Online Tutoring on Health Promotion Project

Health Promotion Tittle

Management of the COPD in the patients aged 40 or above living in Sydney by lifestyle modification along with the pharmacological treatment.

Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the obstructive lung disease that causes obstruction in airflow and is characterized by long-term breathing problems (Adeloye et al., 2015). COPD is not reversible even with the pharmacological treatment, however, the management of COPD to relieve symptoms can be possible by the use of pharmacological interventions and modification in lifestyle (Adeloye et al., 2015). This essay aims to create a public health promotion project for the management of the recently diagnosed patients and people with a high risk of COPD development aged 40 or above and living in Sydney. This essay will outline the aim of the health promotion strategies and will discuss the levels of prevention in health promotion. Stakeholders and community consultations related to this project will be identified and a health message will be outlined for the targeted audience of this health promotion project. Details of activities for this project will be described and a proposal for the evaluation of the health promotion project will be described. In the end, the conclusion will be made.

Health Promotion and Target Group Outline

COPD is one of the major causes of death in Australia. In 2015 COPD was the third major cause of the death burden in Australia (AIHW, 2019). COPD costs approximately 976.9 million dollars to the Australian health system which is 0.8% of the total disease spending and 24% of the total spending on respiratory-related diseases (AIHW, 2019). According to self-reported survey data about 1 in 20 Australians aged 45 or above reported COPD in the year 2017-18. 7,518 deaths were reported due to COPD in 2017 which makes COPD the fifth major cause of death in Australia (AIHW, 2019). The incidence of COPD development is high in individuals aged 40 or above. The mortality rate related to COPD is higher in people living in remote areas or lower socio-economical areas in Australia (Holland et al., 2017). The incidence of mortalities related to COPD is higher in indigenous Australians as compared to non-indigenous Australians. During 2013-2017, the mortality rate of Indigenous Australian aged 45 or above was 198 per 100,000 people whereas the mortality rate among non-indigenous Australian was 66 per 100,000 people (AIHW, 2019).

The target group for this public health promotion campaigns is the patients of COPD aged 40 or above recently diagnosed with COPD or at risk of COPD development in Sydney.

Health Promotion Aim

COPD is a chronic respiratory disease that is associated with different causes and risk factors. The major risk factor or cause of COPD is smoking tobacco (Petersen et al., 2014). Other causes of COPD include smoke from fuels either from plant or animal origin, outdoor or indoor air pollution, work-related pollution like dust or fumes (Kraïm-Leleu et al., 2016), sedentary lifestyle, respiratory infection and asthma (Hagstad et al., 2015). COPD is mostly managed with pharmacological interventions, however, change in the lifestyle along with the pharmacological treatment is effective in the management of COPD (Ambrosino & Bertella, 2018). Lifestyle modification not only manages the COPD but also helps in preventing the exacerbation of COPD and easiness in performing daily life activities (Casey et al., 2017). This public health promotion project aims to manage COPD in patients aged 40 above in Sydney with lifestyle interventions along with the pharmacological intervention.

Health Promotion Prevention Management perspective (Primary, Secondary or Tertiary)

According to health promotion prevention management perspective prevention is characterized into three categories. These three categories are named primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention (Fleming & Parker, 2015). Aim of Primary prevention is to protect or prevent the disease or injury before it occurs. The interventions in this level are done to protect the whole health population from the hazards or risk factors that may cause the suspected disease or injury. Preventive interventions are done at this level of prevention which includes developing public health policies, educating about the risk factors and disease, and create awareness about how to prevent the disease or injury (Fleming & Parker, 2015). Secondary prevention aims to decrease the negative effect of the disease which exists already. Secondary prevention targets the population that is at high risk or had developed the disease already. Secondary prevention also aims to detect the disease early and start treatment as early as possible. Secondary prevention helps in reducing the risk of disease, slow the progression, and minimize the side effects of the disease (Fleming & Parker, 2015). Tertiary prevention deals with the population with ongoing disease or injury that have a long-lasting effect. Tertiary prevention aims to minimize the complication and reoccurrence of the disease. Preventive intervention in tertiary prevention includes rehabilitation and treatment, minimizing the physical, social and psychological distress and enhance self-management of the disease. This health promotion Australia project lies under secondary prevention as it is dealing with patients that are recently suffered from COPD and manage the progression of diseases with lifestyle modification along with pharmacological treatment (Fleming & Parker, 2015).

