Public Health Interventions: Applications For Public Health Nursing Practice

Public health interventions:
Applications for public health

nursing practice
SECOND EDITION
2019
Public health interventions: Applications for public health nursing practice
Second edition
Marjorie Schaffer, PhD, RN, PHN
Susan Strohschein, DNP, RN, PHN (retired)
Suggested citation: Minnesota Department of Health. (2019). Public health interventions: Applications for
public health nursing practice (2nd ed.).
Minnesota Department of Health

Community Health Division
PO Box 64975
St. Paul, MN 55164-0975
651-201-3880
health.ophp@state.mn.us
www.health.state.mn.us
To obtain this information in a different format, call: 651-201-3880.

Contents
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Foreword............................................................................................................................................................... 7
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Overview of evidence-based practice and related topics .............................................................................. 17
Red wedge .......................................................................................................................................................... 25
Surveillance .................................................................................................................................................... 25
Disease and health event investigation ......................................................................................................... 40
Outreach......................................................................................................................................................... 53
Screening ........................................................................................................................................................ 65
Case-finding .................................................................................................................................................... 78
In review ......................................................................................................................................................... 87
Green wedge ....................................................................................................................................................... 91
Referral and follow-up ................................................................................................................................... 91
Case management ........................................................................................................................................ 104
Delegated functions ..................................................................................................................................... 115
In review ....................................................................................................................................................... 128
Blue wedge ....................................................................................................................................................... 131
Health teaching ............................................................................................................................................ 131
Counseling .................................................................................................................................................... 142
Consultation ................................................................................................................................................. 155
In review ....................................................................................................................................................... 165
Orange wedge ................................................................................................................................................... 167
Collaboration ................................................................................................................................................ 167
Coalition-building ......................................................................................................................................... 181
Community organizing ................................................................................................................................. 193
In review ....................................................................................................................................................... 204
Yellow wedge .................................................................................................................................................... 207
Advocacy ...................................................................................................................................................... 207
Social marketing ........................................................................................................................................... 220
Policy development and enforcement ......................................................................................................... 237
In review ....................................................................................................................................................... 248
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INTRODUCTION
Acknowledgements
The 2019 evidence update of Public health interventions: Applications for public
health nursing practice builds on the foundational work of Linda Olson Keller, DNP,
RN, PHN, FAAN; Susan Strohschein, DNP, MS, RN, PHNA (retired); and Laurel Briske,
MA, RN, CPNP (retired). Their visionary leadership brought together public health lit-
erature and the expert practice of public health nurses to make the Intervention
Wheel a reality for everyday public health nursing practice. The contributions of Dr.
Keller and Dr. Strohschein in the dissemination of the Intervention Wheel create a
legacy and responsibility for all public health nurses in intervening to improve popu-
lation health.
Reviewers
We are also grateful to our reviewers who read and critiqued drafts of individual in-
tervention wedges. The reviewers asked good questions and made insightful com-
ments, essential for revising this document for readability, clarity, accuracy, and ap-
plicability to public health nursing practice.
With thanks, to the following reviewers:
Linda J.W. Anderson, DNP, MPH, RN, PHN Sheryl Jacobson, MS, RN
Bethel University Viterbo University
Linda Bauck-Todd, MS, RN, PHN Maren Jensen, RN, PHN
Minnesota Department of Health Hennepin County
Kathleen Bell, EdD, RN, PHN Wendy Kvale, MS, MPH, PHN
St. Catherine University Minnesota Department of Health
Angela Bosshart, BSN, RN, PHN Janelle Lambert, BSN, PHN
Hennepin County Minnesota Department of Health
Bonnie Brueshoff, DNP, RN, PHN Karen Jorgensen-Royce, MSN, RN, PHN
Dakota County Wright County
Bethany Divakaran, DNP, MPH, RN, PHN Karen Loewenson, MA, RN, PHN, CNE
Concordia University St. Catherine University
Kari Glavin, PhD, MSc, RN, PHN Stacie O'Leary, MA, RN, PHN, LSN
VID Specialized University Independent School District 197
Karen S. Goedken, MSN, PHN Mary Orban, MA, PHN
Hennepin County Minnesota Department of Health
Pamela L. Guthman, DNP, RN-BC Patricia M. Schoon, DNP, MPH, RN, PHN
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Metropolitan State University
PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 5

INTRODUCTION
Linda Reveling Smith, MPH, RN, PHN Jernell Walker, BSN RN, PHN
Winona State University Hennepin County
Stephanie Rivery, DNP, RN, PHN Carol Wentworth, BSN, RN, PHN
Dakota County Carver County
Amalia Roberts, DNP, RN, PHN Maureen Wosepka, MSN, RN, PHN, LSN
Dakota County St. Catherine University
Anna Terry, MSN, RN, PHN Susan Zahner, DrPH, RN, FAAN
Dakota County University of Wisconsin-Madison
Project staff
Julia Ashley, MA, PHN
Kristin Erickson, MSN, RN, APHN-BC
Allison Hawley March, MPH
Reviewer notes
I found the formatting and updated evidence cited in the chapters much more clear
and applicable to current practice. I believe the evidence tips’ formatting makes the
full chapters for each intervention on the wheel a great deal more “readable” and
easier for everyone to grasp.
***
Overall, this is a very straightforward way for students and public health nursing pro-
fessionals alike to refer to and know exactly what an intervention encompasses, as
well as ideas for implementing the intervention, and how to stay in the public health
nursing swim lane when working with other health care entities in the health care
system and in communities.
***
I was very impressed with the comprehensiveness of the intervention definitions, ap-
plications, and evidence tips.
***
I appreciated using stories and application questions as appropriate triggers for dis-
cussion in my teaching practice.
6 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

INTRODUCTION
Foreword
Public Health Interventions: Applications for Public Health Nursing Practice, first
published in 2001 and commonly known as the Public Health Intervention Wheel,
guides the actions of public health nurses and their colleagues nationally and inter-
nationally across cultures and countries. During the past 18 years, practitioners have
used the Intervention Wheel framework to plan and evaluate practice, as well as re-
spond to emergency preparedness, develop control measures for emerging conta-
gious disease outbreaks, and promote lifestyle changes related to population health
improvement.
Significant growth of the evidence base of the 2001 manual and the corresponding
development of evidence-based public health practice led to the need to publish a
second edition that reflects new evidence. Although the literature search is not ex-
haustive, we have used a systematic process to identify new evidence and revisit pre-
vious evidence. We hope this evidence update broadens the support for implemen-
tation of the 17 public health interventions. We realize that many expert public health
practitioners hold a wealth of practice-based evidence that may not be reflected in
this update. We encourage you to share that evidence through presentations and
publication.
We do not expect that every public health professional will be proficient in all inter-
ventions at all practice levels. Your role and your agency determines the range, fre-
quency, and practice level of respective interventions. In a larger agency, practition-
ers may focus on one or two interventions across one practice level. In a smaller
agency, practitioners may use multiple interventions across multiple practice levels.
Wherever you practice, you may find that your actions encompass a variety of inter-
ventions based on a range of evidence levels.
We hope this evidence update inspires you to grow your public health practice and
support environments in which people can be healthy. In so doing each one of us
contributes to the vision of Lillian Wald, founder of American community nursing:
The call to nurse is not only for the bedside care of the sick, but to help in
seeking out the deep-lying basic cause of illness and misery, that in the
future there may be less sickness to nurse and to cure. (Wald, 1915, p. 65)
--Marjorie Schaffer, PhD, RN, PHN and Susan Strohschein, DNP, RN, PHN (retired)

INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Public health interventions: Applications for public health nursing practice, 2nd edition
Background
Under the leadership of public health nurses, the Minnesota Department of Health
(MDH) developed a manual, Public health interventions: Applications for public
health nursing practice, to guide public health nursing practice. MDH distributed this
manual, commonly known as the Public Health Intervention Wheel, to public health
departments and public health nurses in 2001. Informed by literature and expert
practice, the Public Health Nursing Intervention Wheel framework provides a com-
mon language that names the work of public health nurses.
Two articles published in 2004 provide details about the development and dissemi-
nation of the manual:
 Keller, L. O., Strohschein, S., Lia-Hoagberg, B., & Schaffer, M. A. (2004).
Population-based public health interventions: Practice-based and evidence-
supported (Part I). Public Health Nursing, 21(5), 453-468.
 Keller, L. O., Strohschein, S., Schaffer, M. A., & Lia-Hoagberg, B., (2004).
Population-based public health interventions: Innovations in practice, teaching,
and management (Part II). Public Health Nursing, 21(5), 469-487.
Public health nurses in Minnesota, across the United States, and in other countries,
including Australia, Ireland, and Norway, embrace and use the Public Health Inter-
vention Wheel (Anderson et al., 2018; Baisch, 2012; Bigbee, 2012; Depke, 2011;
Leahy-Warren, 2018; McDonald et al., 2015; Reilly, Collier, & Edelstein, 2011;
Schaffer, Anderson, & Rising, 2016; Schaffer, Kalfoss, & Glavin, 2017).
How has public health nursing practice changed?

Since the 2001 dissemination of the Public Health Intervention Wheel, changes in the
socioeconomic and political landscape triggered changes in public health nursing
practice. Health care reform policy began to address social determinants of health,
prevention, and population health in community settings (Swider, Berkowitz,
Valentine-Maher, Zenk, & Bekemeier, 2017; Bekemeier, Zahner, Kulbok, Merrill, &
Kub, 2016) driving public health practice to respond in like manner. In response to
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and bioterrorism incidents, the U.S. federal
government provided substantial funding to state and local governments for emer-
gency preparedness activities (Katz, Attal-Juncqua, & Fischer, 2017). This funding led
to including emergency preparedness activities and opportunities in public health
nursing practice.

INTRODUCTION
At the same time, challenges to the public health infrastructure affected the availa-
bility of resources and support for public health nursing practice. These challenges
include insufficient funding, resulting in budget cuts and loss of prevention and health
promotion services; a declining public health workforce, including public health
nurses (PHNs); and workforce issues, such as non-competitive salaries, retirements,
technology changes, lack of diversity, and lack of formal public health training
(Bekemeier et al., 2016).
In response to these events and challenges, public health nurses require increased
skills in system- and community-level interventions. Strengthening the public health
system and improving population health depends upon expertise in community en-
gagement and partnership development (National Institutes of Health, 2011; Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, 2017). Decreasing resources for public health work de-
mand that public health nurses work efficiently and effectively. Using best evidence
to support interventions when collaborating with systems and communities improves
population health and reduces health care dollars spent on acute and crisis health
care. This manual updates the best evidence for public health nursing interventions
and provides PHNs with the knowledge and tools to design and implement effective
interventions in their practice.
How has the Public Health Intervention Wheel

changed?
All of the interventions and the five Intervention Wheel wedges remain the same.
The authors simplified the manual content, and updated and aligned intervention
definitions with new evidence found in the literature. Each intervention includes the
following sections:
 Definition
 Practice-level examples (individual/family, community, or systems)
 Relationships to other interventions
 Basic steps for the intervention with application example
 Key points from evidence (summarizes relevant evidence with evidence levels)
 Wheel notes (concerns, thoughts, challenges relevant to the intervention)
 Reference list
A few things to keep in mind when using the manual:
 Practice-level examples related to each intervention facilitate distinguishing be-
tween practice levels.
 Real examples from the literature and/or public health nursing experience form
the basis of application examples related to the intervention basic steps.
 Key points from evidence include research and non-research (evidence that re-
flects expert practice in the public health field that has not come through a rig-
orous research process) evidence.
 A story with application questions at the end of each intervention wedge en-
courages consideration of the intervention and facilitates application of the in-
tervention’s basic steps.

INTRODUCTION
Method
The authors searched CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Litera-
ture) as the primary database for evidence updates on public health interventions from
2000 to 2018. The name of the intervention combined with other terms, such as public
health, public health nursing, intervention, community, and nursing narrowed the
search. For some interventions, alternative terms yielded additional articles, such as
the use of health education for health teaching. Journals yielding a high number of ar-
ticles addressing public health interventions included Public Health Nursing, the Journal
of Community Health Nursing, the Journal of School Nursing, the American Journal of
Public Health, and the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.
Searching government health-related websites and textbooks provided other sources
of evidence. Government websites included the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention (CDC), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO),
the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, and state health departments. Classic textbooks on some of the interven-
tions provided evidence for each intervention’s basic steps.
The authors used the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model (Dang &
Dearholt, 2018) to categorize evidence levels (for further explanation of evidence-
based practice, see Overview of evidence-based practice and related topics, on p. 16).
Although all five levels of evidence support basic steps and key evidence points for
interventions, lower levels of evidence predominate. Non-experimental studies pro-
vide the primary basis for research evidence for interventions.
Public health nursing interventions

Public health nurses work in or out of schools, homes, clinics, jails, shelters, mobile
vans, and dog sleds. They work with communities, the individuals and families that
compose communities, and the systems that affect the health of those communities.
Regardless of where or with whom they work, all PHNs use a core set of interventions
to accomplish their goals.
Interventions are actions that public health nurses take on behalf of individu-
als/families, communities, and systems, to improve or protect health status (Minne-
sota Department of Health, 2001, p. 1).
This framework, known as the Intervention Wheel, defines the scope of public health
nursing practice by type of intervention and level of practice (individual/family, com-
munity, or systems), rather than by the site of service such as home, school, occupa-
tional health, clinic, and others. The Intervention Wheel describes the scope of prac-
tice by what is similar across settings and describes the practice of public health nurs-
ing at the individual/family, community, or systems level. The Intervention Wheel an-
swers the question, “What do public health nurses do?” and delineates public health
nursing as a specialty practice of nursing. These interventions are not exclusive to
public health nursing, as they are also used by other public health disciplines, except
for delegated functions.

INTRODUCTION
The Intervention Wheel:

The “how” of public health nursing practice
The Intervention Wheel integrates three distinct and equally important components:
1. The population-basis of public health interventions
2. Three levels of public health practice:
 Individual/family
 Community
 Systems
3. Seventeen public health interventions:
 Surveillance  Counseling
 Disease and health event  Consultation
investigation  Collaboration
 Outreach  Coalition-building
 Screening  Community organizing
 Case-finding  Advocacy
 Referral and follow-up  Social marketing
 Case management  Policy development and
 Delegated functions enforcement
 Health teaching

INTRODUCTION
The Intervention Wheel consists of a colorful outside ring, three inner rings, and 17
“wedges” or “slices.” All public health interventions are population-based. A popula-
tion is a collection of individuals who have one or more personal or environmental
characteristics in common. A population of interest is a population that is essentially
healthy, but who could improve factors that promote or protect health. A population
at risk is a population with a common identified risk factor or risk exposure that poses
a threat to health.
Intervention wedges
The interventions are grouped with related interventions; these “wedges” are color
coordinated to make them more recognizable.
Red wedge: Surveillance, disease and health event investigation, outreach, screen-
ing, case-finding. Surveillance is often paired with disease and health event investi-
gation, even though either can be implemented independently. Screening frequently
follows either surveillance or disease and health event investigation and is often pre-
ceded by outreach activities in order to maximize the number of those at risk who
actually get screened. Most often, screening leads to case-finding, but this interven-
tion can also be carried out independently or related directly to surveillance and dis-
ease and health event investigation.
Green wedge: Referral and follow-up, case management, and delegated functions
are often implemented together.
Blue wedge: Health teaching, counseling, and consultation are more similar than
they are different. Often health teaching and counseling are paired.
Orange wedge: Collaboration, coalition-building, and community organizing are
grouped together because they are all types of collective action and are often carried
out at the community or systems level of practice.
Yellow wedge: Advocacy, social marketing, and policy development and enforce-
ment are often interrelated when implemented. In fact, advocacy is often viewed as
a precursor to policy development; and social marketing is seen by some as a method
of carrying out advocacy.
Population-based interventions
The Intervention Wheel is grounded in population-based practice. Interventions are
population-based if they address all of the following:
1. An entire population
2. An assessment of community health
3. Broad determinants of health
4. All levels of prevention
5. All levels of practice

INTRODUCTION
1. Public health interventions are population-based if they focus

on entire populations possessing similar health concerns or
characteristics
Population-based interventions are not limited to only those who seek service or who
are poor or otherwise vulnerable. Population-based planning always begins by iden-
tifying everyone in the population of interest or the population at risk. For example,
it is a core public health function to assure that all children are immunized against
vaccine-preventable disease. Even though limited resources compel public health de-
partments to target programs toward those children known to be at particular risk
for being under- or unimmunized, the public health system remains accountable for
the immunization status of the total population of children.
2. Public health interventions are population-based if they are

guided by an assessment of population health status determined
through a community health assessment process
A population-based model of practice begins with a community health assessment
process. Public health analyzes health status (risk factors, problems, protective fac-
tors, assets) within populations; establishes priorities; and plans, implements, and
evaluates public health programs and strategies. Public health agencies assess the
health status of populations on an ongoing basis, so that public health programs re-
spond appropriately to new and emerging problems, concerns, and opportunities.
Since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (sometimes known as the ACA, the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare), nonprofit hospitals and
hospital systems must also conduct community health needs assessments to main-
tain their federal tax-exempt status. This incentivizes local public health departments,
hospital systems, and other community partners to collaborate on the community
health assessment process.
3. Public health interventions are population-based if they

consider the broad determinants of health
A population-based approach examines all factors that promote or prevent health. It
focuses on the entire range of factors that determine health, rather than just personal
health risks or disease. Examples of broad determinants of health include income and
social status, race and ethnicity, housing, nutrition, employment and working condi-
tions, social support networks, education, neighborhood safety and violence issues,
physical environment, personal health practices and coping skills, cultural customs
and values, and community capacity to support family and economic growth.

consider all levels of prevention, with a preference for primary
prevention
Prevention is anticipatory action taken to prevent the occurrence of an event (pri-
mary prevention) or to minimize its effect after it has occurred (secondary preven-
tion). A population approach is different from the medical model in which persons
seek treatment when they are ill or injured. Not every event is preventable, but every

INTRODUCTION
event does have a preventable component. A population-based approach presumes

that prevention may occur at any point.
 Primary prevention promotes health and protects against health threats. It is
implemented before a problem develops; it targets essentially well populations.
Primary prevention promotes resiliency and protective factors or reduces sus-
ceptibility and exposure to risk factors. Examples of primary prevention include
building assets in youth and immunizing for vaccine-preventable diseases. In re-
cent literature, this approach is often labeled an “upstream” approach, in which
the focus of care modifies the social determinants of health with the goal of
preventing disease and disability (Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019).
 Secondary prevention detects and treats problems in their early stages. It is im-
plemented after a problem has begun, but before signs and symptoms appear.
Secondary prevention keeps problems from causing serious or long-term effects
or from affecting other people. It identifies risks or hazards and modifies, re-
moves, or treats them before a problem becomes more serious. It targets pop-
ulations that have risk factors in common. An example is screening for home
safety and correcting hazards before an injury occurs.
 Tertiary prevention limits further negative effects from a problem. It is imple-
mented after a disease or injury has occurred. Tertiary prevention alleviates the
effects of disease and injury and restores individuals to their optimal level of
functioning. It targets populations who have experienced disease or injury. Ter-
tiary prevention keeps existing problems from getting worse—for instance, col-
laborating with health care providers to ensure periodic examinations, to pre-
vent complications of diabetes such as blindness, renal disease failure, and limb
amputation.
Whenever possible, public health programs emphasize primary prevention.

consider all levels of practice
This concept is represented by the inner three rings of the Intervention Wheel; the
inner rings of the wheel are labeled individual/family-focused, community-focused,
and systems-focused
A population-based approach considers intervening at all possible levels of practice.
Interventions may be directed at the entire population within a community, the sys-
tems that affect the health of those populations, and/or the individuals and families
within those populations known to be at risk.
 Population-based systems-focused practice changes organizations, policies,
laws, and power structures. The focus is not directly on individuals and commu-
nities but on the systems that impact health. Changing systems is often a more
effective and long-lasting way to impact population health than requiring
change from community norms or from every single individual in a community.
 Population-based community-focused practice changes community norms, at-
titudes, awareness, practices, and behaviors. It is directed toward entire popu-
lations within the community or occasionally toward specific groups within
those populations. Community-focused practice is measured in terms of what
proportion of the population actually changes.

INTRODUCTION
 Population-based individual-focused practice changes knowledge, attitudes,

beliefs, practices, and behaviors of individuals or families. This practice level is
directed at individuals, alone, or as members in a family or group. Individuals
receive services upon identification with a population at risk.
Interventions at each of these levels of practice contribute to the goal of improving
population health status. Public health professionals determine the most appropriate
level(s) of practice based on community need and the availability of effective strate-
gies and resources. No one level of practice is more important than another; in fact,
population health issues are addressed at all three levels, often simultaneously.
For example, when considering smoking rates among adolescents, public health
nurses intervene at all practice levels. At the individual practice level, public health
nurses teach middle school chemical health classes to increase knowledge about the
risks of smoking, change attitudes toward tobacco use, and improve refusal skills
among youth 12 to 14 years old. At the community level of practice, public health
nurses coordinate youth-led and adult-supported social marketing campaigns to
change the community norms regarding adolescents’ tobacco use. At the systems
level of practice, public health nurses facilitate community coalitions that advocate
for city councils to adopt stronger ordinances restricting over-the-counter youth ac-
cess to tobacco.
Cornerstones of public health nursing

Population-based practice drives the Intervention Wheel but does not address why
PHNs practice public health nursing. The Cornerstones of Public Health Nursing syn-
thesize the values and beliefs of public health and nursing to explain the values and
beliefs that are the foundation for the practice of public health nursing (Keller,
Strohschein, & Schaffer, 2011). Values and beliefs from public health entwine with
the values and belief of nursing to produce public health nursing. Public health values
include social justice, a population focus, reliance on epidemiology, health promotion
and prevention, the greater good, and long-term commitment to community. Nurs-
ing contributes additional values and beliefs: caring and compassion, holistic and re-
lationship-centered practice, sensitivity to vulnerable populations, and independent
practice (pp. 251-252).
The Intervention Wheel and the core public

health functions, essential services
Implementing interventions to address public health problems and opportunities
identified through a community assessment result in PHNs fulfilling the core func-
tions of public health and the 10 essential public health services. The specific set of
interventions selected and implemented vary from community to community, from
population to population, from problem to problem, and from department to depart-
ment. Public health nurses often address the essential services as part of a team with
members from other public health disciplines and other community partners. Schoon
et al. (2019) provide a detailed description of core functions and the 10 essential pub-
lic health services, with application to public health nursing practice (pp. 151-153).

INTRODUCTION
Using the public health intervention framework

In general, the intervention framework provides a reasoned, systematic approach to
practice:
 Use an intervention’s basic steps to most effectively use time.
 Use interventions for problem solving when stuck or strategies are not going as
expected.
 Apply best practices for planning and evaluating public health nursing interven-
tions.
Specifically, one can use the Intervention Wheel to:
 Assure that all three levels of intervention are considered during program plan-
ning (that is, have interventions at the individual/family, community, and sys-
tems levels been considered?)
 Examine the scope of an agency’s practice (Do the programs delivered cover the
entire scope of practice? Are there certain interventions or levels that could be
added?)
 Describe public health nursing’s contributions to collaboration or coalition-
building
 Explain public health nursing to other disciplines and community members
 Orient new staff
 Build and enhance staff intervention skills
 Determine what changes to evaluate (health status or intermediate changes at
the individual/family, community, and systems levels) as a result of the inter-
vention
 Teach nursing students about public health nursing
 Select evidence to support effective public health nursing practice

INTRODUCTION
Overview of evidence-
based practice and related
topics
What is evidence-based practice?
Evidence-based practice is a problem-solving approach used by health professionals
to make clinical decisions (Dang & Dearholt, 2018). Evidence-based practice involves
reviewing the best available research evidence (randomized controlled trials, quasi-
experimental studies, and non-experimental studies) and non-research evidence
(clinical practice guidelines, position statements, literature reviews, quality improve-
ment and evaluation data, case reports, and expert opinion) in order to determine
the most effective interventions for improving client outcomes.
Why is evidence-based practice important to

public health nurses?
Evidence-based practice is important to PHNs because it is more likely to contribute to:
 Improved population health
 Intended outcomes
 Effective guidelines and protocols
When do public health nurses use evidence-

based practice?
Public health nurses use evidence to inform selection of recommended interventions
as they collaborate with individuals/families, communities, systems, and other
professionals.

INTRODUCTION
What are the levels of evidence that inform

evidence-based practice?
Based on the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model, evidence is cat-
egorized into five levels based on rigor (Table 1). Level 1 represents the highest level
of evidence and level 5 represents the lowest level of evidence. Level 1 is more rigor-
ous than level 5.
Level 1 Experimental studies (randomized controlled trials); systematic re-
views of randomized controlled trials
Level 2 Studies with quasi-experimental designs; systematic reviews of mixed
randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies or only
quasi-experimental studies; includes pretest-posttest evaluations
Level 3 Studies with non-experimental designs; includes qualitative studies
and surveys; systematic reviews of non-experimental studies that
may also include randomized controlled trials and quasi-
experimental studies
Level 4 Clinical practice guidelines; consensus panels; position statements
Level 5 Literature reviews; quality improvement evaluation; program eval-
uation; case reports; expert opinion
Table 1: Evidence levels, key features, and public health nursing

practice examples
Evidence level Key features Example
Level 1 Intervention Older adults who received home

(most rigorous) present visits had decreased difficulty and
dependence for meal preparation,
Experimental study, One variable
telephone use, shopping, and ordi-
randomized manipulated
nary housework (instrumental activ-
controlled trial
Participants ities of daily living) when compared
Systematic review randomized into with older adults who had usual
of randomized experimental and care (Li, Liebel, & Friedman, 2013).
controlled trials control groups
Level 2 Intervention School nurses collaborated with a

present hospital and a school of nursing to
Quasi-experimental
develop and implement an injury
study Lacks either
prevention curriculum for helmet
randomization of
Systematic review safety in elementary schools. Stu-
participants or a
of both randomized dents from the intervention group
control group
controlled trials and reported increased helmet use after
quasi-experimental the intervention when compared
studies or only with the control group (Adams,
quasi-experimental Drake, Dang, & Le-Hinds, 2014).

INTRODUCTION
Evidence level Key features Example
Level 3 May contain In response to an online survey in

intervention 29 states, PHNs reported conduct-
Non-experimental
ing ongoing surveillance for tuber-
Lacks both
Systematic review culosis, vaccine preventable dis-
randomization of
of studies in first eases, sexually transmitted dis-
participants and a
three levels eases, pediculosis (lice), food borne
control group
Qualitative study diseases, and elevated blood lead
levels in their communities
Surveys (Schaffer, Keller, & Reckinger,
2015).
Level 4 Opinion of CDC offers guidelines for the han-

respected dling and storage of breast milk
Clinical practice
authorities or (Centers for Disease Control and
guidelines
national-level Prevention, 2017).
Expert panels expert panels based
Position statements on scientific
evidence
Level 5 Experiential Program evaluation of the Pregnant

(least rigorous) evidence of experts and Parenting Team Program meas-
ured program effectiveness with
Literature or
data on birth outcomes, active en-
integrative reviews
rollment in school, delay of repeat
Quality pregnancy, maternal-infant bonding
improvement and attachment, use of community
Program resources, and infant growth and
evaluation * development. Outcome data
showed progress toward goals in-
Case reports cluding improvements in birth out-
Expert opinion comes and school enrollment
(Schaffer, Goodhue, Stennes, &
Lanigan, 2012).
Source: Dang & Dearholt, 2018; Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019.
*
A program evaluation could be level 2 or 3 if study design is consistent with criteria for
those levels.

INTRODUCTION
What are some terms and definitions related to

evidence level?
 Literature review: Summarizes published literature without systematic ap-
praisal of quality or strength (Dearholt & Dang, 2018, p. 149)
 Meta-analysis: Uses statistical methods to analyze the results of a group of in-
dividual quantitative research studies
 Meta-synthesis: Combines the results of a group of individual qualitative re-
search studies
 Qualitative studies: Collect data using words vs. statistical analysis. These stud-
ies have no randomization, no manipulation, and little control
 Quantitative studies: Collect data using numerical measures and statistical anal-
ysis; includes experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental research
 Systematic review: Critical appraisal of research evidence
Where is evidence found?

Quality evidence resides in the following locations:
 Nursing and public health literature databases, such as CINAHL and PubMed
 Google Scholar (avoid general search engines like Google)
 Government organizations (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Two online resources feature evidence-based findings and recommendations for
public health interventions:
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The Community Guide
 McMaster University: Health Evidence
How is the quality of evidence determined?

Although determining the level of evidence is one way of measuring its rigor, PHNs
also need to consider the quality of the evidence for both research and non-research
evidence. For each evidence level, Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice:
Model and Guidelines (3rd ed.) by Dang and Dearholt (2018) specifies criteria for
determining whether the evidence is high quality, good quality, or low quality with
major flaws.
What process does a public health nurse use to

evaluate evidence?
Dang and Dearholt (2018) describe the PET process, which involves three steps for
evaluation of evidence (Table 2). Although individual public health nurses can review
evidence for practice, a team approach is often used to review evidence and deter-
mine best practices.

INTRODUCTION
Table 2: PET process

Phase Actions Example
P Examine the practice Public health nurses who provide health

concern teaching, counseling, and consultation at
Practice
a local senior center have noted the
question Develop the evidence-
absence of several regular attendees due
based practice
to reduced mobility from falls. The PHNs
question
on the team providing senior services
Involve stakeholders, decide to assess the fall risk of seniors
leadership, and the who attend the clinic. Their practice
team in refining the question is: What fall risk assessment
question tool for older adults in the community is
accurate and convenient to use?
E Conduct a search for The team consults with the state health
the evidence department and the local community
Evidence
hospital to determine if guidelines for fall
Appraise the evidence
risk assessment exist. They collaborate
Summarize individual with a local school of nursing to conduct
evidence a search for evidence-based fall risk
Synthesize strength assessments and appraise evidence for
and quality of level and quality.
available evidence
Develop
recommendations for
practice change
T Determine if The team meets to determine which fall

suggested practice risk assessment tool would best meet
Translation
changes are feasible, their needs for assessing older adults in
appropriate, and a the community based on the available
good fit evidence. They create a plan for
implementing the fall risk assessment at
Create action plan
the senior center. After implementing
Implement and the plan, the team evaluates changes
evaluate the change that clients made in their home
Disseminate findings environments and mobility practices
following participating in fall risk
assessment and education. The PHNs
present their findings at a local public
health nursing conference.
Note: Refer to Dang and Dearholt (2018) for a more complete explanation of each of
the three evidence-based practice (EBP) phases, tools useful for guiding EBP, how to
create an EBP-friendly organizational environment, and EBP examples.

INTRODUCTION
References
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Introduction
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Services (The Community Guide). Retrieved from https://www.thecommunityguide.org/

INTRODUCTION

RED WEDGE: SURVEILLANCE
Surveillance
Surveillance is “an ongoing, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of
health-related data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of pub-
lic health practice” (World Health Organization, 2018).
Historically, nurses collected data and used statistics to improve health outcomes.
Florence Nightingale collected and analyzed data on preventable deaths in the mili-
tary in the 19th century to inform professional standards of care. In the early 20th cen-
tury, Lillian Wald partnered with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to involve
nurses in data collection for a study on mortality from tuberculosis (Earl, 2009).
Practice-level examples
Population of interest: Entire population with special attention to pregnant women,
elderly, immunocompromised, those with chronic illnesses, and infants less than six
months of age.

Problem: Seasonal influenza, which can be fatal. The incidence of influenza was ele-
vated across the United States during the 2017-18 season. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (2018) surveillance data for one week in February 2018 indi-
cated the proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness was 6.4 percent
(compared with a national rate of 2.2 percent during the same week in 2017), and 13
pediatric deaths occurred.
Systems level
Local and state public health departments routinely collect data from outpatient and
hospital laboratories to detect the influenza virus. Facilities with people in close prox-
imity to one another, such as long-term care facilities and schools, report when their
residents or students report flu-like symptoms above a certain rate. Public health
nurses (PHNs) assigned to communicable disease control programs in local and state
health departments monitor this information for evidence of outbreaks, which would
indicate a need for increased dissemination of information on prevention to the public.
Community level
Nurses in Ontario staffed a telephone health helpline to recruit and monitor partici-
pants with influenza-like symptoms. Participants obtained a nasal specimen through
self-swabbing and submitted it for testing and laboratory confirmation. An evaluation
study demonstrated that self-swabbing was a practical strategy for collecting surveil-
lance data on the influenza virus and results were similar to other surveillance sys-
tems in practice (McGolrick et al., 2016).
Individual/family level (case-finding)

Public health nurses routinely inquire about flu-like symptoms with the individuals,
families, and groups, and colleagues with whom they work. During staff meetings,
PHNs report and monitor flu activity in the area.
Relationship with other interventions

Surveillance focuses on significant health threats like contagious diseases, as well as
health events such as chronic diseases, injury, and violence. Similar to disease and
health event investigation, surveillance collects and analyzes health data. Unlike in-
vestigating diseases and other health events, however, surveillance is an ongoing pro-
cess, which detects trends and seeks to identify changes in the incidence (that is, the
occurrence of new cases over a set period of time) and prevalence (that is, the com-
bined number of old and new cases at any one point in time). Many texts treat sur-
veillance and disease and health event investigation as a single intervention.

Surveillance is often confused with monitoring and/or screening. It is important to

differentiate:
 Surveillance assesses population health status before and after health events,
looks at whole populations, measures the population health status, and may
serve as the method to track cases
 Monitoring implies a constant adjustment of practice and looks at specific
groups or individuals
 Screening detects previously unknown cases in a population and may serve as
the method to find cases
Purposes of surveillance include:
 Serves as an early warning system to identify public health emergencies
 Guides public health policies and strategies
 Documents impact of intervention in meeting public health goals
 Helps to understand the epidemiology of a health problem in order to set prior-
ities (World Health Organization, 2018)
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted and synthesized from a number of sources (Hopkins,
2005; Klingler et al., 2017; Lee, Montgomery, Marx, Olmsted, & Scheckler, 2007; Lee,
Teutsch, Thacker, & St. Louis, 2010; Merrill, 2017):
1. Consider whether surveillance is appropriate

Since surveillance uses personnel, time, and financial resources, identify the problem
and the need for surveillance data.
 What threat does the problem pose for population health?
 To what extent is information known about the problem, its causal factors, pat-
terns of occurrence, and populations at risk?
 Is baseline data established, which is needed for comparison? Is the available
data adequate?
 Is the problem preventable?
 What are the resources required to successfully facilitate planning?
2. Acquire necessary knowledge of the problem

Acquiring knowledge about factors that contribute to a health problem and the con-
sequences of that health problem helps determine the priority for developing a sur-
veillance system.
Understanding a problem’s “natural course of history,” the course that the condition
would predictably take if nothing were done to intercede, will provide information
about the severity of the problem and guide selection of strategies to address the
problem. For example, progressive pulmonary tuberculosis kills 50 percent of those

infected within five years if left untreated. Dental caries continue to decay without
treatment. Children with amblyopia, without treatment, eventually lose vision in the
affected eye.
3. Establish criteria for what constitutes a “case”

Establish clear criteria to increase the accuracy of identifying a case:
 Criteria include person, place, and time (that is, who is at risk, where the event
occurs, and when it occurs).
 Consider available clinical and laboratory diagnostic information.
4. Collect data from multiple sources

Aim to collect sufficient and reliable data. The use of existing data sets reduces the
expenditure of resources needed for surveillance.
 Consider readily available data such as vital records, hospital discharge and
emergency room visit data, medical management information and billing sys-
tems, local public health data, police records, and school records.
 Check existing registries and surveys for data regarding the population of interest.
 Consult community partners for insights on relationships of health determinants.
 Add insights from available qualitative data.
5. Maintain ethical standards

Assure confidentiality and protection of privacy. Remove personal information from
data.
Ethical infringements in the surveillance process may contribute to harm and reduce
the meaning and value of the data.
Ethical issues identified in a systematic qualitative review of ethical issues in public
health surveillance include:
 Background conditions related to a lack of or inappropriate guiding frameworks
for making judgments on surveillance systems
 Design and implementation issues regarding conflicts about priority setting for
choice of surveillance system or poorly designed systems that do not consider
contextual factors that influence surveillance
 Data collection and analysis privacy breaches, and consideration of informed
consent
 Concerns about use of data, including privacy protection when data is shared
outside the surveillance system, and the possibility of harm through stigmatiza-
tion or discrimination in the dissemination of sensitive data

6. Analyze data
Use appropriate scientific and epidemiological principles. The level of analysis re-
quired varies from condition to condition.
Analyze data systematically to provide meaningful information for making decisions.
In general, analyses include such elements as:
 An assessment of the crude number of cases (that is, the number of actual cases)
and rates (the number of cases per a given denominator, such as 100 persons,
or 10,000 or 100,000)
 A description of the population in which the condition occurs (e.g., age, gender,
race, and ethnicity)
 Where the condition occurs
 Time period over which the condition occurs
7. Effectively interpret and disseminate data

Interpret and disseminate data so decision-makers at all levels readily identify and
understand the implications.
Target users and communicate in a timely way:
 Develop dissemination plans that fit intended data users.
 The communication of “data” can take many forms to reach intended users.
Data is often disseminated in the form of specific numbers. Graphs, tables, and
visuals enhance understanding of the data. Communicate data through stories
of clients’ experiences, using a qualitative approach.
 Disseminate the information on a regular basis, not just during times of crisis.
8. Evaluate impact of the surveillance system

Evaluating the surveillance system helps refine and improve the system for future use.
 Was the data collected sufficient to support accurate analysis?
 Did it generate answers to problems?
 Was the information timely?
 Have decisions been made to take action in response to information from the
surveillance?
 Was it useful to those interested?
 How was the information used?
 How can it be made more useful?
 Will the information be used in the future?
Example
Nurses in Ontario, Canada staffed a telephone health helpline to recruit and monitor
participants with influenza-like symptoms (McGolrick et al., 2016).

1. Consider whether surveillance is appropriate

A telephone health helpline combined with nasal self-swabbing is a surveillance strat-
egy for early detection of influenza viruses. Clients do not have to go to a clinic for
data collection; they receive a self-swabbing package and return it by mail.
2. Acquire necessary knowledge of the problem

“Influenza viruses circulate worldwide and affect people of all ages causing significant
morbidity and mortality annually” (McGolrick et al., 2016, p. 2). Influenza is transmit-
ted through respiratory droplets released into the air from coughing, sneezing, or
talking, which are then inhaled or ingested. Influenza viruses can also spread indi-
rectly through contaminated hands or surfaces. Symptoms include sudden onset of
high fever, runny nose, cough, headache, exhaustion, malaise, and inflammation of
the upper respiratory tract. Many people who are infected experience mild symp-
toms, but severe infection can lead to death.
3. Establish criteria for what constitutes a “case”

Callers to the telephone health helpline are recruited to receive a self-swabbing
packet if: 1) they meet the categories of referral or self-care, and 2) they are at least
2 years old and experiencing one or more symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, or
sore throat). Cases of influenza are confirmed by laboratory testing.
4. Collect data from multiple sources

Over one year, 87 specimens out of 664 test positive for influenza. The telephone
health helpline measures a 13.1 percent positivity rate, compared to 13.7 percent
from FluWatch, Canada’s national surveillance system that monitors the spread of flu
and flu-like illnesses in the same area and time period.
5. Maintain ethical standards

Although effective as a surveillance strategy, a delay in receiving a test result could
lead to a delay in treatment. Providing education about self-care and when to seek
medical help can reduce potential harm.
“A laboratory diagnosis promotes the rational use of antiviral agents and discourages
the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics, which could in turn potentially reduce
inappropriate treatment of influenza-like illness in up to 50 percent of cases”
(McGolrick et al., 2016, p. 8).
Self-swabbing through the telephone health helpline provides a potential benefit by
reducing visits to clinics and emergency departments, which may reduce viral trans-
mission in the community.

6. Analyze data
Two datasets [are] used for the self-swabbing study, one with the raw
number of cases by week and another with an adjusted number of cases
by week accounting for the increase in the number of nurses . . .
recruiting participants at that time. (McGolrick et al., 2016, p. 4)
7. Effectively interpret and disseminate data

The implementation of a self-swabbing surveillance system provides an
opportunity for public health authorities to generate diagnostic information
that can be relayed to physicians. Further, this diagnostic information will
aid in the practice of antimicrobial stewardship, which is an ongoing issue
especially as it pertains to the inappropriate prescription of antimicrobials
for the treatment of viral infections. (McGolrick et al., 2016, p. 8)
8. Evaluate the impact of the surveillance system

Based on comparisons with other influenza virus surveillance systems, telephone
health helpline self-swabbing surveillance “has significant potential as an adjunct tool
for the surveillance of influenza viruses in Ontario” (McGolrick et al., 2016, p. 1).
Key points from evidence

For a description of evidence levels, visit: Introduction: Overview of evidence-based
practice and related topics.
 1. Surveillance as a nursing intervention

Surveillance is an intervention in nursing classification systems and nursing literature:
 Nursing Interventions  Public Health Intervention Wheel
Classification (NIC)  Public health surge events and
 Nursing Minimum Data Set bioterrorism preparedness
(NMDS)  Infection control practices in
 Omaha System disaster management
Level 3 sources:
 Akins, Williams, Silenas, & Edwards, 2005
 Monsen et al., 2013
 Polivka et al., 2008
Level 5 sources:
 Schoneman, 2002
 Vane, Winthrop, & Martinez, 2010

 2. Types of surveillance
Surveillance systems are passive, active, sentinel, or special.
 Passive: Health care providers send case reports to the local health department.
 Active: The PHN or other health department employee searches for cases by
contacting local health care providers and agencies.
 Sentinel: Trends in commonly occurring diseases and health problems are
monitored.
 Special: A system to collect specific information is established; for example, de-
termining links between disease agents and terrorist attacks.
Level 5 source:
 Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016
 3. Criteria for surveillance

Criteria for identifying high-priority health events for surveillance include:
 Frequency of event: Incidence, prevalence, mortality
 Severity of event: Case fatality ratio, hospitalization rate, disability rate, years of
potential life years lost
 Cost
 Preventability
 Communicability
 Public interest
Level 5 source:
 Lee et al., 2010
 4. Characteristics of surveillance
Characteristics of effective surveillance:
 Acceptability  Sensitivity
 Flexibility  Simplicity
 Positive predictive value  Stability
(proportion of true cases)  Timeliness
 Quality  Validity (measuring what is
 Representativeness supposed to be measured)
Level 5 source:
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012
 5. Surveillance in conjunction with other systems

Surveillance is most effective when done in conjunction with other systems in the
community. Advantages:
 Access to other data sets
 The potential to design coordinated data collection systems among the partners
from the start of a process

 The potential for shared technological capacity

 The opportunity for discussion with collaborators about measures or indicators
to collect
Level 5 sources:
 Baisch, 2012
 Friedman & Parrish, 2010
 Oliver, 2010
 6. Surveillance examples from the literature

There are many examples of public health surveillance systems in the literature and
their use to identify public health interventions:
 The District of Columbia Department of Health Environmental Public Health
Tracking Network used climate change and health data to assess vulnerabilities
and disease burden associated with heat, air quality, and hospitalizations for
asthma and acute myocardial infarction.
 The Omaha System, which collects clinical data, identified unmet needs in six
problem areas for the children with special needs population, demonstrating
feasibility for use in program evaluation, case management, and surveillance.
 Local health departments used telephone-based surveillance to identify cases of
disease.
 An analysis of electronic health records contributed to estimating childhood
obesity rates and highlighting the need for early intervention for at-risk children.
 A web-based surveillance system for hepatitis C increased the timeliness of
reporting.
 Immunization registries, confidential population-based information systems that
contain information about immunizations of a population in a geographic area,
can be used to support clinical decision-making and improve the quality of care.
 The effect of alcohol sales restrictions in convenience stores on intentional in-
jury-related ambulance pickups for 15- to 24-year-olds was analyzed through
geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis of data from the U.S. Cen-
sus Bureau and community emergency medical services.
 The rate of participating schools increased in a statewide school-based asthma
surveillance program (using student health records) over a five-year period,
providing a clear picture of pediatric asthma across the state.
Level 2 sources:
 Heisey-Grove, Church, Haney, & DeMaria, Jr., 2011
 Masho, Bishop, Edmonds, & Farrell, 2014
Level 3 sources:
 Anderko, Davies-Cole, & Strunk, 2014
 Dausey et al., 2008
 Flood et al., 2015
 Medaglia, Knorr, Condon, & Charleston, 2013
 Monsen et al., 2013

Level 5 sources:
 Baisch, 2012
 Hinman & Ross, 2010
 7. Web-based surveillance advantages and disadvantages

Emerging web-based surveillance systems have advantages and disadvantages:
 They are intuitive, adaptable, low-cost, and operate in real time.
 There is the possibility of inaccurate interpretation and prediction of health sta-
tus, stemming from an individual’s internet activity.
 There may be privacy issues.
Level 3 sources:
 Choi, Cho, Shim, & Woo, 2016
 Klingler, 2017
 8. Using surveillance for influenza

Influenza surveillance using telephone triage and electronic syndromic surveillance
(near real-time data collection) in the Department of Veterans Affairs correlated
strongly with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for weekly influenza
hospitalizations, influenza tests performed, and positive influenza tests. Nurses used
protocols and clinical software to systematically assess clients’ chief complaints,
symptoms, and medical history.
Level 3 source:
 Lucero-Obusan, Winston, Schirmer, Oda, & Holodniy, 2017
 9. Developments in surveillance
Developments in population health surveillance initiatives include:
 Mental health measures are now included in national level surveillance surveys.
Collecting data on resilience, coping skills, protective factors, cultural factors, and
positive mental health aspects provides information for disease prevention and
mental health promotion strategies. Challenges to surveillance of mental health
include variable and non-specific measures, differences in time periods, variability
in including substance abuse, and different methods of data collection.
 The population health record documents health status and influences on health
for a defined population. In addition to monitoring population health status and
outcomes, other uses include conducting community health assessments, iden-
tifying population health disparities, and designing public health interventions,
programs, and policies.
 Social media was used to conduct participatory surveillance of diabetes device
safety. Surveys collected information on participants’ experience with blood glu-
cose monitors, continuous glucose monitors, and insulin delivery devices.
 Population health rankings based on current health outcome data (e.g., prema-
ture death, self-reported health, birth outcomes, clinical care, and health behav-
iors) are used for community assessment, setting agendas to improve health

outcomes, and establishing a broader responsibility for population health

through multi-sectoral collaboration.
 A narrative review found 23 articles on the use of electronic health records for
population health surveillance. Challenges included incomplete population cov-
erage, inability to link data systems, and variations in data quality.
Level 3 sources:
 Mandl et al., 2014
 Rohan, Booske, & Remington, 2009
Level 5 sources:
 Freeman et al., 2010
 Friedman & Parrish, 2010
 Oliver, 2010
 Paul et al., 2015
 10. Increasing data accuracy and usefulness with surveys

Strategies for increasing the accuracy and usefulness of data on health behaviors ob-
tained from surveys:
 Conduct pilot surveys before full implementation.
 Put systems in place for quality assurance and control.
 For nonresponse, consider incentives and pre-notification.
 For better coverage of a population, consider multimode collection.
 For better coverage of younger age groups, consider use of cellular telephones.
 For language barriers, employ bilingual interviewers.
 With limited space for questions, consider rotating surveys.
 For reducing cost, consider multimode data collection, e.g., internet-based sur-
veys with a smaller number of household surveys.
Level 5 source:
 Mokdad & Remington, 2010
Wheel notes
Epidemiology
Public health nurses use the science of epidemiology to conduct surveillance.
Epidemiology is:
[The] study of the occurrence and distribution of health-related states or

events in specified populations, including the study of the determinants
influencing such states, and the application of this knowledge to control
the health problems (Porta, 2008, p. 120).

