How would you begin the planning process? Outline five initial steps you would take in planning a strategy to address this issue.

As the program manager for a public-health department, you will need to take the following steps to create a strategy to improve the physical activity levels of the adults within the community: 1) Define and define the problem, 2) Conduct an assessment in your community to find the root causes and identify those affected, 3) Prioritize and develop program objectives according to the needs assessed, 4) Design interventions and strategies to deliver them, 5) Establish evaluation indicators in order to track program progress. The use of program theories and evidence-based approaches to develop and select appropriate interventions for the targeted population is an essential part of developing an intervention (Developing An Intervention, 2023). Involving stakeholders, such as the target population, local agencies and community groups in the planning is also crucial.

DQ2 In the practicum, I use public health campaigns to promote health and prevent disease, engagement with communities, and collaborations between community stakeholders and myself to improve health service access. The interventions are aligned with the organization’s goals to promote health equity, increase access to healthcare and reduce health disparities. A number of other evidence-based interventions are also available to help improve public health. These include promoting healthy eating and physical activity by modifying the built environment, for example, creating walking and biking paths, or improving access to nutrition through tax incentives and zoning (Access, Barriers, and Opportunity, 2023, Improving Services, 2023) Minnesota Department of Health (n.d.) has found that community health worker services and telehealth have been effective at increasing health outcomes and access for vulnerable groups.

References:

Develop an intervention. (2023). Community Tool Box. Retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/developing-intervention

Minnesota Department of Health (n.d.). Public Health Interventions for Public Health Nursing Practice, Wheel Manual. Downloaded from https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/practice/research/phncouncil/wheel.html

Accessibility, Barriers and Opportunities. (2023). Community Tool Box. Retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/access-barriers-opportunities

Improving Services (2023). Community Tool Box. This page can be retrieved from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/improving-services