Stakeholders and Community Consultation

The primary stakeholders for this health promotion project are the population who has developed the condition or at high risk of developing the COPD. Family members of the patients are also important stakeholders as family support helps in the early detection and management of COPD (Marques et al., 2015). Healthcare professional like physicians and nurses is one of the important stakeholders of this health promotion project as primary healthcare physicians and nurses are the first contacts for the patients with COPD condition. Early detection of COPD is mostly done by physicians in primary health care settings (Lisspers et al., 2014). Employers are also important stakeholders of this health promotion project as work-related dust, fumes, and allergens are the risk factors for COPD (Kraïm-Leleu et al., 2016). State and territory health department is the major stakeholder of the health promotion project as the make policies and issue funds to manage the diseases. Community health workers proved to be effective stakeholders in counseling the patients with COPD in modifying their lifestyle to manage the COPD and its adverse effects (Parekh et al., 2019). A non-profit organization can be an important stakeholder of this project as it can provide information on the disease and can provide community consultation about the lifestyle modification for the management of the COPD (Yang et al., 2017).

Health Logo

The health message/logo for this health promotion project is COPD is Choose lifestyle modification to breath well and live well. This health message attracts the audience to take an interest in lifestyle modification. It also contains the message that lifestyle modification is associated with COPD and helps in breathing well with COPD.

Health Promotion Activity Description

Smoking tobacco is the major cause of COPD development. The first activity is related to the caseation of tobacco smoking as a lifestyle modification for the management of COPD. The government has already imposed the policies for caseation and minimizing the use of tobacco smoking like increasing the taxes, smoke-free buildings, and smoking cessation advertisement (Smith et al., 2015). However, the information and knowledge about tobacco smoking and its association with COPD help in motivating the patients to stop tobacco smoking (Golechha, 2016). This leaflet will be printed with the latest evidence-based information about smoking and its effects on COPD. These leaflets will be distributed to the general physician clinics, local pharmacies, and local clubs every second month for a year. The information provided on the leaflets will not address only the patients but also address the family members and friends about tobacco smoking and its relation to COPD. Involvement of the friends and family members motivate and help individuals to quit smoking (Marques et al., 2015).

Another activity to stop smoking will be the utilization of the professional community counselors who can provide information and strategies used to stop smoking at different places (Parekh et al., 2019). The schedule of the community counselors will be divided according to days. 2 days a week the counselors will collaborate with general physician clinics and respiratory disease clinics and set up a counseling room where they will utilize motivational techniques to motivate patients to stop smoking.  A study shows that motivational interviews help in the cessation of smoking (Lindson‐Hawley et al., 2015). After taking the motivational interview the counselors will provide information on the strategies which can be effective to quit smoking. The counseling service will be provided at the local health clubs 2 days in a week as well where the people with COPD or at high risk of COPD will be screened by utilizing an evidence-based tool. Professional counseling will be provided regarding the information on COPD and tobacco smoking and individuals will be motivated to start early treatment for COPD.

Utilization of the media, social media and the latest information technology is effective in promoting the campaign to quit smoking (Struik & Baskerville, 2014). Professional physicians will be hired and in collaboration with the mass media, and an informative program for 1 hour in a week will be telecast. A team for social media will be made. They will run a campaign to quit smoking for the management of COPD in the large social media groups of Sydney with the target audience of age 40 or above. Information technology can also help in the cessation of tobacco smoking. Different mobile game applications are found to be effective in creating awareness and helping the users to quit smoking (Raiff et al., 2018). By collaborating with the information technology department, a mobile phone game can be made that targets smokers with COPD aged 40 or above to quit smoking.