Health Challenges In Lackawanna County

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania is a valley located in the northeastern part of the United States, most famous for the Pocono Mountains. It is comprised of a diverse population which, faces many of the health challenges, that many other communities are struggling to overcome. Heath challenges in Lackawanna County are not limited only to the adult or elderly generations but also to the young. Adolescence are struggling daily with IPA as evidenced by 23.8% (Sage Stats, 2013) of our community is physically inactive. In addition, to lack of physical activity, adolescence are unaware of their health literacy. There is a need to raise the profile of adolescent health literacy and learning in order to address issues in adolescent and adult health. Adolescent health is of worldwide concern, especially as we learn that health habits and attitudes established in adolescence continue into adulthood (Hellmich, 2014). …show more content…
Estimating their educational readiness to learn and understand content must first be established. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions. More broadly, it is a system to organize and apply health knowledge, attitudes, and practices relevant when managing one's health. Given the low literacy levels among adolescents, it is unclear how well this age group is able to understand, process and evaluate health information, and while prior research has demonstrated that adolescents are interested in understanding health information, (Manganello & Shrone,