Public health nurses use epidemiological theory to find answers and solutions. Epide-
miology as a systematic process guides the search for contributing factors, data col-
lection, and monitoring of health and illness events (Frayham & Anderko, 2009;
Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2018).
Innovations
Geographic information systems (GIS) increase the capacity for data collection in sur-
veillance. GIS refers to computer-based tools that store, visualize, analyze, and inter-
pret geographic data. Using GIS helps answer data-related questions (Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, 2016). For example, using GIS to examine preterm birth
rates in specific census tracks in Philadelphia, PHNs analyzed the data to better un-
derstand the environments of mothers and families and identify interventions for ge-
ographical areas with the highest risk for preterm birth (Block, 2011). The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers data sets and training modules for using
and interpreting GIS generated data: GIS and Public Health at CDC (Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, 2016).
PHNs increasingly use electronic health records for surveillance. Electronic health rec-
ords needs to be compatible with other systems (across health departments and
other health systems) in order to aggregate data. The Public Health Data Standards
Consortium (2019) established recommendations for collecting data through elec-
tronic health records.
Resources
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the Surveillance Resource
Center, which provides access to information and tools for conducting surveillance:
interactive database systems; methods; legal, ethical, and policy issues; and tools and
templates. A few examples:
 Asthma: Data, statistics, and surveillance: Asthma surveillance data
 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
 Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet)
 National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
 Breastfeeding: Maternity care practices: CDC mPINC (Maternity Practices in In-
fant Nutrition and Care) Survey
 Adolescent and school health: SHPPS (the School Health Policies and Practices
Study)
 Tuberculosis: Data and statistics

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RED WEDGE: DISEASE AND HEALTH EVENT INVESTIGATION
Disease and health event

investigation
Disease and health event investigation systematically gathers and analyzes data re-
garding threats to the health of populations, ascertains the source of the threat, iden-
tifies cases and others at risk, and determines control measures.
Examples of “threats to health” include actual or potential acts of bioterrorism and

chemical or other hazardous waste spills. Natural disasters such as tornadoes, floods,
hurricanes, earthquakes, and extreme heat or cold inherently create opportunities for
disease and health event investigation. While investigation traditionally focuses on con-
tagious diseases, it also focuses on chronic diseases, injury, and other health events.
The investigative process consists of identifying and verifying the source of the threat;
identifying cases, their contacts, and others at risk; determining control measures;
and communicating with the public as needed. Not all health events are preventable.
Natural disasters cannot be prevented, but planned public health responses can re-
duce the severity of their impact via preventive measures that mitigate or reduce the
severity of effects.

Population of interest: Women of childbearing age and their partners living or trav-
eling in tropical climates.
Problem: The Zika virus is transmitted to people through a bite from an infected mos-
quito (Aedes genus) in tropic and sub-tropic geographical areas. The virus can be
transmitted person to person via sexual intercourse, perinatal transfer, and blood
transfusion. Congenital Zika is associated with brain abnormalities, including micro-
cephaly (Karwowski et al., 2016).
Systems level
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (2018a) conducted a sur-
vey on maternal child health capacity to respond to the Zika virus. Local health de-
partments in ten priority states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Ha-
waii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Texas) participated in the survey. Local
health departments provided the following prevention and response actions: infor-
mation to travelers (94 percent), outreach and communication to clinicians (90 per-
cent), lab testing (83 percent), maternal child health surveillance (72 percent), and
rapid detection and follow-up of birth defects (47 percent). The lab results provided
a picture of the burden of disease (total effect of a disease on a community) useful
for planning an adequate response.
Community level
A local health department aimed to communicate the risk of transmission of the dis-
ease from mosquitoes and recommended mosquito control strategies. The local
health department gathered information from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC, 2018) and communicated information with other providers in the
community to create public awareness about transmission of disease from mosqui-
toes. The local health department shared information concerning mosquito surveil-
lance; removing areas of stagnant water where mosquitoes lay eggs; control of lar-
vae, pupae and adult mosquitoes; and many resources that provide instructions on
mosquito control strategies.

When providing services to women of childbearing age, public health nurses (PHNs)
inquire about symptoms of infection in women and their partners and history of
travel or residence in environments with infected mosquitoes present. Recommend-
ing testing for Zika infection contributes to identifying and reporting possible out-
breaks, which can lead to implementing control measures.


Disease and health event investigation is frequently paired with surveillance; these two
interventions are often discussed as a single process. However, investigation stands
alone when broadly applied as data gathering or “fact-finding” methodology. Surveil-
lance looks ahead for expected events; investigation responds to an unexpected event.
Investigation frequently leads to case-finding and referral and follow-up.
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted from several sources (Bisen & Raghuvanshi, 2013;
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015; Stanhope, 2016):
1. Identify investigation team and resources

All information and activities related to the investigation need to go through the in-
vestigation team to reduce any confusion about responsibilities.
 Investigating teams should be sent as early as possible to the area where the
disease or health threat is reported. Several factors determine the size and com-
position of the investigating team, including the size of the affected area, terrain
and accessibility, and population density.
 Local health departments and state health departments may have staff who
have expertise in investigation of specific outbreaks of disease or other health
events (e.g., communicable disease, chronic disease, injuries). Public health
nurses may serve on the team if the investigation goal is consistent with their
role and responsibilities.
 Public health nurses also may be on the front lines in their interactions with in-
dividuals and communities where early signs of a disease or other health event
occurs.
2. Confirm the existence of the disease or threat

Before expending resources on investigating the disease or health threat, verify the
initial report.
Information about the disease or health threat can be obtained from active, passive,
sentinel, and special surveillance reports (see: Surveillance: Key points from evi-
dence: 2. Types of surveillance); reports from health facilities; media reports; and re-
ports originating from the community. Information should be collected from all pos-
sible sources and verified.
3. Verify the diagnosis/define a case

Defining what constitutes a case makes it possible to obtain numerical data about the
extent of the disease or health threat.

“A case is a person in a population who has been identified as having a particular

disease, disorder, injury, or condition” (Merrill, 2017, p. 7). A case may be categorized
as suspect, probable, or confirmed. A case may need to be confirmed by laboratory
testing of blood or other body fluid.
A case definition identifies:
 Illness features or condition characteristics
 Agent if known
 Typical symptoms for illness or condition
 Time range of illness or condition
 Geographic range
 Other criteria specific to agent, e.g., DNA fingerprint of pathogen
4. Estimate the number of cases

Estimate of the number of cases in a population to inform response plan.
Cases are generally reported as a percentage or proportion of the population. The
following terms are used to describe the occurrence of disease or health problems in
a population and are reported as rates (e.g., number of cases per 10,000 people).
 Incidence: Number of new cases in a population in a given period of time
 Prevalence: “Proportion of a population who have a specific characteristic in a
given time period” (National Institutes of Mental Health, 2017)
 Mortality: Number of deaths in a population
 Morbidity: Number of people ill in a population
5. Collect data including persons, place, time, lab

results, and relevant records or reports
Collecting specific data determines the “who, what, when, and where” of the disease
or health threat.
Using a specific data collection form organizes data from laboratory reports, medical
records, client charts, and information provided by health providers, agencies, and
others in the community. Possible relevant variables for data collection are age, sex,
underlying disease, geographical location, and possible exposure sites. Additional
data collection strategies may include direct observation, interviewing cases, per-
forming physical assessment, and collecting specimens.
Questions to ask include:
Person
 Who and how many are affected?
 Who else might be affected?
 Is there a connection between the people affected and their age, sex, race, and
socioeconomic status?

Place
 Does it matter where people live or work?
 Are the cases limited to a certain area or widely dispersed?
 Does the area naturally harbor certain disease agents?
Time
 Does the time of day or association with a specific event, such as weather con-
ditions, appear to make a difference?
6. Develop and evaluate a hypothesis

A hypothesis explains the why and how disease or heath events occur and guides the
investigation.
 Formulate a working hypothesis based on signs and symptoms of the disease or
health event. The hypothesis may be modified as the investigation reveals fur-
ther details about transmission or development of the disease or health event.
 Test the working hypothesis through data analysis, using statistics. Two exam-
ples of data analysis are spot maps and the epidemic curve. A spot map identifies
the geographic locations of people who have the disease, health problem, or
characteristic. An epidemic curve illustrates in graph form how cases are distrib-
uted by time of onset, revealing any time clusters in the epidemic.
 When a large proportion of a population or community is affected at the same
time by the same disease or health event, it is called an epidemic. For example,
an increase in mortality from opioid use in the late 2010s (referred to as an opi-
oid crisis) is considered an epidemic.
 Consider the accuracy of the conclusion resulting from the data. Strategies to
improve data accuracy:
▪ Comparing reports from previous similar investigation
▪ Collaboration with others involved in the investigation
▪ Sharing and comparing data
▪ Collecting secondary data (reviewing data collected by others) to confirm
suspicion/conclusion
7. Institute control measures and communicate

findings
Control measures reduce incidence and negative effects of disease and health events.
Disseminate evidence of effective strategies to prevent and/or reduce development
of disease and negative health events.
 Assure that identified cases receive needed treatment, implement measures for
prophylaxis if effective, and provide education to identified cases and persons
with known exposure.
 Systems may institute control measures (health care agencies; city, state, and
federal government; public health departments). Epidemiological evidence on
the origin, spread, and development of the disease or health event determines
the use of control measures.

 Instituting control measures often involves collaborating across organizations and

systems, including industry and business. For example, during a foodborne disease
outbreak, control measures may include recalls and facility improvements.
 Consider all levels of prevention needed to reduce the incidence and prevalence
of the disease or health threat: primary prevention (before the problem occurs),
secondary prevention (treatment very early in the problem), and tertiary pre-
vention (treatment and rehabilitation for consequences of disease or health
event). Provide referral and follow-up for anyone in need of treatment.
 Communicating findings occurs through many modalities (e.g., official reports,
media, internet, public service announcements). When crafting communication,
create messages that motivate behavior change for reducing risk transmis-
sion/development of the disease or health event but avoid language leading to
fear or panic.
8. Maintain surveillance
Capture the continuing trajectory of the disease or health event to inform continued
decision making about strategies and policies.
 The epidemic curve indicates the decline of the disease or health event. When
an outbreak appears to be over, public health officials continue surveillance for
a period to make sure additional cases do not occur.
 For many health events (e.g., injuries, gun violence, teen pregnancy, cardiovas-
cular disease, cancer, diabetes, and others), surveillance remains ongoing to de-
termine trends and whether control strategies have been effective.
 Evaluating effectiveness of the investigation includes determining the elimina-
tion or prevention of the problem or risk, resources required, areas for improv-
ing efficiency, and lessons learned for future investigations.
Example
A public health nursing supervisor of the maternal child health program in a local
health department joins a team assigned to follow up reports from a local hospital on
several cases that test positive for the Zika virus.
1. Identify investigation team and resources

The hospital asks the PHN to join the team because of her expertise with a public
health program that served pregnant women in the community. Others on the team
include an epidemiologist, a communications specialist, and a clerical staff member.
2. Confirm the existence of the disease or threat

The team first needs to identify whether other cases had occurred in nearby commu-
nities. The team consults with CDC on the most recent information available on the
spread of the Zika viruses.

3. Verify the diagnosis/define a case

A positive lab test identifies a Zika case.
4. Estimate the number of cases

Estimates depend on location and presence of infected mosquitoes. The team must
also consider travel from areas known to have Zika virus infections.
5. Collect data including persons, place, time, lab

results, and relevant records or reports
The team uses a data collection form to record specific information needed for dis-
ease investigation. It reviews medical records, and records lab results, age, sex,
symptoms, geographic location (work and home), travel history, and sex partners.
6. Develop and evaluate a hypothesis

The team uses its expertise to create a spot map to identify the geographic locations
of people identified as cases and possible transmission patterns.
7. Institute control measures and communicate

findings
The team communicates findings to relevant government entities to initiate mos-
quito control measures, and communicates to the public ways to reduce risk of expo-
sure to the Zika virus. The team also educates cases about potential for sexual trans-
mission of virus, and initiates follow-up of pregnant women diagnosed with the Zika
virus or who have partners infected with the Zika virus to monitor pregnancy for pos-
sible birth defects.
8. Maintain surveillance
The team continues to evaluate incidence of Zika infections and whether Zika infec-
tion rates are diminishing, and monitors the environment for reduction of places
where mosquitoes lay eggs.
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) created a free
modifiable document, Zika Resources for Local Health Departments (2018b), with tem-
plates, toolkits, and resources provided by CDC, local health departments and other
partners for local health department adaptation in response to Zika virus infections.


 1. Considering subgroup characteristics

When conducting disease and health event investigation, it is important to consider
characteristics of different subgroups in order to determine the most effective treat-
ment and response. Examples of subgroups include race/ethnicity, age, gender, and
place (urban, suburban, or rural).
Level 3 sources:
 Aponte, 2009
 Gangeness, 2009
 2. Risk assessment tools

Risk assessment tools guide decision-making and actions across jurisdictions and lev-
els of government during the investigation process. Examples include the CDC Influ-
enza Risk Assessment Tool and the CDC Pandemic Severity Assessment Framework.
Level 4 source:
 Holloway, Rasmussen, Zaza, Cox, & Jernigan, 2014
 3. Recommendations for effective investigation

Focus groups with 28 expert enteric (foodborne disease) investigators resulted in rec-
ommendations for effective investigation:
Preparation
 Understand the pathogen’s epidemiology, transmission, and control measures.
 Review relevant demographic information (gender, age, residence).
Contacting cases
 Use voicemail and text messaging for specific demographic groups that do not
answer the phone.
Building rapport
 Promote comfort and relief of anxiety during the interview.
 Explain the purpose of the interview and assure confidentiality.
 Allow cases to tell their story.
 Be empathetic and respectful of differences (culture, religion, language).
Identifying the source
 Educate each case about pathogen and transmission.
 Use a calendar to help the case remember dates, activities, and events close to
onset of symptoms.
 Use questionnaires with common risk factors and questions to help with recall.

Education
 Provide education about identified source to prevent further illness.
 Be sensitive, neutral, and non-judgmental when educating about high-risk be-
haviors, sexual behavior, and cultural practices.
Excluding from specific work environments
 If exclusion is required from working in food-related, health care, or childcare
settings, communicate the need for exclusion from work close to the end of the
interview to avoid loss of rapport.
Linking cases
 Communicate with enteric disease investigators, public health inspectors, epi-
demiologists, data entry staff, and with staff in other jurisdictions to link cases.
 Use spreadsheets and other software tools, a point person in the coordinator
role, and meetings of case investigators to link cases to a common source or
food venue.
Level 3 source:
 Ing, Lee, Middleton, Moore, & Sider, 2014
 4. Recommendations following an outbreak investigation

Following an investigation of an influenza outbreak (H1N1) in a First Nations commu-
nity in Manitoba, Canada researchers offered these recommendations for future out-
break prevention: daily surveillance for disease detection and monitoring; an effec-
tive communication strategy; and addressing health determinants (e.g., housing con-
ditions, potable water, and sanitation).
Level 3 source:
 Pollock, Sagan, Oakley, Fontaine, & Poffenroth, 2012
 5. Measures to control outbreaks

Measures to control an outbreak of E. coli infections resulting from exposure to con-
taminated pork products in Canada included “product recalls, destruction of pork
products, temporary food facility closures, targeted interventions to mitigate im-
proper pork handling practices, and prosecution of a food facility operator” (p. 1480).
Level 5 source:
 Honish et al., 2014
 6. Novel strategies for investigation

Novel strategies for investigation include:
 Review of restaurant reviews on Yelp by foodborne epidemiologists identified
three previously unreported food outbreaks.

 Cluster survey methodology can be used for rapid assessment in humanitarian

emergencies. The area under assessment is divided into 30 clusters of a mini-
mum of 30 households. Then one household is randomly selected for interview
for each of the 30 clusters.
 Disease intervention specialists used smartphone technology to enhance tradi-
tional contact investigation of sexually transmitted diseases, increasing success-
ful partner notification and case-finding.
 DotMapper is an open source tool that quickly produces maps showing case lo-
cations and epidemiological characteristics. This tool can be used without
needed training in geographic information systems.
Level 3 sources:
 Harrison et al., 2014
 Pennise, Inscho, & Herpin, 2015
Level 5 sources:
 Morris & Nguyen, 2008
 Smith & Hayward, 2016
 7. Skills for outbreak investigation

Public health nurses have the skills needed for outbreak investigation: identifying an
outbreak, following the investigative process, and collaborating with the community
on a response.
Level 5 source:
 Sistrom & Hale, 2006
 8. School nurses and student immunizations

A quality improvement project was conducted in Vermont schools to provisionally
admit students without immunization documentation, aimed to reduce the number
of provisionally admitted students. Strategies used by school nurses included main-
taining an immunization tracking system for all students and using the Vermont Im-
munization Registry to locate missing immunization information for students. School
nurses in participating schools reported a decline in the number of provisionally ad-
mitted students over the course of the project.
Level 5 source:
 Davis, Varni, Barry, Frankowski, & Harder, 2016
 9. Efficacy of simulation
Simulation is an effective experiential strategy in teaching public health nursing stu-
dents to practice outbreak investigation skills.
Level 3 source:
 Alexander, Canclini, Fripp, & Fripp, 2017

Wheel notes
Public health nurses identify health concerns
that need disease and health event investigation
Public health nurses may notice an increase in disease and other health events as
they interact with clients in communities. Public health nurses may alert the state or
county epidemiologist about the need for investigation and, in some agencies, PHNs
may also have a role on the investigative team. Public health nurses possess skills that
contribute to disease and health investigation initiatives, including their ability to
build rapport with clients, view clients holistically, and gain client trust for obtaining
relevant information.
Some examples of disease and health event investigation that PHNs may encounter
in their practice:
 Cancer  Maltreatment of vulnerable
 Communicable diseases, e.g., individuals
tuberculosis, meningitis, giardia  Natural disasters, e.g., flooding,
 Exposure to hazards and toxins in hurricanes, tornadoes
the environment  Rabies
 Foodborne and waterborne  Sexually transmitted infection, e.g.,
outbreaks gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis
 Garbage houses  Suicide
 Lead  Vaccine-preventable disease, e.g.,
 Lice and scabies measles, pertussis
Non-infectious diseases and other health events

Although much of the literature that addresses disease and health event investigation
focuses on outbreaks of infectious disease, public health experts are also called on to
investigate increases in incidence of other threats to health. One example is investi-
gation of cancer clusters. A cancer cluster occurs when more cancer cases than ex-
pected occur in a group of people in a geographic area over a specific time. CDC offers
guidelines for investigating clusters of health events (Abrams, Anderson, &
Blackmore, 2013). The increasing incidence of gun violence is another example of a
health threat (Kennedy, 2016). A public health approach seeks to identify individuals
and communities at risk for gun violence, determine contributing factors, and design
strategies that reverse the normalization of gun violence (Butts, Roman, Bostwick, &
Porter, 2015).
Using disease and health event investigation to

resolve local health concerns
Implementing an investigation does not require a large and complex system if the
problem is not large and complex. For instance, in investigating why certain clients

consistently missed clinic appointments, a PHN discovered that most of the clients
had addresses in the same neighborhood. With a little more investigation, the PHN
connected their missed appointments with the lack of availability of public transpor-
tation. This connection led to a different conclusion than “willful noncompliance,”
and a different resolution to the problem.
References
Abrams, B., Anderson, H., & Blackmore, C. (2013). Investigating suspected cancer clusters and
responding to community Concerns: Guidelines from CDC and the Council of State and
Territorial Epidemiologists. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 62(8), 1-26.
Alexander, G. K., Canclini, S. B., Fripp, J., & Fripp, W. (2017). Waterborne Disease Case
Investigation: Public Health Nursing Simulation. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(1), 39-
42. doi: 10.3928/01484834-20161219-08
Aponte, J. (2009). Diabetes-related risk factors across Hispanic subgroups in the Hispanic health
and nutritional examination survey (1982–1984). Public Health Nursing, 26(1), 23-38.
doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2008.00741.x
Butts, J. A., Roman, C. G., Bostwick, L., & Porter, J. R. (2015). Cure violence: A public health model
to reduce gun violence. Annual Review of Public Health, 36, 39-53. doi:
10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122509
Bisen, P. S. & Raghuvanshi, R. (2013). Emerging epidemics: Management and control. New Jersey:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Multistate and Nationwide Foodborne
Outbreak Investigations: A step-by-step guide. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/investigating-
outbreaks/investigations/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Integrated mosquito management. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/zika/vector/integrated_mosquito_management.html
Davis, W. S., Varni, S. E., Barry, S. E., Frankowski, B. L., & Harder, V. S. (2016). Increasing
immunization compliance by reducing provisional admittance. The Journal of School
Nursing, 32(4), 246-257. doi: 10.1177/1059840515622528
Gangeness, J. E. (2009). Rural women’s perceptions of availability, development, and maintenance
of rural built environments. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, 9(2), 52-66.
Harrison, C., Jorder, M., Stern, H., Stavinsky, F., Reddy, V., Hanson, H., et al. (2014). Using online
reviews by restaurant patrons to identify unreported cases of foodborne illness—New
Yoark City, 2012-2013. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(20), 441-445.
Holloway, R., Rasmussen, S. A., Zaza, S., Cox, N. J., & Jernigan, D. B. (2014). Updated preparedness
and response framework for influenza pandemics. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report, 63(RR06), 1-9.
Honish, L., Pumnja, N., Nunn, S., Nelson, D., Hislop, N., Gosselin, G., et al. (2014). Escherichia coli
O157:H7 infections associated with contaminated pork products - Alberta, Canada, July-
October 2014. (2017). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 65(52), 1477-1481.
Ing, S., Lee, C., Middleton, D., Moore, S., & Sider, D. (2014). A focus group study of enteric disease
case investigation: successful techniques utilized and barriers experienced from the
perspective of expert disease investigators. BMC Public Health, 14, doi: 10.1186/1471-
2458-14-1302

Karwowski, M. P., Nelson, J. M., Staples, J. E., Fischer, M., Fleming-Dutra, K. M., Villanueva, J. E., et
al. (2016). Zika Virus Disease: A CDC Update for Pediatric Health Care Providers.
Pediatrics, 137(5).
Kennedy, M. S. (2016). Gun violence as a public health problem: When will our outrage lead to
action? American Journal of Nursing, 116(2), 7.
Merrill, R. M. (2017). Introduction to epidemiology. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Morris, S. K. & Nguyen, C. K. (2008). A review of the cluster survey sampling method in
humanitarian emergencies. Public Health nursing, 25(4), 370-374. doi: 10.111/j.1525-
1146.2008.00719.x
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). (2018a). Maternal child health
capacity for Zika response. Retrieved from
https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/FINAL-MCH-Zika-Report.pdf
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). (2018b). Zika resources for
local health departments. Retrieved from
http://eweb.naccho.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=naccho&WebKey=504423cd-
4faf-4204-82f7-c9eb659af65c
National Institutes of Mental Health. (2017). What is prevalence? Retrieved from
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/what-is-prevalence.shtml
Pennise, M., Inscho, R., & Herpin, M. (2015). Using smartphone apps in STD interviews to find
sexual partners. Public Health Reports, 30, 245-252.
Pollock, S. L., Sagan, M., Oakley, L., Fontaine, J., & Poffenroth, L. (2012). Investigation of a
pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak in a remote First Nations community in Northern
Manitoba, 2009. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 103(2), 90-93.
Sistrom, M. G. & Hale, P. J. (2006). Outbreak investigations: Community participation and role of
community and public health nurses. Public Health Nursing, 23(3), 256-263.
Smith, C. M. & Hayward, A. C. (2016). DotMapper: An open source tool for creating interactive
disease point maps. BMC Infectious Diseases, 16, 1-6. doi: 10.1186/s12879-016-1475-5
Stanhope, M. & Lancaster, J. (2016). Public health nursing: Population-centered care in the
community. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Outreach
Outreach locates populations of interest or populations at risk and provides infor-
mation about the nature of the concern, what can be done about it, and how to ob-
tain services.
Outreach activities may be directed at whole communities, targeted populations

within those communities, and/or systems that affect the community’s health. Out-
reach includes risk communication; outreach success occurs when those considered
at risk receive the information and act on it.
Population of interest: 15- to 24-year-olds.
Problem: Individuals age 15 to 24 years old account for half the burden of Chlamydia
trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhea (NG) infections among reported sexually
transmitted infections (STIs), although they represent 27 percent of the sexually ac-
tive population. CT and NG can be asymptomatic, and untreated infections can lead

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
to serious long-term health consequences (pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility,

blood and joint infections, transmission of HIV infection). In a focus group study in
Omaha, barriers to screening included confidentiality to seeking testing, fear of being
judged, and not knowing testing site locations (Delair et al., 2016).
Systems level
A public health nurse (PHN) at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) collabo-
rated with professionals around the state to create the Minnesota Chlamydia Part-
nership (Minnesota Department of Health, 2018). The Partnership works to develop
public and professional awareness about the rising incidence of chlamydia. One out-
come of the work is information for health professionals posted on the MDH website.
Community level
The Douglas County Health Department in Omaha offers a hard-to-reach population
(youth ages 15 to 24 years old) a community-based screening program for CT and NG
in public libraries. A trained county health department STI specialist is posted at li-
brary branches at specific times to obtain urine samples from interested library pa-
trons. “The library STI screening program effectively reaches a younger, asympto-
matic, and predominantly Black population compared to a traditional health depart-
ment clinic site” (Delair et al., 2016, p. 289).

A rural “street nurse” in British Columbia provided outreach to a marginalized popu-
lation. Services offered include testing for STIs, chlamydia treatment, pregnancy test-
ing, emergency contraception, and help completing forms for financial support. Set-
tings included schools, a drop-in center, a mall, a youth center, and “the street.” The
street nurse collaborated with other PHNs, health care providers, mental health
workers, and social workers in making and receiving referrals (Self & Peters, 2005).

At the community practice level, outreach often operates simultaneously with social
marketing. Use of social marketing principles results in an effective outreach mes-
sage. A broadly focused social marketing intervention to raise a community’s aware-
ness about HIV/AIDS, for instance, can be paired with an outreach intervention de-
signed specifically for those at high-risk, such as IV-drug users or men engaging in sex
with men. More commonly, however, outreach is used in conjunction with health
teaching to inform those at risk about that risk and encourage them to seek attention.
Outreach is also often implemented as a precursor to other interventions in the In-
tervention Wheel’s red wedge, particularly screening.

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Basic steps
Berthold (2009) described steps for planning and implementing outreach in Founda-
tions for Community Health Workers (pp. 437-451):
1. Define the community served by the outreach

Knowing the community helps to determine the most effective outreach strategies.
a. Identify key opinion leaders that have earned respect and confidence of the
community.
b. Identify potential outreach sites where the people in the community spend time.
c. Visit local agencies to find out about the services they provide.
2. Identify the health issue and the health

outcomes you hope to promote
Identifying health outcomes will give you a clear sense of what you want to accomplish.
3. Conduct research on the health issues,

including previous programs and outreach
campaigns
Seek to fully understand causes of the health issue, consequences, and available
treatments, methods for prevention, and previous programs and campaigns. By re-
searching the health issue and the community, you can develop outreach strategies
more likely to promote the desired outcomes.
Answer the following questions:
a. What did programs do?
b. What was the outcome?
c. How did the community perceive the program?
d. What were the successes and mistakes?
4. Organize outreach team

Preparation helps the outreach event go smoothly and provides a welcoming, com-
fortable environment for participants.
Consider the following:
 Number of people needed
 Materials to bring to site (written materials, business cards, health supplies, hy-
giene products, list of resources)
 Funding and donations to support costs of outreach
 Referral information

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
 Forms needed to document contacts with people and the services provided
 How to dress for the outreach event or activity
5. Build trusting relationships in the community

The community observes what you do. Give the community time to get to know and
accept you.
a. Contact people you already know; tell them about your role and agency you
work for, services you plan to provide, and how you think they will benefit the
community. Ask for their assistance and advice.
b. Identify key opinion leaders in the community; continue dialogue and nurture
relationships.
c. Network with community at local events.
d. Identify community agencies that share common goals.
e. Work with key opinion leaders to organize a community forum to introduce
yourself and your program. Ask them what they know about the health problem
and who they think you should be talking with.
f. Be patient, keep your promises, and remain true to your word.
6. Prepare and implement plan for approaching

potential clients in outreach setting
The strategies used to approach potential clients influence client engagement in the
outreach intervention.
a. Be ready to start the conversation.
b. Be respectful of time and interests.
c. Keep message simple and brief.
d. Distribute outreach materials if appropriate.
e. Use humor, games, and interactive exercises.
7. Evaluate results of the outreach intervention

Evaluate outreach effectiveness. Use lessons learned to inform future outreach inter-
ventions.
Consider the following:
 Did the target population hear the message?
 Who acted on the message?
 Who received the message but did not act on it?
 Who did not receive the message?
 What barriers prevented people from receiving and/or acting on the message?
 What factors contributed to outreach success?

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Example
A screening program for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhea (NG),
offered in public libraries, was developed to provide outreach to a high-risk popula-
tion that would likely not seek care at traditional STI clinics (Delair et al., 2016).
1. Define the community to be served by the

outreach
Staff identify where STI testing currently occurs and consider other possible testing
sites in Douglas County, Nebraska, which has high STI rates.
2. Identify the health issue and the health

outcomes you hope to promote
The health issue is CT and NG infections among individuals, ages 15 to 24 years old.
The desired health outcome is increasing screening rates to identify STIs and follow
up with treatment.
3. Conduct research on the health issues,

including previous programs and outreach
campaigns
CT and NG infection rates in Douglas County are consistently above state and national
averages (in 2016). Less than half of people who should be screened for these infec-
tions are tested. Barriers to obtaining screening include being asymptomatic, lack of
health insurance, unable to pay subsidized fees, lack of transportation, concerns
about confidentiality, not knowing location of testing, and traditional testing sites de-
signed for adults. A systematic review of outreach STI programs concludes that out-
reach programs in neighborhood venues (community centers, shelters, sports clubs,
and schools) are more effective than outreach on the streets or in open public areas.
4. Organize outreach team

The Douglas County Health Department develops the community-based CT and NG
outreach program to be offered in library branches across Omaha. A STI specialist is
placed in public libraries for 20 hours per week to offer screening. They obtain urine
samples from people interested in participating. Other team members that could
contribute to outreach planning and implementation include a health department
program planner and clerical staff and library administration and staff.

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
5. Build trusting relationships in the community

The health department can collaborate with existing STI screening sites in the county
to gain input on the screening process and best practices for communicating infor-
mation. Key leaders in public health in the county should be kept up to date on out-
reach plans. Information about available screening and schedule at the public librar-
ies can be publicized at community events. Staff can also seek input from high school
and college students about what information will encourage people in their age group
to participate in the screening program.
6. Prepare and implement plan for approaching

potential clients in outreach setting
Public libraries are open to community members, access is free, and they are often
located near the center of town, schools, and universities. They offer many kinds of
education information and resources. An STI screening program in a library may ap-
peal to different groups in comparison to other settings such as a hospital, clinic, or
community STI testing site. Staff can tailor the information provided to 15- to 24-year-
olds to motivate participation. Applying the Health Belief Model is useful in tailoring
interventions that address perceptions of risk, benefits, severity, cues to action, and
self-efficacy for this population group (Sohl & Moyer, 2007).
7. Evaluate results of the outreach intervention

The health department collaborates with the University of Nebraska Medical Center
to evaluate the effectiveness of the outreach intervention. Positive screens are 9.9
percent of 997 library records for CT infections and 2.7 percent for NG infections.
Positive screens in libraries are lower compared to traditional clinics (11.2 percent for
CT infections and 5.3 percent for NG infections). The library outreach program is ef-
fective in reaching clients who are younger, asymptomatic, and black.

 1. Focusing outreach on populations most in need of screening

Outreach interventions should focus on populations that have used screening oppor-
tunities less frequently in the past.
Level 1 source:
 Allen, Stoddard, & Sorenson, 2008

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
 2. Considering social network characteristics

Considering social network characteristics (family, friends, barriers to screening, cul-
tural preferences) when planning outreach interventions increases screening follow-
through.
Level 1 source:
 Allen et al., 2008
Level 3 sources:
 Alexandrake, Mooradian, 2010
 Erwin et al., 2007
 3. Utilizing workers within communities’ social networks

Training lay health workers, community health representatives, or peer leaders with
similar socio-cultural characteristics to the population and who are part of the social
networks of the population, increases effectiveness of reaching those who are most
underserved and positively affects health outcomes in the population.
Level 1 source:
 Nguyen et al., 2009
Level 2 source:
 Sudarson, Jandorf, & Erwin, 2011
Level 3 sources:
 King et al., 2017
 Reinschmidt et al., 2006
 4. Best practices for community-focused outreach activities

In a qualitative study on PHNs’ use of the outreach intervention, participants identi-
fied involvement in community-focused outreach activities, including community fo-
rums, county fairs, immunization clinics, presentations at local groups and meetings,
and senior forums. Outreach best practices included: identifying the target audience,
developing an outreach plan with community input, discussing potential barriers, and
evaluating the quality and success of the program. The PHNs identified the following
lessons about outreach:
 Figure out what people want and how to get the information to them; involve
the target audience in the plan.
 Create clear messages with accurate and up-to-date resources.
 Identify providers and agencies for offering needed services.
 It takes work to raise awareness and make a change in community norms
(Tembreull & Schaffer, 2005, pp. 350-351).
Level 3 source:
 Tembreull & Schaffer, 2005

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
 5. Improving client health behavior and access

Examples of effective outreach activities that improved client health behavior or ac-
cess to health services:
 A neighborhood-based approach to reaching low-income populations used new-
born registries, proactive nursing outreach, and collaboration with a home visit-
ing agency to improve access to health-promotion services.
 An intervention designed to increase physical activity in local parks included ob-
taining input from park users and community residents, five training sessions on
outreach and marketing for park directors and park advisory board members,
and funding for each intervention park.
 An informational brochure on colorectal cancer and colonoscopy was mailed to
a primary care population 50 years and older who were referred by a primary
care physician for a screening colonoscopy.
 Postcards and telephone calls were provided to a primary care population of
women, ages 65 to 79, to promote bone density screening.
 The Arkansas Community Connector program used trained community health
workers to provide outreach to locate people living in the community who are
at risk for entering nursing homes.
 The Healthy Living and Learning Center, located in a public library in Petersburg,
Virginia, assists patrons in accessing health information and resources.
 A mental health outreach program located older adults in the community, who
were identified by professionals and community gatekeepers as at-risk, isolated,
abused, and delusional.
Level 1 sources:
 Cohen et al., 2013
 Denberg et al., 2006
Level 2 sources:
 Brown, Perkins, Blust, & Kahn, 2015
 Felix, Mays, Stewart, Cottoms, & Olson, 2011
Level 3 sources:
 Denberg et al., 2009
 Ports et al., 2015
 Yang, Garis, & McClure, 2006
 6. Maximizing online reach

Based on an analysis of social media conversations on bullying, researchers made the
following recommendations to maximize the reach of StopBullying.gov and exposure
to the content of the website:
 When creating public health campaigns, analyze language used by target audi-
ence to ensure messages resonate with the audience.
 Connect with online influencers’ authority in social media conversations by fol-
lowing or liking their organizations on social media.
 Retweet, share, and comment on influencers’ activity that is consistent with
federal messages.

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
 Share StopBullying.gov content directly with influencers, using similar terms.

 Live tweet at conferences and events.
Level 3 source:
 Edgerton et al., 2016
 7. Supplement health promotion with art

In a health promotion project in Canada called “The Novella Approach to Inform
Women Living on Low Income about Early Breast Cancer Detection,” peer educators
created “novellas” involving art (painting, sculpture, written narratives) to express
their life experiences as breast cancer survivors.
The peer educators used the novella approach to reach out with their message about
the importance of early detection to over 900 women. Based on program evaluation,
authors made the following recommendations for effective outreach:
 Be present where the women live, work, or gather, such as food banks, day
cares, churches, mosques, cultural centers, and workplaces.
 Be sensitive to religious and cultural beliefs and values.
 Allow time to develop and nurture working relationships in the community.
 Engage community representatives to work within the community rather than
using an expert model that works outside of the community.
 Graphic artwork and pointed health promotion messages work best for out-
reach in health fairs and community events rather than at hospitals or events
where persons with a recent cancer diagnosis may be present.
Level 5 source:
 Herbison & Lokanc-Diluzio, 2008
 8. Tailoring interventions to populations

A systematic review on tailored interventions for outreach to populations to promote
mammography screening found that tailoring interventions to the health belief
model and including a physician recommendation had the strongest influence on ob-
taining mammography screening. Tailoring interventions to the Health Belief Model
addresses perceptions of risk, benefits, severity, cues to action, and self-efficacy to
motivate decision-making.
Level 2 source:
 Sohl & Moyer, 2007

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Wheel notes
Joining forces in outreach
Working with other community partners is essential for effective outreach. When
providing services to individuals (home visiting, school nursing), PHNs may note a
health problem or illness that appears to occur more often than usual. In this situa-
tion, they may use case-finding to reach out to the population to identify additional
individuals who are experiencing the health problem or illness. PHNs are likely to in-
volve other staff and organizations to locate individuals who are at-risk or ill.
With community-level outreach, PHNs collaborate with other professionals, health
care and other relevant organizations, businesses, and people who represent the
population in order to develop effective outreach strategies.
Level of evidence
A number of studies identified in key points from evidence have a high evidence level
(experimental and quasi-experimental studies). When outreach intervention pro-
grams are compared with usual care in level 1 and level 2 studies, PHNs can confi-
dently use the recommendations in designing outreach interventions.
Outreach by community health workers

Evidence supports the effectiveness of outreach conducted by community health
workers. The role of the community health worker has emerged in response to eco-
nomic pressures and health care reform measures (Kauer, 2016). To be effective, the
community health worker role must be clearly defined. Community health workers
require training, supervision, and ongoing support. PHNs may work with community
health workers on an outreach team and need to be knowledgeable about guidelines
for community health worker responsibilities and accountability.
References
Alexandrake, I. & Mooradian, A. D. (2010). Barriers related to mammography use for breast
cancer screening among minority women. Journal of the National Medical Association,
102(3), 206-218.
Allen, J. D., Stoddard, A. M., & Sorenson, G. (2008). Do social network characteristics predict
mammography screening practices? Health Education & Behavior, 35(6), 763-776. doi:
10.1177/1090198107303251
Berthold, T. (2009). Health outreach. In Foundations for community health workers (pp. 437-451).
Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.

RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Brown, C. M., Perkins, J., Blust, A., & Kahn, R. S. (2015). A neighborhood-based approach to
population health in the pediatric medical home. Journal of Community Health, 40, 1-11.
doi: 10.1007/s10900-014-9885-z
Cohen, D. A., Han, B., Derose, K. P., Williamson, S., Marsh, T., & McKenzie, T. L. (2013). Physical
activity in the park: A randomized controlled trail using community engagement.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(5), 590-597.
doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2013.06.015
Delair, S. F., Lyden, E. R., O’Keefe, Simonsen, K. A., Nared, S. R., Berthold, E. A., et al. (2016). A
novel library-based sexually transmitted infection screening program for younger high-
risk groups in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Journal of Community Health, 41, 289-295. doi:
10.1007/s10900-015-0095-0
Denberg, T. D., Coombes, J. M., Byers, T. E., Marcus, A. C., Feinberg, L. E., Steiner, J. F., et al.
(2006). Effect of a mailed brochure on appointment-keeping for screening colonoscopy:
A randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 145(12), 895-900.
Denberg, T. D., Meyers, B. A., Lin, C., Libby, A. M., Min, S., McDermott, M. T., et al. (2009). An
outreach intervention increases bone densitometry testing in older women. Journal of
the American Geriatrics Society, 57(2), 341-347. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02111.x.
Edgerton, E., Reiney, E., Mueller, S., Reicherter, B., Curtis, K., Waties, S., & Limber, S. P. (2016).
Identifying new strategies to assess and promote online health communication and
social media outreach: An application in bullying prevention. Health Promotion Practice,
17(3), 448-456. doi: 10.1177/1524839915620392
Erwin, D. O., Johnson, V. A., Trevino, M., Duke, K., Feliciano, L., & Jandorf, L. (2007). A comparison
of African American and Latina social networks as indicators for culturally tailoring a
breast and cervical cancer education intervention. Cancer, Supplement 109(2), 368-377.
doi: 10.1002/cncr.22356
Felix, H. C., Mays, G. P., Stewart, M. K., Cottoms, N., & Olson, M. (2011). Medicaid savings resulted
when community health workers matches those with needs to home and community
care. Health Affairs, 30(7), 1366-1374.
Herbison, S. & Lokanc-Diluzio, W. (2008). The novella approach to inform women living on low
income about early breast cancer detection. Health Promotion Practice, 9(3), 294-304.
doi: 10.1177/1524839906289166
Kauer, M. (2016). Community health workers-birth of a new profession. Journal of the American
Society on Aging, 40(1), 56-63.
King, C., Goldman, A., Gampa, V., Smith, C., Musket, O., Brown, C., et al. (2017). Strengthening the
role of community health representatives in the Navajo nation. BMC Public Health, 17,
1-10. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4263-2
Minnesota Department of Health. (2018). The Minnesota Chlamydia Partnership (MCP). Retrieved
from https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/chlamydia/mcp.html
Nguyen, T. T., Le, G., Nguyen, T., Lai, K., Gildengoren, G., Tsoh, G., et al. (2009). Breast cancer
screening among Vietnamese Americans: A randomized controlled trial of lay health
worker outreach. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(4), 306-313.
Ports, K. A., Ayers, A., Crocker, W., Hart, A., Mosavel, M., & Rafie, C. (2015). Community
perceptions and utilization of consumer health care center. Journal of the Medical
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Reinschmidt, K. M., Hunter, J., B., Fernandez, M. L., Lacy-Martinez, C. R., de Zapien, J. G., &
Meister, J. (2006). Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 17(2), 256-264.
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RED WEDGE: OUTREACH
Sohl, S. J. & Moyer, A. (2007). Tailored interventions to promote mammography screening: A

meta-analytic review. Preventive Medicine, 45, 252-261. doi:
10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.06.009
Sudarson, N. R., Jandorf, L., & Erwin, D. O. (2011). Multi-site implementation of health education
programs for Latinas. Journal of Community Health, 36(2), 193-203. doi:
10.1007/s10900-010-9297-7
Tembreull, C. L. & Schaffer, M. A. (2005). The intervention of outreach: Best practices. Public
Health Nursing, 22(4), 347-353.
Yang, J. A., Garis, J., & McClure, R. (2006). Clinical mental health outreach to older adults: Serving
the hard-to-serve. Clinical Gerontologist, 29(2), 71-79. doi: 10.1300/J018v29n02_08

RED WEDGE: SCREENING
Screening
Screening identifies individuals with unrecognized health risk factors or asympto-
matic disease conditions in populations.
Screening aims to: 1) detect health risks and disease to reduce adverse consequences,
transmission of disease, and suffering, and 2) improve prevention and treatment out-
comes (World Health Organization, 2013).
Three types of screening exist:
 Mass: Screening the general population for a single risk or multiple health risks
at community events or locations, such as health fairs at work sites or health
appraisal surveys at county fairs (community level).
 Targeted: Screening a discrete subgroup within the population, such as those at
risk for HIV infection (individual/family level).
 Periodic: Screening a discrete population subgroup on a regular basis, over time,
for predictable risks or problems. Examples include breast and cervical cancer
screening among age-appropriate women, well child screening, and the follow-
along associated with early childhood development programs (individual/family
level).

Population of interest: Children at risk for lead poisoning.
Problem: Children exposed to environmental lead exhibit neurotoxic effects, including
learning and behavior problems, lower intelligence, slowed growth and development,
hearing and speech problems, and anemia. In Flint, Michigan, elevated blood levels
increased from 2.4 percent to 4.9 percent among children younger than five years after
the city switched the water source to the Flint River. Because the water treatment did
not include a chemical corrosion-inhibiting compound, lead leached into the water
supply from plumbing. Higher rates of elevated blood levels occurred in socially
disadvantaged neighborhoods with older homes (Hanna-Attisha, LaChance, Sadler, &
Schnepp, 2016; Hanna-Attisha, 2017; Maqsood, Stanbury, & Miller, 2017).
Systems level
State law in Michigan mandates screening children under 5 years old insured by Med-
icaid, and children enrolled in WIC, for blood lead levels (Michigan Department of
Community Health, 2009). Michigan State University and the Hurley Medical Center
in Flint launched the Pediatric Public Health Initiative to mitigate the effects of the
Flint water crisis. Through this initiative, PHNs received a wealth of resources for ad-
ditional child development screening in at-risk populations including maternal-infant
support programs, universal home-based early intervention, early childhood educa-
tion, and parenting support programs (Hanna-Attisha, 2017).
Community level
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers a Lead Safe Home
Program that provides lead testing and hazard control services to qualifying families
through grants. The Michigan Department of Community Health created a “Finding a
Healthy Home” checklist, which assists families in screening a potential new home for
safety. The checklist includes resources for promoting lead-safe homes. Public health
nurses offer these resources when they screen families with young children for lead
toxicity.

For families with young children, PHNs use a lead screening questionnaire to deter-
mine risk status and need for referral: Lead testing/lead screening plan for Flint,
Michigan (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

Social marketing and outreach interventions frequently occur prior to the screening
intervention, especially with regard to the mass screening intervention. Health

teaching and counseling interventions usually occur simultaneously with screening

or as a feature of the interview conducted post-screening. Referral and follow-up
interventions often occur for those requiring further assessment of risk or symptoms.
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted from the World Health Organization (2013):
1. Assess the situation

Before initiating screening, determine the health risk or disease threat to population
health and whether interventions exist to follow up on screening results.
a. Determine previous screening activities and results in the population, including
cost-effectiveness and outcomes.
b. Review the epidemiology.
c. Identify existing health services and access to care for the population.
d. Identify existing screening guidelines.
e. Identify relevant groups for partnership (organizations providing health services,
supportive community leaders, and providers and health workers who conduct
the screening and follow-up treatment services).
2. Develop the program

Development of the screening program should include:
a. Scope (who and how many in the population and the geographic area)
b. Program design (e.g., clinic, home visits, mobile clinic, laboratory, health fair)
c. Identification of the screening algorithm (step-by-step screening process)
d. Referral of individuals with positive results to treatment, monitoring, and
support
3. Prioritize risk groups

Screening population groups with the highest risk effectively identifies individuals
most likely to benefit:
a. Prioritize risk groups in each setting:
 Assess potential benefits and harms, acceptability of screening approach,
number needed to screen, and cost-effectiveness.
 Determine prevalence of the risk or disease in the population group, the risk
for poor treatment outcomes if diagnosis is delayed, the epidemiological sit-
uation, capacity of the health system, and the availability of resources.
b. Avoid indiscriminate mass screening.

Figure 1: Pediatric developmental screening flowchart
Adapted from CDC (2017b).
4. Use evidence-based algorithm and approach

a. Screening algorithms identify the steps in the process and communicates the
process (for an example of developmental screening, see Figure 1).
b. Screening algorithms vary for different groups (for example, children or adults).
c. Algorithm selection depends on the risk group, health risk or disease prevalence,
resource availability, and plan feasibility.
d. Evidence to consider when selecting a screening tool (Adam & Hilfinger, 2016):
 Reliability: What is the consistency of the screening tool in obtaining accu-
rate results?

 Validity: Does the screening tool measure what it is intended to measure?

 Sensitivity: Does the screening tool accurately identify the occurrence of
the health risk or signs of disease?
 Specificity: Does the screening tool accurately identify individuals who do
not have the health risk or signs of disease?
e. When selecting a screening approach, identify strategies to ensure:
 Consent
 Mitigation of potential stigma or negative social consequences
 Communication of relevance
 Incentives
5. Plan, budget, and implement

Ensure adequate resources, including funding and personnel for implementation.
The screening plan includes the following components:
a. Selection or creation of protocols and tools
b. Criteria for evaluating screening strategies (Dans, Asuncion, & Silvestre, 2011, p.
231):
 High burden of illness
 Accurate tests
 Early treatment more effective than late treatment
 Safe diagnostic tests and early treatment
 Cost commensurate with potential benefit
c. Identification of available resources for implementation, including funding, hu-
man resources, and feasible interventions and treatment
d. Hiring and training staff for identified roles
 Outreach and/or contact investigations
 Data entry, management, monitoring, and analysis
 Program management, coordination, and problem solving
e. Pilot testing
f. Initial evaluation
6. Monitor and evaluate

Evaluate the effectiveness of the screening approach and determine changes needed
for future screening activities.
a. Monitor:
 Collection of key information and performance
 Consistency with screening program’s goals
 Use of data collection tools
b. Evaluate analysis and the reporting system.
c. Conduct an outcomes analysis; use mathematical modelling to estimate the im-
pact on the incidence and prevalence of the health risk or disease in the targeted
community.
d. Seek screening program feedback from the population screened.

Example
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services offers a Lead Safe Home
Program that provides lead testing and hazard control services to qualifying families
through grants (Hanna-Attisha et al., 2016; Maqsood et al., 2017).

In April 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan changes its water supply to the Flint River
while waiting for a new pipeline from Lake Huron. After the switch, city residents
report concerns about water color, taste, and odor, and negative effects on health,
such as skin rashes. Due to lack of a corrosion inhibitor and the high percentage of
lead pipes and plumbing in the water distribution system, the chemical makeup of
the Flint River water contribute to lead leaching into the drinking water. Although
researchers from Virginia Tech University report increases in water lead levels, the
impact on blood lead levels remains unknown.
2. Develop the program

Staff analyze “differences in pediatric elevated blood lead level incidence before and
after Flint.” (Hanna-Attisha et al., 2016, p. 283).
3. Prioritize risk groups

The highest risk group included children under 5 years of age living within the city of
Flint receiving water from the city. Children living outside the city with an unchanged
water source provided a comparison group.
4. Use evidence-based algorithm and approach

A computer algorithm links multiple tests of the same child to Medicaid data files and
the state immunization registry: “A blood lead level equal to or greater than 5 mi-
crograms per deciliter of blood (≥5 μg/dL) is considered elevated by CDC” (Maqsood
et al., 2017, p. 6). The laboratory tests for blood lead level uses a venous or capillary
blood sample. Capillary blood tests may produce false positive results; confirmation
of elevated capillary blood tests occurs with a venous blood test.
5. Plan, budget, and implement

Screeners communicate the lead testing status of children to Medicaid managed care
plans, who use the data to contact providers not compliant with Medicaid lead
screening requirements. Local health departments conduct follow-up with Medicaid
fee-for-service providers not in compliance with the Medicaid screening require-
ments. Local health departments receive a weekly update of blood tests, indicating
venous or capillary. The local health departments (LHDs) follow up with the families

of children completing capillary lead screening and encourage them to see their pro-
vider for a confirmatory venous test.
LHDs use the weekly data reports to identify and follow up on children with
EBLLs (elevated blood lead levels). Depending on resources, LHDs provide
case management services to children with EBLLs and their families. Case
management may include a home visit to make a visual assessment of lead
hazards, an assessment of the child’s growth and development, [which are
screening activities] education of the caregivers on nutrition and cleaning,
and referrals to other agencies for interventions. A nurse consultant
supports case management activities at the LHDs through training and
technical consultations. LHDs use a web-based application to track case
management activities (Maqsood et al., 2017, p. 7).
6. Monitor and evaluate

Key recommendations to improve the lead poisoning screening strategy:
 Improve “the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of the surveillance system
by implementing a modernized data management system and automating the
process of receiving and compiling reports from laboratories.”
 “Partner with other agencies to increase the proportion of children with EBLLs
based on capillary tests receiving a confirmatory venous test.”
 “Launch a new program to increase reimbursement to local health departments
for the provision of in-home nursing case management for Medicaid children
with EBLLs, supported by training and technical assistance.”
 “Collaborate with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Lead
Safe Home Program to expand environmental inspection services and financial
support for home lead abatement” (Maqsood et al., 2017, p. 3).

 1. Principles and guidelines for effective health screening

In 1968, the World Health Organization published of principles/guidelines for effec-
tive health screening:
 The condition should be an important health problem that carries with it notable
morbidity and mortality.
 There should be an accepted treatment for patients with recognized disease.
 Facilities for diagnosis and treatment should be available.
 There should be a recognizable latent or early symptomatic stage.
 There should be a suitable test or examination.
 The test should be acceptable to the population.

 The natural history of the condition, including development from latent to de-
clared disease, should be adequately understood.
 There should be an agreed policy on whom to treat as patients.
 The cost of finding, diagnosing, and treating patients should be economically
balanced in relation to the anticipated overall expenditure on medical care.
 Case-finding should be a continuing process and not a “once and for all” project.
Level 5 sources:
 Stifler & Dever, 2015
 Wilson & Jungner, 1968
 2. Successful screening programs

A successful screening program is:
 Valid (accurate)
 Reliable (precise)
 Capable of large-group administration
 Minimally invasive
 Worth the effort and expense
 Ethical and effective (meets public health goal, benefits outweigh possible harms)
 Simple, rapid, inexpensive, safe, and acceptable
Level 5 sources:
 Adams & Hilfinger, 2016
 Friss & Sellers, 2014
 3. Asking the right questions

Questions to ask when planning a screening program:
 Is the health problem important to the individual and community?
 Is diagnostic and follow-up intervention available to all?
 Is there high public acceptance of the screening program and tools/tests?
 Is there an adequate scientific knowledge base about the epidemiology of the
health risk or disease, efficacy of prevention, and/or treatment?
 Is there evidence that the results of the screening program can improve the nat-
ural history of the health risk or disease for a significant proportion of those
screened?
Level 5 source:
 Friss & Sellers, 2014
 4. Considering ethical issues

Ethical issues to consider when conducting screening:
 Preventing harm: Does the risk of screening offset the benefits?
 Self-determination: Individuals who are offered screening should decide if the
screening is acceptable to them
 Confidentiality: Individual screening results are protected health information

 Equity: Ensure that everyone who may be at risk for the health problem or dis-
ease has access to recommended screening strategies
Level 5 source:
 Asuncion, Silvestre, Dans, & Dans, 2011
 5. Using standardized screening instruments

A systematic review on developmental screening in children under 5 years old admin-
istered primarily by nurses, found that training nurses to use standardized instru-
ments contributed to an acceptable level of reliability and improved screening effi-
ciency. This led to accurate identification and referral for early intervention.
Level 3 source:
 Trivette, O-Herin, & Dunst, 2009
 6. When limited screening is appropriate

Experts determined that adopting a population-based screening program for asthma
is not recommended, given a lack of evidence of improvement in health outcomes.
Limited screening may be appropriate in areas with a high prevalence of undiagnosed
asthma and where identified clients have access to high quality asthma care. The au-
thors recommended applying World Health Organization criteria for assessing
screening programs to decision-making about asthma screening.
Level 4 source:
 Gerald et al., 2007
 7. When screening is harmful

Based on a systematic review the United States Preventive Services Task Force con-
cluded that the harms of screening adolescents for idiopathic scoliosis exceed poten-
tial benefits. Most cases detected during screening are not clinically significant, those
who need aggressive treatment are likely to be detected without screening, and po-
tential harms include unnecessary brace wear and referral for specialty care.
Level 4 source:
 United States Preventive Services Task Force, 2014
 8. Screening for abuse

Using domestic abuse screening tools increases violence disclosure rates and safety
planning. Screening tool strengths include the presence of an opening statement
about the prevalence and impact of abuse (provides justification for the screening),
screening for all types of abuse, and non-judgmental and sensitive questions.
Level 1 source:
 Taft et al., 2015

Level 2 source:
 Vanderberg, Wright, Boston, & Zimmerman, 2010
Level 5 source:
 Litherland, 2012
 9. Safeguards when screening for Body Mass Index (BMI)

CDC recommended safeguards for Body Mass Index (BMI) screening in schools. Safe-
guards included: a) accurate and reliable equipment, b) staff training, c) follow-up
resources, d) parent notification of results, and e) providing referrals. Barriers to ef-
fective BMI screening practices include lack of screening policy, time-consuming data
gathering process, lack of equipment and referral resources, and school nurse work-
load. Implications for school nursing practice include: be familiar with safeguards;
communicate importance of safeguards to school administrators; participate in train-
ing on the safeguards; and collaborate with other school staff, other schools, and
community partnerships to share safeguard equipment and costs.
Level 3 sources:
 Sliwa, Brener, Lundeen, & Lee, 2018
 Stalter, Chaudry, & Polivka, 2010
 10. Using apps for screening

A qualitative study on mobile screening applications (apps) for men identified three
themes for increasing app use:
 Content: 1) Health risks, benefits, risks of health screening, and available screen-
ing services; 2) Convenient assessment of health status in private in-home set-
ting; 3) Personalized and tailored feedback that is not overwhelming; 4) Secure
data, up-to-date information, and credible sources
 Format: 1) Information delivery in lay terms; 2) Easy-to-use features with pic-
tures and videos; 3) Reminders of the health screening date and daily or weekly
reminders for improving health; 4) Connection to social media for sharing expe-
rience and motivating health screening
 Dissemination strategies: 1) Advertising (hospital, gym, shopping center, men’s
magazines, social media); 2) Recommendations from physicians and celebrities;
3) Incentives, such as a discount voucher, free health screening, or monitory re-
ward; 4) Integrating the app into a basic apps package
Level 3 source:
 Teo, Ng, & White, 2017

Wheel notes
Common public health nursing screening
activities
Public health nurses target screening activities to the population and setting in which
they work. Some common examples include:
 Tuberculosis screening in a correctional facility
 HIV screening at an HIV/STI clinic
 Anemia screening of pregnant women and infants at a WIC clinic
 Blood lead level checks in at-risk children during well-child assessments
 Hypertension screening at work sites
 Growth and development screening in early childhood clinics
 Pregnancy testing at family planning clinics
 Postpartum depression screening during home visits
 Domestic violence screening during home visits
 Drug and alcohol use screening for adolescents in high schools
 Hearing and vision screening with school-aged children
 Screening for violence risk with women on maternal and child health caseload
 Home hazard screening of elder homes
 Blood glucose screening at senior health clinics
 BMI and cholesterol screening at community health fairs
Evaluating screening tool effectiveness

Many studies provide evidence about the reliability and validity of screening tests and
evaluate the sensitivity (accurate identification of positive cases) and specificity (ac-
curate identification of negative cases). Review current evidence and determine cost-
effectiveness and harm versus benefit. In the past, school nurses offered scoliosis
screening; current evidence does not support scoliosis screening because of the high
rate of false positives and follow-up expense (United States Preventive Services Task
Force, 2014).
Preventing harm: Cultural/racial factors

Consider ethical concerns when conducting screening: preventing harm, self-deter-
mination, confidentiality, and equity. Knowledge about cultural differences and experi-
ence promotes ethical screening actions. For example, a medical provider unfamiliar
with Mongolian spots (variations in skin pigment in babies of African, Asian, Indian, or
Mediterranean descent) may interpret them as bruises related to possible child abuse.
The blue or gray spots are usually gone within a year and require no treatment.

Screening plus referral and follow-up

Screening without referral options for prevention and/or treatment is unethical. Be-
fore initiating screening activities, ensure that referral and follow-up options exist.
Referral and follow-up options also contribute to the ability to evaluate the effective-
ness of the prevention/treatment in decreasing the health risk or severity of disease.
References
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health nursing: Population-centered care in the community. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Asuncion, M., Silvestre, A., Dans, L. F., & Dans, A. L. (2011). Trade-off between benefit and harm is
crucial in health screening recommendations. Part II: Evidence summaries. Journal of
Clinical Epidemiology, 64, 240-249.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017a). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Screening
and diagnosis for healthcare providers. Retrieved from
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Chart.pdf
Dans, L. F., Asuncion, M., & Silvestre, A. L. (2011). Trade-off between benefit and harm is crucial in
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RED WEDGE: CASE-FINDING
Case-finding
Case-finding locates individuals and families with identified risk factors and connects
them to resources.
Case-finding is a one-to-one intervention operating only at the individual/family level.

Case-finding serves as the individual/family level of intervention for surveillance, dis-
ease and health event investigation, outreach, and screening. Case-finding locates
those most at risk.
In an editorial in the American Journal of Nursing, Kennedy (2016) stated:
[Case-finding] falls within the purview of all nurses. Nursing assessments

must include questions about patients’ homes and neighborhoods and jobs
and pets and military service. All of us, wherever we work and live, must be
alert for patterns of illness and be proactive in bringing them to light (p. 7).
Kennedy highlighted three case-finding examples nurses identified when they asked
the question “What’s been happening?”

 A school nurse in New York City, Mary Pappas, recognized a pattern of symp-
toms that indicated the onset of the 2001 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
 In 2012, a nurse in rural Washington state, Sara Barron, alerted the state health
department of the occurrence of three infants born with anencephaly at one
hospital. A follow-up investigation revealed an anencephalic birth rate four
times the national average.
 An occupational health nurse in Minnesota, Carole Bower, reported similarities
of slaughterhouse workers’ complaints to the state health department. The fol-
low-up investigation led to identifying a new illness related to pig brain proteins
released into the air during meat processing.
Practice examples: Individual/family

Case-finding from surveillance
Public health nurses (PHNs) routinely inquire about flu-like symptoms with the indi-
viduals, families, groups, and colleagues with whom they work. During staff meetings,
PHNs report and monitor flu activity in the area.
Case-finding from disease and health event

investigation
When providing services to women of childbearing age, PHNs inquire about symp-
toms of infection in women and their partners and history of travel or residence in
environments where infected mosquitoes may be present. Recommending testing
for Zika infection contributes to identifying and reporting possible outbreaks, which
can lead to implementing control measures.
Case-finding from outreach

A rural “street nurse” provided outreach in British Columbia to a marginalized popu-
lation. Services offered included sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, chla-
mydia treatment, pregnancy testing, emergency contraception support, and financial
form completion assistance. Settings included schools, a drop-in center, a mall, a
youth center, and “the street.” The street nurse collaborated with other PHNs, health
care providers, mental health workers, and social workers, in making and receiving
referrals (Self & Peters, 2005).
Case-finding from screening

For families with young children, PHNs determine risk status and need for referral
using a lead-screening questionnaire: Lead testing/lead screening plan for Flint,
Michigan (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).


Case-finding is linked to outreach, screening, surveillance, and disease and health
event investigation. Case-finding, as the individual/family practice level of surveil-
lance, disease and health event investigation, outreach, and screening, often leads to
referral and follow-up.
Basic steps
1. Identify individuals and families at risk through
information from surveillance, disease and
health event investigation, and/or outreach
Effective case-finding occurs when targeting at-risk populations.
Risk severity increases with factors that make individuals and families unaware, una-
ble, or unwilling to respond:
a. Unaware of risk :
 Lacking information or understanding of the risk
 Isolated from media
b. Unable to respond:
 Unable to receive or understand the message, due to illiteracy, hearing and
vision impairments, or cognitive impairment
 Non-English-speaking or other language barriers
 Contrasting cultural beliefs
 Lacking resources, such as financial resources, transportation, child care, or
social skills
c. Unwilling to respond, fearing that negative consequences exceed benefits:
 Fear of deportation
 Unable to afford out-of-pocket costs
2. Connect with formal and informal networks to

find those identified as at-risk
This strategy helps identify the at-risk target population.
 Formal networks include professionals and agencies with whom the PHN com-
municates regularly and maintains a relationship (e.g., hospital and outpatient
discharge planners, follow-along program coordinators for children with special
needs, social workers, and epidemiologists).
 Informal networks include individuals and organizations with whom the individ-
ual or family communicates regularly and maintains a relationship.
 Successful case-finding often depends on the PHN developing a trust relation-
ship with members of the individual’s or family’s network.

3. Initiate activities providing information about

the nature of the risk, possible solutions, and
service attainment
Once the PHN identifies the target population, resources on risk information and re-
ferral provide accurate and timely information to individuals identified as at-risk for
or having the health problem or disease.
a. The PHN bases the approach on the individual or family rationale for not seeking
services.
b. If the individual or family is unaware of the risk or does not understand its se-
verity or full potential for harm, the PHN provides health teaching to reduce the
knowledge deficit and further engage them using a teaching and counseling
strategy.
c. If the individual or family is unable to respond, the PHN works with them to re-
solve the barriers, providing counseling, consultation, advocacy, and/or referral
and follow-up for transportation, financial assistance, arrangement for inter-
preters, and child-care provision.
d. If the individual or family is unwilling to respond, the PHN establishes a trust
relationship and identifies the source, such as fear or anxiety, of the unwilling-
ness. With trust established, the PHN provides health teaching, counseling,
consultation, advocacy, and/or referral and follow-up as needed.
4. If the level of risk suggests endangerment to

the individual, family, or community, provide
direct access to necessary services
The risk of potential harm requires intervention to prevent that harm, which supports
the ethical principles of prevention, not causing harm, and promoting good.
Examples of endangerment demanding immediate PHN response:
 A client is followed for management of psychotropic medications, and has a dis-
connected phone. The PHN visits his apartment, talks with the landlord, checks
with his family to locate him, and assures his well-being.
 A newborn fails to make a reasonable weight gain. The PHN determines the
mother is ambivalent and not bonding well with the infant. The PHN arrives for
a third visit in a series of planned home visits, hears the baby crying inside the
apartment, and no one answers the door. The PHN finds the building manager,
convinces him to open the door, and contacts child protection.
 A PHN leads a caregiver support group. A participant arrives wearing dark glasses
and a scarf covering her head and neck. She excuses her appearance, saying she
had been cleaning her mother’s house and has dust in her hair and eyes. She
seems unable to relax during the group, and lingers after the others leave. She
divulges she is afraid to go home, because her boyfriend beats her. He accuses her
of having an affair because she is gone much of the time and he refuses to believe
that she is caring for her ailing mother. The PHN helps her develop a plan to pro-
tect herself, considering all relevant state laws and regulations.

5. Fulfill state law and regulation reporting

mandates
Completing mandatory reporting requirements, such as those regarding reportable
contagious diseases or indicators of child maltreatment, guides public health experts
in the surveillance of health problems and disease and in determining an appropriate
public health response.
Example
Nurse Sara Barron noted the delivery of four babies with anencephaly (born without
all of or without a major part of the brain) in a short time period at rural, local hospi-
tals in Washington state. She had seen only two previous cases in over 30 years of
nursing (Barron, 2016).
1. Identify individuals and families at risk through

information from surveillance, disease and
health event investigation, and/or outreach
Barron notes the delivery of two babies born with anencephaly through her own sur-
veillance of birth defects, and that this occurrence seems unusual.
2. Connect with formal and informal networks to

find those identified as at risk
When talking to a physician who delivers babies, Barron learns he has another patient
expecting a similar outcome. When talking to colleagues in hospitals in the area, she
learns that two other babies were born recently with anencephaly.
3. Initiate activities providing information about

the nature of the risk, possible solutions, and
service attainment
Barron calls the Washington State Department of Health to report the birth defect
cluster. When investigators looked into the problem, they find 23 cases of anenceph-
aly across three counties in Washington, a rate of 8.4 per 10,000 live births (four times
higher than the national average).

4. If the level of risk suggests endangerment to

the individual, family, or community, provide
direct access to necessary services
To address coping with grief and possible genetic problems, the PHN ensures that
families that have a baby with a neural tube defect have access to counseling. Coun-
seling about the importance of folic acid intake is important for all women of
childbearing age, and Hispanic women are particularly at risk because they favor corn
products that may not be fortified with folic acid; their risk for pregnancy resulting in
a neural tube defect is twice the rate of non-Hispanic white women.
5. Fulfill state law and regulation reporting

mandates
In August 2000, the Washington State Board of Health approved a revised
list of congenital abnormalities notifiable by law to public health
authorities under Chapter 246-101 of the Washington Administrative
Code. Among these were nine birth defects (Washington State
Department of Health, 2018).
This includes anencephaly, defined as “a birth defect that affects the growth of a ba-
by's brain and skull bones that surround the head” (Washington State Department of
Health, 2018).

 1. Case-finding intervention categories

CDC identifies three categories of case-finding interventions for birth defects:
Active case-finding: Staff members continually review medical records from health
care facilities in a geographic area
Passive case-finding with confirmation: There is an agreement to received report
about birth defect cases from health care facilities. The reports are reviewed and
there is verification of the diagnosis.
Passive case-finding: Reports from health care facilities are received, but there is no
follow-up to confirm diagnoses.
Level 4 source:

 2. Settings for active case-finding

Settings for conducting active case-finding include voluntary counseling and testing
centers, homeless shelters, prisons, nursing homes, and impoverished areas. When
resources are limited, symptom screening in clinical community settings is efficient.
Level 5 source:
 Golub, Mohan, Comstock, & Chaisson, 2005
 3. Stepped care case-finding

For delivering care following exposure to a natural disaster, a case-finding stepped care
model calls for screening and triage to the appropriate level of care (cognitive behav-
ioral therapy or skills for psychological recovery), followed by ongoing systematic
reevaluation. In a simulation that compared the initial triage approach versus usual care
for post-traumatic stress disorder after a natural disaster, the stepped-care approach
found more cases, resulted in more effective treatment, and was cost-effective.
Level 2 source:
 Cohen et al., 2017
 4. Case-finding for tuberculosis

A review of case-finding for tuberculosis identified the following as intended out-
comes and strategies of measurement of effectiveness of a case-finding program:
 Using prevalence surveys before and after a case detection program.
 Measuring delays in diagnosis before and after a case detection program.
 Monitoring treatment completion to ensure high completion rates among newly
detected patients.
 If more than one intervention aimed at reducing TB incidence is implemented,
assessment should allow for separation of the intervention effects.
 Reduction in incidence is the goal.
Level 5 source:
 Golub et al., 2005
 5. Case-finding to improve early detection and increase access

to care
A case-finding community project in Ireland aimed to improve early detection of
chronic health conditions and increase access to primary care and nursing services.
Over 350 people attended 17 health fairs in a variety of Belfast venues, and 115 peo-
ple were identified with respiratory, cardiac, diabetes, and hypertension risk factors.
Attendees had their weight, waist, blood pressure, and blood sugar measured and
received materials that focused on health promotion. In follow-up, a district nurse
practitioner provided health assessments to 109 people and made 97 referrals to
other health professionals and agencies. Through the health fair strategies, those
most at risk were identified and referred to needed services.

Level 3 source:
 Kane, 2008
 6. Using apps for sexually transmitted infection (STI) case-

finding
The use of smartphone apps in case-finding for sexually transmitted diseases (STIs)
can enhance traditional case-finding strategies for STIs.
Level 3 source:
 Pennise, Inscho, & Herpin, 2015
 7. Using brief and evidence-based case-finding tools

A review of common tools for case-finding of depressive disorders in older adults rec-
ommended brief and evidence-based case-finding tools. Using several measures in-
creases the sensitivity and specificity of results.
Level 5 source:
 Roman & Callen, 2008
 8. Identifying potential clients with case-finding

Five stages of case-finding to identify clients who will benefit from case management
are:
a. Scoping: Estimating the expected number of clients
b. Searching: Basing on clear case-finding criteria
c. Adapting to capacity: Consideration of which patients can be accommodated
d. Screening: Determining whether client is appropriate for case management
e. Enrolling: Starting services for clients who can benefit from the program
Level 5 source:
 Toofany, 2008
Wheel notes
Critical thinking
Case-finding goes beyond following a checklist. Kennedy stated,
Nurses at the point of care are usually the first to take stock of a patient’s
problems. But how often do we do it by habit, following a checklist
without the mindfulness that might lead us to ask other, more important
questions? Often, the crucial question is not “What’s the problem?” but

“What’s been happening?” It makes a huge difference when nurses apply

critical thinking skills to assessment. (Kennedy, 2016, p. 7)
Case-finding requires noticing, recognizing patterns, and making connections.
Opportunities
A PHN, always vigilant and watching for actual or potential threats to health, may
unexpectedly come across case-finding opportunities, events, or observations. These
are cues for further assessment and, perhaps, identification of new cases (for more
information, visit disease and health event investigation)
References
Barron, S. (2016). Anencephaly: An ongoing investigation in Washington state. American Journal
of Nursing, 116(3), 60-66.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Birth defects: State-based tracking systems.
Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/states/
Cohen, G. H., Tamrakar, S., Lowe, S., Sampson, L., Ettman, C., Linas, B., et al. (2017). Comparison
of simulated treatment and cost-effectiveness of a stepped care case-finding
intervention vs usual care for posttraumatic stress disorder after a natural disaster.
JAMA Psychiatry, 74(12), 1251-1258. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.3037
Golub, J. E., Mohan, C. I., Comstock, G. W., & Chaisson, R. E. (2005). Active case finding of
tuberculosis: Historical perspective and future prospects. International Journal of
Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 9(11), 1183-1203.
Kane, K. (2008). Case-finding in the community: The results 2. British Journal of Community
Nursing, 13(6), 265-269.
Kennedy, M. S. (2016). Asking more questions: The importance of case finding. American Journal
of Nursing, 116(3), 7.
Pennise, M., Inscho, R., Herpin, K. (2015). Using smartphone apps in STD interviews to find sexual
partners. Public Health Reports, 130, 245-252.
Roman, M. W. & Callen, B. L. (2008). Screening instruments for older adult depressive disorders:
Updating the evidence-based toolbox. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29, 924-941. doi:
10.1080/01612840802274578
Self, B. & Peters, H. (2005). Street outreach with no streets. Canadian Nurse, 101(1), 20-24.
Toofany, S. (2008). Where are the cases? Primary Health Care, 18(3), 36-39.
Washington State Department of Health. (2018). Birth defects. Retrieved from
https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/IllnessandDisease/BirthDefects

RED WEDGE: IN REVIEW
In review
A story:
The Sage Screening Program in Minnesota provides wellness screening and early de-
tection of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. Eligible persons, based on age, in-
surance, and income criteria, obtain free screening. The Sage Program sponsors
screening events and completes targeted outreach to find and enroll clients into the
program. Direct mail materials, a financial incentive ($20), and patient navigation
(help finding health care resources) increases targeted screening for these cancers.
The Sage Program offers breast and cervical cancer screening at over 450 clinic sites
in Minnesota to more than 150,000 women (Minnesota Department of Health, 2018).
In one of these sites, a tri-city public health department, a senior public health nursing
student provided wellness screening services for blood glucose and high cholesterol
in the Sage Program along with her public health nurse preceptor. The program of-
fered additional health testing along with cancer screening. The student captured her
experience:
Part of the screening consisted of checking total (fasting) cholesterol and

blood glucose levels. I did a finger stick to draw up a drop of blood into a
little plastic case that fit into a machine, which would give us the

cholesterol and glucose results in about five minutes. After we had the
results, I entered the data into a computer program created by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that analyzes and
creates a bar graph and written description of the results that are very
easy for the average nonmedical person to understand and learn from. It
also generates a diagnostic referral form if any test result is too high. This
form can then be faxed to a health care provider immediately, with no
other data needing to be added.
When I had printed out the report, I went over it in great detail with my
client, asking her to stop me if she needed additional clarification or had
any other questions. She was able to verbalize a general understanding of
her results. The computer program had created a referral form for her to
be evaluated by a physician because of high cholesterol, and she
requested that my preceptor set up an appointment for her. My
preceptor will follow up with the woman in two weeks to find out
whether she has kept the doctor appointment and whether she wants to
participate in the lifestyle interventions and counseling services that are
also offered at the clinic. (Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019, p. 306)
The Sage Program expanded to offer colorectal screening at eight sites, via a sub-
program called Sage Scopes. Minnesota received funding (one of 25 states and four
tribes) from CDC to offer targeted colorectal cancer screening through the Sage
Scopes Program (Minnesota Department of Health, 2018). According to Minnesota
Cancer Facts and Figures 2015, 25 percent of Minnesota residents have never had
screening for colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer
for men and women. Colorectal cancer incidence is particularly high among Minne-
sotan American Indians, nearly twice the U.S. rate. The White Earth Health Center, a
federal health program for American Indians and one of the Sage Screening Program
sites, offers free colorectal screening. Colorectal cancer screening effectively finds
polyps, precursors of cancer, that when removed prevent cancer from developing.
Consider how the red wedge interventions (surveillance, disease and health event
investigation, outreach, and screening at the community and systems levels, and
case-finding at the individual level) occur from the perspectives of: 1) the student
experience with wellness screening in the Sage Program, and 2) the services provided
by the Sage Scopes Program for colorectal cancer screening.
Application questions
Level of practice
1. What examples of the individual level of case-finding occur in this story?
2. Give one example of community-level practice and one example of systems-
level practice for any of the red wedge interventions.

Surveillance
3. What is known about the natural history of colorectal cancer that contributes to
the decision to use the intervention of surveillance (consider incidence and who
is at risk)?
Disease and health event investigation

4. What data is important to collect and present to provide justification for contin-
ued funding for the Sage Program?
Outreach
5. What strategies could public health nurses use to develop trusting relationships
in an at-risk community to encourage obtaining colorectal screening?
6. What are public health nursing’s assumptions about cancer screening? To what
extent are those assumptions shared by communities and populations most im-
pacted by colorectal cancer?
7. To what extent does the ability of those screened to access follow-up medical
care impact the ability of a public health nurse to successfully recruit screening
participants?
Screening
8. How is the Sage Program consistent with the goals of screening?
9. What population groups should be prioritized for colorectal screening?
10. How might the red wedge interventions indicate if a health inequity is occurring
among Sage Program participants?
References
Minnesota Department of Health. (2015). Minnesota cancer facts and figures 2015. Retrieved from
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/tracking/docs/cancerfandf.pdf
Minnesota Department of Health. (2018). Who we are: Sage screening programs. Retrieved from
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/cancer/sage/about/index.html


GREEN WEDGE: REFERRAL AND FOLLOW-UP
Referral and follow-up

Referral makes a connection to necessary resources to prevent or resolve problems
or concerns. Follow-up assesses outcomes related to the utilization of the resources.
Referral includes the development of and the connection to resources for the indi-
vidual/family, community, or system. The key to a successful intervention is follow-
up; making a referral without evaluating its results is ineffective and inefficient.
Population of interest: Adults experiencing homelessness.
Problem: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that in
December 2017 approximately 554,000 persons experiencing homelessness lived in
the United States. Of these a total of 193,000 were living on the streets (Benedict,
2018). Persons experiencing homelessness reveal age-adjusted mortality rates ap-
proximately three times that of the general population (Taylor, Kendzor, Reitzel, &

Businell, 2010). Conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and anemia, often inade-
quately controlled, remain undetected for long periods (Canadian Observatory on
Homelessness, 2017). Unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness exhibit
vulnerability to temperature related injuries. In cold weather conditions, risk of frost-
bite occurs but even above freezing temperatures bring risk for injury in combination
with wetness. Immersion foot (alterations in skin and sensation resulting from cold
and wet conditions) appears not uncommonly among persons living in these condi-
tions (Carpenter, 2007).
Systems level
A significant homeless population, as well as organizations providing services to
them, resides in an urban downtown in a mid-sized metropolitan area. This area is
also home to a group of mainline churches. Part of an interfaith coalition, these
churches house the service organizations and seek solutions to end homelessness.
Faith community nurses volunteering with the member congregations in the coalition
form a subgroup to coordinate and develop health care services and programs for
persons experiencing homelessness. The subgroup developed a referral protocol fa-
cilitating referrals to the health care services and programs. The group disseminated
the protocol to all the churches and service organizations in the interfaith coalition,
and followed-up to address any challenges to the use of the protocol.
Community level
Faith community nurses, partnering with an area baccalaureate school of nursing,
volunteer at a large urban congregation housing a clinic for persons experiencing
homelessness. The nurses observe that, especially during the cold, wet winter
months, immersion foot appears as one of the most common conditions resulting
from long hours spent on the streets in wet footwear and socks. The faith community
nurses sponsor a fundraiser, “Sock Sunday,” encouraging congregational members to
donate new socks for distribution at the clinic and other community organizations
serving persons experiencing homelessness. At the clinic, faith community nurses ad-
vertise the availability of the new socks and follow up with community organizations
regarding challenges and successes in the distribution of socks, and with the clinic
staff to review immersion foot incidence over the winter months.
Individual/family level
Faith community nurses help staff a clinic for persons living with homelessness in
conjunction with the baccalaureate school of nursing. Faith community nurses pro-
vide foot care and access to dry clean socks and footwear. They also assess clients for
chronic health conditions and, if clients are interested, provide referrals for needed
medical care, smoking cessation, and alcohol treatment. Faith community nurses re-
quest contact information for referral follow-up.


Referral and follow-up most often proceed from the implementation of another in-
tervention, such as health teaching, counseling, delegated functions, consultation,
screening, and case-finding (as related to surveillance, disease and health event
investigation, or outreach). It is also an important component of case management.
On occasion, it is implemented in conjunction with advocacy.
Basic steps:
Community/systems level
REFERRAL
1. Use links with other providers, organizations,
institutions, and networks to monitor the
community’s capacity to provide the resources
and services for populations at risk
Seeking and maintaining links will convince community partners of the need for
referral resources.
 The public health nurse (PHN) may use social marketing, health teaching,
collaboration, and/or coalition-building to create a compelling reason why other
community partners would want to become involved in developing resources.
 For example, in a faith community, the PHN may need to first explain how faith
community members would benefit.
 In another example, if community businesses are viewed as important to de-
velop referral resources, they will need to see how it would benefit their cus-
tomers and their bottom line.
REFERRAL
2. Produce strategies for services and resources
development
There may be gaps in the process of connecting to referral resources, as well as the
need to develop specific resources to meet community needs.
 It is important for the PHN to share their extensive knowledge of the special
needs and unique characteristics of target populations with those in the com-
munity who are considering developing resources or services.
 Public health nurses may work with local businesses, community service organ-
izations (such as the Lions, Rotary, or the Business and Professional Women
Foundation), other health care providers, housing agencies, nonprofit agencies,
and others.

 The PHN may need to explore how other communities have addressed similar
needs, determined what grants are available, have known what their own
agency’s contribution could be, and generated an initial list of strategy ideas.
REFERRAL
3. Participate in implementing those strategies
selected consistent with the public health agency
mission and goals
Public health nurses’ extensive knowledge of the target populations is critical to
building the case for changing agency services and implementing selected strategies.
 Depending on gaps in services and resources as identified in the community as-
sessment, the public health agency may or may not decide to alter services and
resources offered.
 The health board for the agency makes those determinations based on the ex-
tent to which the needs fit with the agency’s mission and overall plan.
FOLLOW-UP
4. Evaluate strategy effectiveness of developing
needed services and resources
The large number of referrals PHNs make and receive place them in a good position to
observe how referral systems function and those systems’ strengths and weaknesses.
 Developing objective ways to gather this data contributes to the evaluation
process.
 For example, critical feedback areas for evaluation include information on the
average number of contacts required for completing a referral, barriers encoun-
tered, and observations on what worked well.
Example: Community/systems level

Faith community nurses identified that parishioners sometimes did not complete the
referral process.
1. Use links with other providers, organizations,

institutions, and networks to monitor the
community’s capacity to provide the resources
and services for populations at risk
Based on feedback collected from parishioners, faith community nurses discern that
lacking transportation to primary care providers is a barrier to referral completion.

Many parishioners no longer drive or are too frail to use available public transporta-
tion. The faith community nurse network conducts a survey of most frequently used
primary care providers to determine their policies and resources on transportation
assistance; they conclude that most have no policies other than charging clients fees
for missed appointments.
2. Produce strategies for services and resources

development
The FCN network identifies transportation resources in the community and develops
an online resource document.
3. Participate in implementing those strategies

selected consistent with the public health agency
mission and goals
In many cases, the parishioners’ own faith community has a group willing to provide
transportation to medical appointments. In others, a fund is available to support taxi
or Uber/Lyft services.
4. Evaluate strategy effectiveness of developing

needed services and resources
The FCN network reviews data regarding transportation needs at its regular meetings.
Basic steps: Individual/Family Level

The referral process facilitates linking the individuals/families with services or re-
sources required to improve population health. The following steps were adapted
from a tool provided in a manual developed for the Agency for Health Research and
Quality, AHRQ health literacy universal precautions toolkit (Brega et al., 2015).
REFERRAL
1. Establish resource referral arrangements
Establish and maintain a working relationship with departments and agencies and
organizations that receive referrals.
 Explore with each organization the required referral information and preference
for receiving referrals.
 Establish a process for sharing client information and any related restrictions.

