Protecting Adolescents From Harm, Essay Example

Summary of Intervention Plan

Specifically, to prevent body damage as a result of HIV infections in adolescents, it is valuable to engage in advanced screening programs for members of this group. Approximately 1.3 million individuals die from HIV-induced AIDS each year and many people with HIV are not aware of immune system damage until it is too late. Thus, advanced screening for HIV can save thousands of lives each year. Currently, this HIV screening legislation is being implemented by New York City. Under this legislation, all individuals who visit the emergency room at any city hospital are asked whether they would like to be screened for HIV. While this legislation is currently only present in New York City, it would be beneficial to expand it to the state and nation (Health NY, n.d.). Because of this legislation, more people are able to recognize the importance of HIV screening and are provided with the opportunity for detection and early treatment methods.

Evaluation Plan

To determine the efficacy of this plan, it will become necessary to measure the currently incidence of substance abuse and HIV among adolescents in the local area. The same values can be collected from the health records of New York City to act as a control. Incidence values will reflect the frequency of substance use and HIV at baseline, prior to the implementation of this intervention, and select time points following. This data will be collected six months, one year, two years, three years, and five years following the implementation of the intervention to determine if any significant change was made. It the incidence of substance abuse and HIV among adolescents in the local area are diminishing during this time period, it will be concluded that the intervention is effective and should not only be continued, but spread to other areas as well so people could experience the positive effects of this program.

If this initiative is implemented, more people will have access to HIV detection methods, Furthermore, the population will become more educated about HIV because more nurses and medical professionals will have the opportunity to have conversations with their patients about the connection between substance abuse and HIV. Furthermore, since many insurance companies will pay for these tests, there will be no financial difficulties for the individuals that wish to engage in this screening. Since HIV spreads primarily because a lot of individuals are not aware that they are carrying this virus, HIV will be less likely to be unknowingly spread through the population. Overall, it is expected that adverse health effects will reduce in the adolescent population as a consequence of the implementation of this program. There will be a greater degree of knowledge pertaining to substance abuse and HIV transmission that will help protect lives at this early and fragile age.

Details of the Evaluation Plan

Specific analytical methods that could be used to determine whether this program is effective includes the use of descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, range, and standard deviation to summarize the populations prior to and following the implementation. Microsoft Excel could be used for this purpose. Furthermore, to determine whether there is any variable between the population before and following the intervention, a student’s t-test could be used. Programs such as STATA or SPSS could be used for this purpose. This information will be used to provide additional recommendations about the policy change, to determine whether it should continue or be altered.

References

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