Behavioral Risk Factors and How to Address Them

Behavioral Risk Factor 

The behavioral risk factor that affects my community and is of interest to me is cigarette smoking with the specific focus being on adults over the age of 18 years. Tobacco use is considered as one of the leading issues within the United States resulting in the death of approximately 480,000 persons annually with more than 41,000 being victims of secondhand smoke (Jamal, Phillips, Gentzke, Homa, Babb, King, & Neff, 2018). In my community, the prevalence of cigarette smoking has been on the rise, especially among the youth between the age of 24 and 35 years. Most of these persons are engaging in cigarette smoking as part of their leisure activities while disregarding the impacts that this is having on their health. The leaders in the society have considered the issue as being significant leading to the implementation of intervention measures, most of which have not been successful in dealing with the risk factor.

The issue has also been of great impact attributed to the high-cost burden associated with dealing with the health outcomes associated with increased cases of cigarette smoking. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2018), the United States government spends approximately $170 billion in direct medical care with the specific focus being on adults that are engaged in cigarette smoking as part of their leisure activities. Kovner & Knickman (2011) indicate that the baseline percentage for cigarette smoking among adults stands at 24% with the Health People 2020 objectives focusing on a level of at most 12%, which means cutting the number of smokers by half. Consequently, this highlights the importance of having to set up effective mechanisms through which to ensure that the federal government in the United States would be able to achieve positive results.

Interventions 

The implementation of the possible interventions would occur within the downstream, midstream, and upstream levels. The best possible interference at the downstream level would be an implementation of self-help programs and tailored communication. When dealing with the self-help programs, smokers would be able to engage in programs with the aim being towards ensuring that they receive the support that they would want to quit smoking. Tailored communication is targeted at the nonsmoking population with the specific focus being towards highlighting the negative impacts associated with smoking. The expectation is that this will help in discouraging more people from engaging in the habit of cigarette smoking.

At the midstream level, the focus will be on the establishment of community-based interventions with the specific target being youths between the ages of 24 and 35 years. The community-based interventions would include the establishment of critical approaches through which to ensure that the children undergo guidance and counseling. Additionally, this would also mean that the youths are involved in community programs that seek to reflect on the overall negative associated with smoking. The expectation for these programs is that they would create a useful framework through which to ensure that a significant number of these youths understand the health risks that can be associated with smoking.

At the upstream level, the main focus will be on economic incentives with the emphasis being towards making this behavior untenable for the at-risk population. Specifically, the idea of having to revise the excises taxes associated with cigarettes higher would mean that the price margins for cigarettes would increase significantly. Ultimately, this would mean that a significant number of the at-risk population would avoid engaging in smoking while considering that they may experience difficulties in affording cigarettes. It must be noted that the establishment of the economic incentives would have a direct impact on determining how manufacturers respond concerning the pricing of the products that they deliver to the consumers.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). The burden of Tobacco Use in the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html 

Jamal, A., Phillips, E., Gentzke, A. S., Homa, D. M., Babb, S. D., King, B. A., & Neff, L. J. (2018). Current cigarette smoking among adults-United States, 2016.  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ,  67 (2), 53.

Kovner, A. R. & Knickman, J. R. (2011).  Jonas and Kovner's health care delivery in the united states . Springer Publishing Company.