ESSAY: Public Health /Healthcare

Find a program (provide a link to the program) which was developed to provide health promotion and education to a specific population. Evaluate this program on its ability to identify with the specific population, on its implementation of effective intervention methods, and on its program planning strategy. This evaluation will be very broad in scope and not as in-depth as your research assignment. Review three peers’ postings, access the program links, and compare your assessment to theirs? What additional insights do you have?

ANSWER

The Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program

Alaska had recorded a historically higher rate of tobacco use which included both spit and cigarettes. Due to this increase, the Alaska Department of Health and Social services implemented a successful state-wide control and prevention initiative. The program was based on CDC’s best practices. The objectives of the program included (1) helping individuals to quit smoking through the support of free cessation services. (2) Educating communities on the harmful effects of tobacco, (3) supporting community policies that provide tobacco-free surroundings, (4) helping the youth to live healthy by encouraging tobacco avoidance, (5) collecting and sharing information on …

The initiative included intervention methods such as counter-marketing campaigns, youth and school drives, community-based programs, alleviating health inequalities, minimizing second-hand smoke exposure, and evaluation. Others included enacting laws that enforced smoke-free zones at work, educating children on harmful effects of tobacco, provision of free cessation products and services…

The program helped many people to quit with a 40% quit rate. The free cessation services such as the Quitline received tremendous calls from people who wanted advice on how to quit smoking. The program demonstrated a reduction in the number of smokers by one-fifth; 21.5% of total smokers from 1996-2007. The figure represented 27,000 people and 8,000 fewer deaths due to tobacco abuse and $300 million in avoided costs. The data shows that the program was successful in terms of the process, impact, and outcomes. The planning and intervention methods had a significant effect on the reduction of tobacco use, as suggested by the data (Fertman & Allensworth, 2016). Also, it was…

References

Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, (n.d.). Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Chronic disease prevention and health promotion. Retrieved from http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Chronic/Pages/Tobacco/default.aspx

Fertman, C. I., & Allensworth, D. D. (Eds.). (2016). Health promotion programs: from theory to practice. John Wiley & Sons.

Valente, T. W. (2002). Evaluating health promotion programs. Oxford University Press.