Week 1 Assignment: Selection of Health Topic for Program
Health topic Covid-19
you will develop a health promotion program as your final project.
Planning an effective program is more difficult than implementing it. This week, please select and submit a health topic along with a targeted population for the program you will be developing in this class. In your submission, please define the components of the “Generalized Model”. The Generalized Model have five basic elements or steps: Pre-Planning is quasi-step in the model, involves actions that occurs before planning begins; Assessing needs=collecting and analyzing data to determine the health needs of a population; setting priorities and selecting a priority population; Setting goals and objectives=what will be accomplished; Developing interventions=how goals and objectives will be achieved (the how); Implementing interventions=putting interventions into action; Evaluating results=improving quality of intervention and determining effectiveness.
Within each component of the “Generalized Model”, please describe how you will address the needs of your targeted population and utilize references to support your proposed strategy.
Sample Paper
Covid 19 Health Promotion Program
The emergence of the covid 19 virus in December 2019 changed the social engagement and interaction rules that society was previously accustomed to. With the emergence of the virus, people had to limit their physical contact with other people, practice strict hand hygiene and wear protective clothing such as masks to protect themselves from contracting the virus. However, even with the world health organization recommending that people observe these guidelines, a significant share of the population has not followed the regulations as required. Specifically, individuals between 30-50 years have been identified as violating the guidelines, as they fail to adhere to the covid-19 regulations. This can be attributed to the fact that this population segment is already accustomed to social practices and therefore finds it hard to alter their normal social behavior. Alternatively, this population is likely to underestimate the severe impact of the virus due to limited awareness and knowledge concerning its implication of the virus. Therefore, the health promotion program will focus on increasing awareness about the virus among individuals between 30-50 years (Cummings et al., 2022). A generalized model will be used to guide the development of the health promotion program.
The generalized model serves as an organizing framework that can be used to guide a health promotion program. The model includes five stages that should be followed systematically to achieve the desired outcomes. The initial step is usually pre-planning; this step is considered a quasi-step since it does not involve the actual planning of the program; rather, it focuses on gathering preliminary information concerning the components that will affect the program’s planning. For example, during this stage, the planner identifies and defines the community/population that will be the target for the health promotion program, assesses if there are enough resources to support/facilitate the intended health program, and the time within which the program will be implemented. In this case, the target population will include adults within 30-50 years. The program should last for about a week to ensure that all information concerning coronavirus transmission and preventive measures that can be put in place are addressed appropriately. To enhance the program’s success, it will be essential to involve influential people in the community/society to attract the target population. Public health officers, religious leaders, and other influential figures in the society will be requested to participate in mobilizing the target population and attend program sessions (Simkhada et al., 2020).
Assessing needs is considered the first step in the generalized program planning model. The step involves collecting the relevant data about the population to guide the program’s priorities. Covid 19 is a respiratory disease that affects all individuals in society. The virus responsible for the disease can be transmitted through inhalation in a contaminated environment and contact with contaminated surfaces. While everybody is at risk of getting infected with the virus, individuals between 30-50 years are at a higher risk of developing the disease. This is because this age group constitutes most of the economically productive segment of the population, and therefore most of them are likely to be actively engaged in economic activities outside their homes; for example, some of them run businesses, including grocery stores and pharmacies, while others are employed in healthcare and other industries such as the manufacturing and processing industries. Engagement in such activities increases the risk of contracting the virus and possibly falling sick. The health promotion program will increase awareness about the virus and how this population can protect themselves from the virus (Cummings et al., 2022).
The second step is setting goals and objectives that the program will achieve. This program aims to increase awareness about the protective measures that individuals between 30-50 years can adopt to protect themselves from contracting the virus. The objective includes participants will be able to wash their hands thoroughly and demonstrate the ability to wear masks appropriately. The participants will also demonstrate increased knowledge concerning the importance of getting vaccinated against the virus (Van de Broucke, 2020).
The developing intervention step outlines the actions that will be put in place to achieve the set goals and objectives. Interventions for this program will include educative classes/lectures concerning the coronavirus and demonstrations on how to implement protective strategies such as hand washing. Group discussions will be included to identify myths about the virus and respond to such myths (Simkhada et al., 2020).
Implementing the intervention steps identifies how the interventions will be applied to meet the intended goals. To achieve the goals and objectives above, the planners will hold educative classes/lectures to discuss aspects of the virus, including transmission methods and prevention strategies. To facilitate the classes, flyers will be provided, and screen projections will also be used to facilitate the learning process. Group discussions will be conducted where the participants will be allowed to express their beliefs about the virus and the current vaccines. This will be essential in identifying people’s myths concerning the virus and responding to such myths. Demonstrations on preventive strategies such as hand washing and mask-wearing will be provided to ensure that participants have the right information (Van de Broucke, 2020).
The final step is evaluating the results; this involves determining whether the intended goals were achieved or not. The intervention will be evaluated using a questionnaire to assess the participants’ attitudes towards protective measures such as regular hand washing, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated (Cummings et al., 2022).
References
Cummings, J. R., Wolfson, J. A., & Gearhardt, A. N. (2022). Health-promoting behaviors in the United States during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Appetite, 168, 105659. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666321005663
Simkhada, P., Mahato, P., Tamang, P., van Teijlingen, E., & Shahi, P. (2020). The Role of Health Promotion during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Health Promotion, 8, 1-4. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/jhp/article/view/32964
Van den Broucke, S. (2020). Why health promotion matters to the COVID-19 pandemic, and vice versa. Health promotion international, 35(2), 181-186. https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/35/2/181/5820891?login=true
