Promoting Positive Health Behaviors

One strategy that has proven effective for improving population health outcomes is screening. Screening programs for breast, cervical, prostate, and colon cancer allow for early detection and treatment, thereby improving health outcomes. Advocates of early screening programs have sought to inform populations at risk of the value of participating in early screening.

Consider the following examples: In Florida, mobile mammography units have reached out to uninsured women and provided free mammograms. In Maryland, Wellmobiles go out into the community to provide primary and preventive health care services to geographically underserved communities and uninsured individuals across the state. Many such programs are available for individuals to participate in screening, regardless of ability to pay.

In this Assignment, you will evaluate the characteristics of preventive health programs that lead to successful outcomes.

To prepare:

• Review the article “Improving Female Preventive Health Care Delivery Through Practice Change” found in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider why the Every Woman Matters program was not effective in meeting its goals.
• Using the Walden Library and other credible websites, identify at least two successful advocacy programs for early cancer screening and evaluate the characteristics that made them effective based on the evidence presented in the article or website.

To complete:

Write a 4- to 5-page paper that includes the following:

• Summarize the Every Woman Matters program and how the issue of women’s preventive health care was approached. Analyze possible reasons the program was ineffective.
• Summarize the characteristics at least two prevention programs that advocate for early screening, describing what made them successful.
• If you were the nurse leader in charge of developing a follow-up to the Every Woman Matters program, what strategies would you propose for creating a more effective prevention program?

Required Resources

Readings

• Knickman, J. R., & Kovner, A. R. (Eds.). (2015). Health care delivery in the united states (11th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
  • Chapter 7, “Health and Behavior” (pp. 119-144)

    This chapter discusses the role of behavior on health and describes behavioral risk factors and potential community-based interventions.

• Backer, E. L., Geske, J. A., McIlvain, H. E., Dodendorf, D. M., & Minier, W. C. (2005). Improving female preventive health care delivery through practice change: An Every Woman Matters study. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 18(5), 401–408.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  This article informs the Assignment as an example of a health program that was not successful. You will conduct additional research on this topic to determine current advocacy programs that have been more effective.

• Hancock, C., & Cooper, K. (2011). A global initiative to tackle chronic disease by changing lifestyles. Primary Health Care, 21(4), 24–26.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  This article details the efforts of the C3 Collaborating for Health charity. In particular, C3 focuses on minimizing the risk factors of poor dieting, smoking, and low physical activity.

• Schwartz, S. M., Ireland, C., Strecher, V., Nakao, D., Wang, C., & Juarez, D. (2010). The economic value of a wellness and disease prevention program. Population Health Management, 13(6), 309–317.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  The authors of this article detail a study that sought to determine the economic consequences of a disease prevention program conducted by the Hawaii Medical Service Association.

• Tengland, P. (2010). Health promotion and disease prevention: Logically different conceptions? Health Care Analysis, 18(4), 323–341.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

  This article investigates the differences and causal connections between health promotion and disease prevention.