Diffusion of Innovations and Condoms, Essay Example

Health-based interventions attempt to provide some degree of support and guidance for their target populations in order to achieve the desired outcomes. Interventions are applied to many different population groups to address a number of different problems. HIV prevention is one such area of study that requires target populations to recognize their own degree of risk and the behaviors that contribute to that risk. In the case of condom use in the target population of long-distance truck drivers, the Diffusion of Innovations Theory is appropriate because a health promotion initiative to encourage condom use in this population to prevent HIV is most likely to be successful by word of mouth and targeted education programs.

Most importantly, condom use to prevent HIV is a well-known concept; however, many males in this population do not appear to take it seriously and require additional education and insight regarding this issue. The program must provide males with a relative advantage in the form of preventing the spread of HIV (relative advantage), as well as a degree of compatibility so that males will relate to this program and find it appropriate for their lifestyles (National Cancer Institute) (compatibility). The program must be comprehensive yet should not be too complex because this population group is not likely to embrace any initiative that is difficult to sustain (National Cancer Institute) (complexity). Furthermore, the initiative must be tested on a trial basis in order to ensure that males are prepared to support HIV prevention strategies as a practice within their own lives (National Cancer Institute) (trialability). Finally, the program should be observed by educators as a means of determining its overall effectiveness and its ability to get the appropriate message across to the target population without any serious difficulties or resistance from the target group as it learns about the intervention (National Cancer Institute) (observability).

Works Cited

National Cancer Institute. Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice, Second Edition.