Week 5 Discussion

Addressing Behavioral Risk Factors

“It is unreasonable to expect that people will change their
behavior easily when so many forces in the social, cultural, and physical
environment conspire against such change” (Kovner and Knickman, p. 139).

When seeking to lessen behavioral risk factors in different
populations, one of the greatest challenges is addressing the systemic issues
within the population that enable the risky behavior to occur in the first
place. Consider the health risks of school-age children not being immunized or
drug users sharing needles. As Dr. Beilenson discussed in the Week 4 media
program, these risky behaviors led to increases in individual and population
health problems. Thus, when planning health prevention programs, it is
important to consider how to effectively address risky behaviors at both the
individual and the population level.

The Discussion this week focuses on the use of the
Population-Based Intervention Model outlined in the course text Health Care
Delivery in the United States, as well as how this model can be applied to
strengthen advocacy programs.

To prepare:

Select one of the behavioral risk factors from the Healthy
Population 2010 Objectives (listed in Table 7.1 on p. 128 of the course text)
that is of interest to you.

Using the Walden Library and other credible websites,
research how this risk factor is affecting your community or state.

With your selected risk factor in mind, review the
information on the Population-Based Intervention Model on pp. 136–140 in the
course text, Health Care Delivery in the United States. In particular, focus on
the concept of downstream, midstream, and upstream interventions. Consider at
least one intervention that could be put into place at each stage.

By Day 3

Post a description of the behavioral risk factor you
selected and how this factor is impacting your community or state. Using the
Population-Based Intervention Model, suggest at least one intervention that
could be put into place at each stage (downstream, midstream, and upstream) to
ensure that a health prevention program addressing the behavioral risk factor
would have a greater chance at succeeding. Justify why each intervention you
identified would be effective.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different
days in one or more of the following ways:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional
background information, evidence, or research using an in-text citation in APA
format.

Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings,
synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings
from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional
research.

Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from
readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.

Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional
insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

Reference:

Kovner, A. R., & Knickman, J. R. (Eds.). (2011). Health
care delivery in the United States (10th ed.). New York, NY: Springer
Publishing.

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