Week 10: Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Program Design
The management of chronic disease poses a significant healthcare challenge in the United States and elsewhere. By the year 2030, chronic disease could cost the world over 47 trillion dollars annually (Duff-Brown, 2017). Many of the factors that contribute to chronic illness-such as poor diet, lack of activity, drug and alcohol use, and smoking-are lifestyle choices. Consider, for instance, type II diabetes: The significant increase in prevalence from 1980 to 2007 is explainable almost entirely by lifestyle choices. The condition is often long term, can cause serious complications, and is responsible for 25% of all healthcare spending in the U.S. (Riddle & Herman, 2018).
The healthcare field has a plethora of epidemiologic information on chronic disease. In turn, this epidemiologic information can be applied to the development of interventions that can make a difference in the health of populations afflicted with these conditions. As you approach this week, consider what opportunities you see, as an advanced practice nurse, for reducing morbidity and mortality-and, ultimately, for diminishing the tremendous personal and
societal costs-related to chronic disease.
This week, you will design a program to address a population health issue that resonates with you.
References:
Duff-Brown, B. (2017, March 7). Non–communicable disease could cost global economy $47 trillion by 2030. UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences.
Riddle, M. C., & Herman, W. H. (2018). The cost of diabetes care-an elephant in the room. Diabetes Care, 41(5), 929-932. https://doi.org/10.2337/dci18-
0012
Learning Objectives
Students will:
·
Summarize epidemiologic literature on chronic diseases
Apply concepts, theories, and methods of program design to population health issues
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
A
Curley, A. L. C. (Ed.). (2020). Population–based nursing: Concepts and competencies for advanced practice (3rd ed.). Springer.
• Chapter 7, “Concepts in Program Design and Development”
Center for Community Health and Development. (n.d.). Toolkits. In Community tool box. University of Kansas. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/toolkits
Note: The toolkits page provides guidance on designing and developing programs to improve population outcomes.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). National Center for Chronic Disease ✔Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP): Home.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Public health professionals gateway: Develop SMART
objectives. https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/evaluate/smart_objectives.html
The Community Guide. (n.d.). Program planning resource. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/content/program-planning-resource
Minnesota Department of Health. (n.d.). Smart objectives.
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Assignment: Applying Epidemiology to Program Design for Chronic Disease
Roughly 28.5 million Americans were still uninsured as of 2017, and 133 million
Americans […] suffer from at least one chronic condition.
-Nash et al. (2021, p. 5)
As you know, promoting positive social change is a part
of the Walden mission. To be an effective agent for social change, nurses must be able to logically and critically analyze population health issues using epidemiologic concepts, and then translate this knowledge into
evidence-based practice to improve healthcare outcomes. This exercise will afford you such an experience at the population level. This is an exciting
time to be working in the field of population health with all the new, dynamic, and innovative technologies and strategies to help patients and populations become more knowledgeable about their health.
Photo Credit: Robert Kneschke /Adobe Stock
This week’s Learning Resources present numerous health problems that result in a need for ongoing care. Your Assignment is to select a chronic disease of professional importance to you, and then design an intervention program to improve the health of populations affected by it.
Reference:
Nash, D. B., Skoufalos, A., Fabius, R. J., & Oglesby, W. H. (2021). Population health: Creating a culture of wellness (3rd ed). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
To prepare:
•
Review the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) website from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
·
Select one of the identified chronic diseases of national significance that impacts a population of interest to you.
Consider a health outcome you would like to improve in this population related to the selected chronic disease.
·
Develop a program proposal to improve this health outcome for this population using the assignment guidelines below. Select one of the program models in Curley, Chapter 7, to guide your planning.
•
Review the SMART objective resources for a review of how to write objectives for your program.
·
Use the Walden APA paper template, including appropriate APA 7 headings, to develop this Assignment.
The Assignment
In a 7- to 10-page proposal (not including title page and references), address the following:
·
Briefly identify your selected chronic health issue and population.
Describe the geographic region and important characteristics of this population.
•
Describe the patterns of the disease in your selected population using the epidemiologic characteristics of person, place, and time.
•
Identify one health outcome you would like to improve for the population.
•
Briefly summarize current evidence that supports the importance of improving this health outcome.
·
Explain what data you would need to collect, and how you would obtain and analyze it. You may choose to collect primary data or use secondary data. Justify your choice.
Using the “SMART” method, write short- and long-term objectives for the program.
·
Identify the stakeholders who should be involved in program planning.
·
Identify which program planning model (see Curley, Chapter 7) you selected for your program. Justify your
selection of model. Based on the model, explain how you would plan, implement, and evaluate the program.
•
Explain any relevant cultural or ethical considerations related to your program design.
.
Explain how you would fund the program.
Describe strategies that would be appropriate for marketing the program.
By Day 7 of Week 10
Submit your Assignment.
Learning Resources
Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)
Curley, A. L. C. (Ed.). (2020). Population-based nursing: Concepts and competencies for advanced practice (3rd ed.). Springer.
- Chapter 7, “Concepts in Program Design and Development”
