Public Health Program Planning

This article discusses Public Health Program Planning as a sample assignment solution.

Instructions

Review the Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators.

Select one leading health indicator, and research a state-level health prevention program aimed at achieving it.

Locate your state\’s (Virginia) vital statistics, census data, or other available state-level public health statistics to compare the outcomes of the selected leading health indicator.

Evaluate the state-level program\’s effectiveness in meeting the leading health indicator\’s objectives based on your statistical findings.

Determine if there is evidence in your community of alignment to the Healthy People 2020 goals for the selected topic through local programs and funding.

Explain the evidence by providing links, a description, and summary of the program(s).

Format your assignment as APA format including 2 peer reviewed articles from past 5 years:

  • 875-word paper

Solution

Public Health Program Planning

Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) have been primarily used to express health-related concepts indicating population broad health concerns quantitatively. LHIs have been used to track the nation’s health and facilitate multi-sectoral collaboration to motivate participation from the national, state, and community levels.  LHIs are crucial to public health planning, particularly on high-priority health issues and actions to address and track these changes. This paper highlights adolescent cigarette smoking in the past 30 days as a crucial LHI and discusses established statewide mitigation measures in Virginia. This paper argues that cigarette smoking among adolescents in the past 30 days predisposes adolescents to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Thus, state governments should establish programs to create awareness of these health effects to prevent and avoid smoking.

Adolescent Cigarette Smoking in the past 30 days (TU-2.2)

The selected leading health indicator (LHI) for this assignment is Adolescent cigarette smoking in the past 30 days (TU-2.2) (HealthyPeople.gov, 2020). In Virginia, Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth provides a state-level health prevention program to empower youths in Virginia, encourage them to avoid unhealthy choices, reduce and cease using tobacco and nicotine products and other unhealthy substances (VFHY, n.d.). The foundation was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1999 and is solely funded by payments from significant tobacco manufacturers to the local government of Virginia as outlined in the Master Settlement Agreement.

In 2015, cigarette smoking among Virginian high school and middle school students was at 8.2% and 1.6%, respectively (VDH, 2016; Sutter et al., 2018). In 2018, Virginia recorded 6.5% teen cigarette smoking, as highlighted by the 2017 Virginia Youth Survey (VDH, 2018). A Youth Risk Behavioural Surveillance System report (2019) revealed that 4.7% of Virginian high school students smoked various cigarettes, including little cigars and cigarillos. Substance smoked include cigars, cigarillos, or little cigars at least once in the 30 days, down from 19.5% against a target of 16% as per the Healthy people 2020 project (CDC, 2019). In 2019, 5.5% of Virginia high school youth reported smoking cigarettes (CDC, 2021).

Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth has effectively contributed to achieving the objectives of the Healthy people 2020 project. In 2019, the rate of cigarette smoking among adolescents reduced from 19.5% in 2009 to 6.5% in 2017 and 5.5% in 2019. This shows that Virginia has surpassed the  Healthy People 2020 project target of 16%. The reduction in the rate of cigarette smoking in Virginia could be attributed to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s role in creating awareness of the health effects of cigarette smoking (VFHY, 2017).

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Public Health Program Planning
Public Health Program Planning

The State of Virginia aligns with the Healthy people 2020 project on reducing the use of cigarettes by adolescents in the past 30 days (HealthyPeople.gov, 2020). VFHY adopted an inclusive approach to prevent and reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine products (VFHY, 2017). The organization’s primary priority is addressing the persistent youth e-cigarette smoking epidemic. The foundation has established classroom-based prevention programs that reach approximately 40000 children statewide. The classroom-based programs are established in public schools, pre-schools and after-school programs, religious institutions, and community centers.   

The organization also provides grant funding to tobacco smoking cessation programs and marketing campaigns to prevent cigarette smoking from becoming a multi-generational epidemic. The grants categories by the VFHY include the Youth Development for prevention and cessation of tobacco and nicotine use (VFHY, 2021) and the Community Innovation for funding the development of new and innovative strategies to reduce tobacco and nicotine use (VFHY, 2017).

VFHY has also established the Behind the Haze program. The program is a Virginian health communication campaign designed to target a broad audience of youth aged between 13 and 18 years (VFHY, 2021). The program delivers educational messaging about the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, including nicotine addiction (Siqueira, 2017). Through this program, the VFHY has reached over 430000 youths in Virginia, consequently reducing the smoking rate.

Moreover, the CDC also collaborates with the local governments to prevent and reduce cigarette consumption among the youth (CDC, 2021). Through the Office on Smoking and Health in Virginia, the CDC provides additional funding and practical support to help control tobacco use.  Besides, the CDC has established the Tips From Smokers Campaign ® to help those smoking in Virginia to cease smoking. Furthermore, the state partners with universities and public housing agencies to encouraging them to enact and enforce smoke-free construction policies. Consequently, several public housing facilities and public institutions have adopted smoke-free housing policies.  Hawkins et al. (2019) found out that taxes and smoke-free regulations were linked to lower cigarette usage among teenagers.

Conclusion

In sum, LHIs are crucial quantitative indicators of significant health concepts. Through the LHIs, it is possible to quantify crucial health issues and determine whether the established mitigative programs are effective. In this case, adolescent cigarette smoking in the past 30 days is a crucial LHI in Virginia. Research reports have revealed a consistent reduction in smoking rates among adolescents compared to the national rate. This shows that the statewide programs have played crucial roles in mitigating the epidemic.  In this sense, the identified LHI has significantly identified public health issues, thus enabling the state and relevant stakeholders to initiate ways to mitigate persistent smoking among adolescents.

References

Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). (2021). Extinguishing the Tobacco Epidemic in Virginia. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/about/osh/state-fact-sheets/virginia/index.html  (Accessed May 15, 2021)

Hawkins, S. S., Ghiani, M., & Baum, C. F. (2019). Associations between state tobacco control policies and adolescent end-use. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 25(6), 529-536. 10.1097/ph.0000000000000859  

HealthyPeople.gov. (2020). Leading Health Indicators. Retrieve May 15, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/Leading-Health-Indicators/

Siqueira, L. M. (2017). Nicotine and tobacco as substances of abuse in children and adolescents. Pediatrics139(1). 10.1542/peds.2016-3436 

Sutter, M. E., Everhart, R. S., Miadich, S., Rudy, A. K., Nasim, A., & Cobb, C. O. (2018). Patterns and profiles of adolescent tobacco users: Results from the Virginia Youth Survey. Nicotine and Tobacco Research20(suppl_1), S39-S47. 10.1093/ntr/nty032

Virginia Department of Health [VDH]. (2016). (2017) Virginia Youth Survey Data Tables. Available at: http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/virginia-youth-survey/data-tables/. (Accessed May 15, 2021)

Virginia Department of Health [VDH]. (2018). Teen Cigarette Smoking Hits Record Low in Virginia. Available at: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/news/public-relations-contacts/archived-news-releases/2018-news-releases/teen-cigarette-smoking-hits-record-low-in-virginia/# (Accessed May 15, 2021)

Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth [VFHY]. (n.d.). About. Retrieved May 15, from https://www.vfhy.org/about/

Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. (2017). Annual Report. https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2018/RD113/PDF

Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. (2021). Behind the Haze. https://www.vfhy.org/marketing/behind-the-haze/ 

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