Assignment:
Program Implementation in School and Workplace Settings
Some health educators have observed that, for adults, the workplace provides a setting very similar to school for children: a place in which individuals spend a major part of their days and where they are often receptive to information. Unlike health care and community settings, school and workplace settings are generally based on specific grade levels, such as kindergarteners, or populations sharing a common purpose, such as factory workers. However, you can be creative and find applications for almost any program in almost any setting. For example, a program about safety seats for infants could be taken to employee groups to target working adults who may be new parents. An adult fitness program could be provided in an elementary school for the faculty, who may in turn model fitness principles for their students.
As you explore the possible outcomes in the two settings, it will become more obvious which of the settings will provide better results. Continuing with the same project you discussed in Week 7, you will explore what aspects would be appropriate in a school setting and in a workplace setting.
For this week's Discussion, review the media titled Healthcare in Rural Communities. Consider how programs such as the sexually transmitted disease program described by Fanny Martinez might be different if implemented in a school or workplace setting. Then, using the same scenario you selected in Week 7 (repeated below), consider the intended outcomes for a school and workplace setting and how each setting would affect program implementation to ensure intended outcomes.
Scenario 1:
In Namibia, a country in South Africa, health care is provided through the government, mission facilities, and private agencies. The country is sparsely populated, and many people in rural communities have no transportation; as such, they walk to health care facilities. Imagine that you are a health educator who has been asked to address the high incidence children contracting malaria and other illnesses. You want to educate parents about what symptoms necessitate bringing a child in for care, and what to do in case they cannot bring the child in due to transportation or other issues.
Scenario 2:
Imagine that you are a family health advocate who wants to create a smoking prevention program to decrease the number of smokers in a community. You are asked to target your program primarily to teenagers in order to prevent young people from starting down the path to becoming smokers. Many individuals in the community are employed in tobacco farming and production. The economic reliance on tobacco has made many individuals in the community resistant to messages of abstinence from smoking, although a new study has shown an alarming increase in cancer rates of all types in the county.
Post the number of the scenario you chose. Use the scenario you used last week, and make sure to include the number of your chosen scenario in the subject line. Explain how you might implement the public health program in the scenario in a school setting. Then, explain how you might implement the same program in a workplace setting. Include in your post how the implementation would differ based on each setting. Explain one potential strategy you would use in a school setting and one potential strategy you would use in a workplace setting to ensure that the public health program achieves the intended outcomes.