Plan of Action—A Literature Review for A Public Health Problem

EVIDENCE-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH 9

EVIDENCE-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH

Joseph Toole

Evidence-based Public Health Practice

21 Feb 2017

EVIDENCE-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH

EFFECTS OF TOBACCO USE (SMOKING)

INTODUCTION

Tobacco use is the first and the leading cause of lung cancer in the world unites states of America. Smoking cigarette containing tobacco has got more than 7000 chemicals which are taken into the body of the smoker. Out of the 7000, 70 of them cause cancer diseases which are severe and hard to cure. Smoking cigarette has affected many people in the United States of America. Mostly men have been the majority in the action of smoking (Roger, Lloyd-Jones, Adams, Berry, Brown & Fox, 2015).

The research from the United States fact sheet shows that 17 out of 100 women smoke while the remaining larger percentage goes to men who are the majority smokers. Generally smoking cause about 480000 deaths out every year in the United States of America. This is an equivalent ratio of 1/5 of every death. In 2015, 15.1% of the adults in the United States 18 years and above smoked cigarettes and this trend is currently going on in the US (Kohatsu, Robinson & Torner, 2012).

This indicates that there is an urgent need and desire to stop the smoking of cigarette because they are made from tobacco plant. Many people have died while others are still suffering from lung cancer awaiting their death because there is no cure for lung cancer. Cigarette smoking contains tobacco which is known to have various chemicals that cause a variety of cancerous ailments. This implies that the effect of cigarette smoking is not only lung cancer but also other types of cancer ailments as listed below:

• Cancer of the mouth

• Heart failure due to attacks caused by tobacco

• Skin cancer muscles pain when doing exercises

These are only but a few harmful effects of smoking tobacco in the United States of America.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Scientific methodologies have been employed to research the evidence of the effects of tobacco in the US. Among them there are various statistical research tools that have been used including the following: secondary data review, interview and development of questionnaires. The tools have been successfully been used to bring in a wider view of the problem and how that affects the community in general (Kohatsu, Robinson & Torner, 2012).

To begin with, we created and supplied 40000 sample questionnaires using random sampling methods. The questionnaires contained relevant questions to the topic of study. We used the Google document tools in the internet to distribute the questionnaires to working professionals in various regions within the states. The major research-based counties were New York, Washington and Florida among many others. Notably, these three states are specifically known to host majority of smokers. We received the replies of the respondents and we recorded them down. Secondly we interviewed scientific scholars who have been carrying out research on the causes and control of cancer. They gave their comments which we recorded down for analysis. we also interviewed doctors, new nurses, physicians amount many other medical specialists who gave their information about the number of patients that have been admitted in their hospitals after contracting cancer diseases (Roger, Lloyd-Jones, Adams, Berry, Brown & Fox, 2015).

Finally we checked on various secondary sources which present their study findings on the effects of cancer in the US. Some examples include the world health disease records, the United States disease fact sheet and also the electronic health record systems of patients in the United States of America. Finally we carried out various laboratory experiments of the effects of tobacco on people by the help of the various research institutions and organizations that were established to initiate cancer diagnosis and treatment to patients. We were able to record all the results from all the departments of research study. We therefore used to research to analyzes and assess our findings and this is what we got from the results analysis (Roger, Lloyd-Jones, Adams, Berry, Brown & Fox, 2015).

TABLE SHOWING THE TOTAL POPULATION AFFECTED BY CIRGARETTE SMOKING IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

INTERVENTION AND EVALUATION

A serious prevention and control program need to be instituted to assist in eradicating this problem in the community. First and foremost, the harmful effect of the tobacco must be made known to all the tobacco users. They must be informed about the dangers of cigarette smoking in relation to lung cancer problems. This requires a mass education program. Mass information will be done through social media sites such as face book, twitter and IG. Similarly there can be the use of the website blogs where the effects of tobacco may be uploaded for internet traffic readers to have access to the information. A team of public officers will also be selected to talk with the citizens in various public meetings and events as well as in the TV and radio channels.

After mass education has been carried out a treatment program will be initiated. This will be started first using mass media to inform the victims about the cancer treatment and diagnosis program that is going to take place. The day of treatment should be announced including the hospitals that will be used as treatment centers. The same hospitals will be used to enact free cancer diagnosis for the people who will decide to volunteer for checkup. From there those who will be found infected will be put under a medication program until. The medication program will be reinstated as soon the check-up is done. This will have to go on for 3 months after which the program will be terminated (Kohatsu, Robinson & Torner, 2012).

Moreover, an evaluation program plan will be started after the treatment is completed to ensure that the drugs given are helping to reduce the effects of cancer in the community. Patients will also be re-examined to check for the medication progress. Any potential change will be activated in case the other alternatives fail. The social media will play a very important role in the evaluation program. Social sites such as face book twitter and Google will be used to communicate with the patients by collecting feedback and opinions about the treatment and medication program. Any necessary adjustments shall be considered to ensure that the patients are experiencing positive treatment and progress (Roger, Lloyd-Jones, Adams, Berry, Brown & Fox, 2015).

References

Roger, V. L., Go, A. S., Lloyd-Jones, D. M., Adams, R. J., Berry, J. D., Brown, T. M., ... & Fox, C. S. (2015). Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2011 Update1. About 1. About These Statistics2. American Heart Association's 2020 Impact Goals3. Cardiovascular Diseases4. Subclinical Atherosclerosis5. Coronary Heart Disease, Acute Coronary Syndrome, and Angina Pectoris6. Stroke (Cerebrovascular Disease) 7. High Blood Pressure8. Congenital Cardiovascular Defects9. Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure10. Other Cardiovascular Diseases11. Family History and Genetics12. Risk Factor: Smoking/Tobacco Use13. Risk Factor: High .... Circulation, 123(4), e18-e209

Aronson, R. E., Lovelace, K., Smith, M., & Shah, G. H. (2014). Differences in Definitions of EBPH and Evidence: Implications for Communication with Practitioners. Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research, 3(2), 1.

Smith, K. M., & Bobe, F. W. (2015). Light adaptation of bacteriochlorophyll-d producing bacteria by enzymic methylation of their antenna pigments. Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications, (4), 276-277.

Kohatsu, N. D., Robinson, J. G., & Torner, J. C. (2012). Evidence-based public health: an evolving concept. American journal of preventive medicine, 27(5), 417-421.

Dreisinger, M., Leet, T. L., Baker, E. A., Gillespie, K. N., Haas, B., & Brownson, R. C. (2013). Improving the Public Health Workforce: Evaluation of a Training Course to Enhance Evidence‐Based Decision Making. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 14(2), 138-143.