Essay On Community Based Intervention

825 Words2 Pages

The goal of community based intervention programs focused on children is to increase the accessibility and effectiveness of initiatives in order to promote behavioral changes of individuals, thereby improving the health of the community. The programs are implemented in order to prevent illness or injury by avoiding or eliminating negative behaviors. Therefore, the intervention programs are effective when optimum community heath is achieved through health promotion and disease prevention. The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) can utilize the information available through the community health based initiatives to educate pediatric patients and their families. As well, the FNP can use the information to make appropriate referrals after researching …show more content…

The educational material and initiatives must be accessible to the target population. The information can then be utilized in order to prevent or change behaviors that have been shown to negatively affect the child. By using non-traditional settings to disseminate the desired education through direct or indirect contact, existing social structures can be used to promote tailoring of health information to promote wellness and minimize disease of the child or adolescent. Historically, there have been numerous community based intervention programs focused on children and adolescents. These programs targeted issues that negatively impacted children into their adulthood and by extension, the community. These health initiatives address such as obesity, healthy eating and exercise; safe sex practices; drug and alcohol prevention; mental health awareness and suicide prevention; cigarette smoking prevention; and …show more content…

Screening, health education focused on sex education and self-esteem as well as self-help material is also used to reinforce awareness necessary for behavioral modifications. Volunteers and mentors can be recruited and trained to forward the aims of the program. For a community to effectively improve the health of its members, behavioral modifications must be attained and maintained. The changes may occur through implemented programs, policies and initiatives that are aimed at modifying attitudes, beliefs and social norms. Aspects of organizational infrastructure may have to change in order to affects the desired results. Community level interventions include mass media campaigns, restaurant and supermarket nutritional labeling, partnership with schools, churches social service agencies, advocacy groups, and recreational facilities. In order for laws, public policies and local ordinances that are enacted to stigmatize behaviors, the community must have a readiness and a capacity for change. Therefore, multiple methods have to be incorporated to address pertinent factors that influence behavioral modifications. The scale of community intervention affects the time frame necessary to influence and enact

Open Document