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Improving Adolescent Health One Day at a Time

Final Program Plan
Amanda Joswick
HLTH 634 D01
December 14, 2014

Program Plan Outline

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Title of project: Improving Adolescent Health One Day at a Time

Author: Amanda Joswick
Problem: The health of adolescents is declining. Children and teenagers are getting
heavier, more sedentary, and lazier, eating unhealthier, and having more health issues
than ever.
Goals:
a. This intervention is going to help save the lives of obese adolescents.
i. Objectives
1. Educate children and adolescents how to eat healthy.
2. Educate children and adolescents the importance of daily physical
activity.
3. Educate children and adolescents about cardiovascular disease.
b. Change the adolescents eating habits from unhealthy to healthy.
i. Objectives
1. Teach children and adolescents the importance of eating fresh
fruits and vegetables.
2. Teach children and adolescents to avoid sugary snacks, processed
foods, fast food and sodas.
3. Teach children and adolescents how to make healthy eating habits
at home, school and at restaurants.
c. Teach children and adolescents the importance of daily physical activity.
i. Objectives
1. Teach them fun ways that they can exercise.
2. Teach them how exercise can prevent different health issues down
the road.
d. Teach children and adolescents the importance of maintaining a healthy weight to
avoid CVD risk factors.
i. Objectives
1. Educate children and adolescents about cardiovascular disease
2. Educate children and adolescents how obesity is related to
cardiovascular disease
3. Educate children and adolescents the risk factors of cardiovascular
disease

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e. Make sure that the children and adolescents who are participating in the program
have a good support system.
i. Objectives
1. Make sure parents understand how their child should be eating.
2. Educate parents on the importance of daily physical activity and
what they can do to encourage their child to exercise.
3. Teach parents fun activities to do with their children.
4. Educate parents on the importance of being supportive.
Contact Person
a. Amanda Joswick
b. (804) 712 2730
c. joswickam@gmail.com
Primary Audiences
a. Obese children and adolescents (12-19 years old)
i. Action: Encourage obese children and adolescents to participate in the
after school program.
ii. Barriers: Students might feel embarrassed to participate in the program,
they might not want to be judged by their friends and families, and they
might feel as if the program is too difficult for them and that they will
never be successful in losing weight.
iii. Benefits: Participants will learn how to eat healthy, exercise daily, and
learn the importance of maintaining a healthy weight.
iv. Credentials: The instructors of the program are personal trainers and
nutritionists as well as lifestyle behavior coaches who understand what the
child is going through and will help them make healthy lifestyle changes.
v. Channel: Social media, encouragement from their peers and families, as
well as other in school advertisements will catch the attention of the
children and adolescents.
b. Pediatricians of the obese children and adolescents
i. Actions: Discuss with the pediatricians the importance of this program and
encourage them to recommend it to the parents of obese children and
adolescents.
ii. Barriers: Other weight loss programs, pediatricians might not see what
they are getting out of it; pediatricians may not know all the details of the
program.
iii. Benefits: The pediatrician will gain more clients because their services
will be spread by advertisement by supporting this program and by word
of mouth from the parents.
iv. Credentials: If the parent of the child hears from their childs pediatrician
that they are obese and at risk for health problems, and then they

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recommend the program to the parents and the child, then the odds of the
child participating will increase.
v. Channel: Advertisements and brochures about the program will be at the
pediatricians offices.
c. School board
i. Actions: Officials of program will educate the school board on the
importance of this program.
ii. Barriers: School board may not want the program to be held after school
or on school grounds.
iii. Benefits: Once the school board approves of the program, than it will be
easy for the students to attend, and the program will increase the ratings of
the schools.
iv. Credentials: Since the school board controls what happens at the school,
they need to be on board with this program and support it.
v. Channel: Program officials will educate members of the school board the
statistics and facts of adolescent obesity, as well as the health
problems/social problems associated with it as well.
d. School teachers of the obese children and adolescents
i. Actions: The school teachers need to be on board with the program as
well. They will be educated about the program, and encouraged to
recommend it and to answer any questions about it that are asked by the
students. School teachers who assist with the program will get some sort
of bonus.
ii. Barriers: Teachers may feels as if they do not have the time to participate
in the program or they might not feel the program is necessary.
iii. Benefits: Teachers will be helping reduce the rates of obesity in
adolescents and obesity. They will also learn about how they can improve
their lifestyles.
iv. Credentials: Teachers who participate will be put through training on how
to assist with the program.
v. Channel: School board will advertise and educate the teachers about the
program.
Secondary target audiences
a. Parents and families of obese adolescents and children
i. Action: Program officials will meet with the parents and families of
children who need to participate in the program and educate them about
how import it is that they support their childs lifestyle changes.
ii. Barriers: Parents might see that nothing is wrong with their child, may not
support the program, may not buy healthy foods or encourage their child
to exercise.