REFERRAL
2. Determine who initiates the referral
 Assure that the client agrees with the referral and understands the rationale.
Discuss how the referral supports the client’s goals. Collaborate with the client
on initiating the referral process.
 Arranging for needed resources can be daunting process, especially if a client is
unfamiliar with resource networks. Action needed may be beyond a client’s per-
ception of their capabilities, requiring PHN involvement.
 Identify supports, if any, needed to accomplish the referral (e.g., arranging for
transportation, translator, childcare, funding).
REFERRAL
3. Assist client in anticipating referral resource
response and maximizing resource interaction
Preparation and rehearsal promote clients’ perceptions of self-capacity.
 If the client agrees, work with them to prepare a list of questions ahead of time.
 If needed, rehearse anticipated interactions with the client.
REFERRAL
4. Inquire about and address client reservations
or fears
Client hesitancy or resistance may stem from their previous experiences or perceptions.
REFERRAL
5. Establish how and what referral-related
information the public health nurse receives
from the client
A plan is needed to determine the response to the referral.
 Various state and federal data privacy laws regulate the amount and types of
client information may be shared.
 Often a document signed by the client is required specifying this information.
FOLLOW-UP
6. Confirm and document referral status
Confirmation determines whether further action is needed. Documentation estab-
lishes a record of referral status.
More than one attempt may be required to complete the process, especially for re-
ferrals involving multiple appointments or connections.

FOLLOW-UP
7. If the client has not completed the referral,
reinforce the benefits and review barriers
 Not all barriers can be anticipated, such as vehicle breakdowns, sudden unavail-
ability of childcare, technical difficulties, or limited capacity.
 Clients may require additional anticipatory guidance and supports.
FOLLOW-UP
8. Obtain feedback on referral results
Feedback determines whether further action is needed.
 Confirm that client receives and understands the results of any screenings or
assessments that occurred and any further action needed.
 Data privacy laws may regulate this process.
FOLLOW-UP
9. Obtain feedback from clients on referral
resource quality
Consistent or repeating concerns may call for a quality improvement approach.
Example: Individual/family level

The following example is adapted from a Million Hearts collaboration in Washington
County, Maryland involving the county health department, a medical center, and net-
work faith community nurses supported by the medical center.
The faith community nurses recruited 119 parishioners who either were known to
have hypertension or at-risk for hypertension. The faith community nurses provided
screening and health coaching in a series of four face-to-face meetings over three
months. Of the 109 who completed the program, 18 received referrals to primary
care providers for treatment. Overall, participating parishioners achieved a significant
reduction in blood pressure readings and improved lifestyle satisfaction scores. The
only difference between those referred to primary care and those not referred was
diastolic blood pressure, which was higher in the participants who were referred
(Cooper & Zimmerman, 2017).
1. Establish resource referral arrangements

Faith community nurses use the referral criteria established by the Million Hearts re-
ferral criteria protocol.

2. Determine who initiates the referral

The faith community nurse clarifies the reason(s) for the referral with the parishioner,
discussing the pros and cons of seeing a primary care provider.
3. Assist client in anticipating referral resource

response and maximizing resource interaction
The faith community nurse discusses what would likely transpire during the appoint-
ment and the expected outcomes or next steps.
4. Inquire about and address any client

reservations or fears
During the discussion, the faith community nurse explores any perceptions or con-
cerns the parishioner might hold that could serve as barriers to acting on the referral.
5. Establish how and what referral-related

information the public health nurse receives
from the client
The faith community nurse provides written information for the parishioner to take
to the appointment, including a release of information form and a brief statement of
the services available from the faith community nurse.
6. Confirm and document referral status

No more than a week after the appointment date, the faith community nurse con-
tacted the parishioner regarding action on the referral.
7. If the client has not completed the referral,

reinforce the benefits and review barriers
The faith community nurse helps the parishioner identify barriers and access re-
sources to address them. This may include arranging for transportation, accompani-
ment, or translation.

resource quality
At the next face-to-face meeting with the parishioner, the faith community nurse re-
views the results of the PCP appointment and assesses the parishioner’s understand-
ing and expected next steps.


resource quality
If concerns occur consistently, the faith community nurse provides the supporting
data to the faith community nurse network and coordinator to discern if it is a sys-
tems issue or provider-specific, and designs appropriate actions.

 1. Importance of relationships
Develop relationships with referral resources to ensure those referred will be well-
received.
Level 2 sources:
 Cooper & Zimmerman, 2017
 Strass & Billay, 2008
Level 4 source:
 Brega et al., 2015
Level 5 source:
 Ezeonwu & Berkowitz, 2014
 2. Developing client receptiveness

Client receptiveness toward responding to a referral more likely when the PHN:
 Assesses client readiness to change
 Assists client to see discrepancies between the current and desired states
 Listens reflectively
 Asks open-ended questions
 Refrains from directly countering statements of resistance
 Restates positive or motivating statements made by the client
 Acknowledges the client as an active participant in the referral process
 Acts quickly to contact a client referred for public health services
Level 2 source:
 Flaten, 2011
Level 4 source:
 American Public Health Association & Education Development Center, Inc., 2008

 3. Resistance to following up
Resistance to following up on referral recommendations is often related to:
 Lack of health insurance, or high-deductible health insurance
 Lack of timely available appointments
 Long provider wait times
 Competing demands for time
 Lack of language parity with provider
Level 1 source:
 Olmos-Ochoa, 2017
 4. Referral and follow-up after screening

Referral and follow-up is the natural next step after screening, when screening results
indicate presence of a risk factor, disease, or illness. Examples for implementing re-
ferral steps based on specific types of screening are:
 Individuals at risk for excessive alcohol or drug use
 Health fairs
 Postpartum depression
Level 3 sources:
 Lucky, Turner, Hall, LeFaver, & de Werk, 2011
 Olmos-Ocha, 2017
 Sword, Busser, Ganann, McMillan, & Swinton, 2008
Level 4 source:
 APHA, 2008
Level 5 source:
 Finnell et al., 2014
 5. Improving quality of life with referral, follow-up, and other

interventions
Referral and follow-up, used together with other interventions, resulted in improved
quality of life among older populations living in the United States and other countries.
Level 2 source:
 Schaffer, Kalfoss, & Glavin, 2017
 6. Increasing completion by explaining referral process

A patient navigator in an urban primary care pediatric clinic in Philadelphia met with
families whose children were referred for developmental delays, to explain the refer-
ral process for an early intervention program and assist families in seeking services.
This intervention contributed to a 79 percent referral completion rate by the families.
Level 3 source:
 Guevara et al., 2016

 7. Low health literacy

Parents with low health literacy had difficulty with the referral process to early inter-
vention for their children; the parents reported confusion and contact problems.
Strategies to address low health literacy may contribute to referral success.
Level 3 source:
 Jimenez, Barg, Guevara, Gerdes, & Fiks, 2013
Wheel notes
Public health nursing wisdom
In April 1962, Ilse Wolff wrote that to be effective, referrals must be timely, merited,
practical, tailored to the client, client-controlled, and coordinated. At the end of her
article, Wolff concludes:
[E]ven the simplest form of referral requires that the public health nurse
know exactly what she is talking about, that she make sure how the
referral she has made strikes home and whether it is understood in all of
its implications. In this sense, even the most factual form of referral
involves much more than writing an address on a piece of paper and
handing it to the patient or some member of his family (p. 253).
Information and referral

Many local health departments provide information and referral services to the pub-
lic. Community members unsure whom to contact often connect with the local health
department. In smaller local health departments, PHNs may share in offering infor-
mation and referral services.
Making referrals easy

In Boston, HelpSteps, a web-based interface, connects individuals to health and hu-
man services resources. Boston Children’s Hospital and the Boston Public Health
Commission jointly developed HelpSteps (Fleegler et al., 2016).
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers a tool, Make referrals
easy (tool #21), with links to other tools for making referrals; readers can find this
tool within Health literacy universal precautions toolkit (2nd ed.) (Brega et al. 2015).

References
American Public Health Association & Education Development Center, Inc. (2008). Alcohol
screening and brief intervention: A guide for public health practitioners. Washington DC:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Retrieved from https://www.integration.samhsa.gov/clinical-
practice/alcohol_screening_and_brief_interventions_a_guide_for_public_health_practit
ioners.pdf
Benedict, K. (2018). Estimating the number of homeless in America. San Francisco, CA: The
DataFace, LLC. Retrieved from http://thedataface.com/2018/01/public-
health/american-homelessness
Brega, A. G., Barnard, J., Mabachi, N. M., Weiss, B. D., DeWalt, D. A., Brach, C., et al. (2015). Tool
21: Make referrals easy. In Agency for Health Research and Quality, Health Literacy
Universal Precautions Toolkit, Second Edition. AHRQ Publication No. 15-0023-EF.
Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved from
https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-
resources/tools/literacy-toolkit/healthlittoolkit2-tool21.html
Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. (2017). Homeless Hub: Chronic illnesses/diseases and
mortality. Toronto Canada: York University. Retrieved from http://homelesshub.ca/about-
homelessness/health/chronic-illnessesdiseases-and-mortality
Carpenter, D. (2007). Homeless health care case report: Trench foot. National Health Care for the
Homeless Clinical Practice Resources 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.nhchc.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/01/CaseReportTrenchFoot062707.pdf
Cooper, J. & Zimmerman, W. (2017). The effect of a faith community nurse network and public
health collaboration on hypertension prevention and control. Public Health Nursing, 34,
444-453. doi: 10.1111/phn.12325
Ezeonwu, M., & Berkowitz, B. (2014). A collaborative communitywide health fair: The process and
impacts on the community. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 31, 118-129. doi:
10.1080/07370016.2014.901092
Finnell, D., Nowzari, S., Reimann, B., Fischer, L. Pace, E., & Goplerud, E. (2014). Screening, brief
intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) as an integral part of nursing practice.
Substance Abuse, 325, 114-119. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2014.888384
Flaten, C. (2011). Connecting antepartum teens from a federal food program to a public health
nursing agency: a process-improvement project. Western Journal of Nursing Research.
33(1), 144-145.
Fleegler, E. W., Bottino, C. J., Pikcilingis, A., Baker, B., Kistler, E., & Hassan, A. (2016). Referral system
collaboration between public health and medical systems: A population health case report.
NAM Perspectives. Discussion Paper, National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC. doi:
10.31478/201605f Retrieved from https://nam.edu/referral-system-collaboration-
between-public-health-and-medical-systems-a-population-health-case-report/
Guevara, J. P., Rothman, B., Brooks, E., Gerdes, M., McMillon-Jones, F., & Yun, K. (2016). Patient
navigation to facilitate early intervention referral completion among poor urban
children. Families, Systems, & Health, 34(3), 281-286. doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000207
Jimenez, M. E., Barg, F. K., Guevara, J. P., Gerdes, M., & Fiks, A. G. (2013). The impact of parental
health literacy on the early intervention referral process. Journal of Health Care for the
Poor and Underserved, 24, 1053-1062.
Lucky, D., Turner, B., Hall, M., LeFaver, S., & de Werk, A. (2011). Blood pressure screenings
through community health fairs: Motivating individuals to see health care follow-up.
Journal of Community Health Nursing, 28, 119-129. doi:
10.1080/07370016.2011.588589

Schaffer, M. A., Kalfoss, M., & Glavin, K. (2017). Public health nursing interventions to promote
Strass, P. & Billay, E. (2008). A public health nursing initiative to promote antenatal health.
Canadian Nurse 104(2), 29-33.
Sword, W., Busser, D., Ganann, R., McMillan, T., & Swinton, M. (2008). Women's care-seeking
experiences after referral for postpartum depression. Qualitative Health Research,
18(9), 1161-1173. doi: 10.1177/1049732308321736
Taylor, R., Kendor, D., Reitzel, L., & Businelle, M. (2016). Health risk factors and desire to change
among homeless adults. American Journal of Health Behavior, 16(4), 455-460. doi:
org/10.5993/AJHB.40.4.7
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2018). MillionHearts. Retrieved from
https://millionhearts.hhs.gov/
Wolff, I. (1962). Referral—a process and a skill. Nursing Outlook, 10(4), 254-256.

GREEN WEDGE: CASE MANAGEMENT
Case management
Case management is a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation,
care coordination, evaluation, and advocacy for options and services to meet client
needs. It uses communication and available resources to promote safety, quality of
care, and cost-effective outcomes.
Case management activities aim to achieve the following outcomes (Case Manage-
ment Society of America, 2016):
 Increased self-care capabilities of clients
 Efficient use of resources
 New services where needed
 Quality care along a continuum of service delivery
 Decreased fragmentation of care across settings
 Enhanced quality of life
 Cost containment

Population of interest: School-aged children with a diagnosis of asthma or presence
of asthma risk factors.
Problem: Poorly controlled or undiagnosed asthma in school-aged children impairs
ability to attend school, affects academic performance, and impacts parents who
miss work in order to care for an ill child.
Systems level
The school nurse engages the school board’s School Health Advisory Committee to de-
velop a comprehensive set of asthma related policies utilizing the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute’s document, Managing Asthma: A Guide for Schools (2014). The
school nurse begins with the document’s assessment tool, which provides a checklist
of family/staff activities and resources used in asthma case management, How asthma-
friendly is your school? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2014).
Community level
At a regional meeting, school nurses identify parental indifference to providing and
maintaining asthma action plans. The group brainstorms and develops a plan to hold
a series of “asthma update” meetings for parents in conjunction with the local chap-
ter of the American Lung Association and a pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in
asthma management. Part of the meeting content focuses on the importance of the
asthma action plan.
A family new to the community enrolls their second-grade son in his new school mid-
way in the school year. The father reports that his son, recently diagnosed with asthma,
has difficulty participating in activities requiring physical exertion, and uses an inhaler.
The school nurse initiates developing an individualized health care plan and emergency
action plan that incorporates an asthma action plan. The school nurse refers the family
to a community clinic and assists in establishing an appointment. Following the appoint-
ment, the school nurse follows up with the provider and the parent to develop the
asthma action plan, which includes a list of environmental triggers.

Case management is often implemented in conjunction with or in sequence to other
interventions. Primary among these is referral and follow-up. Case management pre-
sumes the involvement of other providers or organizations; the process of engaging
them is referral. Making sure that the referral arrangements happen is follow-up.

Case management is often preceded by surveillance, disease and health event

investigation, outreach, screening, and case-finding. Implementing case management
frequently relies on health teaching, counseling, consultation, advocacy, and
collaboration. Case management often leads to advocacy and collaboration at the com-
munity and systems levels when needed services are not available in a community.
Basic steps
Case management aims to improve the coordination of client services coordination by
reducing fragmentation across multiple service providers, resulting in enhanced well-
being and quality of life. Protocols for case management vary across settings and level
and population(s) served. For instance, case management provided by a school nurse
at the individual level focuses on optimizing a child or adolescent’s capacity to learn.
Case management provided by public health nurses (PHNs) working with the frail el-
derly population at the community level focuses on promoting safety and chronic dis-
ease monitoring. Case management by occupational health nurses at the systems level
focuses on workplace risk reduction and promoting a healthy work environment.
Regardless of level, the steps or process of conducting case management remain con-
stant. The following steps are adapted from Standards of practice for case manage-
ment practice, revised by the Case Management Society of America (2016), which
essentially parallel the nursing process:
1. Select engaged clients

It is important that clients be engaged in the case management process.
Every organization has a set of criteria determining program eligibility. Organizational
vision, mission, and funding sources mandates drive the criteria. Three important el-
ements to keep in mind:
 Clients assent and engagement is required as the ultimate goal of self-
management.
 Not every client needs case management; discern those who want case man-
agement but do not need it, versus those who need it but do not want it.
 When clients do not meet enrollment criteria, every effort should be made to
refer them to appropriate community resources (for more information, visit
referral and follow-up).
2. Assess the client

Gathering holistic data relevant to the client provides the foundation for planning.
Gather necessary information regarding the client’s circumstances, to develop a case
management plan of care. Information-gathering establishes the client-PHN trust re-
lationship, and reveals clients’ understanding of their circumstances and their en-
gagement capacity. Assessment requires effective communication skills, such as

open-ended questions, active listening, meaningful conversation, and motivational

interviewing.
a. Analyze assessment findings and determine self-management issues, barriers,
and/or gaps in services, to help identify care needs. This includes analyzing formal
and informal caregiver support networks involved in clients’ circumstances.
b. Repeat assessment as needed to determine the efficacy of the case manage-
ment plan of care and clients’ progress toward achieving target goals.
c. For a systematic comprehensive assessment, consider the social determinants of
health, including needs and strengths (such as living conditions, income adequacy,
access to groceries, transportation, neighborhood safety, and community assets);
behavioral health, including substance use and abuse; and levels of vulnerability.
3. Develop a plan
Reaching goals requires client engagement and a thorough, thoughtful discussion of
clear expectations for the case management role.
The case management plan documents activities, responsible parties (person and ser-
vice organization), and timelines.
The process includes:
 Specifying care requirements, barriers and opportunities for collaboration with
the client, and members of the interprofessional care team in order to provide
effective integrated care
 Identifying goals and/or expected outcomes
 Identifying interventions or actions needed to reach the goals
4. Implement the plan

Effective implementation requires tracking and synchronizing “moving parts.”
 Success typically requires a list of ready alternative resources should any of the
component parts fail.
 Facilitating the coordination of care, services, resources, and health teaching
specified in the planned interventions puts the case management plan into action.
 Effective care coordination requires diligent communication and collaboration
with the client, as well as with the provider and the entire interprofessional
health care team.
5. Monitor and evaluate plan effectiveness and

acceptability
Inevitable changes in client status drives associated plan changes.
 Sometimes payment sources direct frequency of plan evaluation.
 In all circumstances, client instability should direct the frequency of evaluation.

 Checking in with the client on a regular basis to ascertain status, goals, and out-
comes assures goal attainment. Monitoring activities include:
a. Assessing client’s progress
b. Evaluating if care goals and PHN interventions remain appropriate, rele-
vant, and realistic
c. Determining needed revisions or modifications
6. Discontinue intervention
Goal attainment is the criterion for closure.
 In all cases, the ultimate goal is self-management, which may be achieved prior
to realizing the plan’s stated outcomes.
 Bringing mutually agreed-upon closure to the client-PHN relationship and en-
gagement occurs when:
▪ The client has attained the goals established in the plan of care, or
▪ The best possible outcomes are attained, or
▪ The needs and desires of the client have changed.
Example
A school nurse in Orange, California and others designed a study to investigate
whether second- through sixth-grade children with asthma scored higher in academic
achievement and lower in absenteeism when a school nurse provided case manage-
ment compared to students who did not. [Note: The study’s design also illustrates
red wedge interventions and the natural progression between those interventions
and those of the green wedge (Moricca et al., 2012).]
1. Select engaged clients

Study sample:
 Group I (26 students): Students at risk, whose diagnosis cannot be confirmed
 Group II (40 students): Students at risk, with confirmed diagnosis who have ac-
cepted nurse case management and have been seen by a primary care provider
 Group III (76 students): 16 children who have screened positive but did not have
asthma upon evaluation by their primary care provider, plus 60 randomly se-
lected students from the 412 students who screened negative
2. Assess the client

For Group II students, the school nurse completes child health histories and reviews
current asthma status, including levels of severity and personal best peak expiratory
flow, medications, pattern of exacerbation, triggers, and activity restrictions.

3. Develop a plan
The school nurse communicated with each child’s parent and primary care provider
to develop or update the asthma action plan.

The school nurse shared the asthma action plan and emergency action plan with each
child’s teachers and others regularly involved with the child.
5. Monitor and evaluate plan effectiveness and

acceptability
The school nurse monitors children’s absences and visits to the office for asthma symp-
toms, and regularly checks in with teachers and parents regarding plan effectiveness.
6. Discontinue intervention
With parental approval, it is likely that school nurse case management will continue
until the child is mature enough to self-manage.
Example notes
1. The results of this study indicated that students receiving case management ser-
vices (the intervention in the study) missed one less day of school than those in
either control group. There was no difference in academic performance. Authors
concluded that, in a population of elementary school Hispanic children in a low-
income neighborhood, case management, along with school nurse screening
and collaboration with a medical provider “resulted in early identification, refer-
ral, and subsequent treatment of students at risk for asthma and may have con-
tributed to reduced absences” (Moricca et al., 2012, p. 109).
2. As to the question of population asthma screening among children, the Ameri-
can Thoracic Association recommended that inclusion with other routine
screenings could be useful, but only in schools and populations with higher-
than-expected rates of childhood asthma with available resources for diagnosis
and treatment (Gerald et al., 2007).


 1. Health care utilization and case management

A critique of systematic reviews of health care utilization outcomes shows case man-
agement reduces hospital readmissions, lengths of stay, institutionalizations, emer-
gency room visits, and hospital/primary care visits. Intensity of case management re-
quired to achieve these reductions remains unknown.
Level 3 source:
 Joo & Huber, 2018
 2. Cost savings, cost avoidance, and case management

The following studies suggest that while nurse case management may be more ex-
pensive to provide, reduction in use of other services (cost savings) or preventing
health issues altogether (cost avoidance) offsets costs in some populations:
 Community-dwelling frail elder population
 Single parents receiving public assistance
 Infants at risk for perinatal hepatitis B virus infection (ensuring they receive post-
exposure prophylaxis and follow-up serology)
 Home health care clients
 Homeless clients with latent tuberculosis infection (who were more compliant
with medication regimen and more knowledgeable)
 School-aged children with asthma
Level 1 sources:
 Kneipp et al., 2011
 Markle-Reid, Browne, Roberts, Gafini, & Byrne, 2002
 Nyamathi, Christiani, Nahid, Gregerson, & Leake, 2006
Level 2 sources:
 Engelke, Swanson, & Guttu, 2014
 Oeseburg, Wynia, Middel, & Reijneveku, 2009
 Ruiz et al., 2017
Level 5 source:
 Libbus & Phillips, 2009
 3. Barriers to case management

A qualitative systematic literature review suggests potential barriers to case manage-
ment implementation:
 Unclear scope of practice
 Case diversity and complexity
 Insufficient training
 Poor collaboration with other providers
 Client relationship challenges
Level 3 source:
 Joo & Huber, 2017

 4. Improved quality of life among the elderly

A review of nurse-led public health interventions demonstrated that case manage-
ment, along with other public health nursing interventions, contributed to improved
quality of life among elderly populations living in the United States and other countries.
Level 2 source:
 Schaffer, Kalfoss, & Glavin, 2017
 5. Lack of consensus on relationship between care

coordination and case management
Current literature lacks consensus on the relationship between care coordination and
case management:
 Case management, sometimes referred to as care coordination (the umbrella or
broader term) or care management, improves the management of complex
physical, psychological, and/or social problems.
 Care coordination includes the many roles that a case manager may assume and
occurs across various care settings.
 Care coordination contains a specialty practice known as case management.
Level 5 sources:
 Ahmed, 2016
 Cary, 2016
 Harris & Popejoy, 2018
 Lamb & Newhouse, 2018
Wheel notes
Case management or care coordination?
Impact of the 2010 Affordable Care Act
The 2010 federal statute, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), introduced an incentive for
primary care providers to provide “care coordination” as one of five key functions of
the “medical home.” Other key functions include comprehensive care (mental health
and a team-based approach to patient-centered care) that incorporates cultural ap-
propriateness, accessible services, and attention to quality and safety. [For additional
information, see 5 key functions of the medical home (Agency for Healthcare Re-
search and Quality, n.d.).] The ACA defined care coordination as:
[The] deliberate organization of patient care activities between two or

more participants (including the patient) involved in a patient’s care to
facilitate the appropriate delivery of health care services. Organizing care
involves marshalling of personnel and other resources needed to carry
out all required patient care activities and is often managed by the

exchange of information among participants responsible for different

aspects of care (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2014, p. 3).
The concepts of case management and care coordination overlap. For example, the
definition of case management lists care coordination as a one of several actions or
processes, while care coordination includes actions that also fall within case manage-
ment roles.
Since passage and implementation of the ACA, the nursing profession has published
several position papers and other documents addressing implementation of care
coordination.
 The American Nurses Association (ANA) suggested care coordination is an inher-
ent function of nursing (Camicia et al., 2013). A 2018 book published by the ANA,
Care Coordination: A Blueprint for Action for RNs (Lamb & Newhouse) provides
further explanation.
 Rushton (2015) suggests that care coordination as a concept of the ACA is about
achieving care coordination across populations. She proposes a two-step process:
1) Identify high-risk subpopulations within a given larger population; 2) Design
specific applications of care coordination that will benefit an entire population.
 In 2014, Edmonds and Campbell conducted a survey of PHNs inquiring to what
extent the ACA affected public health nursing practice and applied Rushton’s
concept of care coordination. They concluded that PHNs make substantial con-
tributions to implementing the ACA through care coordination in conjunction
with clinical preventive services, establishment of private-public partnerships,
population-heath data assessment, community health assessment, and mater-
nal and child health home visitation.
Professional certifications
Several organizations offer a certification or credential in case management. Eligibil-
ity and requirements vary. Specialty practices, such as working with adults with disa-
bilities or insurance companies, offer additional credentialing opportunities.
American Nurses Credentialing Center
Professional nurses only.
 Registered Nurse-Board Certified (RN-BC) credential
 Nursing case management certification (RN-BC)
Commission for Case Manager Certification
Open to a variety of professionals.
 Certified in Case Management (CCM) credential
 Certification guide to the CCM® examination (PDF)
American Case Management Association
Open to registered nurses and social workers.
 Accredited in Case Management (ACM) credential focuses on professionals em-
ployed in hospital and health care delivery systems and transitions of care
 ACM™ certification exam

Resources
The following resources provide more detailed information about case management
strategies:
 Lamb, G. & Newhouse, R. (2018). Care coordination: A blueprint for action for
RNs. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.
 Powell, S. & Tahan, H. (2010). Case management: A practical guide for education
and practice, 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkin.
 Self-Management Resource Center. (2019). Help your community take charge of
its health. Retrieved from https://www.selfmanagementresource.com/
 Will, S., Arnold, M., & Zaiger, D. (2017). Individualized healthcare plans for the
school nurse: A comprehensive resource for school nursing management of
health conditions. Forest Lake, MN: Sunrise River Press.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2014). Chapter 2: What is care coordination? In Care
Coordination Measures Atlas. AHRQ Pub. No. 14-0037-EF. Retrieved from
https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/prevention-chronic-
care/improve/coordination/atlas2014/chapter2.html
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d.). 5 key functions of the medical home. Retrieved
from https://pcmh.ahrq.gov/page/5-key-functions-medical-home
Ahmed, O. (2016). Disease management, case management, care management, and care
coordination: A framework and a brief manual for care programs and staff. Professional
Case Management 21(3), 127-146. doi: 10.1097/NCM.0000000000000147
Camicia, M., Chamberlain, B., Finnie, R. R., Nalle, M., Lindeke, L. L., Lorenz, L., et al. (2013). The
value of nursing care coordination: A white paper of the American Nurses Association.
Nursing Outlook (61), 490-501. doi: org/10.1016/j.outlook.2013.10.006
Cary, A. (2016). Case Management. In M. Stanhope & J. Lancaster (Eds.), Public health nursing:
Population-centered health care in the community, 9th ed. (pp. 476-502). St. Louis, MO:
Elsevier.
Case Management Society of America. (2016). Standards of practice for case management
practice, revised. Retrieved from http://www.cmsa.org/sopcmcourse/
Edmonds, J., Campbell, L., & Gilder, R. (2016). Public health nursing practice in the Affordable Care
Act era: A national survey. Public Health Nursing 34(1), 50-58. doi: 10.1111/phn.12286
Engelke, M., Swanson, M., & Guttu, M. (2014). Process and outcomes of school nurse case
management for students with asthma. Journal of School Nursing, 30(3), 196-205. doi:
10.1177/1059840513507084
Gerald, L., Sockrider, M., Grad, R., Bender, B. G., Boss, L. P., Galant, S. P., et al. (2007). An official
ATS workshop report: Issues in screening for asthma in children. Proceedings of the
American Thoracic Society, (4), 133-141. Retrieved from
https://www.thoracic.org/statements/resources/pldd/screeningforasthma.pdf
Harris, R. C., & Popejoy, L. L. (2018). Case management: An evolving role. Western Journal of
Nursing Research, 41(1), 3-5. doi: 10.1177/0193945918797601

Joo, J. Y.,& Huber, D. (2017). Barriers in case mangers’ roles: A qualitative systematic review.
Western Journal of Nursing Research, 40(10), 1522-1542 online. doi:
10.1177/0193945917728689
Joo, J. Y., & Huber, D. (2018) Case management effectiveness on health care utilization outcomes:
A systematic review of reviews. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41, 111-133.
Article first published online. doi.org/10.1177/0193945918762135
Kneipp, S. M., Kairalla, J. A., Lutz, B. J., Pereira, D., Hall, A. G., Flocks, A. G., et al. (2011). Public
health nursing case management for women receiving temporary assistance for needy
families: A randomized controlled trial using community-based participatory research.
American Journal of Public Health, 101(9), 1759-1768. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300210
Lamb, G., & Newhouse, R. (2018). Care coordination: A blueprint for action for RNs. Silver Spring,
MD: American Nurses Association.
Libbus, M., & Phillips, L. (2009). Public health management of perinatal Hepatitis B virus. Public
Health Nursing 26(4), 353-361. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2009.00790.x
Markle-Reid, M., Browne, G., Roberts, J., Gafni, A., & Byrne, C. (2002). The 2-year costs and effects
of a public health nursing case management intervention on mood-disordered single
parents on social assistance. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 8(1), 45-59.
Moricca, M., Grasska, M., BMarthaler, M., Morphew, M., Weismuller, P. C., & Galant, S. P. (2012).
School asthma screening and case management: Attendance and learning outcomes.
Journal of School Nursing 29(2), 104-112. doi: 10.1177/1059840512452668
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2014). Managing asthma: A guide for schools. NIH
Publication No. 14-2650. Retrieved from
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/resources/lung/NACI_ManagingAsthma-
508%20FINAL.pdf
Nyamathi, A., Christiani, A., Nahid, P., Gregerson, P., & Leake, B. (2006). A randomized control trial
of two treatment programs for homeless adults with latent tuberculosis infection.
International Journal of Tuberculosis Lung Disease 10(7), 775-782.
Oeseburg, B., Wynia, K, Middel, B., & Reijneveku, S. (2009). Effects of case management for frail
older people or those with chronic illness: A systematic review. Nursing Research, 58(3),
201-210. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0b013e3181a30941
Powell, S. & Tahan, H. (2010). Case management: A practical guide for education and practice, 3rd
ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkin.
Ruiz, S., Snyder, L., Rotondo, C., Cross-Barnet, C., Colligan, E., & Giuriceo, K. (2017). Innovative
home visit models associated with reductions in costs, hospitalizations, and emergency
department use. Health Affairs 36(3), 225-432. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1305
Rushton, S. (2015). The population care coordination process. Professional Case Management
20(5), 230-238. doi: 10.1097/NCM.0000000000000105
Schaffer, M. A., Kalfoss, M., &Glavin, K. (2017). Public health nursing interventions to promote
Self-Management Resource Center. (2019). Help your community take charge of its health.
Retrieved from https://www.selfmanagementresource.com/
U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services. (2015). Asthma and Hispanic Americans. Retrieved from
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=60
Will, S., Arnold, M., & Zaiger, D. (2017). Individualized healthcare plans for the school nurse: A
comprehensive resource for school nursing management of health conditions. Forest
Lake, MN: Sunrise River Press.

GREEN WEDGE: DELEGATED FUNCTIONS
Delegated functions
Delegated functions include: 1) direct care tasks a registered professional nurse car-
ries out under the authority of a health care practitioner, as allowed by law, and 2)
direct care tasks a registered professional nurse entrusts to other appropriate per-
sonnel to perform.
Delegator: “One who delegates a nursing responsibility—a delegator may be an

APRN [advanced practice registered nurse], RN, or LPN/VN [licensed practical
nurse/vocational nurse] (where the state nurse practice act allows)” (National Coun-
cil of State Boards of Nursing, 2016, p. 7).
Delegatee: “One who is delegated a nursing responsibility by either an APRN, RN, or
LPN/VN (where state nurse practice Act allows), is competent to perform it, and ver-
bally accepts the responsibility. A delegatee may be an RN, LPN/VN, or unlicensed
assistive personnel” (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2016, p. 7). Unli-
censed assistive personnel include nurses’ aides, certified nursing assistants, health
aides, community health workers or other non-licensed persons.
Delegated responsibility: “A nursing activity, skill, or procedure that is transferred
from a licensed nurse to a delegate” (National Council of State Boards of Nursing,
2016, p. 7).

Only registered nurses can perform responsibilities that involve the nursing process
(assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and evaluation). These responsibili-
ties cannot be delegated (Shannon & Kulbecka, 2013a).
Note: Non-public health nurses (PHNs) in the public health workforce conduct assess-
ment, planning, and implementation of interventions in the delivery of public health
services. Prior to delegating an action, PHNs consider the legal definition specified in
nursing licensure requirements.
Population of interest: Schoolchildren taking medication during the school day.
Problem: Inadequate staffing of school nurses in school systems, coupled with fed-
eral mandates to serve children with special needs in school settings, results in in-
creased need for medication administration support.
Systems level
School nurses in the school district work with administrators to develop delegation
policies and guidelines for implementation across the school district.
Community level
The school nurse determines the number of children in each school needing medica-
tion administration, and assigns an unlicensed assistive personnel in each school to
administer the medication. The school nurse communicates the plan to school district
administration, teachers, and primary care physicians, and supervises the unlicensed
assistive personnel in medication administration actions.
The school nurse delegates medication administration to a teacher during a class field
trip for a student with asthma.

Delegated functions focus on a single aspect of nursing practice—that of delegation.
The intervention occurs in two ways: the PHN as the initiator of delegated functions
to others (that is, the delegator), and as the recipient of delegated functions from
other health professionals (that is, the delegatee). For PHNs whose assignment in-
volves the delivery of home health services or other health care functions under del-

egation from a medical provider, the concept of the nurse as the delegatee is un-
doubtedly very familiar. The role of PHNs as delegators or initiators of delegated func-
tions deserves further examination.
Public health nurse-led delegation primarily occurs at the individual/family level of
practice. However, the act of PHN delegation to other health personnel is theoreti-
cally possible in every intervention. For example, a PHN may delegate a family health
aide to do health teaching on parenting to a young family, or delegate parts of vision
and hearing screening to a school health aide, or delegate certain outreach tasks to
unlicensed assistive personnel or a community health worker. The interventions of
collaboration and consultation often occur in the process of delegating a task. In each
of these examples, the PHN exercises independent nursing functions.
Delegated functions is the only intervention where another health professional uses
legal authority to direct PHN actions. None of the other public health nursing inter-
ventions requires another health professional’s authority. Public health nurses prac-
tice the other 16 interventions and delegation to aides, unlicensed assistive person-
nel, community health workers, and other similar positions independently under the
authority of their states’ respective nurse practice acts.
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted from a number of sources (American Nurses Associ-
ation, 2012; American Nurses Association & National Council of State Boards of Nurs-
ing, 2006; Mueller & Vogelsmeier, 2013; Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019; Spriggle,
2009):

Assessment helps PHNs understand the task, and environment of the delegation
situation.
 What are the client’s needs?
 Are any cultural modifications required?
 What are the conditions that determine stability of client and predictability of
outcome?
 What is the environment where the care is provided?
 Who else is in the client’s environment?
2. Develop the plan

The delegation plan is needed to identify the specific steps of the task to be delegated.
 What is the baseline status of the client?
 What are the specific, unchanging performance steps?
 When and to whom does the unlicensed assistive personnel need to report if
the baseline status changes?
 What expectations need documentation?

3. Analyze delegation factors

The PHN determines if task is appropriate and legal to delegate.
 Is the task within the PHN’s scope of practice?
 Do federal or state laws, rules, or regulations support the delegation?
 Does the employing organization/agency support the delegation?
 Is the delegating PHN competent to make the delegation decision?
 Is the unlicensed assistive personnel competent to make the delegation decision?
 Is PHN supervision of the unlicensed assistive personnel available?
4. Communicate and clarify expectations

Communication about delegation must be a two-way process to ensure successful
delegation.
 Is the communication clear, concise, correct, and complete?
 Are the following components included in communication and interactions
about the delegation?
▪ Client requirements and characteristics
▪ Clear expectations of what to do, what to report, and when to ask for help
▪ What information needs to be reported
▪ Responsibility for documentation
▪ Clarification of the unlicensed assistive personnel’s understanding of
expectations
▪ The willingness and availability of the PHN to guide and support the unli-
censed assistive personnel
▪ An opportunity for the unlicensed assistive personnel to ask questions and
clarify expectations
5. Evaluate client condition and response

Evaluating of the client response will help determine whether the supervision dele-
gation is adequate.
 How frequently is supervision provided?
 Does the supervision include monitoring client needs, health status, response to
care, and complexity of the delegated task?
 Are the resources and support system adequate?
 Is there compliance with practice standards, policies, and procedures?
 Is the level of supervision appropriate for the delegated task?
6. Evaluate unlicensed assistive personnel’s skills

and performance and provide feedback
Evaluating performance helps improve the delegation process and provides feedback
for the unlicensed assistive personnel.

 Was the delegation successful? (Spriggle, 2009, p. 107)

▪ Was the task/function/activity performed correctly?
▪ Was the client’s desired and/or expected outcome achieved?
▪ Was the outcome optimal, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory?
▪ Was the communication timely and effective?
▪ What went well? What was challenging?
▪ Were there any problems or concerns? If so, how were they addressed?
 Is there a better way to meet the client need?
 Does the overall plan of care need to be adjusted, or should this approach be
continued?
 Were there any learning moments for the assistant or for the nurse?
 Was the appropriate feedback provided to the assistant regarding performance
of the delegated task?
 Was the assistant acknowledged for accomplishing the task/activity/function?
Example
A school nurse provided training and supervision on medication administration for a
new unlicensed assistive personnel recently hired by the school district. (Since most
delegation interventions occur at the individual level, the example provided illus-
trates the individual level of delegation.)

The elementary school integrates children with special needs into classrooms. Alt-
hough new to the school setting, the unlicensed assistive personnel has personal care
aide experience.
2. Develop the plan

The school nurse reviews the steps of the medication administration process with the
unlicensed assistive personnel.
3. Analyze delegation factors

Delegation factors to consider include characteristics of the students receiving med-
ications, the unlicensed assistive personnel’s prior experience with medication ad-
ministration, and supervision frequency.
4. Communicate and clarify expectations

The school nurse allows adequate time for training and ongoing communication. The
school nurse explains the administration policy on school medication and discusses
expectations for medication administration and reporting requirements. The school

nurse and unlicensed assistive personnel discuss potential challenges, including med-
ication administration, possible responses, and when to consult the school nurse.
5. Evaluate condition of the client and response

Supervision may include direct observation of the unlicensed assistive personnel’s
performance to determine how the student responds during the medication admin-
istration process. Supervision includes determining if the medication administration
performance complies with school policy.
6. Evaluate unlicensed assistive personnel’s skills

and performance of tasks and provide feedback
The school nurse determines the success of the delegation by analyzing what went
well and how problems were addressed. The school nurse provides feedback to the
unlicensed assistive personnel about strengths in performing medication administra-
tion and any areas for growth.
Public health nurse as delegatee

Although PHNs are primarily independent in their practice under the scope of nursing
practice specified in law (nurse practice acts for each state) there are situations when
tasks are delegated to PHNs.
Example: Client-specific medical provider orders or standing orders for a large popu-
lation would not work for vaccine administration. Health departments develop pro-
tocols for vaccine administration. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) pro-
vides information about vaccine protocols online: Vaccine protocols (n.d.).
MDH hosts information and templates for writing vaccine administration orders,
known as a protocol. Vaccine protocols are specific to a disease and include:
 Criteria for proceeding or not proceeding with vaccination
 Indications for groups recommended for vaccination
 Contraindications and precautions
 Actions prescribed: Specifically identified in the template for giving vaccines
 Prescription
 What to do in case of medical emergency or anaphylaxis
 Who to contact for questions or concerns
 Signature of prescriber
 Formatting of protocol
Templates incorporate the name of the drug, dosage, administration route, admin-
istration schedule, and any special instructions.

The five rights of the public health nurse as

delegatee
The five rights can be adapted for situations in which the PHN accepts delegation
from a health professional as allowed by law (American Nurses Association & Na-
tional Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2006). Consider the following questions that
address the five rights of delegation:
1. Right task: Is the task within the PHN legal scope of nursing practice?
2. Right circumstance: Is the delegated task or function consistent with agency
policies and procedures?
3. Right person: Does the PHN have the knowledge, training, and experience to
assure safe performance of the task?
4. Right direction or communication: Are the orders/protocols accurate and clear?
5. Right supervision: Who is responsible? Who is accountable? The PHN is limited
by the legal scope of nursing practice.

 1. Effective delegation
“Effective delegation is based on one's state nurse practice act and an understanding
of the concepts of responsibility, authority, and accountability” (Weydt, 2010, p. 1).
Authority: Registered nurse (RN) professional licensure allows transfer of selected
nursing activities in a specific situation to a specific, competent individual.
Responsibility: As a two-way allocated and accepted process, RNs delegate the re-
sponsibility to perform an activity, and assistive personnel accept the responsibility
when they agree to perform the activity.
Accountability: The PHN determines the safety and quality of the outcome of the
delegation process. The PHN assures accountability when verifying that the delegatee
accepts the delegated activity and accompanying responsibility. Accountability in-
volves following a professional code of ethics and adhering to the scope and stand-
ards of nursing practice.
Level 4 source:
 Ballard, Haagenson, & Christiansen, 2016
Level 5 sources:
 Schoon et al., 2019
 Turner, 2016
 Weydt, 2010

 2. Responsibilities in a delegation model

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) identifies the following re-
sponsibilities in a delegation model:
Licensed nurse responsibilities:
 Determine patient needs and when to delegate
 Ensure availability to delegate
 Evaluate outcomes of and maintain accountability for delegated responsibility
Delegatee responsibilities:
 Accept activities based on own competence level
 Maintain competence for delegated responsibility
 Maintain accountability for delegated activity
Employer/nurse leader responsibilities:
 Identify a nurse leader
 Determine which nursing responsibilities to delegate, to whom, and in what
circumstances
 Develop delegation policies and procedures
 Periodically evaluate delegation process
 Promote positive culture/work environment
Level 4 source:
 National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2016
 3. Factors to consider when delegating to assistive personnel

Assess the following factors prior to delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel or
nursing assistive personnel:
 Potential for harm
 Complexity of task
 Requirement of problem solving or critical thinking
 Unpredictability of outcome
 Level of caregiver-patient interaction
 Practice setting
A decision tree guides assignment of a task to nursing assistive personnel. The deci-
sion tree takes users through a series of questions that ends with “Yes, proceed with
delegation” or “No, do not delegate.”
Level 4 sources:
 American Nurses Association & National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2006
 Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, 2016
 4. Facilitators and barriers to effective delegation

When delegating a task, consider factors that facilitate effective delegation and/or
create barriers to effective delegation.

Facilitators of effective delegation:

 Establishing an environment of trust and cooperation between the PHN and un-
licensed assistive personnel
 Using a teaching and learning approach
 Effective communication
 Providing feedback and follow-up evaluation
 Supportive nursing leadership
Barriers to effective delegation:
 Fear of being disliked
 Inability to give up any control of the situation
 Tendency towards isolation and choosing to complete all tasks alone
 Lack of confidence to delegate to staff who are peers
 Thinking of oneself as the only one who can complete the task
 Lack of knowledge about staff’s capability
 Wide variation in terminology and titles
 Lack of standardized training and allowable tasks
 Competency issues
 Lack of time to provide adequate supervision
Level 3 sources:
 Bittner, & Gravlin, 2009
 Kaernested & Bragadottir, 2012
Level 5 sources:
 Hepsi, 2014
 Tompkins, 2016
 5. Situations where delegation is inappropriate

Situations in which a nursing task should not be delegated include:
 The task is not within the nurse’s scope or practice.
 The nurse does not have a clear understanding of the role and function of the
individual receiving the delegation.
 The nurse is uncertain of the delegate’s suitability for the task, and deems the
person is unable to perform the task competently or is otherwise unmatched to
the client’s needs.
 The assistant does not accept the task.
 The nurse does not have access to the client’s health record to verify relevant
information.
 The client is unstable.
 The task is not allowed by law or by policy, endangers the client, or the outcome
is unpredictable.
 The nurse will not be available to supervise or give direction.
Level 5 source:
 Tompkins, 2016

 6. Reducing delegation risks in school settings

In school settings, procedure checklists can reduce possible risks of delegation by:
 Demonstrating accountability and competence of both school nurses and unli-
censed assistive personnel
 Reflecting the student’s specific health care needs, while simultaneously pro-
moting reliable and uniform execution of skills by different staff members
 Providing an outline of step-by-step actions for reference and reinforcement of
proper techniques, documenting that the school nurse has demonstrated the
procedure and that delegated personnel can correctly return demonstration
 Documenting that the unlicensed assistive personnel accepts responsibility for
assuming the task
 Providing a regular documentation schedule for monitoring, evaluating, rein-
forcing, and remediating unlicensed assistive personnel skills
Level 5 source:
 Shannon, & Kubelka, 2013b
 7. Delegating medication administration in schools

Recommendations for medication administration in schools identified in studies on
school nurses and medication administration include:
 Establishing an ongoing evaluation of medication administration
 Establishing medication policy regarding responsibility for medication admin-
istration, to whom the task can be delegated, and the amount of training needed
by unlicensed assistive personnel
 Using checklists, decision trees, and videos on procedures to facilitate accurate
medication administration when a school nurse cannot be on site with students
Level 3 sources:
 Anderson et al., 2017
 Canham, Bauer, & Concepcion, 2017
 Ficca & Welk, 2006
 8. Delegating to maternity support workers

In five maternity services in London, tasks delegated to maternity support workers
included taking blood, breastfeeding support, parent education, vital sign observa-
tion, and transfer and discharge procedures. A mixed method evaluation showed a
positive impact on breastfeeding rate and length of stay, and improved quality and
continuity of care.
Level 3 source:
 Griffin, Richardson, & Morris-Thompson, 2012

 9. Delegating medicine support for home care clients

In the United Kingdom, a program titled “Workforce Innovation for Safe and Effective
(WISE) Medicines Care,” established guidelines for nurses to delegate medicine sup-
port for low-risk home care clients to community care aides. Medicine support pro-
vided by community care aides included prompting clients to take medications, re-
moving medications from packages, crushing tablets, and assisting clients with ad-
ministration of oral and topical medications. Outcomes included no medication inci-
dents, developing trust and confidence in the community care aides, and eliminating
duplicate nurse and community care aide visits, which increased the capacity of
nurses to visit clients with more complex needs.
Level 2 source:
 Lee et al., 2015
Wheel notes
Community health workers
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 triggered the growth of community health
workers in clinics, public health agencies, and community-based organizations. CHWs
are “frontline” public health workers with knowledge of the community environment
and client culture. Community health workers contribute to improving health out-
comes and reducing mortality and costs for those experiencing medical and social
challenges. Community health workers often work with underserved and racial-
ly/ethnically diverse populations. They provide outreach, offer health education, fa-
cilitate enrollment in health programs, help with system navigation, advocate for cli-
ents, and facilitate the referral process (Brooks et al., 2014; Tri-City Council for Nurs-
ing, 2017; WellShare International, 2015).
With the growth in the community health worker role, so grows the opportunity for
PHNs to delegate to and supervise community health workers as part of a team-based
approach to delivering public health services (Martin, Perry-Bell, Minier, Glassgow, &
Van Voorhees, 2018). Common program areas for the community health worker role
are nutrition, diabetes, and mental health. Examples of populations served include
the elderly, high-risk children and youth, immigrants, and refugees (WellShare Inter-
national, 2015).
References
American Nurses Association. (2012). Principles for delegation by registered nurses to nursing
assistive personnel in all settings [Position Statement]. Silver Springs, MD: Author.
American Nurses Association & National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2006). Joint Statement
on Delegation. https://www.ncsbn.org/Delegation_joint_statement_NCSBN-ANA.pdf

health interventions: School nurse practice stories. Journal of School Nursing, pp. 1-11,
online. doi: 10.1177/1059840517721951
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. (2016). The role of unlicensed
assistive personnel (nursing assistive personnel) in the care of women and newborns.
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 45(1), 111-113.
Ballard, K., Haagenson, D., & Christiansen, L. (2016). Scope of nursing practice decision-making
framework. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 7(3), 19-21.
Bittner, N.P. & Gravlin, G. (2009). Critical thinking, delegation, and missed care in nursing practice.
Journal of Nursing Administration, 39(3), 142-146.
Brooks, B. A., Davis, S., Frank-Lightfoot, L., Kulbok, P. A., Poree, S., & Sgarlata, L. (2014). Building a
community health worker program: The key to better care, better outcomes & lower
cost. Published by CommunityHealth Works, Chicago, IL: Authors. Retrieved from
http://www.aone.org/resources/PDFs/CHW_resource.pdf
Canham, D. L., Bauer, L., & Concepcion, M. (2017). An audit of medication administration: a
glimpse into school health offices. Journal of School Nursing 23(1), 21-27.
Ficca, M. & Welk, D. (2006). Medication administration practices in Pennsylvania schools. Journal
of School Nursing 122(3), 148-155.
Griffin, R., Richardson, M., & Morris-Thompson, T. (2012). An evaluation of the impact of
maternity support workers. British Journal of Midwifery, 20(12), 884-889.
Hepsi, B. J. (2014). Delegation in nursing management: Common errors. Journal of Asian Nursing
Education and Research, 4(2), 242-244.
Kaernested, B., & Bragadottir, H. (2012). Delegation of registered nurses revisited: Attitudes
towards delegation and preparedness to delegate effectively. Nordic Journal of Nursing
Research & Clinical Studies, 32(1), 10-15.
Lee, Y. C., Beanland, C., Goeman, D., Johnson, A., Thorn, J., Koch, S., et al. (2015). Evaluation of a
support worker role, within a nurse delegation and supervision model, for provision of
medicines support for older people living at home: the Workforce Innovation for Safe
and Effective (WISE) Medicines Care study. Health Services Research, 15, 1-11. doi:
10.1186/s12913-015-1120-9
Martin, M. A., Perry-Bell, K., Minier, M., Glassgow, A. E., & Van Voorhees, B. W. (2018). A real-
world community health worker care coordination model for high-risk children. Health
Promotion Practice (early online), 1-10. doi: 10.1177/1524839918764893
Minnesota Department of Health. (n.d.). Vaccine protocols. Retrieved from
https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/immunize/hcp/protocols/index.html
Mueller, C. & Vogelsmeier, A. (2013). Effective delegation: Understanding responsibility,
authority, and accountability. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(3), 20-27.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2016). National guidelines for nursing delegation.
Journal of Nursing Regulation, 7(1), 5-14.
Schoon, P. M., Porta, C. M., & Schaffer, M. A. (2019). Population-based public health clinical manual:
The Henry Street model for nurses, 3rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.
Shannon, R. A. & Kubelka, S. (2013a). Reducing the risks of delegation: Use of procedure skills
checklists for unlicensed assistive personnel in schools, Part 1. NASN School Nurse,
28(4), 178-181.doi: 10.1177/1942602X13489886
Shannon, R. A. & Kubelka, S. (2013b). Reducing the risks of delegation: Use of procedure skills
checklists for unlicensed assistive personnel in schools, Part 2. NASN School Nurse,
28(5): 222-226. doi: 10.1177/1942602X13490030

Spriggle, M. (2009). Developing a policy for delegation of nursing care in the school setting. The
Journal of School Nursing, 25(2), 98-107. doi: 10.1177/1059840508330756
Tompkins, F. (2016). Delegation in correctional nursing practice. Journal of Correctional Health
Care, 22(3), 218-224. doi: 10.1177/1078345816654229
Tri-Council for Nursing. (2017). The essential role of the registered nurse and integration of
community health workers into community team-based care. Retrieved from
http://www.tricouncilfornursing.org/
Turner, L. P. (2016). The nurse leader in the community. In M. Stanhope & J. Lancaster (Eds.),
Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (pp. 867-884).
WellShare International. (2015). Summary of results from a statewide survey of CHWs in
Minnesota: Perspectives on the community health worker workforce. Retrieved from
http://www.epi.umn.edu/mch/wp-
content/uploads/2015/11/PerspectivesOnTheCHWWorkforce_Summary_WellShare_Se
pt2015.pdf
Weydt, A. (2010). Developing delegation skills. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15(2), 1. doi:
10.3912/OJIN.Vol15No02Man01

GREEN WEDGE: IN REVIEW
In review
A story:
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease spread through airborne exposure. Adhering
to a treatment regime ensures client recovery and prevents the disease from spread-
ing. Successful treatment involves six- to 12-month multi-drug therapy. This ap-
proach—daily, in-person medication delivery—is called directly observed therapy
(DOT), and serves as the standard care for patients with active TB (Minnesota Depart-
ment of Health, 2016).
The Dakota County Public Health Disease Prevention & Control Unit receives referrals
from the Minnesota Department of Health on active TB cases needing follow-up. Pub-
lic health nurses provide case management for clients with active TB. Public health
nurses make home or workplace DOT visits to clients with active TB to ensure suc-
cessful treatment. In some cases, PHNs delegate DOT to a community health worker.
Video directly observed therapy (VDOT) assists in managing the challenges of active
TB cases. Dakota County PHNs are using asynchronous VDOT, during which clients
record a date and time stamped video of themselves for uploading to a secure online
location for PHN review. Asynchronous VDOT makes DOT more convenient for the
client and public health professional, and results in greater flexibility and cost savings.

This successful approach by Dakota County demonstrates that VDOT provides the
same level of service as DOT, while increasing customer convenience, ensuring pri-
vacy, and reducing staff time (Dakota County Office of Performance and Analysis,
2017; Dakota County Public Health Department, 2018).
Think about how green wedge interventions (referral and follow-up, case manage-
ment, and delegated functions) occur with TB clients and the use of VDOT.
Consider the following questions for the story about managing active TB.
Level of practice
1. What levels of practice do you see occurring in this story?
Referral and follow-up

2. When referring a client for VDOT, which of the basic steps are most important
for assuring client readiness for VDOT?
3. What are cultural considerations to address when referring the client for VDOT?
What possible social, economic, and/or geographic barriers might the PHN need
to address when making the referral?
4. What PHN actions lead to a trusting relationship, and contribute to the decision
of VDOT as a viable client option?
Case management
5. How would the public health nurse document that the quality of care for a client
meets VDOT standards?
6. What client resources support VDOT success?
7. How does VDOT reduce costs for TB treatment?
8. How might technology contribute to increasing/decreasing gaps in communities
with fewer resources?
Delegated functions
9. What benefits arise from delegating DOT to a community health worker? For
the patient? For the public health nurse? For the community health worker?
10. What steps should the public health nurse take to delegate client DOT to a com-
munity health worker?
11. What should the public health nurse communicate to the community health
worker to ensure successful delegation?
12. What cultural considerations should be made when determining whether dele-
gating to a community health worker is appropriate?

References
Dakota County Office of Performance and Analysis. (2017). Dakota County Public Health Department:
Video directly observed therapy for active tuberculosis treatment. Retrieved from
https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/Analysis/ReportsProjects/Documents/VideoD
irectlyObservedTherapyActiveTB.pdf
Dakota County Public Health Department. (2018). Video directly observed therapy for active
tuberculosis treatment update July 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/Government/Analysis/ReportsProjects/Documents/Vide
oDirectlyObservedTherapyActiveTBUpdate.pdf
Minnesota Department of Health. (2016). Video directly observed therapy (VDOT) – A Minnesota
Perspective. Retrieved from
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/tb/lph/vdot/vdotmn.pdf

BLUE WEDGE: HEALTH TEACHING
Health teaching
Health teaching involves sharing information and experiences through educational
activities designed to improve health knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills
(Friedman, Cosby, Boyko, Hatton-Bauer, & Turnbull, 2011).
 Knowledge: Fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained

through experience association (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017)
 Attitude: Mental position, feeling, or emotion with regard to a fact or state; may
be negative or positive (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017)
 Behavior: Response of an individual, group, or species to its environment
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017)
 Skill: Proficiency, facility, or dexterity acquired or developed through training or
experience (The Free Dictionary, 2017)
Population of interest: Pregnant and childbearing women.
Problem: Alcohol use during pregnancy.

Systems level
A public health nurse (PHN) provides an in-service training to physicians, midwives,
and family planning specialists, highlighting new research findings on the effect of
alcohol on pregnancy. The PHN promotes evidence-based and standardized care for
pregnant women that includes screening for alcohol use and counseling regarding
the danger of alcohol use during pregnancy.
Community level
A PHN participates in a county task force that aims to reduce alcohol use by women
during pre-conceptual and child-bearing years. The group develops a series of posters
and distributes them to liquor retailers and establishments serving alcoholic beverages.
A PHN incorporates information on the impact of alcohol use on fetal development into
the reproductive health class taught to high school and community college students.
Relationship to other interventions

Health teaching is used in conjunction with virtually all interventions. It is frequently
implemented in conjunction with, or sequentially to, counseling and/or consultation.
Counseling focuses on the emotional component inherent in any attempt to change,
while consultation seeks to generate alternative solutions to problems.
Similar to health teaching, social marketing strategies aim to change behavior by
communicating information, but includes marketing techniques. In addition, the PHN
is often in collaboration with others when designing health teaching strategies.
Basic steps ASSURE Model
The education process is a “systematic, se- A Analyze the learner.

quential, logical, scientifically based, S State the objectives.
planned course of action consisting of two
S Select the instructional
major interdependent operations: teaching
methods and materials.
and learning” (Bastable, 2017, p. 10). Inter-
actions between the teacher and learner are U Utilize materials.
intended to lead to mutually desired behav- R Require learner performance.
ior changes (outcomes).
E Evaluate the teaching plan and
Public health nurses can use the ASSURE revise as necessary.
Model (Bastable, 2017) to design health
teaching activities. Source: Bastable (2017).

A: Analyze the learner

Assessing the individual/family, community, or system is essential to determine ef-
fective teaching-learning strategies.
Use the Learner Readiness Assessment (PEEK) to assess individuals or small groups
(Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019).
P: Physical and developmental E: Experiential and social
health status
 Culture and language
 Cognitive abilities  Cultural health beliefs and
 Communication abilities (verbal, practices
nonverbal, written)  Past experiences with health
 Development level care and specific health topics
 Individual
K: Knowledge
 Family
 Physical environment  Education/reading level
 Language literacy and learning
E: Emotional
style
 Current stress, coping, resilience  Present knowledge on topic/
 Motivation for learning past health education
 Readiness for learning  Health literacy
S: State the objectives

Learning objectives help identify client outcomes and guide selection of teaching-
learning strategies.
Stated outcomes should be specific, measureable, achievable, realistic, and time-
bound (SMART) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015):
 Specific: Concrete, detailed, and well defined
 Measureable: Provides means of measurement and comparison via numbers
and quantities
 Achievable: Feasible and easy to put into action
 Realistic: Considers capacity and constraints such as resources, personnel, cost,
and time frame
 Time-bound: A time frame that sets boundaries around the objective
S: Select instructional methods and materials

Select instructional methods based upon teaching-learning principles (below) and
whether methods are appropriate to client learning style. Select effective and
evidence-based learning materials.
Public health nurses are intentional about selecting effective methods and materials
from an incredible variety of available tools including presentations, print materials,
and media.

These teaching-learning principles are adapted from Schoon et al. (2019):

 Target health teaching to a specific audience.
 Learner readiness affects what is learned.
 Motivation affects learning.
 Active learning is best (demonstration).
 Use written learning objectives to guide teaching plan.
 Avoid professional jargon and overwhelming learner with excessive information.
 Use visuals to enhance print and verbal messages.
 Create a comfortable learning environment.
 Integrate a variety of learning styles (VARK) (Inott & Kenney, 2011):
▪ V: Visual learners process information by seeing illustrations and words.
▪ A: Auditory learners prefer discussion, speaking, and talking through
information.
▪ R: Reading or writing learners prefer information displayed in text (words).
▪ K: Kinesthetic learners prefer learning through experience and practice
(physical activity and touch).
 Use best evidence and give credit to information source.
 Link information to prior knowledge.
 Allow time for interaction and applying information.
 Reinforce written materials with verbal messages.
 Use multiple methods to assess understanding of content.
U: Utilize materials
The teaching plan specifies the materials and strategies, based on teaching-learning
principles.
Implement the teaching plan (Schoon et al., 2019)
 Schedule (reasonable time allotted for each activity)
 Location (distraction-free, adequate room, lighting, comfort)
 Learner outcomes (achievable and measureable within time frame)
 Brief content outline (main topics with learning activities)
 Teaching-learning strategies (consider learning styles of individual or group)
 Resources (materials and references)
 Evaluation (specific and measureable)
R: Require learner performance

Including learner interactions, demonstration, or other involvement will increase
learner engagement and learning.
These learner engagement guiding principles are adapted from Yardley, Morrison,
Bradbury, & Muller (2015):
 Promote client autonomy by offering choices where possible (goals, tools, tim-
ing, and method of implementation).
 Promote client competence by providing clear structure and guidance,
examples, stories, modeling, and opportunities for goal setting.

 Promote a positive emotional experience and sense of relatedness by using pos-

itive language; acknowledging and addressing concerns; creating communica-
tions that are enjoyable, relevant, and helpful to the user; and providing imme-
diate and rewarding feedback.
E: Evaluate and revise

Evaluation and revision cycles enhance implementation effectiveness.
Sample evaluation questions include:
 Were the objectives achieved in a timely manner?
 How do you know the objectives were achieved?
 What strategies contributed to successful achievement of the objectives?
 If the objectives were not achieved, what barriers or factors interfered with
learning?
 What could be done differently to achieve the outcomes?
Example
The PHN teaches a reproductive health class for at-risk high school students regarding
the impact of alcohol use on fetal development. The PHN uses the ASSURE model to
guide the intervention.
A: Analyze the learner

PEEK Model:
 P: Physical and developmental health status: 15 to 18 years old, some are preg-
nant, average communication skills, majority from low-income families living in
an urban area.
 E: Emotional: High level of stress related to unstable family life, pregnancy,
and/or balancing educational and work responsibilities; interested in learning
about reproduction.
 E: Experiential and social: English is a first language for most and a second lan-
guage for others, racially and ethnically diverse, alcohol and fetal health is one
of a series of health topics.
 K: Knowledge: Reading level varies, preferred learning style includes visual and
kinesthetic learning activities.
S: State the objectives

Upon completion of the post-test on the reproductive unit, 80 percent of at-risk high
school students in the reproductive health class will have correctly communicated
two ways that drinking alcohol during pregnancy could affect infant health.

SMART framework:
 Specific: Effect of alcohol on fetal development during pregnancy is present in
age-appropriate materials
 Measureable: Correct answers on post-test
 Attainable: Content can be learned during the class period
 Realistic: Two ways that drinking alcohol during pregnancy could affect infant
health on the post-test
 Time-bound: The post-test at the end of the reproductive unit
S: Select instructional methods and materials

Students need active learning experiences and materials at appropriate health liter-
acy levels (grade five for English language learners) to promote knowledge attain-
ment. All educational material should be analyzed carefully to ensure that they are at
the recommended fifth grade level (Wilson, 2009). Visuals such as a video and clear
handouts enhance learning. The classroom arrangement includes tables and chairs to
promote small group discussion and room for active learning.
U: Utilize materials
The class is 50 minutes long, including time for interactive activities. The content out-
line proposes the following activities and materials: student discussion about the ef-
fects of alcohol on the mind and body of the pregnant woman and the fetus, a video
on fetal alcohol syndrome with opportunity for questions, small group role-playing of
a peer-to-peer conversation about the effects of alcohol on the fetus, and reviewing
a handout capturing major points of the presentation.
R: Require learner performance

After showing a video on fetal alcohol syndrome:
 Engage students in a discussion about what they have seen or heard in the past
about fetal alcohol syndrome.
 Facilitate a role-playing activity capturing a peer-to-peer conversation regarding
the effects of alcohol on the fetus.
E: Evaluate and revise

Determine what percentage of students correctly answered the post-test questions
about the effects of drinking alcohol on infant health. If the goal is not met, revise the
teaching plan as appropriate.


 1. Best practices for written messages

Use the following to improve written messages:
 Active voice (e.g., “Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables” instead of “Five
servings should be eaten”)
 Subheadings
 Short sentences and paragraphs
 Summarized main points
 Five or fewer items in a list
 Font changes (underline or bold) to emphasize points
 Large, readable font
 Short blocks of text
 White space as part of the design
 Contrast between background and printed text for readability
 Pictures to enhance memory
Level 5 source:
 Schoon et al., 2019
 2. Tailored health interventions

Tailoring health teaching interventions to meet specific needs contributes to improved
health outcomes; this includes cultural factors of individuals, groups, or communities.
Level 1 source:
 Jesse et al., 2015
Level 2 source:
 Ailinger, Martyn, Lasus, & Garcia, 2010
 3. Support and counseling in education

Incorporate support and counseling into education, as it contributes to improved self-
care.
Level 1 source:
 Mohammadpour, Sharghi, Khosravan, Alami, & Akhond, 2015
 4. Shared decision-making
Shared decision-making regarding health teaching strategies results in better health
outcomes for individuals/families, communities, and systems. Shared decision-making

may be referred to as client- or patient-centered, person-based, or concordance (a

partnership between nurse and client where shared decision-making takes place).
Level 5 sources:
 McKinnon, 2013
 Yardley et al., 2015
 5. Behavior change is an active process

Knowledge and information alone does not lead to behavior change. Knowledge
transmission is an active process that encompasses continuing dialogue, interactions,
and partnerships within and between knowledge creators and users.
Level 3 source:
 Mrazik et al., 2015
 6. Using theories to guide interventions

Health behavior theories are useful for guiding health teaching interventions. The
Health Belief Model and the Stages of Change Model are particularly applicable to
designing and implementing the health teaching intervention. The Health Belief
Model is a framework for motivating people to take positive health actions; it uses
the desire to avoid a negative health consequence as the prime motivator. The Stages
of Change Model proposes five stages that describe the behavior change process:
pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
Level 5 source:
 Reimer & Glanz, 2005
 7. Promoting the use of evidence in practice

Organizations promote the use of evidence in practice by providing access to practice
guidelines and protocols.
Level 3 sources:
 Ashby et al., 2012
 Baxter et al., 2010
 Callego, & Geer, 2012
 8. Effective health risk communication

Health risk communication, or crisis communication, is a strategy to improve health
knowledge; attitudes; behaviors; and skills of individuals/families, communities, or
systems in the context of perceived threats of harm or hazard. Risk communication
conveys to the public the reality of the threat, to allay fears and/or increase public
concern and prompt action. Effective health risk communication considers a popula-
tion’s cultural and socioeconomic characteristics, strategies to foster self-efficacy and
trust in the intervention plan, and prepares the population for uncertainty and the

changing risk event. The following principles summarize best practices for guiding
public health risk communication:
 Accept and involve stakeholders as legitimate partners.
 Listen to what people are saying.
 Be truthful, honest, frank, and open.
 Coordinate, collaborate, and partner with other credible sources.
 Meet the needs (who, what, why, when, where, and how) of the media.
 Communicate clearly and with compassion.
 Plan thoroughly and carefully.
Level 4 sources:
 Environmental Protection Agency, 2016
 Vaughan & Tinker, 2009
Level 5 source:
 Covello, 2003
Wheel notes
Social media
Using social media to share information is on the rise and ripe for teaching interven-
tions. The ASSURE Model provides a framework for designing health teaching inter-
ventions using social media. Public health nurses need to consider how social media
impacts health communication and how communication using social media can occur
effectively at the individual/family, community, and systems levels. Measures to pro-
tect confidentiality and client privacy need to be integrated into health teaching in-
terventions that incorporate social media strategies. Public health nurses must also
follow organizational and agency social media policies.
Health literacy
Health literacy is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, pro-
cess, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appro-
priate health decisions” (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2009, p. 6).
Clients with low health literacy experience worse health outcomes (Gordon, Barry,
Dunn, & King, 2011; Mayer & Villaire, 2011). The Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality developed the AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, which
provides tools for simplifying verbal and written communication and integrating self-
management and support systems to improve client health literacy (Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, 2016).

Interprofessional collaboration
Health teaching is often a collaborative activity where the PHN designs and imple-
ments the intervention with a variety of public health practitioners. It is important for
the PHN to recognize that health teaching is a shared interprofessional domain, and
to appreciate the knowledge and skills other practitioners bring to health teaching
(Ashby et al., 2012; Baxter et al., 2010). At a systems level, PHNs may work with a
team to create messages for public health campaigns (Callego, 2012). An example is
communicating the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. Health teaching at a systems
level may overlap with social marketing. For additional strategies for communicating
information at the systems level, visit the social marketing intervention.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2016). AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions
Toolkit. Access at https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-
resources/tools/literacy-toolkit/index.html
Ailinger, R. L., Martyn, D., Lasus, H., & Garcia, N. L. (2010). The effect of a cultural intervention
adherence to latent tuberculosis infection therapy in Latino immigrants. Public Health
Nursing, 27(2), 115-120.
Ashby, S. James, C., Plotnikoff, R., Collins, C., Guest, M., Kable, A., et al. (2012). Survey of
Australian practitioners’ provision of healthy lifestyle advice to clients who are obese.
Nursing and Health Sciences, 14, 189-196. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-2018.2012.00677.x
Bastable, S. (2017). Essentials of patient education. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Baxter, S., Everson-Hock, E., Messina, J., Guillaume, L., Burrows, J., & Goyder, E. (2010). Factors
relating to the uptake of interventions for smoking cessation among pregnant women: A
systematic review and qualitative synthesis. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 12(7), 685-
694. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntq072
Callego, F. P. & Geer, L. A. (2012). A community-based approach to disseminate health
information on the hazards of prenatal mercury exposure in Brooklyn, NY. Journal of
Community Health, 37, 745-753. doi: 10.1007/s10900-012-9575-7
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Crisis and emergency risk communication
(CERC) manual. Retrieved from https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/manual/index.asp
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Develop SMART objectives. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/evaluate/smart_objectives.html
Covello, V. (2003). Best practices in public health risk and crisis communication. Journal of Health
Communication, 8, 5-8. doi: 10.1080/10810730390224802
Environmental Protection Agency. (2016). Risk communication. Retrieved from
https://www.epa.gov/risk/risk-communication
Free Dictionary. (2017). http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
Friedman, A. J., Cosby, R., Boyko, S., Hatton-Bauer, J. & Turnbull, G. (2011). Effective teaching
strategies and methods of delivery for patient education: A systematic review and
practice guideline recommendations. Journal of Cancer Education, 26, 12-21. doi
10.1007/s13187-010-0183-x

Gordon, S, C., Barry, C. D., Dunn, D. J., & King, B. (2011). Clarifying a vision for health literacy: A
holistic school-based community approach. Holistic Nursing Practice, 25(2), 120-16. doi:
10.1097/HNP.0b013e3182157c34
Inott, T. & Kenney, B. B. (2011). Assessing learning styles: Practical tips for patient education.
Nursing Clinics of North America, 46, 313-320. doi: 10.1016j.cnur.2011.05.006
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2009). Measures of health literacy: Workshop
summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Jesse, D. E., Gaynes, B. N., Feldhousen, E. B., Newton, E. R., Bunch, S., & Hollon, S. D. (2015).
Performance of a culturally tailored cognitive-behavioral intervention integrated in a
public health setting to reduce risk of antepartum depression: A randomized controlled
trial. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 60(5), 578-592. doi:10.1111/jmwh.12308
Mayer, G. & Villaire, M. (2011). Health literacy: An opportunity for nurses to lead by example.
Nursing Outlook, 59(2), 59-60. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2011.01.00
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McKinnon, J. (2013). The case for concordance: value and application in nursing practice. British
Journal of Nursing, 22(13), 776-771.
Mohammadpour, A., Sharghi, N. R., Khosravan, S., Alami, A., & Akhond, M. (2015). The effect of a
supportive educational intervention developed based on the Orem’s self-care theory on
the self-care ability of patients with myocardial infarction: A randomised controlled trial.
Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24, 1686–1692. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12775
Mrazik, M., Dennison, C. R., Brooks, B. L., Yeates, K. O., Babul, S., & Naidu, D. (2015). A qualitative
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2015-094848
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BLUE WEDGE: COUNSELING
Counseling
Counseling involves establishing an interpersonal relationship at an emotional level,
with the goal of increased or enhanced capacity for self-care and coping.
 Counseling, often paired with health teaching, explores the emotional response
to integrating new health information into life’s circumstances.
 The effectiveness of counseling depends on the ability of the public health nurse
(PHN) to develop a supportive, trusting relationship with the client.
 There is a distinction between using counseling skills in public health nursing
practice and being a counselor or psychotherapist. Public health nurses are not
counselors or psychotherapists unless they have had additional education for
those roles. However, like counselors and psychotherapists, PHNs must be good
listeners.
Population of interest: All adolescents and their parents.
Problem: Depression and the risk for suicide.

Systems level
A school suffers a devastating loss when three teens carry out a suicide pact. In re-
sponse to the school’s distress, the PHN partners with parents, students, school social
workers, school service providers, the school nurse, health teachers, and school clubs
to design a teen suicide district-wide response plan to prevent repeats of the suicide
cluster. The plan outlines the roles that each department of the school will play if a
suicide or attempted suicide occurs. The plan also includes the development and im-
plementation of a school-wide resiliency and well-being initiative.
Community level
Public health nurses partner with mental health centers, schools, and faith commu-
nities to raise community awareness about depression in teens. Their goal is to
change community acceptance of depression—from “just something that teens go
through” to the realization that depression is a real, treatable problem. They use bill-
boards, radio spots, movie trailers, and social media to disseminate the message.
A PHN facilitates a support group for families coping with the loss of a member
through suicide.
Relationship to other interventions

Counseling is an intervention frequently implemented in conjunction with, or sequen-
tially to, health teaching and/or consultation. Health teaching influences the
knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, practices, skills, and behaviors of individu-
als/families, communities, or systems. Counseling focuses on the emotional compo-
nent inherent in any attempt to change. Consultation seeks to generate alternative
solutions to problems.
For example, if a PHN provides health teaching about the prevalence, incidence, and
causes of family violence at a community meeting, it is likely to trigger emotional
responses. Implementing counseling strategies in conjunction with health teaching
allows the PHN to build on the energy associated with an emotional response and
further enhances the learning opportunity. A community may respond to information
on family violence with powerful emotions like anger, outrage, fear, and grief. These
emotions can motivate the community to learn more about the problem and its
causes. If the community uses this new information to decide what to do to change
its tolerance of family violence, the PHN may assist the community in exploring alter-
natives. In that situation, the PHN provides consultation. Community and systems-
level counseling may also lead to policy development and enforcement.

PHNs use collaboration with other professionals, communities, and health care or-
ganizations to identify individuals/families, communities, or systems that could ben-
efit from counseling resources; PHNs can then use referral and follow-up to connect
clients with counseling resources. For example, at the systems level, school nurses in
a large school district may collaborate with a local mental health care organization
and a hospital to provide mental health services to schoolchildren. The school nurses
refer students to after-school social skills groups, therapy provided at school, and
classes on preparing meals and healthy eating.
At the community level, PHNs may use social marketing to influence the community.
Basic steps
1. Establish a therapeutic relationship with the
client (individual/family, community, or systems)
A therapeutic relationship is the foundation for a trusting, supportive relationship
that prepares the PHN and client for the counseling intervention.
The therapeutic relationship is grounded in an interpersonal process that

occurs between the nurse and the client(s). A therapeutic relationship is a
purposeful, goal directed relationship that is directed at advancing the
best interest and outcome of the client (Registered Nurses Association of
Ontario, 2002, 2006, p. 13).
The therapeutic nurse-client relationship protects the patient’s dignity, autonomy,

and privacy and allows for the development of trust and respect (National Council of
State Boards of Nursing, 2014, p. 4).
Expert knowledge can effectively establish a therapeutic relationship. This knowledge
includes the following domains: background (education and life experience); inter-
personal caring and development theory; culture, diversity influences, and determi-
nants of health; person; health/illness; the broad influences on health care and health
care policy; and systems (Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, 2002, 2006).
Abilities PHNs need to establish therapeutic relationships include: 1) self-awareness;
2) self-knowledge; 3) empathy; and 4) awareness of ethics, boundaries, and limits of
the professional role. Active listening, trust, respect, being genuine, empathy, using
a non-judgmental and non-confrontational approach, and responding to client con-
cerns are important qualities of the therapeutic relationship (Duaso & Duncan, 2012;
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, 2002, 2006).
The therapeutic relationship includes the following three phases (Registered Nurses
Association of Ontario, 2002, 2006):
 Beginning or orientation phase: The PHN and the client establish relationship
parameters, including place of meeting, length, frequency, role or service of-
fered, confidentiality, and duration of relationship. They begin to develop trust,
and recognize one another as partners in the relationship.

 Middle or working phase: The PHN provides the counseling intervention and other
relevant interventions, such as screening and referral and follow-up. The PHN and
client develop an action plan to address identified problems and concerns.
 Ending or resolution phase: When problems and concerns have been ad-
dressed, the PHN and client end the relationship based on a mutual decision and
celebrate goals met. If the goal(s) have not been accomplished, the PHN assists
the client in identifying another option to address the problem or concern.
2. Maintain professional boundaries

The nature of the counseling relationship requires the PHN to be alert to the possi-
bility of violation of professional boundaries.
A boundary violation may occur if the PHN becomes overly involved in a counseling
intervention. The PHN needs to be aware of the potential for boundary violations
when using the counseling intervention. The National Council of State Boards of Nurs-
ing (2014, p. 5) identified potential red flags leading to boundary violations:
 Discussing your intimate or personal issues with a patient
 Engaging in behaviors that could reasonably be interpreted as flirting
 Keeping secrets with a patient or for a patient
 Believing that you are the only one who truly understands or can help the patient
 Spending more time than is necessary with a particular patient
 Speaking poorly about colleagues or your employment setting with the patient
and/or family
 Showing favoritism
 Meeting a patient in settings besides those used to provide direct patient care
or when you are not at work
Strategies to maintain professional boundaries include discerning the difference be-
tween professional relationships and social relationships, and using reflection to dis-
cuss challenges around client relationships and boundaries with one’s supervisor and
colleagues. Examples of boundary maintenance challenges in PHN-client relation-
ships include a client request to be a Facebook friend, or requests from neighbors for
information about the well-being of an elderly client living in an apartment building
(Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019).
3. Self-monitor the relationship

Self-monitoring is important for evaluating the appropriateness and effectiveness of
counseling beyond one or two sessions. Ask the following questions:
 Who benefits from the counseling relationship?
 Are the goals mutually determined?
 What progress is being made toward achieving the goals?
 Is the client engaged in the counseling?
 What kind of feedback are you receiving from the client about the effectiveness
of the counseling?
 For long-term counseling relationships, is evaluative supervision available to the
PHN?

4. Select effective strategies and tailor them

Tailor strategies to address the specific health concern. Consider individual, group,
telephone, email, or web-based sessions. Clients are more likely to positively view
counseling interventions that are tailored to their preference and/or convenience
(Kardeen, Smith, & Thornton, 2010; Pignone et al., 2003; Tahir & Al-Sadat, 2013).
5. Use an evidence-based behavior change model

Consider using the five A’s or motivational interviewing. Evidence supports both
models’ effectiveness in using brief counseling aimed to change health behavior.
The following examples apply the five A’s and motivational interviewing to a
community-level counseling intervention, to address youth depression and the risk
for suicide (Whitlock, Orleans, Pender, & Allen, 2002).
Five A’s
The National Cancer Institute developed the four A’s to guide physicians in talking
about smoking cessation with primary care patients. The Canadian Task Force on Pre-
ventive Health Care added the fifth step, “agree.” The U.S. Public Health Service has
used the five A’s in clinical trials on smoking cessation.
Assess behavioral health risks and factors affecting goals for change
Example: There is a need to address youth suicide prevention in the
community because of an increase in the incidence of suicide among 15-
to 19-year-olds.
Advise by giving clear, specific, and personalized behavior change information about
personal health harms/benefits.
Example: Provide information about the incidence of depression in youth
and the risk for suicide.
Agree by mutually selecting a treatment goals and strategies that are based on client
interest and willingness to change behavior.
Example: Collaborate with mental health centers, schools, and faith
communities to select preferred strategies for addressing youth
depression and suicide.
Assist with behavior change strategies (such as self-help and/or counseling) to help
the client acquire the skills, confidence, and social/environmental supports for be-
havior change.
Example: Provide evidence on strategy effectiveness to team/experts that
develop strategies to promote community awareness about youth
depression and suicide.

Arrange follow-up contacts to provide ongoing assistance/support and to adjust the

plan as needed.
Example: Make sure referral resources for youth depression and suicide
are in place, and evaluate whether community attitudes have changed to
viewing the problem as significant enough to address.
Motivational interviewing
The theory of motivational interviewing evolved out of scientific study and practice,
beginning with the work of William R. Miller on addressing problem drinking in the
1980s (Richardson, 2012). A relational component emphasizes empathy, and a tech-
nical component promotes client engagement in the behavior change process (Miller
& Rose, 2009).
Expressing empathy: Understand client perspectives.
Example: Acknowledge that community organizations serving youth are
upset about the increase in incidence of youth suicide.
Reducing ambivalence: Evaluate pros and cons of behavior and change.
Example: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of increasing
community awareness via social media about youth depression and suicide.
Developing discrepancy: Explore conflict between current behavior and important
goals and values.
Example: Dialogue about the increasing incidence of youth suicide in the
community and the connection to the silence surrounding depression.
Rolling with resistance: Acknowledge feelings, accept ambivalence, stay calm, ad-
dress discrepancy.
Example: When different viewpoints and strong emotions surface in
discussion about response to youth depression and suicide, listen to
everyone’s voices, stay calm, and address evidence that supports
promoting community awareness.
Supporting self-efficacy: Recognize strengths, and support ability to change.
Example: Work with team/experts to communicate successful strategies
in promoting community awareness about youth depression and suicide.
6. Identify and address behavior change barriers

The PHN identifies and addresses barriers prior to implementing the counseling in-
tervention to address client motivation for change (Butterworth, 2008):
 They do not think they can.
 They are not ready for it.
 Their values do not support it.
 They do not think it is important.
 They do not believe it is needed.
 They do not have adequate support.

7. Avoid actions that support resistance

Avoid these actions that may lead to client resistance (Burnard, 2005; Huffman 2014):
 Arguing for the benefit of change
 Telling the client how to change
 Warning the client of the consequences of not changing
 Convincing the client they have a problem
 Interpreting the client’s problem or behavior
8. Take cues from client perspectives

Counseling will be more effective when it is individualized and based on client per-
spectives. Consider the following guidelines (Burnard, 2005):
 Acknowledge that people differ from one another.
 Consider the client’s belief and value system as a clue to problem-solving.
 Encourage the client to identify solutions for their problems.
 Acknowledge that every individual has responsibility for their behavior.
Example
A community sees an increased rate of suicide among its adolescent population.
1. Establish a therapeutic relationship

When meeting with community members to address the problem, respect and em-
pathize with others’ experiences with suicide in the community. Listen actively and
withhold judgment of other’s opinions on needed actions.
2. Maintain professional boundaries

Promote opportunities for community members to share their stories about experi-
ences with suicide. Be mindful of confidentiality and appropriateness of sharing per-
sonal experiences regarding suicide.
3. Self-monitor the relationship

Assess community member engagement in addressing suicide rate reduction among
adolescents in the community, and review progress on plan of action.
4. Select effective strategies and tailor them

With community members and professionals from the community, select strategies
to increase community awareness about the increasing suicide rate, and establish a

crisis line. Strategies may include pamphlets, social media, messages on local televi-
sion or radio, and messages from primary care providers.
5. Use an evidence-based behavior change model

See above examples for application of the five A’s and motivational interviewing.
6. Identify and address possible barriers to

behavior change
Provide an opportunity for members of the group to identify and discuss challenges
in addressing the problem of increased suicide among adolescents.
7. Avoid actions that support resistance

Provide evidence about best practices or evidence-based interventions for reducing
adolescent suicide. Avoid telling community members what they should do.
8. Take cues from client perspectives

Welcome all suggestions. Provide opportunities for all members to identify possible
solutions in response to the increased adolescent suicide rate.

 1. Therapeutic alliance
The concept of therapeutic alliance establishes a foundation for the counseling inter-
vention. Therapeutic alliance happens when the client and PHN interact collabora-
tively to determine goals for improved health through a respectful and trusting rela-
tionship. The three components of a therapeutic alliance are:
1. Collaborative tasks mutually understood
2. Goals mutually derived based on client readiness
3. Bonds that encompass a sense of compatibility, trust, respect, and caring
Level 3 source:
 Spiers & Wood, 2013
Level 5 source:
 Zugai, Stein, & Roche, 2015

 2. Client attributes for effective response

Client attributes facilitate effective response to behavior change counseling include:
 Strong desire and intent to change
 Few barriers to change
 Skills and self-confidence needed for change
 Belief that change results in benefits
 Support for change from valued persons and community
Level 4 source:
 Whitlock et al., 2002
 3. Adapting strategies for diverse needs

Adapt counseling strategies to address the needs of culturally diverse clients and im-
prove health outcomes. An empowerment-based approach will facilitate the under-
standing client viewpoints, and encourage client involvement in decision-making.
Level 1 source:
 Jesse et al., 2015
Level 3 source:
 Fagerlund, Pettersen, Terragni, & Glavin, 2016
 4. When to refer clients

Refer client when the following occurs:
 The client is non-responsive to the PHN intervention.
 The PHN does not have the capacity or time to continue the intervention.
 The client needs a specialist, or more intensive counseling or psychotherapy.
Level 5 source:
 Freshwater, 2003
 5. Client peer groups

Client peer groups facilitated by PHNs provide support, establish social networks, and
facilitate health promotion.
Level 2 source:
 Hall & Grundy, 2014
Level 3 sources:
 Glavin, Tveiten, Økland, & Hjalmhult, 2016
 Sekse et al., 2014

 6. Motivational interviewing
Motivational interviewing improves client outcomes for a variety of age groups, set-
tings, and health concerns, including diabetes, chronic disease management, smok-
ing, alcohol consumption, and health promotion behaviors. Motivational interview-
ing is low-risk, is comparably effective to alternative treatments, and can take less
time than other treatments.
Level 1 sources:
 Lindson-Hawley, Thompson, & Begh, 2015
 VanBuskirk & Wetherell, 2014
Level 2 sources:
 Chlebowy et al., 2015
 Lundahl, Kunz, Brownell, Tollefson, & Burke, 2010
 Tse, Vong, & Tang, 2013
Level 5 sources:
 Cummings, Cooper, & Cassie, 2009
 Laakso, 2012
 7. Training in behavior change strategies

Education or training in behavior change strategies improves skill and confidence in
communication skills that facilitate client behavior change.
Level 2 source:
 Phister-Minogue & Salveson, 2010
 8. PHNs as information channels in community risk counseling

In community risk counseling situations, PHNs can function as information channels
in the community and build their risk communication capacities to support residents
in making well-informed decisions.
Level 3 source:
 Goto et al., 2014
Wheel notes
Challenges
PHNs may encounter challenges as they implement the counseling intervention. One
challenge occurs when PHNs do not view themselves as counselors. An example of
this is in school environments where academic counselors are present (Schaffer,
Anderson, & Rising; 2016). In this situation, it is important for the PHN to know that

they do provide the counseling intervention related to health problems when they
address the emotional component of responding to a health concern.
Public health nurses encounter a second challenge when they do not have time in
their practice for the counseling intervention. However, some PHNs view counseling
capacity as part of their skill set for addressing a population’s needs and as part of an
intervention program. This is the case for practitioners participating in the Nurse-
Family Partnership (2011), an evidence-based program that provides support to new
mothers. In other roles, the PHN may provide brief counseling interventions along
with health teaching. The five A’s and motivational interviewing work well in brief
counseling situations.
A third challenge for PHNs is gaining the expertise to effectively use brief counseling
strategies. Continuing education opportunities assist PHNs in developing motiva-
tional interviewing skills. The Behavior Change Counseling Index (BECCI), a reliable,
short, and easy-to-administer assessment tool, evaluates public health nursing com-
petence in behavior change counseling. The 11 items on the BECCI scale measure
effectiveness of behavior change counseling (Phister-Minogue & Salveson, 2010).
Community- and systems-level counseling

Since counseling is most often understood as an individual-level intervention, PHNs
may find it difficult to implement it at other levels. The following paragraphs detail
the use of the counseling intervention at the community and systems levels and ad-
dress the question, “What is being changed?”
Community level
 The goal of counseling at the community level is to change community norms,
attitudes, awareness, practices, and/or behaviors.
 School nurses provide counseling at the community level when they design
counseling strategies to develop community awareness about bullying behavior
in the school setting and the negative impact on health. The counseling strategy
could involve group meetings, to communicate information and consider a com-
mitment to address bullying behavior among the school community, parents,
and other organizations serving schoolchildren.
Systems level
 At the systems level, the goal of counseling is to change rules within organiza-
tions, infrastructure, policies, laws, and power structures. Stigma against mental
illness is present in many organizations and societal structures. When meeting
with health department colleagues to develop a systems-level plan to address
mental health, PHNs can encourage making a commitment to include mental
health as a priority in designing organizational services, programs, and policies.

