Health Interventions

¶ … Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, the Healthy People 2020 Initiative was launched in 2010 in order to address a comprehensive assortment of health related issues concerning the American people and society (CDC, 2011).

The initiative has four primary goals and objectives which includes; 1) attaining higher-quality and longer lives that are free from preventable diseases, disabilities, injuries and even premature death, 2) achieving equity in health, eliminating disparities, and improving the health of all groups of Americans, 3) creating social and physical environments that promote healthiness for all people, and 4) promoting quality of life along with health development and healthy behaviors throughout the stages of life.

In all aspects of life, and certainly geared towards healthier American citizens, the idea and concept of becoming healthy by the year 2020 is a laudable exercise. Tracking certain behaviors is generally accepted as one methodology in determining how effective (or ineffective) interventions are in assisting in changing lifestyles and behaviors that can lead to high-risk activities. This is especially true in the youth of America who seem to (many times) be more willing to act in high-risk manners.

A recent study determined that priority health-risk behaviors are contributors to the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among youth (Kann, Kinchen, Shanklin, Flint, Hawkins, Harris, Lowry, Olsen, McManus, Chyen, Whittle, Taylor, Demissie, Brener, Thornton, Moore, Zaza, 2014). The study also helped to establish guidelines and baselines so that interventions can be tracked to determine which ones were effective and which ones were not. One of the interventions that could be tracked is a recent program initiated in Great Brittan for people who wished to stop smoking.

This same type of intervention could be used in America for middle and high-school aged individuals in America who are seeking a way to stop smoking, or information concerning the pratfalls and dangers of smoking, especially starting at such a young age. For those young individuals who have already begun to smoke, the intervention could assist them in overcoming the addiction. The intervention was a self-help "Quit Kit" which "had a high uptake and triggered quit attempts in around half of respondents" (Ussher, Chambers, Adams, Croghan, Murray, 2011).

The intervention was successful in getting approximately 75% of the respondents requesting information concerning the intervention to attempt to stop smoking, while "36.4% reported not smoking at all for at least one month" (Murray, Szatkowski, Ussher, 2013, p. 1368). What is really remarkable about a smoking cessation product such as the Quit Kit, is that there was almost a 37% success rate in a self-administered intervention. The medical professional that was involved in this specific intervention was the local pharmacist(s) who assisted in disseminating the product to the target audience.

In this case the target audience, was an citizen of England who smoked cigarettes and wished to stop. The kit was distributed by the UK National Health Service through these professionals working at local pharmacies. The same type of kit could be distributed by school nurses or through local pharmacies here in America. A 37% success rate is not blowing smoke, those are true figures and can be classified as quite successful.

The same success rate in the United States would result in millions of dollars being saved through healthier children and young adults who could kick a nasty habit and all the.