PHN 652 Assignment Planning for Evaluation

Introduction

Substance abuse is a critical health problem that populations face globally. Substance abuse increases the burden of disease in our societies. Individuals from different age groups are highly predisposed to substance abuse. The increased predisposition is attributed to influences such as easy access to drugs, peer pressure, unemployment, poor social support systems, and childhood trauma. The health effects of substance abuse are varied. They include drug dependence, depression, anxiety, infections, and loss f productivity (Rehan et al., 2017). Therefore, this project examines the evaluation approach that will be used in the proposed project to address substance abuse in adults.

Population and Health Disparity

The target population for the project will comprise mainly of adults who abuse drugs. Substance abuse among adults is a critical public health concern in the US. Factors such as the increased access to drugs, peer pressure, and social pressures due to issues such as unemployment predispose adults to abuse drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse is associated with adverse health outcomes such as infections, dependence, depression, and lung cancer. The use of population-centered health education is the identified disparity in the project. Population-centered interventions are effective in facilitating lifestyle and behavioral change among substance abusers. However, its use has not been explored in my organization (Jones & McCance-Katz, 2019). Therefore, the aim of the project will be to implement it increase the level of awareness and promote behavioral change among substance abusers.

Features and Strategies of Evaluation

The evaluation of the project will be done at its end. The evaluation strategy will entail the administration of post-intervention questionnaires to the participants. The questionnaires will enable the determination of the effectiveness of the project in achieving its desired outcomes. The evaluation of the project will focus mainly on the process and outcome measures. Process measures will be used to determine the effectiveness of the strategies that were used to achieve the outcomes of the project. The focus will be placed on evaluating strategies such as educational sessions, active participation of the participants, and support provided to them. Outcome measures will focus on the determination of whether the objectives of the project were achieved or not. The focus will be placed on measures such as rates of substance abuse, resource utilization, and subjective experiences of the participants with the project (Billings & Halstead, 2019).

Performance Measures

A number of performance measures will guide the evaluation of the project. The first one will be the reduction in the rate of substance abuse among adults in the community. A reduction in rates will be used to imply the effectiveness of the project in achieving the desired outcomes. The other performance measure will be the adoption of healthy lifestyles and behaviors by the adults who abuse substances and drugs. A change in behavior and lifestyles will be used as indicators to success of the project in reducing the rates of substance abuse in the community. The other measure will be the increase in the participation of the adults in the project initiatives. Active participant involvement will be needed for the success of the project in achieving its objectives. The last measure will be sustainability in the use of the project interventions by the participants. The sustainability will ensure the long-lived effectiveness of the project (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2019).

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Short-Term Outcomes

One of the short-term outcomes of the project is the increase in the level of awareness and knowledge of the participants on the causes risk factors, effects, prevention and management of substance abuse. The use of population-centered interventions are expected to increase the level of awareness of the population on the above aspects of care. The realization of the above objective will be determined by administering pre and post-intervention questionnaire to determine the changes in level of awareness. The second short-term outcome will be the increase in the participation of the adults on healthy lifestyles and behavioral interventions to prevent and reduce substance abuse. The adoption of healthy lifestyles and behaviors are anticipated to reduce cravings and abuse of alcohol and drugs. The realization of the objective will be measured by observing their behaviors.

PHN 652 Assignment Planning for Evaluation

Long-Term Outcomes

One of the long-term outcomes of the project will be to prevent and reduce the rates of substance abuse among adults. The use of population centered health education is expected to contribute to a behavioral change among adults who abuse drugs and substances. The change in behavior is expected to result in a decline in the rates and prevention of substance abuse among them. The realization of this outcome will be determined based on the changes in the rates of substance abuse among adults in the community and the analysis of public health data. The second long-term outcome for the project is the increase in the participation of adults who abuse drugs and substances in social support groups. It is anticipated that the project will raise awareness and connect substance abusers with the existing social support networks to help them overcome their problems. This objective will be measured by administering surveys and questionnaires to determine the involvement of the participants in social support groups. The last long-term outcome will be the realization of sustained use of the project interventions by the participants. The objective will be determined by following the participants to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for change (Jiang et al., 2017).

Next Steps

The evaluation data will be used for a number of purposes. One of the purposes will be communicating the findings to the other healthcare providers. The evaluation findings will be communicated to the healthcare providers to inform them about the effectiveness and need of the intervention in promoting health and wellbeing of the public. Communicating findings will also inform future change interventions in nursing and healthcare. The other use of the evaluation data will be to communicate it to the public. The public will be informed about the benefit of the project interventions in facilitating behavioral change. The other use of the evaluation data will be publishing in the professional databases. Publishing the outcome data will inform future practice and research into the use of the intervention. I will also present the findings in scientific conferences. Presenting the findings in scientific conferences will inform other practitioners, hence, improving nursing practice.

References

uBillings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2019). Teaching in Nursing E-Book: A Guide for Faculty. Elsevier Health Sciences.

uJiang, S., Wu, L., & Gao, X. (2017). Beyond face-to-face individual counseling: A systematic review on alternative modes of motivational interviewing in substance abuse treatment and prevention. Addictive Behaviors, 73, 216–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.05.023

uJones, C. M., & McCance-Katz, E. F. (2019). Co-occurring substance use and mental disorders among adults with opioid use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 197, 78–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.12.030

uRehan, W., Antfolk, J., Johansson, A., Jern, P., & Santtila, P. (2017). Experiences of severe childhood maltreatment, depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse among adults in Finland. PLOS ONE, 12(5), e0177252. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177252

uStanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2019). Public Health Nursing E-Book: Population-Centered Health Care in the Community. Elsevier Health Sciences.

PHN 652 Assignment Planning for Evaluation