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10.3109/01612840.2014.969795

BLUE WEDGE: CONSULTATION
Consultation
Consultation seeks information and generates optimal solutions to perceived prob-
lems or issues through interactive problem-solving.
Population of interest: Entire community.
Problem: Increase in incidence of measles (rubeola).
Systems level
The public health nurse (PHN) meets with childcare staff to discuss actions staff can
take to prevent an outbreak of measles at a childcare center, resulting in a protocol
for communicating about symptoms of illness.

Community level
A PHN organizes a community meeting for parents with concerns about immuniza-
tions, to answer questions about risks of measles and prevention.
After a child has been diagnosed with measles, a PHN mutually develops a plan with his
parents during a home visit to prevent other family members from contracting measles.

Consultation is frequently implemented in conjunction with or sequentially to health
teaching and/or counseling. Health teaching influences the knowledge, attitudes,
values, beliefs, practices, skills, and behaviors of individuals/ families, communities,
or systems. Counseling focuses on the emotional component inherent in any attempt
to change. Consultation seeks to generate alternative solutions to problems.
For example, a PHN provides health teaching about the prevalence, incidence, and
causes of family violence at a community meeting. The information is likely to trigger
emotional responses. Implementing counseling strategies in conjunction with health
teaching builds on the energy associated with the emotional response, and further
enhances the learning opportunity. A community may respond to information on
family violence with powerful emotions like anger, outrage, fear, and grief. These
emotions can motivate the community to learn more about the problem and its
causes. If the community uses this new information to decide what to do to change
its tolerance of family violence, the PHN assists in exploring different alternatives,
providing consultation.
Collaboration with individuals/families, communities, and systems is essential for an
effective consultation process. The PHN needs to understand the client view of the
problem and possible strategies to resolve the problem.
Basic steps
Consultation models are found in nursing, educational, organizational disciplines, and
business. Consultants may provide consultation internally (within the organization)
or externally (to persons outside the organization or to other organizations).
Consultation may be done informally, such as with clients during home visits or with
colleagues making a professional decision. PHNs informally consult with individu-
als/families, groups, communities, and systems about topics like immunization rec-
ommendations and healthy eating habits. The consultation process may also be for-
mal and involve a contract that specifies clear expectations. The client is responsible
for acting on decisions made during the consultation process.

A useful model for PHN consultation is the process consultation model developed by
Edgar Schein. “The process model of consultation focuses on the process or problem
solving and collaboration between the consultant and client” (Turner, 2016, p. 872).
The major goal of process consultation is to assist the individual/family, group, com-
munity, or systems to assess and identify the problem as well as determine what help
is needed to solve the problem.
Norwood (2003) describes the steps of the nursing consultation process when work-
ing with communities:
1. Gain entry
With the initial contact, the PHN determines whether they are the best fit for provid-
ing the consultation.
a. Scan the environment. Ask the following questions:
 Who is involved?
 What do they want?
 Am I the right person (values, skills)?
b. Establish a contract for formal consultation at the community or systems level.
What are important items to include in a contract to clarify expectations (Turner,
2016, p. 873)?
 Consultation goals (for both consultant and client)
 Identified problem
 Resources
 Time commitment
 Limitations of contract
 Costs
 Conditions under which contract can be broken or renegotiated
 Intervention strategies
 Expected benefits for client
 Data collection methods
 Evaluation methods
 Confidentiality
c. Gain physical entry: This means the consultant is accepted and is available.
d. Initiate psychological entry: The consultant establishes rapport, trust, and cred-
ibility in the consultation relationship.
2. Identify the problem

The consultant and client assess the problem together and decide what information
the client needs to solve the problem.
Without client input, the correct problem may not be identified.
The problem identification phase includes:
a. Assessment; example assessment questions include (Norwood, 2003, p. 175):
 What is the history and content of this problem?
 What is causing this situation?

 What is needed to have a healthy community?

 What do we need to address in order to implement the change?
b. Diagnosis
c. Communicating assessment findings
3. Determine action planning

Action planning involves working together to decide what to do in response to the
problem.
Like the nursing process, the plan lays out clear steps needed to bring about a health
improvement.
Action planning tasks include:
a. Setting meaningful, acceptable, and realistic goals
b. Establishing priorities
c. Choosing a problem solution and identify what makes the solution acceptable
d. Developing the specific action plan; this includes identification of objectives,
tasks, who will do what, needed resources, and costs
e. Facilitating action plan implementation: When consulting with a community or
organization, the consultant may need to lay groundwork for implementation;
laying the groundwork includes actions like team-building, managing transitions
that result in new situations and processes, and helping the group or organiza-
tion determine diffusion strategies to motivate change
4. Evaluate effectiveness
The evaluation focuses on the consultation relationship and occurs on a continuing
basis throughout the consultation process. In addition, the evaluation promotes ac-
countability for consultant and client.
Interventions in the action plan are usually not evaluated because the consultee may
not actually implement the proposed action plan. Since the consultant may need to
revise the consultation process, evaluating the consultation relationship will help de-
termine if a change needs to be made in the process.
Evaluation tasks include (Norwood, 2003, pp. 235-241):
a. Identifying evaluation content: 1) goal progress, 2) event evaluation (like team-
building or education sessions), and 3) relationship evaluation (rapport, credibil-
ity, communication)
b. Selecting effectiveness criteria (e.g., cognitive or knowledge change, behavior
change, goal accomplishment, satisfaction)
c. Specifying performance standards for comparing outcomes
d. Identifying data sources
e. Determine data collection strategies (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations,
case study)

5. Disengage from the relationship

Disengagement is the process of “letting go” and “securing the future” (Norwood,
2003, p. 254). Both the consultant and client agree to end the consultation process.
Disengagement encourages the client to take on the problem-solving role, which they
can transfer to future situations. They become more self-reliant.
Disengagement tasks include (Norwood, 2003, pp. 257-261):
a. Determining readiness to disengage (unlikely to achieve goal/successful outcome)
b. Establishing change maintenance supports; this could include reduced involve-
ment, intermittent follow-up, or establishing community supports
c. Managing psychodynamics; providing a timeline for disengagement may de-
crease the stress of the disengagement process
d. Achieving closure: Be intentional about promoting a sense of satisfaction and
accomplishment; celebrate successes and leave the door open for future con-
tact (Norwood, 2003, p. 262)
Example
A PHN meets with childcare staff at a childcare center to discuss actions staff can take
to prevent a potential outbreak of measles among children at the childcare center.
1. Gain entry
The city health department has a contract with ten childcare centers for a PHN to
provide consultation in monthly meetings with childcare staff about health concerns.
The PHN has provided consultation for the childcare centers for the past two years.
2. Identify the problems

In a monthly meeting with one of the childcare centers, the director asks for assis-
tance with decision-making about how to control the spread of measles, which has
been diagnosed in one of the children.
3. Determine action planning

Together the director and PHN identify realistic strategies that childcare center staff
could take to reduce the spread of measles to children. They discussed how to com-
municate information about the potential for illness to parents of the children.
4. Evaluate effectiveness
The childcare center staff observed the children for any incidence of illness and keep
records of any illness with symptoms that could be caused by measles. In a following

meeting, the PHN reviews with the day care director their satisfaction with the deci-
sions made during the consultation.
5. Disengage from the relationship

In this example, there is not a formal disengagement task, since the consultation is
part of an ongoing contract. However, disengagement occurs over the specific con-
sultation on the transmission of measles. The PHN and childcare center staff
acknowledge successfully preventing any additional transmission of measles.

 1. Cultural context
Knowledge about the culture of the individual/family, community, or system is essen-
tial for establishing an effective consultation relationship. Consider the cultural con-
text in implementing consultation intervention tasks.
Level 5 source:
 Holcomb-McCoy & Bryan, 2010
 2. Empowering clients to make decisions

Empower the individual/family, community, or system to make decisions. When a
PHN provides consultation, they ensure that the client has “the necessary knowledge,
skills, and resources to effectively make the decisions for which they are held ac-
countable” (Turner, 2016, p. 875).
Level 5 sources:
 Holcomb-McCoy & Bryan, 2010
 Turner, 2016
 3. Encouraging clients to actively engage

Encourage clients to actively engage in the consultation process to increase decision-
making capacity. A campaign to promote best practices for bringing a client’s voice into
health care decisions proposed encouraging clients to ask the following questions:
 What are my options?
 What are the pros and cons of each option for me?
 How do I get support to help me make a decision that is right for me?
Level 4 source:
 Pollock, 2012

 4. Consultation roles
For the consultation intervention, the PHN selects from these relevant roles:
Nursing consultation roles:
 Fact-finding
 Diagnosing
 Advocacy
 Directing solution implementation
 Educating
 Coordinating resources
Process-oriented roles:
 Joint problem-solving
 Process counseling
Universal roles:
 Providing expertise
 Presenting information
 Role-modeling
 Providing leadership
Level 5 source:
 Norwood, 2003
 5. Guidance for the consultation process

Edgar Schein, known for his work on organizational culture theory, expands on the
concept of process consultation, in which the consultant helps the client “to perceive,
understand, and act upon process events that occur in the client’s environment”
(Miner, 2007, p. 317). Schein developed a set of principles to provide guidance to the
consultant for guiding the consultation process:
 Always try to be helpful.
 Always stay in touch with the current reality.
 Access your ignorance.
 Everything you do is an intervention. It is the client who owns the problem and
the solution.
 Go with the flow.
 Timing is crucial.
 Be constructively opportunistic with confrontational interventions.
 Everything is a source of data; errors will occur and are the prime source for
learning.
 When in doubt, share the problem.
Along with practical tips, these principles emphasize the collaborative process in-
volved in consultation.
Level 5 source:
 Miner, 2007

 6. Ethical principles in conducting research

The following ethical principles are useful for guiding the consultation process when
conducting research with communities:
 Enhanced protection: Identify risks, hazards, and possible protections for sub-
jects and communities.
 Enhanced benefits: Identify benefits for participants in the study as well as the
population in the community.
 Legitimacy: Provide an opportunity for stakeholders relevant to the proposed
research to express their perspectives and concern, before the research proto-
col is finalized.
 Shared responsibility: Promote opportunities for community members to take
some responsibilities for conducting the study.
Level 5 source:
 Dickert & Sugarman, 2005
 7. Specialists and improved quality of care

Using specialists in the consultant role improves quality of care. For example, a men-
tal health specialist provides consultation to PHNs staffing Women, Infant, and Chil-
dren (WIC) Supplemental Food Program clinics and providing home visits. The mental
health specialist provides telephone screening, intervention, and referral. This pro-
gram reaches a maternal child health population with multiple risk factors.
Level 5 source:
 Gaul & Farkas, 2007
 8. Improving the consultation process

Specific strategies to improve the consultation process include:
 Provider training
 Developing condition-specific educational materials
 Teaching patients to ask questions during the consultation
Level 1 source:
 Dwamena et al., 2013
Wheel notes
Contrast with counseling and health teaching
Literature on the PHN consultation intervention is less abundant than for the other two
interventions located in the blue wedge of the Intervention Wheel (health teaching and
counseling). Literature from countries outside the United States sometimes uses the

term “consultation” to describe public health nursing actions closely aligned with the
counseling intervention. With consultation, the PHN uses knowledge and expertise to
empower client decision making. The difference between consultation and counseling
at the individual level appears to be less distinct than at the community and systems
levels, because both interventions aim to promote effective client decision-making.
Consultation focuses is on collaborative problem-solving. The client is responsible for
choosing the best option. In health teaching and counseling, the PHN is likely support-
ing specific actions for improving health status. The PHN provides information during
the health teaching intervention, and assists the client in addressing emotional and mo-
tivational components during the counseling intervention.
Systems level
Most studies on consultation interventions in public health nursing describe individ-
ual-level interventions. A systematic review found that, out of 23 studies on public
health nursing interventions in elderly populations, consultation interventions oc-
curred at the individual level in seven studies and at the systems level in one study
(Schaffer, Kalfoss, & Glavin, 2017). At the systems level, community nurses and allied
health professionals in Scotland received consultation during a one-day smoking ces-
sation training, which improved the knowledge and attitudes about smoking cessa-
tion strategies for the intervention group compared to the control group (Kerr,
Whyte, Watson, Tolson, & McFadyen, 2011). Anderson and colleagues (2017) found
that topics of systems-level consultation provided by school nurses included medica-
tion policy, the location of automatic external defibrillators in the school building, use
of concussion guidelines, and schoolchildren’s health care needs.
Rigor of evidence
Evidence on nursing consultation at the community and systems levels lacks the rigor
of the research process. Most articles describe non-research evidence related to pro-
gram or project initiatives. For example, an open-access online learning resource was
developed for community nurses in England to use in their consultation with caregiv-
ers (Maskell, Somerville, & Mathews, 2015). In another example, Canadian PHNs with
expertise in domestic violence developed a project to share their knowledge of how
to intervene with clients experiencing domestic violence. The expert PHNs worked
together with other PHNs to develop a referral process, identify resources, and build
a collaborative partnership for a coordinated community response to domestic vio-
lence (Snell, 2015).
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St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

BLUE WEDGE: IN REVIEW
In review
A story:
School nurses in a large urban school district note the school is enrolling a large num-
ber of new students recently emigrated from Somalia with their families. The school
nurses realize that they often expect families to come to them with concerns about
their child’s health. The school nurses decide to go to the neighborhood where many
Somali families live in order to make connections with parents.
The school nurses contact the local health department to inquire about any existing
programs and information about health needs and services for Somali families. The
local health department provides resources about the Somali culture and connects
the school nurses with a local housing manager to arrange for a meeting space easily
accessible to Somali families.
School nurses in the district collaborate to offer “Ask a Nurse” sessions at a housing
complex where many Somali families live with their school-aged children. They ar-
range for a space to meet in the housing complex and create a welcoming environ-
ment with culturally appropriate beverages and food. Instead of waiting for the par-
ents to come to them, the school nurses intentionally connect with Somali parents to
develop trusting relationships that will lead to improved population health.

BLUE WEDGE: IN REVIEW
For the blue wedge, which features health teaching, counseling, and consultation,
think about how these interventions could occur both in the development and imple-
mentation of “Ask a Nurse” sessions.
Consider the following questions related to “Ask a Nurse” sessions that school nurses
offered to Somali parents.
Practice level
1. Describe how the story reflects each practice level (individual/family, commu-
nity, and systems).
Health teaching
2. How would you identify topics for the sessions of interest to the families? How
might culture and disparities in this population influence topics identified or
selected?
3. What teaching-learning principles are especially relevant for health teaching
with Somali parents?
4. What actions would you take to engage learners attending these sessions?
Counseling
5. How can school nurses balance developing trusting relationships with Somali
parents with maintaining professional boundaries? How might biases and as-
sumptions affect the relationship?
6. How could the five A’s or motivational interviewing be used in facilitating be-
havior change, counseling parents about childhood immunizations, and devel-
oping school immunization policy?
7. How can school nurses employ an approach that builds on the assets of Somali
families rather than perceived deficits?
Consultation
8. If you were a PHN that had experience working with diverse populations, how
would you use the process consultation model to consult with school nurses de-
veloping and implementing “Ask a Nurse” sessions?
9. Somali parents have expertise on their culture and how that affects their deci-
sions about their children’s health care. School nurses have expert knowledge
about children’s health care needs. What does applying the consultation process
look like for “gaining entry” in interacting with Somali parents about their chil-
dren’s health care needs?

ORANGE WEDGE: COLLABORATION
Collaboration
Collaboration enhances the capacity to promote and protect health for mutual ben-
efit and a common purpose. Collaboration involves exchanging information, harmo-
nized activities, and shared resources (National Business Coalition on Health, 2008).
Developing and sustaining partnerships is crucial for effective collaboration. Partner-

ship requires “a respectful, negotiated way of working together that enables choice,
participation, and equity, within an honest, trusting relationship that is based in em-
pathy, support, and reciprocity” (Bidmead, 2005, p. 203).
Collaboration involves a high level of commitment and a complex partnership en-
deavor. It includes networking, coordinating, and cooperating activities that all lead
to enhancing each partner’s capacity to achieve a common purpose: Partners net-
work when they exchange information for mutual benefit; coordinate when they
adapt activities that result in mutual beneficial and achieve a common purpose; and
cooperate when they share resources (staff, financial, technical) to achieve a com-
mon purpose and mutual benefit (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Population of interest: Community-dwelling older adults.
Problem: Potential for injury due to falls.
Systems level
A public health nurse (PHN) collaborates on an initiative to prevent falls in older
adults. Collaborative partners in the community include the ambulance service, fire
department, senior centers, university extension services, and several hospital de-
partments (emergency, pharmacy, rehabilitation services, physical therapy, and
home care). The initiative seeks to standardize the provider approach to seniors and
their potential for falls. Service providers agree to address the topic of fall prevention
any time they provide a service to an older adult, complete a short risk screening, and
make referrals for home assessment when indicated.
Community level
A PHN joins forces with older adults at the local senior center to plan a program to
change community perception that falling is inevitable as a person ages. The PHN
provides home safety checklists and educational materials. The older adults add sto-
ries of their experiences and what they would have done differently had they known
more about fall prevention. The older adults and the PHN present the program to-
gether at congregate dining centers located in senior centers, churches, or senior
housing communities.
Older adults self-refer to a program in which PHNs make home visits to older adults
to prevent falls. Older adults may also be referred from other organizations. Together
the PHN and older adult make a plan to remove or reduce injury risks. This includes
reviewing medications that affect balance; home modifications to reduce fall hazards,
such as installing grab bars, improving lighting, and removing items that cause trip-
ping; and exercise to improve strength, balance, and coordination.

Community organizing, coalition-building, and collaboration involve partnerships.
Because of this, they share many features, especially at the community level of practice.
Similarities among these three interventions include empowerment, which enables
individuals and communities to take control of their lives and environments. Client
perceptions and experiences are key. At the community level, community engage-
ment is relevant to all three interventions. In community engagement, partners col-
laboratively work with populations grouped by geographic location, special interests,

or similar health concerns to respond to issues that affect group or population well-
being (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).
Unlike coalition-building and community organizing, collaboration requires being
willing to enhance the capacity of one or more collaboration members over and
above one’s own interests, in order to achieve common goals. When collaborating, a
person or organization agrees to the risk (or benefit) of transformation or change
through their involvement. Although coalition-building and community organizing oc-
cur only at the systems and community levels, collaboration occurs at all three prac-
tice levels, including the individual/family level of PHN practice.
Collaboration relates to interventions in other wedges. Like coalition-building and
community organizing, collaboration can be implemented in conjunction with policy
development and enforcement to change the way systems in a community operate,
or to change a community-held norm or belief. Collaboration is also often a co-
intervention with advocacy, and a preferred co-intervention with delegated
functions. The collaboration intervention is potentially useful for any activity in which
the PHN partners with others. At the individual/family level of practice, collaboration
often pairs with health teaching, counseling, consultation, and case management.
Basic steps: Community level

A partnership development guide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011)
suggests the following steps to establish and continue collaboration:
1. Determine the need

A partnership facilitates achieving specific goals, which members find more difficult
to achieve without the partnership.
The following questions assess the need for a partnership:
a. How will a partnership contribute to accomplishing the goal?
b. What are some critical activities that members must sustain, expand, or improve?
c. What program activities are more effective with a partner?
d. How might a partnership assist in program efforts?
e. What are the benefits of a partnership, and are there any costs to consider?
2. Assess potential partners

Assessing potential partners’ resources, skills, and knowledge increases the under-
standing of their potential contribution to the partnership.
The following questions assess potential partner contributions:
a. What potential partners do we know?
b. What is the expected outcome of the partnership?
c. Have we sought out new and nontraditional partners?

d. Do we have a history of good relations with the potential partner? What were
the successes and challenges?
e. What specific resources will this potential partner contribute to the outcomes
or products expected from the partnership?
f. What might be some potential drawbacks in collaborating with this partner?
g. How will the potential partner(s) benefit from the partnership?
h. What resources would be valuable to the partnership? Who has those resources?
i. Does the potential partner understand and support our priorities or have similar
priorities?
j. Is there a person (a champion) who will work to make sure the partnership
happens?
3. Develop the partnership

A concrete, organized, and practical approach to partnership development supports
a common understanding of the perspectives and contributions of each partner.
a. Determine the resources your program can contribute to the partnership.
b. Develop a document that outlines the mutual benefits of partnership.
c. Know your program and be able to describe it in a succinct manner.
d. Learn about the culture of this potential partner to consider when working
together.
e. Meet with the potential partner in person. Because a critical component of a
partnership is relationship building, in-person meetings are preferable.
f. Take the time to establish rapport and build trust.
g. Give a general overview of your program.
h. Explain your program’s specific needs and why the partnership would be helpful.
i. Ask about the potential partner’s organization and perspective, keeping in mind
findings from background research.
j. Ask what needs the partner has, and discuss how your program might help meet
those needs.
k. Ask what resources the partner can contribute to the partnership.
l. Make a clear and specific “ask” of the partner. If possible, your “ask” should be
task-oriented, with a beginning and an end. Do not expect partners to know
what you need; make it as easy as possible for them to collaborate with you.
4. Formalize the partnership

A formal agreement guides partnership relationships and actions.
a. Determine a shared vision or mission statement.
b. Develop a partnership action plan with mutually accepted objectives.
c. Define member roles and responsibilities.
d. Develop timelines.
e. Clarify leadership and communication responsibilities.
f. Determine decision-making procedures, ground rules, and additional needed
resources.

5. Maintain and sustain the partnership

A professional partnership requires time, nurturing, and respect.
a. Communicate regularly. Agree on a mutually convenient time and method for
checking in, verbally, by email, or by another means.
b. Develop a feedback plan for assessing how the partnership is working for both
parties. Build on successes, address problems, and explore ways to enhance the
partnership.
c. Respect the partner’s boundaries, structure, procedures, and processes.
d. Express appreciation verbally or in writing.
e. With their permission, give your partner credit and recognition in public forums.
f. Be flexible and open to change as the partnership develops.
g. Formalize a review of the partnership by creating an evaluation form that
measures satisfaction with the partnership.
h. Discuss and use the results of the partnership evaluation to improve the
partnership.
i. Discuss each partner’s goals for the partnership over the long term, and what
criteria to use for continuing the partnership. Keep track of partnership activi-
ties, and evaluate progress and accomplishments.
j. Communicate results of partnership activities with partners and with relevant
stakeholders/community members, to show areas of success and areas for
improvement.
6. End the partnership (or not)

When a program outgrows the need for the partner or needs change, the partnership
may no longer be crucial to success or effectiveness.
a. Meet with the partner and talk about the situation.
b. Make sure that the parting is amicable and mutual, which leaves the window
open for future opportunities for collaboration.
Example: Community level

A PHN planning events for an older adult wellness program in a primarily suburban
county public health department noted that several regular attendees missed events.
Further investigation revealed absences often related to a fall. The PHN collaborated
with other professionals and community representatives who work with seniors to
disseminate information about fall risk prevention.
1. Determine the need

A PHN working in an older adult wellness program knows regular attendees miss
events due to falls.

2. Assess potential partners

The PHN realizes that there are local experts who have greater knowledge about fall
risk prevention and about the community environments of the senior population.
They include a county social worker who works with the senior population, a repre-
sentative from the local senior center, the health educator from the health depart-
ment, and a local clinic’s geriatric nurse practitioner and physical therapist. All affirm
their interest in collaborating on a fall risk reduction initiative.
3. Develop the partnership

At the first meeting, collaborative partners share their expertise in falls risk reduction,
their time commitment, and possible resources available through their organizations.
4. Formalize the partnership

At the second meeting, the group reaches consensus on the partnership’s goals and
develops an action plan with a timeline. One of the group’s first actions is to review
evidence on best strategies for fall risk reduction.
5. Maintain and sustain the partnership

After discussing best evidence for fall risk reduction, the partnership revises its action
plan and proceeds to implement strategies. The social worker volunteers to convene
meetings and be responsible for ongoing communication. The group develops an
evaluation strategy it plans to use at one year and two years after implementing strat-
egies, to determine strategy effectiveness.
6. End the partnership (or not)

Once organizations serving seniors in the community adopt strategies, members of
the group determine they have met their goal. Several members of the collaborative
group present their success story at a state conference. They decide to meet again,
to consider other activities needed to optimize quality of life for older adults.
Basic steps: Individual/family level

A concept analysis of partnership within the nurse-client relationship identified the
following factors foundational to collaborating with clients (Gallant, Beaulieu, &
Carnevale, 2002, p. 152):
 Partners value each individual and cooperation.
 Partners feel committed to sharing responsibility, risk, power, and accountability.
 Partners are open and respectful of what each partner brings to the relationship.

 Nurses hold positive attitudes towards clients and are willing to relinquish the
status and privilege associated with being a nurse.
 Partners actively encourage the client’s involvement in decision-making.
When working with clients, partnership includes the following phases (Gallant et al.,
2002, p. 153):
1. Initiating phase: Both partners commit to the

partnership
a. Partners actively negotiate roles, responsibilities, and actions.
b. The professional assumes a facilitator role, acts as a resource person, and pro-
vides service in a nonjudgmental way.
c. The client partner takes the role of willing and active participant in a process of
self-determining strengths, problems, and solutions.
2. Working phase: Partners bring their knowledge

and experience to the collaborative process
a. The nurse partner brings nursing knowledge and clinical experiences.
b. The client brings experiential knowledge about health and managing their health
concern.
c. The nurse promotes client empowerment and competency by maintaining the
relationship, reinforcing client progress, supporting decision-making, and assist-
ing the client to learn new knowledge and skills.
Example: Individual/family level

Angela, a PHN who provides public health nursing services in a rural county, attended
a conference on fall risk reduction. She visits the local senior center one afternoon each
week to check blood pressure and offer health teaching, counseling, and consultation.
Angela also collaborates with seniors on a fall risk reduction plan. She meets with
Marion, 78 years old, who has had a recent fall and sustained a few bruises.
1. Initiating phase: Both partners commit to the

partnership
Angela asks Marion if she has time to meet to discuss fall prevention. Angela shares
she has recently attended a conference on preventing falls. Marion affirms she has
time and wants to learn about fall prevention. She is concerned about falling again
and wants to know strategies to prevent a fall from happening.

2. Working phase: Partners bring their knowledge

and experience to the collaborative process
Marion describes the rooms in her apartment and her daily activities. Angela provides
information about how Marion can arrange her home environment to reduce the risk
for falls. Angela assesses Marion’s risk for falls, using a fall risk assessment tool she
learned about at the conference. Angela then asks Marion about steps Marion thinks
would be helpful for decreasing her fall risk. She also asks what resources Marion may
need to make changes in her environment. Together, they make a plan to implement
needed changes.

 1. Knowledge and skills needed for effective collaboration

The following 10 lessons are applicable to identifying knowledge and skills needed for
collaborating effectively:
 Know thyself.
 Learn to value and manage diversity.
 Develop constructive conflict resolution skills.
 Use your power to create win-win situations.
 Master interpersonal and process skills.
 Recognize that collaboration is a journey.
 Take the opportunity to participate in multidisciplinary forums or meetings to
increase collaboration opportunities.
 Appreciate that collaboration can occur spontaneously.
 Balance autonomy and unity in collaborative relationships.
 Remember that collaboration is not required for all decisions.
Level 5 source:
 Gardner, 2005
 2. Creating and sustaining mutual partnerships

Principles for creating and sustaining mutual partnerships include:
 Share common vision, mission, goals, and values.
 Be committed to the community.
 Show mutual trust and respect for all partners.
 Recognize the strengths and contributions of all partners.
 Be open and honest in sharing information and needs.
 Share leadership, decision-making power, resources, and credit among members.
 Use data in assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
 Ensure that each member of the partnership is treated equally.

 Foster a safe environment for clear and open communication that values feed-
back from all partners.
Level 4 sources:
 Giachello, 2007
 National Business Coalition on Health, 2008
 3. Reducing barriers to effective partnerships

Strategies to reduce barriers to effectively developing community partnerships:
 Take time to learn about the people, politics, and dynamics of the community
before you approach members.
 Allow enough time to build and nurture relationships with your partners.
 Understand group process—that is, how groups develop, mature, and work to-
gether on common problems, and then end or separate once work is complete.
 Develop rules to guide the group’s work.
 Support leadership development and capacity-building among group members.
 Understand how to run meetings, engage in group negotiations, and foster
decision-making.
 Create a flexible timeline for the program.
Level 4 source:
 Giachello, 2007
 4. Trust and leadership

Trust and leadership are the most important predictors of synergy in a partnership.
Synergy is the combination of all partners’ complementary strengths, perspectives,
values, and resources, as partners search for solutions.
Level 3 source:
 Jones & Barry, 2011
 5. Norms for group development

Tuckman’s stages of group development are useful for predicting how collaborative
groups and partnerships develop relationships and patterns of interaction as they
work toward a common goal. The stages are:
1. Forming: Group members determine boundaries and group leadership emerges.
2. Storming: Group members encounter conflict within the group and resist group
influence.
3. Norming: Group members develop cohesiveness, trust in one another, and
adopt new roles.
4. Performing: Group members work together with flexible and functional rules to
accomplish group tasks.
Level 5 sources:
 Keller, Schaffer, Schoon, Brueshoff, & Jost, 2011

 Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019

 Tuckman, 1965
 6. Strategies for working together for a common purpose

Himmelman, a consultant in community and systems change collaboration, described
four strategies used by organizations working together for a common purpose:
 Networking: Exchanging information for mutual benefit
 Coordinating: Exchanging information for mutual benefit and altering activities
for a common purpose
 Cooperating: Exchanging information, altering activities, and sharing resources
for mutual benefit and a common purpose
 Collaborating: Exchanging information, altering activities, and sharing resources
and a willingness to enhance the capacity of partners for mutual benefit and a
common purpose
Himmelman noted that one strategy is not preferred over another; the strategy im-
plemented depends on levels of trust among partners and partners’ willingness to
share time and turf. Collaboration, requiring the most trust and willingness to share,
involves sharing risks, resources, and rewards, but also produces the greatest benefit
for all involved.
Level 5 source:
 Himmelman, 2002
 7. Interprofessional collaboration with clients

Interprofessional collaboration occurs when a partnership between professionals in
different professions share decision-making with the client to improve health.
Actions contributing to effective teamwork in interprofessional collaboration include:
 Strive to understand differences among team members’ culture, language, life-
styles, and beliefs.
 Listen and be fully attentive.
 Express appreciation.
 Be empathetic.
 Be courteous and considerate.
 Be accountable and professional.
 Follow the organizational professional code of conduct.
 Pay attention to interpersonal and relationship skills to enhance developing
trust and respect for partners.
Level 3 source:
 Clancy, Gressnes, & Svensson, 2013
Level 5 sources:
 Brewer, 2012
 Bridges, Davisdon, Odegard, Maki, & Tomkowiak, 2011
 Heatley & Kruske, 2011

 8. Improved outcomes with interprofessional service delivery

Interprofessional public health service delivery contributes to improved outcomes.
Examples include improving mental health symptoms and function for clients in a
community mental health setting and increased fall reduction activities by profes-
sionals after implementing of guidelines to reduce falls for older adults.
Level 2 sources:
 Eckstrom et al., 2016
 Tippin, Maranzan, & Mountain, 2016
 9. Community engagement guidelines

Community engagement guidelines include:
 Be clear about goals and who to engage.
 Become knowledgeable about the community.
 Establish relationships, build trust, and seek commitment from the community.
 Develop local partnerships that collaboratively plan, design, develop, deliver,
and evaluate health initiatives.
 Recognize and respect the diversity of the community.
 Identify and mobilize community assets and strengths by developing the com-
munity’s capacity and resources to make decisions and take action.
 Be prepared to release control of actions or interventions to the community,
and be flexible enough to meet the community’s changing needs.
Level 4 sources:
 Bagnall, White, & South, 2017
 National Institutes of Health, 2011
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011
 10. Improving behaviors and outcomes with integrated

strategies
Public health interventions that integrate community engagement strategies demon-
strate positive influences on health behaviors and outcomes in disadvantaged popu-
lations.
Level 1 sources:
 O’Mara-Eves et al., 2015
 Wells et al., 2013

Wheel notes
Collective impact
The collective impact model strengthens collaboration effectiveness, and involves
cross-sector collaboration (bringing people and organizations together) to achieve
social change. Initiatives that incorporate collective impact require the following
components: 1) a common agenda, 2) ongoing communication, 3) mutual activities,
4) a backbone support organization, and 5) a shared measurement system (Collective
Impact Forum, 2014). Public health initiatives that have used a collective impact ap-
proach include a coordinated community response to teen pregnancy, a breastfeed-
ing promotion program, and a healthy city initiative to address specific community
health challenges (Baretta, 2018; Leruth, Goodman, Bragg, & Gray, 2017; Sagrestano,
Clay, & Finerman, 2018). While collective impact methods contribute to improving
health outcomes, cross-sector collaboration strategies are also likely to be time in-
tensive, to require committed leaders, and to involve overcoming challenges of shar-
ing data between organizations.
Overlap in collaboration, interprofessional

collaboration, and community engagement
Some overlap exists in the principles and actions required for collaboration, and for
two related processes—interprofessional collaboration and community engagement.
Interprofessional collaboration involves collaborating with other professionals, while
community engagement focuses on collaborating with communities. Public health
nurses frequently collaborate with individuals and families in providing public health
nursing services. They also cultivate effective collaborative practices when working
with other professionals and community members on public health initiatives.
Partnering with others

The orange wedge focuses on reaching mutual goals through partnerships. Successful
partnering requires using a skill set honed through group meetings and a self-assess-
ment process. Working effectively on a team is a learned skill, and not an innate hu-
man trait.
Collaboration enhances capabilities

Collaboration enhances the capabilities of all people in the partnership. Partners are
considered equal and all opinions are valued in decision-making.

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Child Health Journal, 21(Suppl. 1), S4-S10. doi.org/10.1007/s10995-017-2371-3

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O’Mara-Eves, A., Brunton, G., Oliver, S., Kavanagh, J., Jamal, F., & Thomas, J. (2015). The
effectiveness of community engagement in public health interventions for
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Schoon, P., Porta, C., & Schaffer, M. A. (2019). Population-based public health clinical manual: The
Henry Street Model for nurses (3rd Ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.
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interprofessional care in a community mental health outpatient program. Canadian
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Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Development sequences in small groups. Psychology Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399.
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Ed.). NIH Publication No. 11-7782. Retrieved from
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Wells, K. B., Jones, L., Chung, B., Dixon, E. L., Tang, L., Gilmore, J., et al. (2013). Community-
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Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28(10), 1268–78. doi: 10.1007/s11606-013-2484-3

ORANGE WEDGE: COALITION-BUILDING
Coalition-building
Coalition-building helps promote and develop alliances among organizations or con-
stituencies for a common purpose. It builds links, solves problems, and/or enhances
local leadership to address health concerns.
Reasons for forming a coalition include a desire to work with agencies with greater
expertise or complementary knowledge and skills, empowering groups or a commu-
nity to take action, obtaining or providing services, improving program delivery, shar-
ing resources, and reducing duplicative or competing services (Butterfoss & Kegler,
2012; Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas,
2017; Giachello, 2007).
Population of interest: Apartment-dwelling refugees.
Problem: Limited options for inexpensive fresh produce in community.

Systems level
In the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia, a community assessment included per-
spectives from the refugee community, and identified the need and desire for a com-
munity garden with culturally familiar produce. Following implementation of a commu-
nity garden, evaluating outcomes demonstrated improved nutrition in the refugee pop-
ulation from growing and eating vegetables consistent with their cultural preferences.
A coalition, formed in response to the assessment, became aware of a faith-based or-
ganization that provided resettlement for refugees. One of their goals was to work with
churches to provide garden plots and gardening resources to help refugee families en-
gage with the community; take part in physical activity; and grow fresh, nutritious food.
The coalition worked with the organization to obtain a grant, funding a coordinator to
continue the community garden project started by the coalition.
Community level
Following the community assessment, public health nurses (PHNs) connected the ref-
ugee community with agencies and advocates who had similar missions and comple-
mentary skill sets, to form a community garden coalition. Coalition members included
a refugee resettlement agency, an urban housing community development organiza-
tion, an immigrant advocacy and resource agency, the local master garden associa-
tion, an organic seed company, and an apartment complex owner (Eggert, Blood-
Siegried, Champagne, Al-Jumaily, & Biederman, 2015).
This intervention does not apply at this level.

Along with community organizing and collaboration, coalition-building involves part-
nerships. Because of this, they share many features, especially at the community level
of practice. All three interventions empower individuals and communities to take
control of their lives and environment, emphasizing client perceptions and experi-
ence. At the community level, community engagement (the process of working col-
laboratively with populations who are grouped by geographic location, special inter-
ests, or similar health concerns to respond to issues that affect group or population
well-being; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011) is relevant to all
three interventions.
Outside organizations or influences may facilitate coalition-building rather than the
community itself—a difference from community organizing. Unlike collaboration, co-
alition-building does not require enhancing the capacity of other organizations or
constituencies within the coalition.

Coalition-building is also used in conjunction with policy development and

enforcement to change the way systems in a community operate or to change com-
munity-held norms or beliefs. Coalition-building is similar to advocacy at the systems
or community level; coalitions often exist to implement advocacy at the systems or
community level around a single issue. Coalitions may also use outreach interven-
tions at the systems and community level to connect with their target populations,
often paired with social marketing.
Basic steps
The Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas
(2017) Community Toolbox provides online resources for building healthier commu-
nities, including coalition-building. These are steps for starting and maintaining a
community coalition:
1. Put together a core group

A core group will have more resources and knowledge of a community as opposed to
an individual effort.
a. Start with people you know.
b. Contact people in agencies and institutions most affected by the issue.
c. Talk to influential people in the community and those who have many contacts.
d. Recruit people most affected by the concern or problem.
2. Identify potential coalition members

There may be a specific person in the target population or a community official who
you need to include to accomplish the coalition’s goal(s).
a. Potential coalition members include stakeholders (those affected by the issue),
formal and informal helpers, community opinion leaders, and policymakers.
b. Reach out to people with knowledge or skills helpful to the coalition.
c. Consider important organizations in recruiting an organizational representative
to the coalition.
3. Recruit members to the coalition

After identifying potential members important to the coalition’s success, invite them
to join the coalition.
a. Ask individuals in the core group to review the list and identify individuals or
organizations they know.
b. Divide remaining potential members among members of the core group.
c. Contact potential members via face-to-face meetings, phone calls, email com-
munication, personal letters, ads in the media, and flyers or posters. Direct per-
sonal contact is best.

4. Plan and hold the first meeting

Plan a high-energy, exciting first meeting.
a. Plan specific meeting logistics—where, how long, and what (content).
b. Agenda topics include:
 Introductions
 Defining the problem that brings the coalition together
 Coalition structure
 Discussing a common vision and shared values about the coalition’s direction
 Discussing the procedure for developing an action plan
 Reviewing tasks and responsibilities before next meeting
 Identifying the next meeting date
5. Follow up on the first meeting

Follow-up ensures the next meeting is well-attended and the coalition’s work continues.
a. Distribute minutes of the first meeting with invitations to potential new members.
b. Follow up with groups or individuals working on tasks assigned at the first meeting.
c. If there are committees or task forces, recruit new members for them if needed.
Many people will respond if asked because their expertise is valued.
d. Keep track of upcoming decisions.
6. Move forward on next steps

Focusing on next steps maintains momentum from the first meeting.
a. Gather information about the problem.
b. Finish vision and mission statements.
c. Complete an action plan.
d. Finish designing a coalition structure that is acceptable to members.
e. Elect officers, or a coordinating or steering committee.
f. Examine the need for professional staff.
g. Determine what other resources (financial, material, and informational) are
needed, develop a plan for getting them, and decide who is responsible for car-
rying it out.
7. Maintain until coalition accomplishes its

purpose
Paying attention to the coalition processes and membership experience keeps the
coalition vital and healthy. General rules for coalition facilitation include:
a. Communicate openly and freely with everyone.
b. Be inclusive and participatory.
c. Network at every opportunity.
d. Set achievable goals, in order to engender success.

e. Hold creative meetings.

f. Be realistic about what you can do. Don’t promise more than you can accom-
plish, and always keep your promises.
g. Acknowledge and use the diversity of the group.
Example
A PHN from a county health department met with a coalition to implement a com-
munity garden project for apartment-dwelling refugees (Eggert et al., 2015).
1. Put together a core group

From a health department community assessment about the health needs of refu-
gees living in the community, a PHN learns refugees have difficulty getting the fresh
vegetables they like to eat. The PHN contacts representatives from a refugee reset-
tlement agency, an immigrant advocacy group, and the manager of a local apartment
complex to discuss the potential for establishing a community garden for use by the
immigrant population.
2. Identify potential coalition members

The first representatives of organizations contacted by the PHN suggested several
other organizations that can contribute expertise and resources to the coalition.
3. Recruit members to the coalition

The PHN puts together a list of possible members and asks the people she initially
contacted in the core group to personally invite additional members. Possible addi-
tional members includes representatives from an urban housing community devel-
opment organization, a local garden association, an organic seed company, and a
member of the refugee community.
4. Plan and hold the first meeting

The PHN reserves space at a local community center for the first meeting, and pre-
pares an agenda. The group starts with introductions. They discuss the problem at
the heart of the coalition and what they hope to accomplish. The refugee resettle-
ment agency representative volunteers to lead the coalition. The group creates a list
of possible objectives, and steps to create an action plan. The refugee community
representative volunteers to learn which vegetables the apartment-dwelling refu-
gees prefer. The garden association representative plans to investigate how the local
soil and climate conditions would support growing the vegetables. The group sets a
date for its next meeting. Group members agree to rotate responsibility for taking
meeting minutes. The PHN agrees to provide minutes for the first meeting.

5. Follow up on the first meeting

The PHN distributes minutes via email one week after the first meeting. The minutes
identify tasks to accomplish by the next meeting, and who is responsible for each
task. The minutes also include a list of upcoming decisions, and agenda items identi-
fied for the next meeting. The refugee resettlement agency representative plans to
finalize the agenda prior to the next meeting.
6. Move forward on next steps

Coalition members continue to gather information about best practices for establishing
a community garden. In the next two meetings they finalize the coalition’s vision and
mission statements, and complete the action plan. They discuss the need to obtain a
grant to fund a coordinator who can oversee community garden implementation.
7. Maintain until coalition accomplishes its

purpose
After meeting monthly for six months, the coalition learns of a faith-based organiza-
tion that supports resettlement programs for refugees. The coalition invites a repre-
sentative from the organization to attend one of its meetings, to provide information
about the organization’s resources. The coalition starts to arrange for a presentation
related to community gardens at each of its meetings. In the future, when members
mutually agree that the coalition has met its objectives and when the community has
taken over leadership, members will discuss an ending point for the coalition.

