Scenario: Health Challenges Across the Afghan Lifespan

Abrisham, a fourteen-year-old pregnant teen, has fled from her hometown in Farah province to a tent city 300 kilometers away due to intensified fighting. She has traveled with her two siblings, three- and nine-year-old boys, along with her forty-year-old mother, Farida, and sixty-year-old father, Yasif. The local health service provider located 100 kilometers from their hometown had reduced their services, leaving Abrisham and her family with no access to healthcare since their move. The situation has worsened with no health providers in the tent city vicinity.

Her parents are very concerned about Abrisham’s lack of maternal care, which will affect her newborn. Farida fears her boys and grandchild will suffer from malnutrition and lack of immunizations. Farida herself suffers from severe depression due to her recent pregnancy and preterm loss in the last year. Yasif, who suffers from worsening vision loss and early-onset dementia, has limited resources and worries he can’t provide for his family.

Additionally, read the Review of Policies, Data, and Interventions to Improve Maternal Nutrition in Afghanistan paper to get a comprehensive example of maternal health and its policies and intervention in Afghanistan.

Prompt

Apply your disciplinary perspective to evaluate the major health challenges implied by the case. In other words, defend your professional viewpoint regarding the most important factors that contribute to the health challenge. Then, in your responses, work as a group to refine those initial assessments.

In your initial post, address the following elements. Provide at least three scholarly sources from the last five years to support your claims:

• Evaluate the major health challenges related to reproduction and infants by going through this case. What factors can prevent early pregnancies and reduce poor reproductive outcomes? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence.
• Assess the major health challenges faced by the children in this case. What strategies can be taken to reduce the causes of death and illness for these children? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence.
• Evaluate the major health concerns faced by the older adults in this case. What strategies can be taken to reduce the health concerns for the elderly in this case? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence.