Introduction
Population-focused interventions aim at stepping in and reducing mass exposure to risk even when the level is low. The interventions have an essential role in improving the clinical health outcomes of a community through enhanced care coordination and patient engagement. Several population-focused interventions can be done in different communities, such as water fluoridation, vaccination, smoking cessation, family planning, and dietary supplements. As for Concord City in North Carolina, smoking cessation has been applied to reduce population health risks. To enhance the overall public health of Concord, the significance and effects of quitting smoking are discussed.
Synopsis of Smoking Cessation
Smoking cessation involves measures applied to reduce or eliminate smoking activities in a community. Concord City has a high population of people who smoke, and this puts the entire city, including the children, at risk. Smoking can be passive or active, affecting smokers and those close to them. Smoking increases the risks of bronchitis, infertility, heart disease, diabetes, and lung cancer, which generally deteriorates the health of the city residents (Pietrangelo, 2019). Smoking cessation is an intervention that will generally improve the city’s health. A healthy city is vibrant and economically active, providing excellent resident benefits.
Several factors contribute to smoking cessation as a population-focused intervention. Smoking exposes users to toxins that substantially increase cardiovascular disease risks (Glantz, 2018). In the long run, smoking cessation benefits society as a whole, but there are key stakeholders in the intervention.
Physicians, nurses, the community, and the government all play a vital role in eliminating smoking in society. The government provides funds to ensure that the intervention is successful. Physicians and nurses help by counseling individuals and groups on the importance of quitting smoking. The city’s occupants should cooperate with the government and physicians to eliminate smoking in the city.
Support groups are formed where smokers and people who have already quit smoking meet. They share their experiences, and those who have already conquered smoking lead as role models for those still on the journey. During such meetings, physicians are invited where they give guidance on processes to follow, motivation to quit, and the benefits of a smoking-free society. The local government should establish smoking zones in the city, which will play an essential role in gathering smokers, and they can discuss the harmful effects of smoking, which will act as a motivation to quit.
Accessibility of the Population-Focused Intervention
As a public health measure, the health system and community preparedness will be crucial in effecting the smoking cessation program (Bhatnagar et al., 2020). The intervention should be done in the city; hence, it will be geographically accessible to the city residents by using areas such as gardens and fun parks. These areas are usually crowded with people and are a great platform to pass the information. People in all age groups use the areas, and therefore, the information will be received by all players in the population being addressed. Announcements about the support groups can be made in churches, and the churches can hold counseling sessions after the church service. Applying these methods will help many people access interventional services.
Levels of the Population-Focused Intervention
Smoking cessation addresses three levels of population-based interventions: system-based, community, and individual interventions. Policies, laws, organizations, and power structures affecting smoking cessation are part of the system-based interventions. Laws such as those limiting the sale of cigarettes to people under eighteen should be tightened, and policies that guide the arrest of people who do not abide by those laws should be formulated. Institutions such as schools and hospitals prohibit smoking, which ensures that smoking cessation is exercised.
Community-based interventions combine personal and environmental change strategies to promote the community’s well-being. Having nationally recognized treatment programs and training allows for the delivery of consistent smoking cessation (Thomson, 2022). Ethically, it is essential to offer protection from harm to all community members instead of a specific group. It is, therefore, essential to engage the whole city in the intervention program as it will benefit everyone. Individual interventions are explicitly directed to members of the target group themselves. Counseling and mentoring are essential in helping community members be aware of the dangers of smoking and the benefits of a smoking-free society.
Social Determinants of Health
The social determinants of health refer to the non-medical factors influencing community health outcomes. The city comprises different members of society, each with different backgrounds and lifestyles. An intervention program must understand the challenges it is trying to solve based on the contributing factors. WHO defines social determinants of health as conditions in which people are born, live, grow, work, and age (Palmer, 2019). Where people work, how they bring up their children, the environment in which their children interact and play, and the interactions between people of different ages are critical factors that influence the intervention program.
The Gap in Smoking Cessation in Concord City
People in Concord City have neglected the influence smoking has on the general health of the community. Parents smoke in their children’s presence, which makes their children smoke, while coworkers cannot hide their thirst for smoking during breaks. WHO revealed that school students’ smoking is the most widely abused substance (Mahasneh, 2020). The harmful effects of smoking, such as lung cancer and bronchitis, are evident to everyone, which is a critical issue that needs to be addressed, the failure to which the whole city will be polluted with this poor behavior. Another significant effect of smoking is that it affects the smoker and those near him, putting the whole population at ease. Smoking needs to be controlled, and measures should be put in place to ensure that all members of society are aware of the dangers of smoking.
Recommendations
Continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis may be attributed to misbeliefs by both patients and physicians regarding the benefit of quitting smoking on treatment outcomes (Quartey, 2021). It is recommended that education programs on the effects of smoking be implemented everywhere, including schools, hospitals, churches, and other working and business organizations. Sensitizing the importance of a smoking-free society should be a continuous process and should engage all members of society. Billboards with such information should be displayed while advertisements are shown on television during commercial breaks. Motivational programs at workplaces and hospitals should focus keenly on the effects of smoking on society.
Smoking cessation represents an intervention aimed at improving health outcomes at the population level that will benefit and improve the whole community’s health. Air pollution will be reduced, and people will be more morally upright. Incidents such as theft caused by smoking addicts who would do anything to get money for cigarettes will be reduced, enhancing the city’s security. Smoking cessation will play an essential role in improving public health because it has been observed that the population of smokers in the city keeps growing gradually. It is, therefore, essential to curb this problem as early as possible before it escalates to levels that will be impossible to control.
Conclusion
To enhance overall public health in Concord, the significance and effects of smoking cessation are being emphasized. Smoking cessation will reduce the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and bronchitis. The intervention program will also help society raise morally upright children and improve economically by having a healthy working population. Advanced nursing practice should focus on studies that explain why people smoke, which will help in laying out measures to motivate people to quit smoking.
References
Bhatnagar, T., Mandal, S., Arinaminpathy, N., Agarwal, A., Chowdhury, A., Murhekar, M., Gangakhedkar, R. R., & Sarkar, S. (2020). Prudent public health intervention strategies to control the coronavirus disease 2019 transmission in India: A mathematical model-based approach. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 151(2), 190. Web.
Glantz, S. A., & Bareham, D. W. (2018). E-cigarettes: Use, effects on smoking, risks, and policy implications. Annual Review of Public Health, 39(1), 215–235. Web.
Mahasneh, O. M. K. (2020). Dataset on perception among male secondary school students on underage smoking in Jordan. Data in Brief, 29, 105119. Web.
Palmer, R. C., Ismond, D., Rodriquez, E. J., & Kaufman, J. S. (2019). Social determinants of health: Future directions for health disparities research. American Journal of Public Health, 109(S1). Web.
Pietrangelo, A. (2019). 26 health effects of smoking on Your body. Healthline. Web.
Quartey, N. K., Papadakos, J., Umakanthan, B., & Giuliani, M. E. (2021). Pivoting the provision of smoking cessation education in a virtual clinical world: The Princess Margaret cancer center experience. Current Oncology, 28(6), 5395–5400. Web.
Thomson, R., Cooper, S., Waldron, J., Mamuzo, E., McDaid, L., Emery, J., Phillips, L., Naughton, F., & Coleman, T. (2022). Smoking cessation support for pregnant women provided by English stop smoking services and National Health Service Trusts: A survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1634. Web.