 1. Guidelines for starting coalitions

Guidelines for starting coalitions include:
 Be sure lines of communication within the coalition are wide open, between the
coalition, the media, and the community.
 Work at making the coalition a group in which anyone in the community will feel
welcome, and continue to invite people to join after the first meeting.
 Involve as many other groups in the community as possible.
 Set concrete, achievable goals.
 Be creative about meetings to retain both membership and interest in the coa-
lition. Consider rotating meeting planning among coalition groups, identifying a
meeting theme, working in committees or task forces, or arranging a captivating
presentation on a topic relevant to coalition planning.

 Be realistic, and keep your promises.

 Acknowledge diversity among your members, and among their ideas and beliefs.
 Praise and reward outstanding contributions and celebrate your successes.
 Invest the time needed for coalition-building.
 Be flexible and open to change.
 Call in experts when needed, for information and process.
Level 4 source:
 Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas,
2017
Level 5 source:
 Wynn et al., 2006
 2. Understanding coalition environments and context

Contextual factors that provide an understanding of how the coalition’s environment
influences its development, functioning, and outcomes include:
 Geography: Urban or rural, large county or dense metropolitan area
 History of collaboration: Prior experience of working together
 Economics: Local economy, employment opportunities, business practices
 Political climate: Factions and groups in the community and how they interact
 Community norms and values: Social norms, beliefs, and values of community
members
Level 3 source:
 Kegler, Rigler, & Honeycutt, 2010
Level 5 source:
 Butterfoss & Kegler, 2012
 3. Coalition-building stages
Coalition-building includes three stages:
a. Formation: A convener or lead agency that has links to the community brings
together core organizations.
b. Maintenance: The coalition sustains member involvement and creates collabo-
rative synergy. Success depends on mobilizing member resources and external
resources.
c. Institutionalization: The coalition achieves outcomes. Coalition strategies may
become part of a long-term coalition, or be adopted by other organizations in
the community.
Level 5 source:
 Butterfoss & Kegler, 2012

 4. Factors for success

Internal and external factors that contribute to coalition success include:
 Commitment to a shared social vision
 Competent leadership that facilitates a learning environment and supports
achieving outcomes
 An effective coalition coordinator who oversees coalition activities
 Shared responsibility of financial and staffing resources
 Effective practices
 Commitment to coalition unity and a new way of doing business
 An equitable decision-making structure
 Mutual trust and respect
 A prepared public health workforce
 Establishing links with existing community organizations
 Building new member skills
 Rewarding relationships
Level 1 source:
 Shapiro, Hawkins, & Oesterle, 2015
Level 3 source:
 Mizrahi & Rosenthal, 2001
Level 5 sources:
 Cramer, Atwood, & Stoner, 2006
 Cramer, Lazure, Morris, Valerio, & Morris, 2013
 Salem, 2005
 5. Factors for coalition organizational capacity

Factors that contribute to coalition organizational capacity include resources, the
lead agency of the coalition, governance, and leadership. Characteristics of coalitions
with greater organizational capacity:
 A focus on the community’s priorities and mission
 Receiving more funds dedicated to coalition-building efforts
 A longer wait to establish a new lead agency
 Being housed in lead agencies supportive of coalition development
 Stable, participatory decision-making structures
 Available training and technical assistance
 Seeking active involvement from government agencies
 Practicing collaborative leadership
 Effective and long-term project directors
Level 1 source:
 Gloppen, Arthur, Hawkins, & Shapiro, 2012
Level 3 sources:
 Brown, Feinberg, & Greenberg, 2010
 Brown, Wells, Jones, & Chilenski, 2017

 Feinberg, Bontempo, & Greenberg, 2008

 Kramer et al., 2005
 Zakocs & Guckenburg, 2007
 6. Challenges to success
Challenges to coalition success include:
 Limited resources (funding and personnel)
 Lack of strong commitment
 Suspicion of government
 Meeting burnout
 A wide variety of perspectives within the coalition
 A slow pace and frustrating process
 Limited time for coalition members to participate
 Few resources or strategies for engaging members’ interest in coalition activities
Level 3 source:
 Desmond, Chapman, Graf, Stanfield, & Waterbor, 2014
Level 5 source:
 Salem, 2005
 7. Satisfaction and sustainability

Key factors of coalition membership satisfaction that are consistent with coalition
sustainability include:
 The lead agency provides support and assistance with logistical activities (sched-
uling meetings and space, providing new member orientation).
 The lead agency assists in providing resources for accomplishing the coalition
mission.
 There is a spokesperson or champion in the leadership role who is recognized
by the organizations and the community.
Level 3 source:
 Desmond et al., 2014
 8. Connecting providers and diverse communities

Community coalitions that connect health and human service providers with racially
and ethnically diverse communities may improve health outcomes, behaviors, and
health delivery systems.
Level 2 source:
 Anderson et al., 2015

Wheel notes
Public health nurse as coalition catalyst
A coalition may invite PHNs possessing knowledge and skills consistent with its mis-
sion to contribute expertise to coalition activities. Public health nurses also have ex-
pertise to discern the need for a coalition based on community assessment infor-
mation, and know community resources and organizations.
For example, a PHN might identify the need for a coalition focusing on providing den-
tal services in a community where many children lack dental care. The PHN calls a
meeting, inviting a core group of representatives from among providers, community
organizations, and the school system, who all recognize the importance of providing
dental care. In this situation, the PHN functions as a catalyst for coalition develop-
ment, and collaborates with health care and community, organizations, businesses,
and policymakers to work together.
International perspective
Coalition-building and community organizing may not be as necessary in developed
countries that provide universal health care and offer many social resources to promote
population well-being. Countries with greater health care and social resources are less
likely to need communities to provide programs to fill the gaps. For example, in Norway,
PHNs enrolled in a graduate-level public health nursing program offered few examples
of coalition-building and community organizing relative to other interventions.
Public health nurse practice roles are also more individually-focused, with less oppor-
tunity for community- and systems-level practice. Coalition-building may compete
with other demands for a PHN’s time, or may not be supported by public health nurs-
ing administration and agencies. A systematic review of 23 international studies (in-
cluding five studies from the United States) on public health nursing interventions to
promote quality of life in elderly populations yielded no examples of coalition-build-
ing (Schaffer, Kalfoss, & Glavin, 2017). This analysis revealed that most PHN interven-
tions were provided at an individual level. In this analysis, interventions occurring at
the community and systems levels included health teaching, counseling,
consultation, case management, referral and follow-up, screening, surveillance,
policy development and enforcement, and most frequently collaboration.

References
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CD009905.doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009905.pub2.
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ORANGE WEDGE: COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Community organizing
Community organizing is “the process by which people come together to identify
common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and develop and implement strate-
gies for reaching the objectives they want to accomplish” (Center for Community
Health and Development at the University of Kansas, 2017).
The term “community organizing” originated with social workers in the United States
during the late 1800s, to describe the coordination of services for immigrants and the
poor. Collaboration and consensus were important components of assisting commu-
nities to increase their problem-solving abilities through community organizing
(Minkler & Wallerstein, 2012).

Population of interest: Residents between 15 and 24 years old in Minneapolis, the
largest city in Minnesota.
Problem: The leading cause of death for this age group is homicide.
Systems level
A public health nurse (PHN) in a leadership role at the city health department met
with community leaders, elected officials, and the police department to develop a
public health response to increased community violence among youth. City organiza-
tions developed The Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence, which identified
four objectives: 1) connect youth to trusted adults, 2) intervene at the first sign of
risk, 3) integrate youth from the juvenile system back into the community, and 4)
unlearn the culture of violence (Zanjani, 2011).
The State of Minnesota responded by passing legislation addressing youth violence.
The City of Minneapolis partnered with an organization called UNITY to respond to
the problem of youth violence. UNITY organizes conferences, develops tools and in-
formation, and conducts networking activities across the United States (Urban Net-
works to Increase Thriving Youth, 2011). 2015 Youth Violence Prevention (City of Min-
neapolis Health Department, 2016) listed city initiatives resulting from the Blueprint
for Action: 1) the Juvenile Supervision Center (JSC) works with low level offenders to
prevent further involvement in the juvenile justice system; 2) the STEP-UP internship
program offered in the summer served 90 percent youth of color; and 3) Next Step,
a violence prevention program, has been funded by a Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) grant that targets young male athletes and street-based outreach
to young people in North Minneapolis.
Community level
In response to the problem of violence among city youth, community leaders sup-
ported a public health approach, which addressed factors beyond a law enforcement
approach. The public health approach employed strategies to decrease factors that
put people at risk for violence, like dysfunctional families, lack of access to mentors,
drug and alcohol use, poverty, a media environment saturated with violence, hope-
lessness about the future. It also worked to increase protective factors like school
success, youth employment, and quality out-of-school time programming. As a result
of these efforts, the Minneapolis City Council adopted a resolution naming youth vi-
olence as a public health issue and created a plan, The Blueprint for Action: Preventing
Youth Violence in Minneapolis (City of Minneapolis Health Department, 2013). The
PHN leader acted as a convener in bringing over 60 groups together and engaging
members of the community in mobilizing a community response (Musicant, 2011).

The intervention does not apply at this level.

Community organizing, coalition-building, and collaboration all involve partnerships.
Because of this, they share many features, especially at the community level of practice.
All three interventions empower individuals and communities to take control of their
lives and environment, emphasizing client perceptions and experience. At the commu-
nity level, community engagement (the process of working collaboratively with popu-
lations who are grouped by geographic location, special interests, or similar health con-
cerns to respond to issues that affect group or population well-being [U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, 2011]) is relevant to all three interventions.
The community identifies the impetus for community organizing, rather than an out-
side organization or change agent as in coalition-building. Unlike collaboration, com-
munity organizing does not aim to provide opportunities for organizational or per-
sonal transformation, and does not occur at the individual/family level of practice.
Community organizing occurs primarily at the community level of practice. However,
community organizing may result in coalition-building, as people and organizations
come together to address community problems.
The initial steps for community organizing are similar to successful methods for im-
plementing the outreach intervention at the systems and community practice lev-
els—for example, identifying and specifying the issue of concern, describing the tar-
get population, and considering demographic implications. Community organizing of-
ten uses advocacy and social marketing as companion interventions when an organ-
ization intends to raise awareness or change a population’s health behavior. Commu-
nity organizing is also implemented in conjunction with the policy development and
enforcement intervention, especially when one intends to change policy at the sys-
tems level.
Basic steps
The Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas
(2017) Community Toolbox, provides online resources for building healthier commu-
nities. The Community Toolbox identifies the following strategies for bringing about
change through community organizing:
1. Involve people in your community efforts

Emphasize building excitement for change among community members, not an out-
side expert telling the community what needs to be done.

2. Identify community members’ #1 issue

Learning what is important to the community helps identify the goal for change.
Consider these three questions when choosing a problem to tackle:
a. Is it important enough to people that they are willing to take action about it?
b. Is it specific? For example, violence may be a problem—but what kind of vio-
lence are people concerned about? Domestic violence? Violence in schools?
Muggings after dark?
c. Can something be done to affect the problem in a reasonable amount of time?
3. Develop your strategy

Identifying a strategy will guide the plan for community change.
The group should meet and agree on answers to the following questions.
a. What are your long and short-term goals?
b. What are your organizational strengths and weaknesses?
c. Who cares about this problem?
d. Who are your allies?
e. Who has the power to give you what you want?
f. How can you make your work enjoyable for community members to participate?
4. Develop specific tactics for selected strategy

Select tactics to fit the situation, target the appropriate group, and be effective (not
too extreme or too weak). Examples include boycotts, petitions, demonstrations, and
meetings with people with power.
5. Choose specific actions

Choose actions to carry out your strategies and tactics. Actions need to be concrete
and clear to move community organizing forward. Specify who will do what, in what
way, and by when.
6. Set goals and celebrate wins

Group members need to feel they are making progress and that their work is important.
7. Plan for sustainability if indicated

Community organizing work can take a long time to result in change. At regular inter-
vals, evaluate and update the goals to maintain sustainability. The group may disband
if goals are not revised and updated.

Example
A PHN leader in a large city noted a spike in youth homicides and injuries (Musicant,
2011). Although law enforcement responds to community violence, the nurse leader
realized that law enforcement alone insufficiently addressed community violence.
The nurse leader convened a group of community representatives who wanted to
reduce the incidence of youth violence in the city.
1. Involve people in your community efforts

A PHN leader at a city health department convenes a group of community leaders,
elected officials, and the police department to address concerns about increasing vi-
olence among youth in the city.
2. Identify community members’ #1 issue

Group members discuss factors that contribute to the increasing rate of violence
among youth. Stakeholders in the community ask, “What are you doing to address
violence?”
3. Develop strategy
Local leaders in government, education, law enforcement, social services, neighbor-
hoods, and business come together to address the problem. They developed the co-
operative plan called Minneapolis Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence,
which “represents a community-driven, grassroots response to the issue of youth vi-
olence” (City of Minneapolis Health Department, 2013, p. 17).
4. Develop specific tactics for selected strategy

The Blueprint for Action results in many youth violence prevention initiatives, includ-
ing North4, a collaboration between the City and Emerge Community Development
to engage and employ gang-affiliated youth; Picturing Peace, a partnership between
Hennepin County Libraries and the Downtown Improvement District for youth to doc-
ument their hopes for peace through photography; and BUILD, a youth development
curriculum that promotes social and emotional learning and fosters positive decision
making to prevent gang activity (City of Minneapolis Health Department, 2013).
5. Choose specific actions

Specific actions to foster violence-free social environments included:
 The Minneapolis Health Department hosts community dialogues to increase
awareness of youth violence prevention initiatives.

 A citywide collaborative group, Ending Youth Violence Roundtable, continues to

focus efforts on violence prevention.
 The Minneapolis Health Department Youth Development Coordinator and
Youth Coordinating Board implement projects to promote youth engagement in
media and art initiatives (City of Minneapolis Health Department, 2013).
6. Set goals and celebrate wins

The plan specified goals, goal achievement indicators, and performance measures.
Semi-annual progress reports communicate strategies, resources, and programs that
contribute to reducing youth violence.
7. Plan for sustainability if indicated

Minneapolis is one of many cities across the United States that partners with UNITY
(Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth), an initiative of the Prevention Institute.
UNITY (2011) focuses on building community safety in cities through comprehensive
and multi-sector strategies that prevent violence and support community resilience.

 1. Important concepts
Important concepts in a community organizing model include:
a. Empowerment: Individuals and communities develop an awareness of their
own problem solving skills and resources.
b. Partnership: Relationships are based on mutual respect, exchanging ideas, and
shared power.
c. Participation: Community members are engaged in all phases of community or-
ganization and have decision-making authority.
d. Cultural responsiveness: Methods and plans incorporate cultural factors that
inform what health means to community members.
e. Community competence: The community collaborates effectively to manage
threats to well-being and move toward improved health.
Level 3 source:
 Bezboruah, 2013
Level 5 sources:
 Anderson, Guthrie, & Schirle, 2002
 Minkler & Wallerstein, 2012

 2. Effective community organizing

Guidelines for effective community organizing include:
 Gain an understanding of the community.
 Generate and use power:
▪ Political or legislative power
▪ Consumer power
▪ Legal regulatory power
▪ Disruptive power
 Articulate issues clearly.
 Plan purposeful action.
 Involve other people (strength in numbers, accomplish more together).
 Generate and use other resources (cash, gifts in kind, other forms of donations
or support).
 Communicate with your community.
Level 4 source:
 Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas,
2017
 3. Focusing on health equity

Focusing on health equity in community organizing activities promotes equal access
to health care and resources, with the goal of reducing health disparities between
population groups. To promote health equity, community organizing activities ad-
dress structural causes that contribute to unequal health, e.g., poverty, racial discrim-
ination, etc.
Community organizing activities were effective in moving toward health equity in Cal-
ifornia. Examples include:
 Legislation to provide health care through Medicaid to undocumented children
 Policies to improve the well-being of communities of color with exposure to
health-impairing pollution
 Promoting educational justice by changing school discipline laws that contribute
to unequal treatment for students of color
Level 5 source:
 Pastor, Terriquez, & Lin, 2018
 4. Empowering communities
Community organizing strategies that empower communities to promote health
through systems change include:
 Developing a community base that is supportive of public health change
 Building a leadership base by providing training in workshops, conferences, and
seminars
 Building an ally base, of organizations with shared interests and values
 Reframing messages to explain that systemic inequities are precursors to public
health disparities

 Mobilizing the community base for ongoing participation in public health

initiatives
 Working to understand communities’ cultural dynamics
 Listening to and being prepared to challenge views and perceived needs
 Fostering a culture of collaboration and action in response to these views and
perceived needs while using accessible language
 Ensuring credit or recognition for project success goes to community members
Level 5 sources:
 Douglas, Grills, Villanueva, & Subica, 2016
 Piper, 2011
 5. Advantages of community organizing

There are a number of advantages to community organizing, including:
 A greater ability to bring about change, since a collective voice is more powerful
than a single voice
 Empowering people to improve the conditions that shape their lives (especially
those who traditionally have not had power)
 Increasing self-sufficiency among community members through ownership of
outcomes
 Increasing social support, by bringing together diverse groups of people working
on the same goal
 Greater equity in society, because the balance of power is spread out and dis-
tributed more equally
Level 4 source:
 Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, 2017
 6. Challenges to effective community organizing

Challenges that may interfere with effective community organizing include:
 Disagreement over strategies to accomplish goals
 Low or disproportionate participation of community members
 Variable knowledge of successful health care service delivery methods
 Leadership from backgrounds that are very different from the targeted population
Level 3 source:
 Bezboruah, 2013
 7. Ethical problems in community organizing

Differing values in participants’ political, economic, cultural, and social contexts may
lead to ethical problems as a group comes together to respond to a community prob-
lem. Ethical problems that might occur when using community organizing as an inter-
vention include:
 Authentic or real community participation vs. symbolic participation
 Conflicting community priorities

 Requirements of funding sources and regulatory organizations, which may neg-

atively impact access and innovation
 Cultural conflict
 Unanticipated consequences of organizing
 Consideration of whose “common good” is being addressed
To avoid ethical problems in community organizing, start where the people are, work
with communities to translate their goals into reality, and engage community mem-
bers in discussion and reflection.
Level 5 source:
• Minkler, Pies, & Hyde, 2012
 8. Examples of effective activities and campaigns

Examples of effective community organizing activities and campaigns:
 A New Zealand initiative led by Pacific Island youth contributed to improved
mental health and a sense of agency over health (empowerment) for a disem-
powered population.
 ISAIAH, a faith-based community organizing group of 90 organizations, worked
for policy and systems change to increase community access to grocery stores,
employment, schools, and affordable neighborhoods. ISAIAH formed partner-
ships with a wide variety of organizations committed to the same goal.
 Three churches, an Islamic Center, and a faith-based charity in South London
organized to develop and pilot a community-led mother’s group to increase so-
cial capital, reduce stress, and improve well-being in mothers who were preg-
nant or had young children. Outcomes included reduced distress (self-reported)
and facilitating community engagement in health.
Level 2 source:
 Bolton, Moore, Ferreira, Day, & Bolton, 2015
Level 3 source:
 Han, Nicholas, Aimer, & Gray, 2015
Level 5 source:
 Speer, Tesdahl, & Ayers, 2013
Wheel notes
Related concept: Social capital
The concept of social capital frequently occurs in the literature, in descriptions of
community organizing interventions. Social capital refers to the amount of resources
available in a community or other social structure. In a study on building social capital
in a refugee community, Im and Rosenberg (2015) identified structural and cognitive

social capital themes: 1) gathering together as a community; 2) training leaders to

build community capacity; 3) participating in solving community issues; and 4) foster-
ing mutual respect, connectedness, and unity. These themes address strategies and
resources that exist within a community and are consistent with the basic steps of
community organizing.
Related concept: Community activism

Similar to community organizing, in community activism individuals, groups, or or-
ganizations work together to bring change in social, economic, environmental, and
cultural policies and practices. Nurses have been involved in community activism
from the time of Florence Nightingale and Lillian Wald to present-day public health
nursing practice. Current examples of nurses engaging in community activism include
promoting smoke-free policies, physical activity opportunities in neighborhoods,
standards for clean air and water, maternity care for underserved populations, hos-
pital breastfeeding policies, and policies on human trafficking. Community activism
requires the ability to envision a different reality, engage diverse communities, com-
mit to change, take action through organizing, and sustain partnerships and collabo-
ration (Messias & Estrada, 2016).
References
Anderson, E., Guthrie, T., & Schirle, R. (2002). A nursing model of community organization for
change. Public Health Nursing, 19(1), 40-46.
Bezboruah, K. C. (2013). Community organizing for health care: An analysis of the process. Journal
of Community Practice, 21, 9-27. doi: 10.1080/10705422.2013.788328
Bolton, M., Moore, I. Ferreira, A., Day, C., & Bolton, D. (2015). Community organizing and
community health: piloting an innovative approach to community engagement applied
to an early intervention project in south London. Journal of Public Health, 38(1), 115-
121. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdv017
Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. (2017). Community
Toolbox. Strategies for Community Change and Improvement: An Overview. Retrieved
from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/promotion-
strategies/overview/main
City of Minneapolis Health Department. (2013). Minneapolis Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth
Violence. Retrieved from
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent
/wcms1p-114466.pdf
City of Minneapolis Health Department. (2016). 2015 Youth Violence Prevention: A Results
Minneapolis report. Retrieved from
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent
/wcmsp-189736.pdf
Douglas, J. A., Grills, C. T., Villanueva, S., & Subica, A. M. (2016). Empowerment praxis: Community
organizing to redress systemic health disparities. American Journal of Community
Psychology, 58, 488-498. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12101

Han, H., Nicholas, A., Aimer, M., & Gray, J. (2015). An innovative community organizing campaign
to improve mental health and wellbeing among Pacific Island youth in South Auckland,
New Zealand. Australasian Psychiatry, 23(6), 670-674. doi: 10.1177/1039856215597539
Im, H. & Rosenberg, R. (2015). Building social capital through a peer-Led Community health
workshop: A pilot with the Bhutanese refugee community. Journal of Community
Health, 41, 509–517. doi: 10.1007/s10900-015-0124-z
Messias, D. H. & Estrada, R. D. (2016). In D. Mason, D. Gardner, D., F. Outlaw, F., & E. O'Grady
(Eds.), An introduction to community activism (pp. 651-659). Policy and Politics in
Nursing and Health Care, 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Minkler, M., Pies, C., & Hyde, C. A. (2012). Ethical issues in community organizing and capacity
building. In M. Minkler (Ed.), Community organizing and community building for health
and welfare (pp. 110-229). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Minkler, M. & Wallerstein, (2012). Community organization and improving health through
community building. In M. Minkler, Community organizing and community building for
health and welfare (pp. 37-90). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Musicant, G. (2011). A call to action-preventing community violence. Public Health Nursing 28(4),
295-296. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2011.00962.x
Pastor, M., Terriquez, V., & Lin, M. (2018). How community organizing promotes health equity,
and how health equity affects organizing. Health Affairs, 37(3), 358-363. doi:
10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1285
Piper, S. M. (2011). Community empowerment for health visiting and other public health nursing.
Community Practitioner, 84(8), 28-31.
Speer, P. W., Tesdahl, T. A., & Ayers, J. F, (2013). Community organizing practices in a globalizing
era: Building power for health equity at the community level. Journal of Health
Psychology, 19(1) 159-169. doi: 10.1177/1359105313500255
Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY). (2011). Mission and activities. Retrieved from
https://www.preventioninstitute.org/unity/general/mission-a-activities
Zanjani, B. (2011). Blueprint for action-preventing violence in Minneapolis.
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/UNITY_CityVoices_BlueprintForActionMinneapolis_10-
2011.pdf

ORANGE WEDGE: IN REVIEW
In review
A story:
The Healthy Start Coalition in Pinellas County, Florida, a community-based organiza-
tion, oversees and funds initiatives addressing perinatal care in the community. To
pinpoint areas with a higher risk of prematurity and infant mortality, the coalition
created and analyzed maps of the county using GIS software.
“GIS, or geographic information systems, are computer-based tools used to store,
visualize, analyze, and interpret geographic data. Geographic data (also called spatial,
or geospatial data) identifies the geographic location of features” (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2016). Public health practitioners can use GIS to answer spe-
cific data-related questions by collecting and analyzing geo-coded data on a wide va-
riety of health problems. Examples include access to health care services or food, su-
icide mortality, or violent crime, among many others.
Pinellas County had a higher rate of prematurity (associated with infant mortality)
when compared to all other Florida counties, higher rates of black infant mortality
and low birthweight when compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the county,

and saw the Latinx infant mortality rate double in 10 years. The community-specific
data engaged and motivated community members to respond (Detres, Lucio, &
Vitucci, 2014).
Coalition members included program clients, the local health department, commu-
nity agencies, health care providers, businesses, managed care representatives, and
policymakers. As a coalition member, a local public health nurse (PHN) experienced
in maternal and child health suggested feasible and practical coalition strategies that
met the needs of this population.
The coalition used GIS to analyze Florida birth and infant death records from county
data, and then reviewed the maps, discussing risk areas and changes over time for
infant mortality and prematurity. The maps helped coalition members more easily
identify high-risk zip codes (where prematurity and infant mortality rates were
higher). The coalition asked for community feedback on how to address infant
mortality and prematurity. The community identified demographic and housing
changes needed, including new mobile home areas in high-risk neighborhoods. The
group worked with the local community and developed a holistic plan to address risk
factors affecting birth outcomes, including expanding services by hiring a nutritionist
and contracting with a health system navigator to assist clients in accessing health
care coverage and services.
The orange wedge features collaboration, coalition-building, and community organ-
izing. Think about how a PHN, as a member of this group, could contribute to the
implementation of these interventions.
Consider the following questions for the story about using GIS as a community en-
gagement tool.
Level of practice
1. What levels of practice do you see occurring in this story?
Collaboration
2. What factors contribute to a successful partnership for improving maternal and
child health in the population?
3. How could a public health nurse use community engagement principles and cul-
tural humility to guide collaboration efforts in this story?
4. How might the social and economic conditions experienced in these communi-
ties impact collaboration?

Coalition-building
5. What actions does a coalition take to develop itself more effectively?
6. What strategies might a public health nurse use to ensure coalition participants
represent the population served?
7. What might a public health nurse do to ensure that public health professionals
value the experience of those most impacted?
8. How might a public health nurse involved in this coalition contribute to effective
coalition strategies?
Community organizing
9. How did the coalition use community organizing strategies to facilitate commu-
nity empowerment?
10. What community organizing strategies did the coalition use to ensure group
members came together to address the problem?
11. In the process of analyzing data, coalition members discussed changing de-
mographics and housing patterns as indicated by the data (such as new mobile
homes in high-risk areas).
a. What actions might a public health nurse or the coalition take to address
these community concerns?
b. What ethical problems might emerge as the group discusses changes sup-
ported by the data?
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). What is GIS? Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/gis/what-is-gis.htm
Detres, M., Lucio, R. & Vitucci, J. (2014). GIS as a community engagement tool: Developing a plan
to reduce infant mortality risk factors. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18, 1049-
1055. doi: 10.1007/s10995-013-1337-3

YELLOW WEDGE: ADVOCACY
Advocacy
Advocacy is the act of promoting and protecting the health of individuals and com-
munities “by collaborating with relevant stakeholders, facilitating access to health
and social services, and actively engaging key decision-makers to support and enact
policies to improve community health outcomes” (Ezeonwu, 2015, p. 123).
There are three ways to view public health nursing advocacy:

 A response to a client’s right to information and self-determination
 A means of addressing client safety
 A philosophical principle
Population of interest: Individuals and communities at risk for childhood traumatic
experiences.

Problem: Adverse child experiences, known as ACEs, are traumatic experiences in a

person’s life occurring before age 18, which the person remembers as an adult. Types
of ACEs include physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, mental illness of a house-
hold member, problematic drinking or alcoholism of a household member, illegal
street or prescription drug use by a household member, divorce or separation of a
parent, domestic violence towards a parent, and incarceration of a household mem-
ber. ACEs are linked to poor health outcomes, including risky health behaviors,
chronic health conditions, low life potential (e.g., lower graduation rates, time lost
from work), and early death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016; Min-
nesota Department of Health, 2013).
Systems level
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF), a citywide coalition of representatives from
organizations serving children and families, focused on two areas to increase aware-
ness of and response to ACEs in service and professional education systems: 1) un-
derstanding existing interventions in Philadelphia addressing childhood adversity and
trauma; and 2) integrating ACEs content into medical, nursing, allied health, and hu-
man services curricula. Pachter, Lieberman, Bloom, and Fein (2017) recommended
that local and national advocates encourage including ACEs as a core component of
professional education.
Community level
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force provided education to the community about ACEs
(Pachter et al., 2017).
Through the Nurse-Family Partnership, public health nurses (PHNs) provide home vis-
its to pregnant and parenting mothers until their children are 2 years old. The PHNs
and mothers develop trusting relationships, and PHNs provide support that helps
mothers take control of their lives, nurture their children, and build strong families
(Nurse-Family Partnership, 2018).

PHNs frequently use advocacy with other interventions, such as community
organizing, coalition-building, and collaboration as well as policy development and
enforcement. Policy development success often occurs in conjunction with advocacy.
Health teaching at the systems and community levels and consultation build com-
munity awareness prior to implementing advocacy. Media advocacy occurs when me-
dia promotes an issue or a cause.

A PHN uses advocacy at the individual level alongside case management. Selecting
case management as an appropriate intervention assumes the PHN has assessed a
client’s need and is partnering with the client to determine a course of action to pro-
mote and protect health.
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted from the International Council of Nurses’ Promoting
health: Advocacy guide for professionals (2010).
1. Determine whether the organizational,

positional, professional, and personal willingness
exists to take action and overcome obstacles
Unfair and unjust practices, funding allocations, and unhealthy environments are sit-
uations that motivate PHNs to act and react with advocacy.
 A PHN may invite others to join advocacy action.
 A PHN may join advocacy initiatives already in process with other individuals,
organizations, or communities.
2. Clearly select the advocacy focus

The focus of a PHN’s or organization’s advocacy should take into account political
environment, resources, time, and potential allies and opponents.
Consider these questions selecting the focus:
 Will a solution to this problem or issue result in improving people’s lives?
 Is this an issue or problem we think we can resolve?
 Is this an issue or problem easily understood?
 Can we tackle this issue or problem with the resources available?
3. Match the action to the situation

Selecting one’s relevant role matches the advocacy action with the situation.
Possible roles:
 Representative: Speaking for people
 Accompanying: Speaking with people
 Empowering: Enabling people to speak for themselves
 Mediating: Facilitating communication between people
 Modeling: Demonstrating practice to people and policymakers
 Negotiating: Bargaining with those in power
 Networking: Building coalitions with other individuals or organizations

4. Understand political context and identify key

people to influence
A strategy that works in one situation may not be effective in another situation.
Tailor strategies to each situation. Consider:
 Who is the ultimate decision-maker (organization board, chair, executive com-
mittee, or CEO; clergy member; person who has the most power or authority in
a family)?
 What is to be decided (program priorities, work plans, policies, budgets)?
 How are decisions made (simple majority vote, consensus development, single
decision-maker after receiving input; citizen involvement)?
 How are decisions to be enforced, implemented, and evaluated (who is account-
able to whom, sanctions for failures or rewards for successes, evaluation
strategies)?
5. Build a solid evidence base

The PHN grounds the issue in the best science-based evidence available and antici-
pates and understands the evidence of those with opposing perspectives.
 One may interpret evidence based on perspective. Policymakers may selectively
use research to support pre-determined positions.
 Interpret evidence so that others understand its implications.
 Evidence is one source of information for policymakers in addition to beliefs,
values, skills, resources, legislation, protocols, and client preferences.
 Public health decision-makers desire implementation suggestions, including
what works and does not work for different populations. They view systematic
evidence reviews and executive summaries as time-savers (Dobbins, Jack,
Thomas, & Kothari, 2006).
6. Engage others—win the support of key

individuals and organizations
Those with an interest in the advocacy outcome are more willing to support the issue
if they can see the benefit of collective action advocacy.
 Individuals and organizations may have interests that are at odds.
 Help others see the common interest and benefit.
7. Develop a strategic plan

A plan provides a template for advocacy actions and provides criteria for evaluating
those actions.

 If the advocacy focuses on systems- or community-level change, stakeholders

must collectively identify what they consider as success and the methods to
achieve it. The plan should identify who will do what and when.
 If the advocacy focuses on individuals or families, the plan must be negotiated
with them and focus on developing the individual or family’s capacity to advo-
cate on their own behalf.
8. Communicate messages, implement the plan

Attention to a message’s content and delivery increases its effectiveness.
 Deliver the message about what needs to change and why in the clearest, most
succinct manner possible. Tailor the message to fit the audience.
 If the advocacy concerns communities and systems, include strategies to ad-
dress opposing interest groups’ messaging.
 If the advocacy concerns individuals and families, anticipate barriers and strate-
gies to overcome them. Role-playing with the individual or family develops their
capability to respond.
9. Seize opportunities
It is important to identify at what points the individual/family, community, or system
may be most open to hearing the advocacy message.
 Time interventions and actions for maximum impact.
 Developing a trusting relationship facilitates openness to the message.
10. Be accountable
The plan needs constant monitoring and evaluation to make sure advocacy is moving
forward.
 Compare and evaluate actual outcomes related to the expected outcomes.
 If the message is not received as anticipated or the plan encounters unexpected
barriers, alter the plan and/or the message accordingly.
Example
Philadelphia has a high rate of child abuse and childhood food insecurity. Many of the
city’s organizations address the needs of children and families, but do not collaborate
on services or specific issues. The Philadelphia ACE Task Force formed and conducted
research on ACEs in the urban context, and identified focus areas for practical interven-
tions around adversity, trauma, and resiliency (Pachter et al., 2017). Because PHNs have
the knowledge and skills relevant to addressing ACEs, they contributed their expertise
to task force discussions and decision-making about the advocacy focus.

1. Determine whether the organizational,

positional, professional, and personal willingness
exists to take action and overcome obstacles
[The Institute for Safe Families, or ISF] brought together several child
health leaders in Philadelphia to conceptualize building a local initiative
around childhood adversity and trauma. ISF’s mission was to prevent
family violence and child abuse and to strengthen families to create
nurturing, healthy environments that promote children’s positive
development. (Pachter et al., 2017, p. S130)
This group created the Philadelphia ACE Task Force.
2. Clearly select the advocacy focus

The Philadelphia ACE Task Force chose to focus on integrating ACEs screening into
primary care.
3. Match the action to the situation

The task force assumed a networking role (building coalitions with other individuals
or organizations) to help other organizations and individuals share their experiences
addressing childhood adversity.
4. Understand political context and identify key

people to influence
Because the Philadelphia ACE Task Force chose to focus on integrating ACEs screening
into primary care, initial membership grew from invitations to pediatricians. As the
group collected evidence, it transformed into a collaborative cutting across institu-
tions and disciplines to focus on developing cross-system solutions to ACEs in Phila-
delphia. The work of the task force spread by word of mouth, leading to a broader
and more diverse membership.
5. Build a solid evidence base

Research professionals conducted two focus groups with black and Latinx adults to
identify childhood adversities as well as resilience and coping strategies experienced
by adults who grew up in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia ACE Task Force contracted
with a nonprofit public health organization to survey Philadelphia residents on ACEs
and other toxic stressors and adversities (witnessing violence, experiencing racism,
living in unsafe neighborhoods, experiencing bullying, being in foster care).

6. Engage others—win the support of key

individuals and organizations
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force, the Institute for Safe Families, and the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation co-sponsored a national ACE meeting in 2013: the National Sum-
mit on Adverse Childhood Experiences. The meeting offered sessions on ACEs re-
search, community-based ACE interventions, and policy and advocacy issues.
7. Develop a strategic plan

Three major areas of focus were identified by members of the task force: 1)
educate the community about ACEs and their effect, 2) develop a better
understanding of interventions available in Philadelphia to address
childhood adversity and trauma, and 3) incorporate ACEs research and
work into curricula of undergraduate and graduate medical, nursing, allied
health, and human services programs. (Pachter et al., 2017, pp. S132-S133)
8. Communicate messages, implement the plan

The ACEs Connection Network website facilitated communication about models, bar-
riers, successes, and examples of ACE interventions across the country. A Philadel-
phia-specific group used the website to share information among local individuals
and organizations, and for keeping Philadelphia ACE Task Force members current
with task force activities.
9. Seize opportunities
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force established workgroups for each of the three focus
areas; two of the workgroups had funding support. The Professional Development
workgroup collaborated with a fellow from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to develop
and pilot an ACEs curriculum for health professionals.
10. Be accountable
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force succeeded because of external staff support and or-
ganizational leadership in the community. Local funding organizations provided fi-
nancial and staff support that contributed to sustainability.


 1. Public health nurses as advocates for health improvement

As advocates for improving the health of individuals and communities, PHNs:
 Promote and protect health and safety
 Provide assistance to access health resources and social support
 Speak up and work on behalf of clients throughout the care continuum
 Push for legislative action to bring about change
 Consider the impact of policy decisions on human rights and social justice
 Adhere to truth and honesty in advocacy strategies
Level 3 sources:
 Ezeonwu, 2015
 Falk-Rafael & Betker, 2012
 Freudenberg, Bradley, & Serrano, 2009
 Toda, Sakamoto, Tagaya, Takahashi & Davis, 2015
Level 5 sources:
 Racher, 2007
 Selanders & Crane, 2012
 2. Traits of a public health nurse advocate

Public health nurses who engage in advocacy:
 Care about an issue
 Have knowledge about the issue and the community
 Have knowledge about organizational communication challenges
 Have public health competency in needs assessment, communication, cultural
understanding, leadership, and systems thinking
 Have the ability to build strong working relationships
 Have collaboration skills for networking with other agencies and organizations
Level 3 sources:
 Ezeonwu, 2015
 Joyce, O’Brien, Belew-LaDue, Dorjee, & Smith, 2014
 3. Effective strategies and tools

Effective advocacy strategies and tools include:
 Mobilizing the public and multiple stakeholders
 Using multiple strategies
 Being sensitive to changing political environments
 Working with the media

 Networking
 Social marketing
 Coalition-building
 Lobbying
 Letter writing
 Internet-based advocacy
Level 3 source:
 Freudenberg et al., 2009
Level 4 source:
 International Council of Nurses, 2008
 4. Effective advocacy message components

Effective advocacy messages integrate policy demands with value statements. The
following questions address message components:
a. What’s wrong? Make a clear statement of concern.
b. Why does it matter? Address values and what is at stake.
c. What should be done about it? Clearly state the policy objective with a specific,
feasible solution.
Level 5 source:
 Dorfman, Wallack, & Woodruff, 2005
 5. Framing advocacy messages for media

Possible questions to address when framing advocacy messages for media include:
 Can this story be associated with a local, national, or topical historical event?
 What is new or different about this story?
 Is there a celebrity already involved with or willing to lend their name to the issue?
 Are there adversaries or other tensions in this story?
 Are there basic inequalities or unfair circumstances?
 What is ironic, unusual, or inconsistent about this story?
 Why is this story important or meaningful to local residents?
 Is this story an important historical marker?
 Who is the face of the victim in this story? Who has the authentic voice on this
issue?
 Can this story be attached to a holiday or seasonal event?
Level 4 source:
 International Council of Nurses, 2008
Level 5 source:
 Wallack, Dorfman, Jernigan, & Themba, 1993

 6. Consequences of advocacy actions

A concept analysis of advocacy identified the following five consequences from ad-
vocacy actions that address human rights and social justice perspectives:
 Improved access
 Equity
 Social justice
 Empowerment
 Health and social reform
Level 3 source:
 Ezeonwu, 2015, p. 120
 7. Ethical challenges
Public health nurses may encounter the following ethical challenges during advocacy
actions with clients:
 Conflict regarding client selection (possible conflict between advocating for parent
or child, individual vs. family views, individual rights vs. good of the community)
 Conflict with the PHN’s values
 Putting oneself at risk (e.g., advocating for a client experiencing domestic violence)
 Disagreements with colleagues or other health professionals about the advo-
cacy action
 Considering risk vs. benefit when supporting a client’s right to choose in a situa-
tion where that choice potentially results in harm (e.g., a parent refuses to ob-
tain immunizations for their child)
 Maintaining professional boundaries
Level 3 source:
 Oberle & Tenove, 2000
 8. Challenges at the systems level

Challenges to policy advocacy at the systems level include:
 Some organizations and policymakers view systems-level advocacy as beyond
the scope of nursing influence.
 Nursing education does not adequately prepare nurses for involvement in
health policy.
 Philosophical divisions within nursing may prevent collaboration on policy
development.
 Nursing practice factors (heavy workloads, understaffing, powerlessness in or-
ganizations, lack of time) contribute to political apathy among nurses.
Level 5 source:
 Spenceley, Reutter, & Allen, 2006

 9. Policy-level intervention suggestions

For families living in poverty, PHNs primarily focus on helping family members access
services rather than intervening at the policy level. Suggestions for PHNs to increase
advocacy for policy change include:
 Initiate public discussion on how poverty affects health, and how policies keep
families living in poverty.
 Raise the issue of family poverty during meetings of professional organizations.
 Support local anti-poverty groups.
 Use information from monitoring activities to advocate for healthy public policies.
 Inform the public about the impact of poverty on families and children.
Level 5 source:
 Cohen & Reutter, 2007
Wheel notes
Human rights and social justice perspectives
Nursing literature highlights the use of advocacy to address both human rights and
social justice issues. Researchers framing advocacy from a human rights perspective
often address advocacy at the individual level, while those working from a social jus-
tice perspective more often focus on advocating for change in systems to improve
population health. Historically, nursing advocacy has emphasized human rights, be-
ginning with the writings of Florence Nightingale. Although nursing literature contin-
ues to feature a human rights emphasis (Vaartio & Keino-Kilpi, 2004), current litera-
ture also highlights policy advocacy at the systems level (Ezeonwu, 2015; Falk-Rafael
& Betker, 2012; International Council of Nurses, 2008).
Medical paternalism
“Medical paternalism” occurs when a professional makes a decision on what consti-
tutes the client’s best interest (Zomordi & Foley, 2009). To counteract paternalism,
PHNs can use advocacy-focused communication strategies like open-ended questions,
terms understood and preferred by clients and families, and responding fully to ques-
tions. Relational ethics promotes advocacy actions through the nurse/client relation-
ship (MacDonald, 2007). Questions that can lead to an advocacy intervention include:
 How does the current situation affect the client’s autonomy and capacity for
critical thinking?
 How does the client embody or balance the implications of the scientific
knowledge presented and its emotional ramifications?
 Does mutual respect exist?
 Does the client understand their values and wishes are held in regard?
 Does true engagement exist, where the nurse and the client are sufficiently in-
vested in each other to assure mutual concern?

Advocacy or empowerment?
The literature reveals that advocacy and empowerment overlap, with both enabling
self-reliance in others, communities, and systems. Empowerment involves assisting
others to discover and use the power within individuals/families, communities, or sys-
tems; advocacy is not something done or given to another. While empowerment may
be a consequence of advocacy actions, some individuals, families, groups, communi-
ties, and systems may continue to require someone to speak or act on their behalf.
References
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Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about_ace.html
Cohen, B. E. & Reutter, L. (2007). Development of the role of public health nurses in addressing
child and family poverty: a framework for action. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(1),
96-107. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04154.x
Dobbins, M., Jack, S., Thomas, H., & Kothari, A. (2007) Public health decision-makers’
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Dorfman, L., Wallack, L., & Woodruff, K. (2005). More than a message: Framing public health
advocacy to change corporate practices. Health Education & Behavior, 32(3), 320-336.
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Ezeonwu, M. C. (2015). Community health nursing advocacy: A concept analysis. Journal of
Community Health Nursing, 32(2), 115-128. doi:10.1080/07370016.2015.1024547
Falk-Rafael, A. & Betker, C. (2012). Witnessing social injustice downstream and advocating for
health equity upstream: “The trombone slide” of nursing. Advances in Nursing Science,
35(2), 98-112. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0b013e31824fe70f
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practices that damage health: An analysis of 12 case studies. Health Education &
Behavior, 36(2), 230-249. doi: 10.1177/1090198107301330
International Council of Nurses. (2008). Advocacy guide for health professionals. Retrieved from
http://www.whpa.org/PPE_Advocacy_Guide.pdf
Joyce, B. L., O’Brien, K., Belew-LaDue, Dorjee, T. K., & Smith, C. M. (2014). Revealing the voices of
public health nurses by exploring their lived experience. Public Health Nursing, 32(2),
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MacDonald, H. (2007). Relational ethics and advocacy in nursing: Literature review. Journal of
Advanced Nursing 57(2), 119-126. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04063.x
Minnesota Department of Health. (2013). Adverse childhood experiences in Minnesota. Retrieved
from http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/brfss/ACE_ExecutiveSummary.pdf
Nurse-Family Partnership. (2018). A young family’s bright future begins with a great nurse.
Retrieved from https://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/nurses/
Oberle, K. & Tenove, S. (2000). Ethical issues in public health nursing. Nursing Ethics, 7(5), 425-438.
Pachter, L. M., Lieberman, L., Bloom, S. L., & Fein, J. A. (2017). Developing a community-wide
initiative to address childhood adversity and toxic stress: A case study of the
Philadelphia ACE Task Force. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7S), S130-S135.

