Answer 3 for NUR 550 Identify either a safety or quality improvement initiative related to improving population health
Improving population health is a multidimensional obligation for healthcare professionals collaborating with policymakers and community stakeholders to address health problems. Initiatives may target specific populations like marginalized groups or a wider community. Obesity prevention is a suitable quality improvement initiative for improving population health due to its positive impacts, like reducing hospitalizations and treatment costs for chronic diseases (Ling et al., 2023). Obesity prevention is also associated with improved well-being, health-seeking behaviors, better life quality, and more productive populations. The Healthy Way to Grow (HWTG) is an appropriate obesity prevention initiative that ensures safe populations, high-quality care, and healthy populations. The HWTG supports early care and education (ECE) centers to develop actional policies to improve the wellness environment (Ramos et al., 2021). The initiative is based on the premise that ECE centers are an opportune environment for optimizing children’s health and wellness through optimal nutrition, physical activity, and health education that shape life-long healthy behaviors.
Translational research influences the development of quality initiatives depending on its level. Regarding obesity prevention initiatives like the HWTG, the focus should be on research that translates findings in communities to benefit population health. As a result, phase 4 translational research (T4) can influence its development since it entails translating research to populations or communities by optimizing interventions (Wichman et al., 2021). Through T4, program developers would evaluate the feasibility of the initiative and potential outcomes to determine how it benefits the population’s health, well-being, and productivity. These findings can be the basis for improving the program’s essential components like school-based nutritional policies, education to implementers, and continuous research and improvements to make it more cost-effective.
References
Ling, J., Chen, S., Zahry, N. R., & Kao, T. A. (2023). Economic burden of childhood overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews: an Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 24(2), e13535. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13535
Ramos, M. F., Weber, J., Thompson, J. A., Werk, L., Shuell, J., Woods, K., & Bamdad, T. (2021). Evaluation of “Healthy Way to Grow”: an obesity prevention program in early care and education centers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49, 553-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01102-z
