscles will then use up the glucose in the blood.

This activity was very effective in that individuals asked questions and was truly interested in what I had to say. Not only that I handed out pamphlets that I ordered from the department of health and recipes, and they were also very happy to take them. Another thing that leads me to believe that this presentation was very effective is that they asked me when I will be doing a presentation like this again. It felt to know that they were so interested in learning. I believe that a lot of them do not have access to the information. Some of them haven’t had much schooling, so it was a fulfilling feeling that I got in knowing that I was able to provide them with this information.