Racher, F. E. (2007). The evolution of ethics for community practice. Journal of Community Health
Nursing, 24(1), 65-76. doi.org/10.1080/07370010709336586
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the policy level. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 7(3), 180-194. doi:
10.1177/1527154406293683
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Japanese psychiatric nurses recognizing necessity for intervention. Nursing Ethics, 22(7),
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the ‘thin line.’ Journal of Advanced Nursing 65(8), 1746-1752. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-
2648.2009.05023.x

YELLOW WEDGE: SOCIAL MARKETING
Social marketing
“Social marketing is a process that uses marketing principles and techniques to
change target audience behaviors to benefit society as well as the individual” (Lee &
Kotler, 2016, p. 9).
Key social marketing themes include:

 Influencing behaviors
 Applying marketing principles and techniques via a systematic planning process
 Focusing on priority audience segments
 Delivering a positive benefit for individuals and society
“In the case of health-related social marketing, the social good can be articulated in
terms of achieving specific, achievable, and manageable behavior goals, relevant to
improving health and reducing health inequalities” (Quinn, Ellery, Thomas, &
Marshall, 2010, p. 335). An initiative is consistent with social marketing when its driv-
ing concern focuses on understanding the customer (client) and on achieving and sus-
taining specific behaviors (French & Blair-Stevens, 2010).

Population of interest: Adolescents.
Problem: Bullying among adolescents occurs worldwide, resulting in negative health
consequences like school absenteeism, lower academic achievement, and adverse
mental and physical health outcomes. Bullying includes physical aggression, verbal
harassment, discriminatory harassment targeting a person’s characteristics, and
more recently cyber victimization (Salmon, Turner, Taillieu, Fortier, & Afifi, 2018).
Systems level
A school nurse convenes a district task group, including student representatives, to
discuss and identify anti-bullying social marketing interventions at the district level.
The school nurse asks the group to consider using systems-level strategies found at
StopBullying.gov, which provides organizations with social marketing strategies to ad-
dress bullying and cyberbullying.
Community level
The Howard County Public School System in Maryland joined together with students
and the community to create bully-free zones. The school system hosted a bully pre-
vention event, and school nurses and PHNs used the video, Bullying Prevention
Message, to help convey messaging when meeting with adolescents, their parents,
and community organizations (Timmons-Mitchell, Levesque, Harris, Flannery, &
Falcone, 2016).
School nurses marketed bullying prevention messages to adolescents, their families,
and school staff with posters, online communication, newsletters, and classroom
presentations. The school nurses adapted messages from resources like StandUp, an
online school-based bullying prevention program that focuses on developing healthy
relationships (Timmons-Mitchell et al., 2016).

Social marketing, first introduced in 1971, contains similarities to some longer-
established interventions. Like health teaching, social marketing aims to change atti-
tudes and behaviors, and some see it as a special application of health teaching. Public
health nurses (PHNs) use health teaching most frequently at the individual/family and
systems practice levels, and use social marketing more frequently at the community
level of practice, incorporated with principles of marketing. At the community level,
social marketing overlaps with advocacy, often implemented as media advocacy.

Basic steps
Public health nurses adapt the basic steps for social marketing from several sources
that apply marketing principles to health behavior change (Brown, 2006; Evans &
McCormack, 2008; Grieg & Bryant, 2006; Lee & Kotler, 2016; Stellefsen & Eddy, 2008).
Lee and Kotler focused specifically on the social marketing planning stage.
1. Describe plan background, purpose, and focus

 Prior to developing a targeted plan, identify the social issue or problem, and fac-
tors that contribute to the issue or problem.
 Develop a purpose statement that communicates the benefit of the social mar-
keting plan.
 To narrow the scope of the problem, choose from potential options that address
the plan’s purpose. For example, in order to improve water quality (purpose),
one could choose to address pesticide use (option).
2. Conduct a situation analysis

Understanding factors and forces in the environment determines the relevance of
planning decisions.
 Analyze strengths to maximize and weaknesses to minimize, using a SWOT anal-
ysis (SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). Inter-
nal factors include available resources, expertise, administrative support, and
partners, which may constitute strengths or weaknesses. External factors in-
clude cultural, technological, demographic, economic, political, and legal forces
that represent opportunities or threats.
 Investigate colleague experiences, LISTSERVs, and the literature for lessons
learned from similar social marketing campaigns.
3. Select target audience

Identifying the audience determines additional planning steps. Target market char-
acteristics include stages of change, demographics, geography, behaviors, psycho-
graphics, and size of market. Segment the market or population (break it into smaller
groups) based on specific criteria, and choose one or more groups for marketing strat-
egies.
 Primary audience or population of interest: Subgroup, family, or individual in
which the behavior change is desired
 Secondary audience: Those who help the primary audience make the desired
behavior change

4. Set behavior objectives and goals

Goals and objectives guide social marketing decisions.
 Goals: Desired long-term aims
 Objectives: Specific and concrete accomplishments needed to reach goals
▪ Knowledge objectives: Information and facts included in the social market-
ing strategies
▪ Belief objectives: Feelings and attitudes the social marketing strategies
need to influence
▪ SMART objectives: Specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, and time-
bound
5. Identify benefits, motivators, barriers, and

change strategies
Understand the target market’s preferred behavior (competition).
 What makes the current behavior attractive?
 Why do people not want to change their behavior?
 What real or perceived barriers exist to behavior change?
 What behavior change strategies does the target market embrace?
6. Craft a positioning statement

A positioning statement “[explains how you] want the target audience to see the tar-
geted behavior, highlighting unique benefits” (Lee & Kotler, 2016, p. 51).
 Include a description of the target audience, competitors, barriers, and motiva-
tors to action.
 Use the positioning statement to guide the development of the marketing mix.
7. Develop a strategic marketing mix (four P’s)

Use the four P’s (product, price, place, and promotion) when developing a marketing
strategy.
Product
Using the example of promoting mammograms, the product is the benefits associ-
ated with the behavior change:
 Core product: Bundle of benefits (i.e., peace of mind and early detection from
obtaining a mammogram)
 Actual product: Desired behavior (i.e., obtaining a mammogram)
 Augmented product: Tangible goods and services (e.g., low cost, accessible,
friendly mammogram services)

One could ask the following questions about the mammogram screening example:
 What should be done to increase screenings?
 How should the screening be described?
 What are the client benefits?
Price
The price is the cost or sacrifice exchanged for the promised benefit:
 Consider the cost from the client’s view.
 The price may include intangible costs that accompany the change (loss of time,
psychological hassle, embarrassment).
Questions about the cost for the mammogram screening example include:
 Is there a significant financial cost?
 Is comfort with screening a concern for women?
 Do women feel susceptible to breast cancer?
Place
The place includes where and when the target market performs the desired behavior:
 Where considers physical location, organizations and people who provide infor-
mation, goods and services, attractiveness and comfort, and accessibility (park-
ing and public transportation).
 When includes operating hours.
Consider the following questions about place for the mammogram screening example:
 Where do women obtain the screening?
 What partners help gain the interest of women?
 What communication channels best distribute the screening message?
Promotion
Promotion includes persuasive messages communicating product benefits, services,
pricing, and place:
 Consider multiple elements, including specific communication objectives for
each target example, guidelines for developing prominent, effective messages,
and designating communication channels.
 Integrate the marketing mix of the four P’s
 Consider a spokesperson who can share their story related to the product.
Questions to consider when developing a promotional strategy include:
 What is the product?
 Who is the customer?
 What is your purpose for promoting the product?
 What message will you convey?
 What promotional tools will you use?
 What promotional communication materials will you use? (Thackeray, Neiger,
& Hanson, 2007)

8. Outline a monitoring and evaluation plan

Develop an evaluation strategy prior to plan implementation to ensure outcomes are
monitored on an ongoing basis:
 Clarify the evaluation purpose and audience.
 Refer to established goals for the desired levels of change in behavior,
knowledge, and beliefs.
 Establish three categories of measures:
▪ Output measures (campaign activities)
▪ Outcome measures (the responses of the target market, including changes
in knowledge, beliefs, and behavior)
▪ Impact measures (contributions to the plan purpose)
9. Establish budgets and find funding sources

Determine if available budget and funding stream(s) support the selected strategies:
 Summarize funding requirements and potential funding sources for product
benefits, features, and distribution channels.
 Revise goals, target audience, and strategies based on secured funding sources,
including partner contributions.

After completing planning steps, implement the plan.
 Facilitate as needed who does what, when.
 Produce products and materials as planned.
 Coordinate with partners.
 Remain open to new opportunities.
 During implementation, pay attention to client response (Thackeray & Neiger,
2009):
▪ Structure interactions so clients focus on the positive outcomes.
▪ Provide clients with messaging that encourages them to talk about prod-
ucts to friends and family.
▪ Note social media posts about the product and the organization.
 Use a planning matrix on market segmentation. Market segmentation uses les-
sons learned about a subgroup within a priority population to create programs
and services that target that subgroup’s wants and needs (Stellefson & Eddy,
2008). For each segment, identify the following components in a matrix:
▪ Segment
▪ Relevant characteristics
▪ Message
▪ Channels
▪ Evaluation
 For example, a social marketing campaign that promotes immunization might
include the segments “unaware,” “afraid and untrusting,” and “religious oppo-
nents” (Slater, Kelly, & Thackeray, 2006).

11. Monitor and evaluate plan implementation

Monitoring and evaluating social marketing activities during implementation helps
identify mid-course revisions, and can help refine the social marketing program.
 Answer the question: “Did we change what we intended to change (knowledge,
behaviors, or attitudes)?”
 Include intermediate measures and/or process measures to determine program
effectiveness.
 Use feedback to refine implementation strategy.
Example
The Howard County Public School System in Maryland joined with community part-
ners to implement a campaign to prevent cyberbullying and other bullying behaviors
(Howard County Public School System, 2017a; StopBullying.gov, 2013). A school
nurse contributed knowledge and skills to planning and implementing bullying pre-
vention social marketing strategies.
1. Describe the plan background, purpose, and

focus
After serious bullying incidents (including a suicide), Howard County Public School
System, including school nurses throughout the district, decided to tackle bullying
and cyber harassment by raising awareness.
2. Conduct a situation analysis

Planners reviewed current laws and discussed whether to advocate for new state leg-
islation. They looked at how the public schools collected and handled bullying reports
and incidents.
3. Select target audience

After exploration and discussion, planners chose a multi-faceted and comprehensive
approach including community partners.
4. Set behavior objectives and goals

The planners invited community partners and identified three approaches:
a. Developing a social marketing awareness campaign about the severe effects of
bullying and what to do when it occurs: The public library system took the lead in
creating the “Choose Civility” campaign to communicate positive messages about

treating others with respect. The bullying prevention campaign used lessons
learned from that work to develop a similar message around bullying.
b. Developing a tool to report bullying when it happens, in real time: The planners
used a customized web-based reporting application called Sprigeo, in which a
person anonymously reports bullying in schools, at a park or library, or else-
where in the community.
c. Making materials and training available for those who work with students on
the skills and knowledge needed to address bullying: For example,
StopBullying.gov created Bullying Prevention Training Center: Bullying
prevention continuing education course (2017).
5. Identify benefits, motivators, barriers, and

change strategies
Bullying prevention messages needed to address motivators for bullying and behaviors
to change. The planners met with students to identify barriers and motivators, and to
discuss perceptions of factors that contribute to and prevent bullying behavior.
6. Craft a positioning statement

[The Howard County Public School System] has taken a strong stand
against bullying with a goal to eradicate bullying. No act of bullying in
Howard County schools will be ignored. Unfortunately, bullying is a reality
that lives within the hallways of our schools and one that we must root
out once and for all. We know that those who are bullied may experience
depression, anxiety, sadness and loneliness. They can suffer from changes
in sleep and eating patterns and loss of interest in activities that they
typically enjoy. Children who have suffered through bullying have gone so
far as to injure themselves and even take their own life. (Howard County
Public School System, 2017b)
7. Develop a strategic marketing mix (Four P’s)

Product: The core product was the assurance that bullying behaviors will be ad-
dressed. The actual product was fewer bullying incidents. The augmented product
was a safe school and community environment.
Price: Although there was a cost involved in developing and implementing the bully-
ing prevention plan, fewer bullying incidents decreased the staff burden related to
response, and results in a cost savings.
Place: The target market was the community served by the Howard County Public
School System.
Promotion: One example of a promotional tool was the public service announcement
at a school-sponsored prevention event, Bullying prevention message (2017c). The

video featured two spokespeople: the interim school superintendent, and a mother
of a daughter who committed suicide following cyberbullying incidents.
8. Outline a monitoring and evaluation plan

The Howard County Public School System developed a Bullying, harassment, or
intimidation reporting form (PDF):
[The reporting form helps individuals] report alleged bullying,

harassment, or intimidation that occurred during the current school year
on school property, at a school-sponsored activity or event off school
property, on a school bus, on the way to and/or from school, or on the
Internet, sent on or off school property; or that substantially disrupted
the orderly operation of the school. (2017b)
The form included definitions of bullying. The number of forms submitted provides a
strategy for measuring change in the incidence of bullying behaviors.
9. Establish budgets and find funding sources

Contributions from partners included the federal government, the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA), local leaders, and local organizations including
youth sports leagues and the YMCA.

During implementation, the planners noted the response of different market seg-
ments within the community—students, parents, school staff, community organiza-
tions, and the public.
11. Monitor and evaluate plan implementation

The evaluation plan initially called for evaluating whether the bullying prevention
campaign changed knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes related to bullying. Interme-
diate measures on community responses were important for refining social market-
ing messages. Later measures would compare bullying incidence rates to the rate oc-
curring during the 2016-2017 (baseline) school year.


 1. Theories supporting social marketing

Several theories support social marketing: Exchange theory, the Theory of Planned
Behavior, and the health belief model. These theories explain how motivation and
incentives lead individuals or groups to adopt healthy behaviors.
Level 5 sources:
 Opel, Diekema, Lee, & Marcuse, 2009
 Slater et al., 2006
 Thackeray, 2010
 2. Identifying social marketing interventions

Interventions can be categorized as social marketing if they meet the following crite-
ria:
 The intervention focuses on actual change of behavior rather than a change in
awareness or knowledge.
 The identified behavior is measurable and observable.
 Research is conducted to provide insight into the consumer experience and to
drive decision-making.
 Consumer research analysis provides those planning the intervention with in-
sight into targets of opportunity.
 The intervention strategy is tailored to targets of opportunity and marketing mix
(product, price, place, promotion, exchange, competition).
 Concepts related to the intervention strategy and the marketing mix are pre-
tested with the intended audience.
 The strategy is implemented consistent with the plan.
 The intervention is evaluated, and change in behavior occurs.
Level 5 source:
 Quinn et al., 2010
 3. Effective social marketing

Tips for effective social marketing include:
 Develop a plan that includes attention to all aspects of the marketing mix—prod-
uct, price, place, and promotion—as well as policy and partnerships.
 Use research throughout the process—carefully review existing literature, and
collect new data through focus groups, surveys, and observation.
 Involve the target population, including opinion leaders, to actively participate
in and co-create the development process.

 Locate opinion leaders—people who have social influence and have adopted the
desired behavior or attitude—who can serve as catalysts for behavior change
through role-modeling and social relationships.
 Consider socioeconomic factors, cultural beliefs, values, geographic location,
and local norms and values.
 Focus on voluntary behavior.
 Know that exchange theory is fundamental. The target audience must perceive
benefits that equal or exceed perceived costs associated with performing the
behavior.
 Address costs and benefits of behavior change.
 Employ marketing techniques, including consumer-oriented market research,
segmentation and targeting, and marketing mix of strategies.
 Focus on the end goal of improving individual and societal well-being, rather
than focusing on the organization.
 Avoid message clutter and information overload.
 Use stories and anecdotes when presenting risk data.
 Use multiple approaches (written, oral, visual graphics, electronic) and repeti-
tion to maximize your promotion messaging.
 Anticipate and manage controversy and conflict.
 Avoid terminology, phrases, or visual cues that reinforce stereotypes or contra-
dict verbal messages.
 Remember that social marketing is not social media marketing. Social media is
one valuable marketing channel, but do not neglect other methods like
radio/podcasts, television, posters, periodicals, and other written material.
Level 2 source:
 Firestone, Rowe, Modi, & Sievers, 2017
Level 3 source:
 Stead, Gordon, Angus, & McDermott, 2007
Level 5 source:
 Schoon, Porta, & Schaffer, 2019
 4. Augmented products and questions to consider

Consider the following when designing a new augmented product (tangible good or
service) or modifying an existing one:
 Should a new service be developed and offered?
 Does an existing service need to be enhanced?
 Should a new product be developed (or be encouraged to be developed) to en-
courage behavior change?
 Does a current product need to be improved or enhanced?
 Is there a need or opportunity for a substitute product?
Level 5 source:
 Brown, 2006

 5. Criteria for identifying and validating good practice

Specific benchmark criteria for identifying and validating good social marketing prac-
tice include:
 Customer (client) orientation
 Behavioral goals
 Theory-based factors that contribute to behavior (biological and physical, psy-
chological, social, environmental)
 Insight into what motivates people
 Exchange (what is the person willing to give in order to get expected benefits?)
 Competition (identifying and minimizing competitors)
 Segmentation (identifying specific audiences based on demographic and epide-
miological data)
 Marketing mix (examining the most effective approaches and including more
than one approach)
Level 5 source:
 French & Blair-Stevens, 2010
 6. Ethical norms and values

Ethical norms and values for social marketing include:
 Do no harm by avoiding harmful actions and omissions. Adhere to all applicable
laws and regulations.
 Foster trust in the marketing system by avoiding deception in design, communi-
cation, and/or distribution.
 Embrace ethical values by building relationships and adhering to core values of
honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency, and citizenship.
 Promote the understanding and use of information by avoiding information
overload and complexity.
Level 5 sources:
 Evans & McCormack, 2008
 Lee & Kotler, 2016
 7. Developing strategies
Use the following questions to develop social marketing strategies:
 What is the nature and scope of the (social) issue?
 Which factors do you want to address?
 How? What’s the evidence?
 Who do you want to reach (key audience)?
 What do you want them to do?
 What are the most important characteristics of the audience and context?
 What does the audience prefer?
 What are you going to do (your produce, price, and place strategies to make the
behavior more attractive, less costly, and/or easier)?

 What are you going to say (your promotional strategy, including messages and
channels)?
 What is your time frame?
 What levels of human and financial resources are required, including tools and
material costs?
 How and when will you know if you implemented your strategy successfully
(process evaluation?)
 How and when will you know if you measurably impacted the factors you wanted
to influence (outcome evaluation, including indicators and methodologies)?
Level 5 sources:
 Lagarde, 2006
 Thackeray et al., 2007
 8. Social media
Social media is a social marketing tool that can motivate people to make safer and
healthier decisions. Consider the following when using social media in social marketing:
 Make strategic choices and understand the level of effort.
 Go where the people are.
 Adopt low-risk tools first.
 Make sure messages are science-based.
 Create portable content.
 Facilitate viral information sharing.
 Encourage partner and public participation.
 Tailor content to population group needs.
 Provide multiple formats.
 Consider mobile technologies.
 Set realistic goals.
 Learn from metrics and evaluate your efforts.
Level 4 source:
 9. Examples of successful campaigns

Social marketing interventions increased knowledge about health problems or risks
and/or contributed to behavior change for the following social marketing initiatives:
 The “Could It Be Asthma?” campaign targeted parents and caregivers of children
in a rural New York community via television advertising, brochures, and posters.
 A mass media campaign in a rural area of the United States disseminated mes-
sages emphasizing the health risks of sugar-sweetened beverages via television,
digital channels, and local organizations, over a 15-week time period.
 A social marketing intervention targeted parents and guardians of inner-city
youth in the Midwestern United States to provide drowning prevention mes-
sages using a variety of channels (brochure, e-mail, text message, postcard,
Facebook post, window cling).

 American Indian adults recruited at a community health fair viewed messages

promoting dental sealants for young children.
 Rhode Island Health Department staff developed a social marketing intervention
focusing on emergency preparedness.
 A social marketing initiative promoted the use of folic acid to Hispanic women.
 In Spain, a peer-led social marketing approach, titled,” We Are Cool” focused on
increasing healthy eating and physical activity.
Level 1 source:
 Aceves-Martin et al., 2017
Level 2 sources:
 Farley, Halper, Carlin, Emmerson, Foster, & Fertig, 2017
 Glassman, Castor, Karmakar, 2018
Level 3 sources:
 Briones, Lustik, & LaLone, 2010
 Larsson et al., 2015
 Marshall et al., 2007
 Quinn, Hauser, Bell-Ellison, Rodriguez, & Fr´ıas, 2006
Wheel notes
Historical example
Using social marketing to target tobacco use was one of the first examples of social
marketing to promote public health in modern history. Tobacco became a social mar-
keting target for public health when research in the 1950s linked smoking with can-
cer. Public health messaging has consistently competed with the tobacco industry.
Social marketing strategies, along with smoking bans and tobacco products taxes,
have contributed to a decrease in smoking rates. Today social marketing strategies
address how to quit, target youth, and focus on the effects of secondhand smoke
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018; Wright, 2011).
Know your audience

Although most of the literature on social marketing focuses on the community and
systems levels, social marketing interventions are also relevant at the
individual/family level. When PHNs “begin where the client is,” they use the social
marketing assessment process to learn about their audience (the client). Knowledge
about client demographics, culture, and behavior determine the “marketing mix” or
strategies that motivate health behavior change. One example of social marketing in
this context is an app for new mothers that promotes breastfeeding by tracking time
fed, from which breast infants were fed, and infant response.

The Six P’s

Most social marketing literature identifies four P’s—product, price, place, and pro-
motion. In a systematic review of articles on social marketing interventions, Luca and
Suggs (2010) identified two additional P’s: policy and partnerships, applicable at the
community and systems levels. Policy encompasses organizational or governmental
policy change that promotes behavior change through social marketing—for exam-
ple, when using social marketing strategies to communicate about laws that mandate
seat belt use. Partnerships are formed with other organizations and stakeholders to
promote societal behavior change—for example, when cities and health departments
partner on promoting smoke-free environments.
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YELLOW WEDGE: POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND ENFORCEMENT
Policy development and

enforcement
Policy development places health issues on decision-makers’ agendas, establishes a
plan of resolution, determines needed resources, and results in laws, rules and regu-
lations, ordinances, and policies. Policy enforcement compels others to comply with
the laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, and policies created in conjunction with pol-
icy development.
Organizations like public health departments create policies that guide organizational
procedures. Federal, state, and local governments enact public policies. The following
basic steps focus primarily on the process governmental policymaking; however, the
steps are applicable to organizational policy development.

Policy categories include:

 Constituent policies, which establish government structure, rules or procedures
for how government works, or rules that distribute power (e.g., creating a new
government department, such as the Department of Homeland Security)
 Distributive policies, which allocate benefits or services to particular segments
of the population (e.g., funds allocated to public health departments for emer-
gency preparedness activities)
 Regulatory policies, which place restrictions or limitations on the behavior of
individuals or groups (e.g., a policy that prohibits smoking in public places)
 Self-regulatory policies, which protect or promote the interests of the group
(e.g., licensing health care professionals)
 Redistributive policies, which shift the allocation of wealth, income, property,
or rights among population groups (e.g., a Medicaid program that provides
health care services to low-income families, qualified pregnant women and chil-
dren, and persons with disabilities; Anderson, 2015)
Population of interest: Children and adolescents in school.
Problem: Obesity contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
Three in five Minnesotans are overweight or obese due to unhealthy eating and a lack
of physical activity (Minnesota Department of Health, 2017a). Results from the 2016
Minnesota Student Survey indicated that fifth graders in Minnesota reported eating
just one fruit or vegetable a day in the last week (Minnesota Department of Health
2017b). Childhood is an opportune time to establish healthy eating patterns.
Systems level
The Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), funded by the Minnesota state
legislature in 2008, uses policy, systems, and environmental approaches to reduce
chronic disease risk factors, such as obesity and tobacco use/exposure. Independent
School District 197 in Dakota County, Minnesota, used SHIP funding to increase student
consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables. School nurses contributed to policy
development, adoption, and implementation encouraging students to try new foods
and informing parents about the benefits of new fruits and vegetables. Policy decisions
led to the following initiatives (Schoon, Schaffer, & Porta, 2019, p. 156):
 During lunch each week, students tasted a less common fruit or vegetable.
 After tasting, students filled out a survey on their interest in adding the new food
to the lunch menu.
 The district added foods with favorable ratings to school lunch menus when
feasible.

Community level
School nurses continued to collaborate with school administration, teachers, staff,
and parents on implementing the policy in the school setting:
 Parents were encouraged to send lunches or snacks that included vegetables
and fruits, instead of less healthy alternatives like chips and candy.
 The school district banned sugary drinks from school vending machines, using a
policy developed by the Minnesota Department of Health (Schoon et al., 2019).
A school nurse noted that in several classrooms, parents sent sugary snacks with their
children for them to share with their classmates. The new school policy discouraged
this practice. The school nurse worked with classroom teachers to determine the best
way to communicate and enforce the change in school policy (Schoon et al., 2019).

Since policy development and enforcement brings health issues to the attention of
decision-makers, and provides technical assistance for changing laws, rules, regula-
tions, ordinances, and policies, it frequently pairs with other interventions operating
predominantly at the community or systems practice levels, such as collaboration,
coalition-building, and community organizing. Advocacy frequently co-intervenes at
the systems level. In contagious disease outbreaks, policy development and enforce-
ment frequently pairs with surveillance, disease and health event investigation,
screening, outreach, case-finding, referral and follow-up, and case management.
At the individual/family level, policy development often pairs with health teaching,
counseling, consultation, case management, and/or advocacy.
Basic steps
The following steps are adapted from Anderson (2015) and Edelstein, Gallagher,
Hansen, Ebeling, & Turner (2010):
1. Identify the problem and set the policy agenda

Identifying and assess a problem receiving the attention of public officials. Not all
problems identified move forward and are placed on a policy agenda.
Questions to explore include:
 What is the need, current issue, or problem?
 Is there a legal mandate? If so, what is it?

 What will the new initiative address?

 What are the demographics of the community of interest?
 Does data from federal, state, and local levels consistently identify a need, issue,
or problem?
 What potential and actual disparities exist?
 Is a cultural assessment of the target group available? If not, begin one.
 What are the social norms of the community of interest?
 Is there an interest in change? Who might support and oppose the change?
 What resources are available (internal and external)?
 Who are the stakeholders? What are the local, state, and federal laws that need
to be addressed?
 Who are the partners of interest?
 What are the existing policies?
 How have other policies moved through the adoption process?
 What is the membership composition of the governing body’s board (Edelstein
et al., 2010, p. 8)?
2. Formulate the policy

Develop alternative courses of action or options for dealing with the problem.
Questions to explore include:
 Who participates in formulating the policy?
 How are alternatives for dealing with the problem developed?
 What are the conflicts in developing policy proposals?
 What are the goals?
 What resources are available, including financial needs?
 What is the timeline?
3. Adopt the policy

Support must legitimize or authorize the policy to be adopted.
The legislative, executive, or judicial branches adopt policies. At the national and
state levels, health policy adoption requires majority approval by a legislature.
Consider the following questions:
 How is the policy alternative adopted or enacted?
 What are the budget and funding requirements that must be met for the policy
to be adopted?
 Who are the adopters?
 What is the content of the adopted policy?
 Are hearings offered to seek input from stakeholders?

4. Implement and enforce the policy

Implementation entails putting the policy into effect. Policymakers develop rules and
guidelines, including conditions that require enforcement, and disseminate them to
those impacted by the policy.
Explore the following questions:
 Who is involved in implementation?
 Who will monitor implementation?
 Are resources adequate for implementation?
 How well does the intended population follow policy mandates, recommenda-
tions, or guidelines?
 How will the policy be enforced?
 How can compliance be encouraged through education about the policy and its
rationale?
 How is due process built into policy enforcement?
 What methods are needed to force compliance if the policy’s conditions are not
met?
5. Evaluate the policy’s effectiveness

Evaluation determines whether the policy achieved its goals and/or resulted in any
consequences.
Consider the following questions:
 What is the feedback loop for data evaluation (population response, health
outcomes)?
 What are the expected and unexpected outcomes?
 Who does the policy advantage or disadvantage?
 What are the consequences of the policy?
 Are new problems identified?
 What are the future health and budget policy implications?
 What is needed to promote policy sustainability?
 Are there any unintended consequences?
Example
A school district developed and implemented a policy to encourage healthy eating.
1. Identify the problem and set the policy agenda

School nurses recognized the contribution of childhood obesity and unhealthy eating
habits to future chronic disease. Along with administrators, a school nurse assessed
the problem, determined a policy agenda focusing on nutrition, and obtained related
funding.

2. Formulate the policy

The school district convened a school wellness team, including students, parents,
health teachers, a school nurse, the school food service director, and administrators.
The team completed a wellness assessment that identified school policy gaps and
recommended evidence-based practices to address the gaps. The team reviewed sev-
eral model policies, and then drafted its own school wellness policy to address nutri-
tion in the school setting.
3. Adopt the policy

The school wellness team brought the policy to the school board for consideration.
The school board adopted the policy. The school wellness team met again and deter-
mined steps needed to enact the policy; created a communications plan and an eval-
uation plan; and applied for funding from federal, state, and local resources.
4. Implement and enforce the policy

The school wellness team disseminated the policy, including communicating about
strategies to offer fruits and vegetables to students during school lunches. The food
service director offered the students the opportunity to try new fruits and vegetables,
and to complete a survey on the food item, after which the food could potentially be
added to the school lunch menu. School staff disseminated the policy to parents dur-
ing school conferences, and school administration included policy information in
school media outlets. School staff encouraged students to bring snacks and lunches
that included fruits and vegetables. Policy enforcement occurred when sugary drinks
were banned from school vending machines.
5. Evaluate the policy’s effectiveness

The school wellness team surveyed the school district and reported that the policy
was implemented as written. The student survey indicated students’ willingness to
try new foods. The school wellness team planned to review and update the policy and
policy implementation annually.

 1. Models of the policymaking process

Policy models or frameworks explain the policymaking process. Examples include:

Policy stream model

All three of the following streams must come together to enact a policy.
 Problem stream: Potential problems that could be addressed by policymakers
 Policy stream: Competing ideas and solutions for addressing policy issue
 Political stream: The political will to advance the policy
Longest’s policy cycle model
1. Policy formulation phase: There is a window of opportunity where an agenda
comes together—integrating the problem, possible solutions, and the political
circumstances—which leads to enacting legislation.
2. Policy implementation phase: The executive branch of the government estab-
lishes rules and regulations. Stakeholders have the opportunity to influence ad-
justments and decisions in this phase.
3. Policy modification phase: Previous decisions may be revisited/modified in response
to unintended consequences, circling back to the policy formulation phase.
Level 5 sources:
 Berkowitz, 2012
 Kingdon, 1995
 Longest, 2010
 O’Grady, 2016
 Watson, 2014
 2. Effective policy advocacy strategies

Effective policy advocacy strategies include:
 Understand the steps of the legislative process.
 Know the key players who influences proposed legislation.
 Understand how legislative committees work.
 Meet with legislative staff about the policy issue.
 Attend and testify at legislative hearings.
 Communicate with legislators (in person, at day on the hill events, by phone, or
via email).
Level 5 source:
 Abood, 2007
 3. Responsibilities consistent with policy development and

enforcement
In a qualitative study, public health nursing leaders reported the following responsi-
bilities consistent with policy development and enforcement in their leadership role:
 Developing, implementing, and assuring compliance of policy initiatives
 Supervising and leading programs
 Managing fiscal resources
 Collaborating with local and state organizations
 Collecting and analyzing data

 Serving as a legislative liaison within county guidelines

 Overseeing core public health functions
Level 3 source:
 Deschaine & Schaffer, 2003
 4. Barriers to development and implementation

Public health nurse (PHN) leaders in local health departments reported encountering
the following barriers in policy development and implementation activities:
 Political barriers to getting a public health issue on the agenda at health board
or county commissioner meeting
 Lack of public understanding about the policy issue
 Lack of dedicated funding for public health programs and policy mandates
 Resource limitations, like inadequate technology and staffing
 Lack of female representation on county boards
Level 3 source:
 Deschaine & Schaffer, 2003
 5. Assessing the policy environment

Questions useful for assessing a policy environment include:
 What is the problem?
 Where is the process?
 How many are affected?
 What possible solutions could be proposed?
 What are the ethical arguments involved?
 At what level is the problem most effectively addressed?
 Who is in a position to make policy decisions?
 What are the obstacles to policy intervention?
 What resources are available?
 How can I get involved?
Level 5 source:
 Malone, 2005
 6. Promoting evidence in policy decisions

Consider the following recommendations for promoting use of evidence in policy
decisions:
 Analyze and prepare data ahead of time so that evidence can be quickly availa-
ble when there is a window of opportunity for policy decisions.
 Organize data to clearly and quickly communicate: a) the burden to public
health, b) the priority of the policy issue over other issues, c) relevance to voters,
d) benefits of intervention, e) a personal and compelling story of how lives are
affected, and f) cost estimate of intervention.

 Have systems in place to monitor patterns and trends (public health policy sur-
veillance) and use evidence from a variety of sources to track outcomes.
Level 5 source:
 Brownson, Chriqui, & Stamakatis, 2009
 7. Building relationships to promote equality

“Political action requires listening to communities prior to acting as advocate, inter-
preter of science, or activist” (Carnegie & Kiger, 2009, p. 1982). Public health nurses
can contribute to policies that promote equality by building relationships with local
government, community organizations, and citizen groups, and by thinking critically
about injustice and inequities in the distribution of health resources.
Level 5 source:
 Carnegie & Kiger, 2009
 8. Examples of successful policy initiatives

Consider the following examples of policy initiatives that increase awareness about
health improvement strategies:
 Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart, Play Hard in Massachusetts, established criteria
for Shape Up Somerville-designated restaurants, based on federal National School
Lunch Program regulations. Restaurant owners and managers reported a greater
awareness of nutrition among staff and customers following the intervention.
 Washington state developed and implemented policies prohibiting smoking in
public places following assessment, using broad public support through previous
tobacco prevention work, relying on health department leadership to support
and defend secondhand smoke policy.
 Health visitors (PHNs) in the United Kingdom worked with preschool leaders on
developing and implementing sun safety policies for children. For the interven-
tion group, 88 percent of schools developed and implemented sun safety poli-
cies, while there were no changes in sun safety policy in the control group.
 Lexington, Kentucky, enacted smoke-free laws with the support of a coalition of
health care providers and systems, tobacco control expertise, a strong legal
team, and a deliberate strategy to expose the tobacco industry.
Level 1 source:
 Syson-Nibbs, Peters, & Saul, 2005
Level 3 sources:
 Economos et al., 2009
 Gizzi, Klementiev, Britt, & Cruz-Uribe, 2009
Level 5 source:
 Greathouse, Hahn, Chizimuzo, Warnick, & Riker, 2005

 9. Developing evidence-based organizational policies

An evidence-based practice council at a Colorado hospital developed an algorithm to
identify steps needed to facilitate development of evidence-based organizational pol-
icies. Public health departments may find these steps useful for guiding organiza-
tional policies:
a. Select the policy to revise (or identify the need for a new policy).
b. Search for evidence.
c. Conduct a systematic evaluation of the evidence.
d. Compare evidence to the current policy and make a decision.
e. Arrange for stakeholders and/or experts to review the policy.
f. Make revisions based on comments from stakeholders and experts.
g. Obtain signatures of approval.
h. Submit the policy to the policy committee or other decision-makers.
i. Provide staff education as needed.
j. Place the policy on the organization’s internal website.
Level 5 source:
 Oman, Duran, & Fink, 2008
Wheel notes
Facilitation and conflict mediation skills
Public health policy development and enforcement seeks to improve population
health; limited funding and/or differing perspectives may lead to conflict about which
policies are placed on the policy agenda and eventually adopted and implemented,
bringing conflict into the decision-making process. Public health nurses use facilitation
and conflict mediation skills to support successful policy adoption and implementation.
Local level
Nursing literature focuses on the policy development and enforcement process at the
federal and state levels. The same basic steps can be applied to policy development
in all levels of government. Public health nurses use their expertise to influence and
guide policy development. Public health nurses communicate evidence about effec-
tive policies and policy implementation. They have the opportunity to influence poli-
cies related to school wellness, worksite wellness, active living, vaccine requirements,
protected health information, tobacco, and head lice, among other issues.

References
Abood, S. (2007). Influencing health care in the legislative arena. The Online Journal of Issues in
Nursing, 12(1), Manuscript 2. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No01Man02
Anderson, J. E. (2015). Public policymaking: An introduction. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Berkowitz, B. (2012). The policy process. In D. Mason, J. Leavitt, & M. Chaffee (Eds.), Policy and
politics in nursing and health care (pp. 49-58). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Brownson, R. C., Chriqui, J. F., & Stamakatis, K. A. (2009). Understanding evidence-based public
health policy. American Journal of Public Health, 99(9), 1576-1583.
Carnegie, E. & Kiger, A. (2009). Being and doing politics: An outdated model or 21st century
reality? Journal of Advanced Nursing 65(9), 1976-1984. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-
2648.2009.05084.x
Deschaine, J. E. & Schaffer, M. A. (2003). Strengthening the role of public health nurse leaders in
policy development. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 4(4), 266-274. doi:
10.1177/1527154403258308
Economos, C. D., Folta S. C., Goldberg J., Hudson, D., Collins, J., Baker, Z., et al. (2009). A
community-based restaurant initiative to increase availability of healthy menu options
in Somerville, Massachusetts: Shape Up Somerville. Preventing Chronic Disease, 6(3), 1-
8. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/pdf/08_0165.pdf
Edelstein, J., Gallagher, R., Hansen, J. M., Ebeling, J. M., & Turner, M. J. (2010). Shaping public
health nursing practice: A policy development toolkit. Rockville, MD: Health Resources
and Services Administration.
Gizzi, C., Klementiev, A., Britt, J., & Cruz-Uribe, F. (2009). The Use of assessment in promoting
secondhand smoke policy in a local health jurisdiction. Journal of Public Health
Management and Practice, 15(1), 41-46.
Greathouse, L. W., Hahn, E. J., Chizimuzo, T. C., Warnick, T. A., & Riker, C. A. (2005). Passing a
smoke-free law in a pro-tobacco culture: A multiple streams approach.
Kindgon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. Boston: Little, Brown.
Longest, B. (2010). Health policymaking in the United States. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Malone, R. E. (2005). Assessing the policy environment. Policy Politics Nursing Practice, 6(2), 135-
143. doi: 10.1177/1527154405276141
Minnesota Department of Health. (2017a). The Statewide Health Improvement Partnership.
Retrieved from http://www.health.state.mn.us/ship/
Minnesota Department of Health. (2017b). Creating better health together by helping kids learn
and grow. Retrieved from
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/oshii/ship/pdfs/summaries/schools.pdf
O’Grady, E. T. (2016). The Policy Process. In D. J. Mason, D. B. Gardner, F. H. Outlaw, E. T., & O’Grady
(Eds), Policy and politics in nursing and health care (pp. 61-72). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier, Inc.
Oman, K. S., Duran, C., & Fink, R. (2008). Evidence-based policy and procedures: An algorithm for
success. Journal of Nursing Administration, 38(1), 47-51.
Syson-Nibbs, L., Peters, J., & Saul, C. (2005). Can health visitor intervention change sun safety
policies and practice in preschool establishments. A randomized controlled study.
Health Education Journal, 64(2), 129-141.
Watson, T. (2014). Political science theory for public health practice. American Journal of Health
Education, 45, 319–321. doi: 10.1080/19325037.2014.949368

YELLOW WEDGE: IN REVIEW
In review
A story:
Lia Roberts is a public health nurse and the Public Health Preparedness Coordinator
for Dakota County in Minnesota. To learn about her work in emergency prepared-
ness, watch the video Dakota County Public Health Emergency Preparedness (Dakota
County, 2018).
Think about this example of pandemic flu planning. Consider how the yellow wedge
interventions of advocacy, social marketing, and policy development and enforce-
ment occur when conducting emergency preparedness activities for pandemic flu.
The Department of Homeland Security website contains many resources for emer-
gency preparedness planning for your analysis of effective advocacy, social market-
ing, and policy development/enforcement interventions. PHNs access these re-
sources at Ready.gov.

YELLOW WEDGE: IN REVIEW
Level of practice
1. What levels of practice occur in the story about pandemic flu planning?
Advocacy
2. What advocacy role occurs during pandemic flu planning?
3. Which key stakeholders need to be influenced?
4. What evidence determines which groups are vulnerable or at greatest risk?
What health disparities should be considered?
5. Which key individuals and organizations offer support for the pandemic flu plan?
Social marketing
6. Who is the target audience? Is anyone missing?
7. What is the goal for behavior change?
8. What potential barriers, benefits, motivators, cultural considerations, and com-
petition need to be considered?
9. What are the differences in how various community members receive information?
10. What product, price, place, and promotion need to be considered in the
marketing mix?
Policy development and enforcement

11. Who participates in the policy development process? Who benefits from the
policy? Who might be harmed as an unintended consequence?
12. What assumptions do planners hold about emergency response that may not be
shared among all community members? Hint: Various community members
have varying levels of trust of people in uniform.
13. What resources are available for implementing the pandemic flu policy response?
14. Although the pandemic flu response occurs here at the local level, what state
and federal policies might be applicable to the plan?
15. How might public health nurses be involved in policy enforcement related to the
pandemic flu policy?
16. How could a public health nurse evaluate the effectiveness of pandemic flu pol-
icy response? (Hint: Think about the numbers reported in the video on emer-
gency preparedness activities in Dakota County).
References
Dakota County [Dakota County Videos]. (2018, May 8). Dakota County Public Health emergency
preparedness [video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/qTUHoztIFYY

Public Health Interventions: Applications For Public Health Nursing Practice

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PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 5

6 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 7

How has public health nursing practice changed?

8 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

How has the Public Health Intervention Wheel

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 9

Public health nursing interventions

10 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

The Intervention Wheel:

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 11

12 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

1. Public health interventions are population-based if they focus

2. Public health interventions are population-based if they are

3. Public health interventions are population-based if they

4. Public health interventions are population-based if they

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 13

event does have a preventable component. A population-based approach presumes

5. Public health interventions are population-based if they

14 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

 Population-based individual-focused practice changes knowledge, attitudes,

Cornerstones of public health nursing

The Intervention Wheel and the core public

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 15

Using the public health intervention framework

16 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

Why is evidence-based practice important to

When do public health nurses use evidence-

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 17

What are the levels of evidence that inform

Table 1: Evidence levels, key features, and public health nursing

Level 1 Intervention Older adults who received home

Level 2 Intervention School nurses collaborated with a

18 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

Evidence level Key features Example

Level 3 May contain In response to an online survey in

Level 4 Opinion of CDC offers guidelines for the han-

Level 5 Experiential Program evaluation of the Pregnant

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 19

What are some terms and definitions related to

Where is evidence found?

How is the quality of evidence determined?

What process does a public health nurse use to

20 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

Table 2: PET process

P Examine the practice Public health nurses who provide health

T Determine if The team meets to determine which fall

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22 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

Overview of evidence-based practice and related topics

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24 | PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS | 25

Individual/family level (case-finding)