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iii. Benefits: Parents will avoid down the roads expenses related to adolescent
obesity.
iv. Credentials: Facts and statistics will be given to the parents by program
officials to educate them about how serious of an issue adolescent obesity
is.
v. Channel: Parents will learn about the program through their childs school
and pediatrician.
b. Friends of obese adolescents and children
i. Action: Friends of obese adolescents and children need to be supportive
and encouraging.
ii. Barriers: Some peers will joke on the child for participating in the
program, others will peer pressure the child with junk food or video
games.
iii. Benefits: New, fun games and activities can be learned from the program.
iv. Credentials: Since the adolescent years are very important to a child
because they want to feel like they fit in, it is important that their friends
support them.
v. Channel: Advertisements around the school, program will have bring a
friend day so that they can exercise together.
Pretest strategy
a. A sample of students will be selected to look at the advertising methods, and the
program itself to determine if the program will be inviting to other students of the
same age group.
b. A sample of students will also participate in the workout portion of the program to
determine if they are fun and exciting.
c. The sample will also try to eat the healthy diet recommended to them and give
feedback to whether or not it is maintainable and realistic for someone of that age
group.
Theoretical foundation
a. PRECEDE-PROCEED model
i. The program will take into consideration what children and adolescents
already know about obesity.
ii. They will teach them more about healthy eating habits, daily exercise, and
maintaining a healthy weight.
iii. The program will look at the factors that could distract the child such as
peer pressure or lack of support from their families.
iv. They will then share with them reinforcing factors to remind the child that
participating in the program and changing their lifestyle to one that is
healthier is better for them in the long run.
Management chart

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a. Timetable: The program will begin in September and through June. The program
will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after school for one hour each
week.
b. Tasks: It is managements responsibility to stay on track of the workouts, diets,
and effectiveness of the program. They need to make sure that the child is getting
what they need to out of the program and that they are making progress.
c. Responsible persons: Personal trainers working with the program, nutritionists,
teachers and lifestyle coaches will be held responsible for making sure the
program is meeting the objectives that it was planned out to meet.
Budget
a. Estimated costs with justifications: $700,000
b. Resources required/needed
i. Personal Trainers
ii. Nutritionists
iii. Lifestyle Coaches
iv. Workout equipment
1. Rubberbands
2. Steps
3. Jump rope
4. Medicine balls
5. Dumbbells
6. Sports equipment
c. Resources available
i. Personnel
1. Teachers to assist childrens workouts
ii. Equipment
1. Schools already have jump ropes, basketballs, footballs, and soccer
balls that can be used.
iii. Supplies
1. Instructional information needs to be given the parents and child to
educate them on healthy eating habits and exercise habits.
2. Teachers who assist in the program need to be taught how to assist
the child in their workouts.
3. Marketing materials are needed.
a. Brochures
b. Posters about schools and at pediatricians offices
c. Social media advertisements
iv. Transportation
1. Parents of the adolescents/children will be responsible for picking
their child up each day.

2. Transportation will be provided by the school bus if needed.

d. Potential Problems
i. Students might care about the problem, so they participate in it but do not
change their eating habits or exercise habits. Therefore, essentially they
are wasting their time.
ii. Parents might not support the child which will make it hard for them to eat
healthy foods if they are not in the house, and exercise if the parents are
not taking them to sports practices or parks.
iii. School board members might not approve the program making it hard to
get the supplies that are needed, which will make it hard for the program
to take place.
iv. Teachers might not support the program, so there will not be enough help,
making the student to personal trainer high. Some students might not get a
good workout due to this.
v. Friends might not support the student; therefore this might cause them to
drop out of the program.
vi. The program might be too intimidating and hard for the student to follow.
This might lead to the child dropping out of the program.
e. Evaluation strategies
i. Formative and process
1. Quasi-experiments
a. Control groups and intervention groups
2. Before and after studies
a. Information is collected before and after the intervention
from the same members of the intended audience to
identify change from one time to another
ii. Outcome
1. Short term
a. Did children/adolescents learn about healthy eating habits?
b. Did they learn how to include exercise into their daily
schedules?
c. Did they learn the importance of maintaining a healthy
weight?
2. Long term
a. Did the child actually use what they learned?
b. Are they changing their lifestyle habits?
c. Has weight loss occurred and has it been kept off?
d. Has the risk for CVD risk factors decreased?
3. Impact

a. Ultimate outcome is to decrease the amount of obese

children and adolescents in Richmond, VA and surrounding
cities.