Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading mortality causes, and education in the community for health intervention is necessary for the end of this issue. The goal of this approach is to address, on the community level, CVD problems and reduce their scaling up by implementing a systematic educational process and influencing public behavior and lifestyle habits. This education plan is written to shed light on the intricate subject of cardiovascular disease-specified community intervention for health education and to introduce the main methods and the possible results they could bring.
Cardiovascular disease poses a great hazard to public health. Many other diseases fall within this category, including Ischemic heart disease, CVA and many others. These diseases directly contribute to thousands of deaths yearly, resulting in huge amounts of money being spent on healthcare (Yan-Bo et al., 2021). Community intervention serves as both health education and a combatant in fighting against the plague of this epidemic (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019). The objectives of this program are purely twofold: to educate people on ways to live healthier lifestyles and, hence, decrease the risk factors by using the right information.
A thorough needs assessment is the first step in community intervention, as it determines the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in the area. Conditions such as hypertension, obesity, insufficient physical activity, poor dietary choices, and tobacco use are examples of this. The evaluation’s findings will inform the development of community-specific, tailored lesson plans (Yan-Bo et al., 2021). Interventions sensitive to different cultures and including people’s economic statuses are more likely to be effective and involve more people.
Public education often incorporates neighborhood events, media campaigns, and direct education. Working educational programs can teach people about the risks they face, weapons to avoid them and how to cope with existing health problems. Some programs that fall into this category include health screenings, lectures, and workshops (Yan-Bo et al., 2021). Through these programs, healthcare professionals and community health workers are usually taken on board to offer reliable, relevant facts that are easy to understand.
Mass media campaigns can influence more people and make the message of changing social attitudes regarding exercise, bad eating, and cigarette smoking more accessible. Digital platforms such as print, social media, radio, and television are among the many channels through which the health education programs’ mass communication messages are disseminated to a broad audience (Stellefson et al., 2020).
The main approach for this community-wide initiative is a cross-communal effort that draws in local governments, religious organizations, companies, and educational centers (Gupta & Wood, 2019). If smoking was forbidden in public places and if assistance for smoking cessation was provided, people could quit tobacco use. Moreover, parks and walking paths could be created to encourage physical activity. Farmers’ markets and increased access to healthy food are the next steps. Lastly, healthy eating policies in schools can be presented as a topic for discussion.
In the management program, developing people’s health is not the sole objective. Rather, it is also meant to empower these people to determine their health. Along with communication, people should be empowered to make the right decisions and support to change their behavior (Gupta & Wood, 2019). Community representatives, on their part, need to create life-supporting places, build confidence and substantiate skills (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019).
Effective evaluation of health education programs is mandatory for community interventions according to their effectiveness and for future developments. Program performance can be evaluated through process indicators and outcome outcomes related to the number of individuals with cardiovascular disease risk factors, i.e., hypertension and overweight rates (Gupta & Wood, 2019). Consolidating community views is among the good approaches through which an education program could be evaluated for its relevance and acceptance among the community.
Lastly, community-based health education initiatives are one of the best local techniques to fight cardiovascular disease (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019). By tackling the many individual, societal, and ecological variables that lead to cardiovascular disease, treatments such as these can improve community health over time (Yan-Bo et al., 2021). Reduced incidence and severity of cardiovascular illnesses may result from increased health literacy since people would be better equipped to make decisions about their health. The worldwide pandemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD) can only be reduced if health education initiatives work together.
References
Gupta Rajeev, & Wood David A. (2019). Primary prevention of ischaemic heart disease: populations, individuals, and health professionals. The Lancet, 394(10199), 685-696. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31893-8
Stanhope Marcia, & Lancaster Jeanette. (2019). Public Health Nursing E-Book: Public Health Nursing E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Public_Health_Nursing_E_Book.html?id=ct3WDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
Stellefson Michael, Paige Samantha R., Chaney Beth H., & Chaney J. D. (2020). Evolving Role of Social Media in Health Promotion: Updated Responsibilities for Health Education Specialists. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(4).
Yan-Bo Zhang, Xiong-Fei Pan, Junxiang Chen, Anlan Cao, Lu Xia, Yuge Zhang, Jing Wang, Huiqi Li, Gang Liu, & An Pan. (2021). Combined lifestyle factors, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 75(1), 92. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-214050
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