Unit VII Project
Instructions
In this project, you will conduct your own research and then create and evaluate a health promotion program that targets one of the following issues:
- tobacco use cessation,
- type 2 diabetes,
- increased physical activity (either childhood, adult, or elderly), or
- early childhood nutrition.
Note: You may not choose an issue you focused on in any earlier assignment in this course. For example, if you chose tobacco abuse as the focus of your Unit II Case Study you may not select that issue again. After reviewing the resources in Unit VII Study Guide and conducting your own research, create and evaluate a health promotion program to address your chosen issue.
Your project must accomplish the following objectives:
- Provide detailed background information on the issue selected. Include the imperative for this issue to be addressed from a community health perspective and clearly state the goal of the program.
- Provide detailed information on how you will use each of the five major steps of programming (program planning) to create a community health intervention program.
- Propose a minimum of three specific and realistic objectives for your health promotion program.
- Demonstrate critical thinking by providing detailed information on how you will use each of the six steps of evaluation to evaluate your program.
- Discuss the performance improvement approaches that are most relevant to your program.
Your project must be at least four pages in length, not counting the title or reference pages. You are required to use at least four sources, one of which may be your eTextbook, to support your project. All sources used must have citations and references in APA Style. APA formatting is otherwise not required.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
The health promotion program is an initiative to provide awareness and education to the community about various public health concerns. It is crucial to create effective programs to target issues such as tobacco use cessation, type 2 diabetes, increased physical activity, and early childhood nutrition. In this project, we will conduct research and create a health promotion program to address one of these issues while following the major steps of programming (program planning) and evaluation.
1. Provide detailed background information on the issue selected. Include the imperative for this issue to be addressed from a community health perspective and clearly state the goal of the program.
For this project, the selected issue is early childhood nutrition. According to the World Health Organization, improper nutrition in early childhood is one of the most significant public health concerns globally. It leads to several health problems, including malnutrition, stunted growth, and obesity. It is essential to address this issue from a community health perspective since this will not only affect the children but the future of the community, looking at a long-term perspective. The goal of our program is to promote healthy eating and lifestyle habits among children between the ages of one and five, ultimately reducing the incidence of malnutrition and obesity among children in our community.
2. Provide detailed information on how you will use each of the five major steps of programming (program planning) to create a community health intervention program.
The five major steps of programming include:
a) Needs Assessment – This step involves collecting information about the issue, its significance, and its prevalence in the community. This will help create awareness about the issue effectively.
b) Planning – This step includes setting objectives, developing strategies and interventions, creating an action plan and timeline, and identifying resources required.
c) Implementation – This step includes executing the plan and implementing the program.
d) Evaluation – This step aims to determine the effectiveness of the program by monitoring and assessing the program’s outcomes.
e) Maintenance and improvement – This step involves ensuring the continuity and sustainability of the program and continuously improving the program by making changes and modifications.
We will use each of these steps to develop a comprehensive early childhood nutrition program.
3. Propose a minimum of three specific and realistic objectives for your health promotion program.
Our proposed objectives include:
a) Increase parental knowledge and awareness about the importance of early childhood nutrition by 50% within six months of the program’s initiation.
b) By the end of the program, increase the proportion of children consuming a healthy and varied diet to 70%.
c) Increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life to 80%.
4. Demonstrate critical thinking by providing detailed information on how you will use each of the six steps of evaluation to evaluate your program.
The six steps of evaluation include:
a) Engage stakeholders – We will engage stakeholders (parents, healthcare providers, educators) to determine their perceptions of the program and areas for improvement.
b) Describe the program – We will describe the program’s design, strategies, and interventions to determine whether they align with the program’s goals and objectives.
c) Focus on results – We will focus on the program’s outcomes and assess them against the objectives set.
d) Conduct a process evaluation – We will conduct a process evaluation to determine how the program was received and implemented.
e) Analyze and interpret data – We will analyze and interpret the data collected through our evaluation process.
f) Share and use results – Finally, we will share our findings with stakeholders and use the results to improve the program continuously.
5. Discuss the performance improvement approaches that are most relevant to your program.
The most relevant performance improvement approach for our program is continuous quality improvement (CQI). CQI emphasizes continuous evaluation and improvement of the program based on ongoing feedback from stakeholders. We will use the data collected through our evaluation process to make changes and modifications to the program as necessary. Additionally, we will use Lean, Six Sigma and other efficiency-oriented techniques to help optimize workflow processes.
