Addressing Public Health Priorities through Policy Interventions

by | Jul 8, 2024 | Nursing

You are serving as a volunteer member of your community board and have learned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an initiative called Health Impact in 5 Years (HI-5). Interventions are based on the health impact pyramid factors that affect health.
Respond to the following:

Identify the top two priorities that you believe exist in the city or county that you live in that are on the list of health conditions in the HI-5 article. Explain what evidence you see in your community to show that these are issues.
Choose one of the top two priorities you selected, and write a 1-2 sentence proposal of a new law or regulation that will effectively address the top priority you selected.
Using the Health Impact Pyramid diagram in the HI-5 article, identify what level of the health impact pyramid your recommended law/regulation fits into.

Sample Answer

Sample Answer

 

Addressing Public Health Priorities through Policy Interventions

Identifying Community Health Priorities

In my city or county, two top priorities that align with the health conditions identified in the HI-5 article are:

1. Obesity: Evidence of this issue can be observed through the proliferation of fast-food restaurants and limited access to fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods. Additionally, high rates of obesity-related health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease are prevalent in the community.

2. Substance Abuse: The opioid epidemic has had a significant impact in our community, leading to increased rates of addiction, overdose deaths, and related social issues such as homelessness and crime. Needle litter and drug paraphernalia can be found in public spaces, indicating the severity of the problem.

Proposal for Addressing Obesity

Proposal: Implement a city-wide policy mandating a sugar-sweetened beverage tax to reduce consumption of sugary drinks and fund community health programs promoting nutrition education and physical activity.

Health Impact Pyramid Analysis

According to the Health Impact Pyramid diagram in the HI-5 article, the proposed sugar-sweetened beverage tax falls under the “Changing the Context to Make Individuals’ Default Decisions Healthy” level of the pyramid. By altering the environment through taxation, individuals are nudged towards healthier choices, leading to population-level health improvements. This intervention addresses the root cause of obesity by targeting environmental factors that contribute to poor dietary habits.

 

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