Nearly 10 years ago, with a goal of providing citizens physical activity opportunities, a city had invested several million dollars in building a recreational complex complete with tennis an

This discussion is addressing Area I: Assessment of Needs and Capacity.

Read the following scenarios.

Scenario I

Nearly 10 years ago, with a goal of providing citizens physical activity opportunities, a city had invested several million dollars in building a recreational complex complete with tennis and basketball courts; soccer, baseball, and football fields; a golf course; playgrounds; several miles of walking/running trails; and a water park/swimming pool. Recently, a group of concerned citizens addressed the city commission, stating that a subpopulation within the city was not accessing the facilities due to lack of safe sidewalks and/or crosswalks and lack of public transportation to and from the facilities. The city recently experienced a severe economic crisis that included a multimillion-dollar loss in the city’s investments and increased unemployment due to the closing of a factory that employed nearly 1,000 people. While the city officials are sensitive to the disparities in access to the facilities, they are not in favor of taking any immediate action.

Scenario II

A small, rural county has a teen pregnancy rate that is 10 percent higher than the state rate and nearly 15 percent higher than the national rate. A teen pregnancy prevention coalition has been in place for several years but struggles to gain access to the target population and to persons/institutions of influence to teens. As a result, it hired an external contractor to conduct key informant interviews and focus groups. Social stigma of teen pregnancy (parents and teens being ashamed), belief in an abstinence-only approach as the best method, denial among key stakeholders that teen pregnancy should be addressed, and lack of political will to provide resources for teen pregnancy prevention were cited as reasons for lack of participation in teen pregnancy prevention initiatives.

Select one scenario: (1) List the factors that might impede an individual’s willingness to participate in a program. (2) List the factors that might impede the ability to internalize health information, and/or the ability to participate in a prevention program.

Label each of the factors that you have identified as social, environmental, and/or political. In addition, the student should provide a response to the following questions:

Are the factors identified in the scenario within the control of the health educator? Justify your response.

Given these conditions, describe the impact and/or challenges that each of these presents for the health educator.