Health Promotion Assignment: Cessation of Alcohol Consumption among Middle and High School Students

This health promotion assignment aims to design a plan for the cessation of alcohol consumption among middle and high school students of Frankston High School located in Victoria, Australia. The target audience, health promotion outline, goals, prevention management perspective, stakeholders, community involved, health message, promotion activity, and evaluation are discussed.

Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION ASSIGNMENT
HEALTH PROMOTION ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
The heart which forms the central organ of the circulatory system is responsible for
the circulation of blood to the different parts of the body. Also, it is responsible for supplying
nutrients and oxygen to different parts of the body. The circulatory system also works to
eliminate the toxic elements from the body in the form of gaseous diffusion. The functional
impairment of the circulatory system leads to cardiovascular disorders. It should be noted in
this context that cardiovascular disorders alone account for the death of 15,000 people
annually in the world (Shield et al., 2014). According to a report published by the World
Health Organization, it has been mentioned that Australia ranks the highest in terms of
alcohol consumption (WHO, 2014). Also, alcohol consumption ranks the second major
reason that accounts for death after smoking. It should be critically noted here that studies
reveal that the non-indigenous proportion of the Australian population is more inclined to
alcohol consumption in comparison to the indigenous population base of Australia. Also, the
alcohol consumption has been reported to be the highest among the middle school and high
school students who belong to the age group of 15 to 20 years of age (WHO, 2014). This
paper intends to design a health promotion plan for the cessation of alcohol consumption
among the middle school and high school students of Frankston High School located in
Victoria, Australia.
Target Audience:
Contrary to the popular belief established by the media, alcohol is more of a serious
problem among the non-indigenous Australians. According to WHO (2014), it has been
mentioned that the total amount of alcohol consumed in Australia during the time period of
2016-2017 was equivalent to 186 million litres. Statistical reports further suggest that the
most commonly consumed alcohol within the continent are beer, which accounts for 39% and

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wine, which accounts for 38% (Abs.gov.au, 2019). In addition to this the major categories of
alcohol consumed in Australia include spirits, wine, cider and pre-mixed beverages. Also,
9.4 litres of pure alcohol is consumed by the target audience that includes middle school and
high school students who belong to the age group of 15 years to 21 years. The most
consumed alcohol being beer equivalent to a total of 224 stubbies that refers to 375 ml beer,
38 bottles of (750 ml) wine, 17 bottles of (375 ml) cider, four bottles of (700 ml) spirits and
33 cans of (375 ml) premixed drink (Abs.gov.au, 2019). The total percentage of alcohol
consumers among the youth has been reported to be 43% among the non-indigenous
Australians compared to only 15% among the indigenous Australians (Abs.gov.au, 2019).
Therefore, the target audience for the health promotion program would comprise of
the students studying in the tenth and twelfth grade of the Frankston High School, located at
Victoria. The rationale for the choice of target audience can be explained as the higher
prevalence of alcohol consumption among the age group 15 to 21 years of age. Also,
evidence supporting a high number of alcohol consumption cases within Victoria accounts
for the supporting rationale why a school was chosen in Victoria.
Health Promotion Outline:
The rationale for conducting a health promotion program can be explained as the need
to educate and promote awareness among the targeted audience about wellness and healthier
lifestyle. Disseminating education and awareness about risk factors that cause physical health
problems can help in adapting preventive strategies to prevent the progression of
cardiovascular disorders (Livingston et al., 2016). Also, studies reveal that the consumption
of alcohol also increases the risk of developing oral cancer and gastrointestinal ulcer (Shield
et al., 2014). As suggested by Fertman and Allensworth (2016), health promotion and
awareness programs help in motivating participants to choose a healthy lifestyle over

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unhealthy habits and lead a life free from health risks. Studies suggest a higher success rate of
health promotion programs that have significantly helped in cultivating positive health habits
about health problems such as obesity and chronic illness management (Salazar et al., 2015).
Also, the transition from adolescence to young age has been mentioned to be the stage that is
marked by an experimentation fervour and high learning capacity. Therefore, the health
promotion program can effectively help in positively channelizing the thought process and
perception of the students to quit alcohol and lead a healthy life.
As has already been discussed in the previous sections of the paper, alcohol
consumption is more prevalent among the non-indigenous Australians compared to that of
indigenous Australians and has been reported to be the highest within Victoria. The health
promotion program would be conducted in the Frankston High School of Victoria. The
purpose of the program is to disseminate awareness among the students about the negative
impact of alcohol on the physical health. Also, the program intends to promote health literacy
among the students and motivate them to quit alcohol consumption to add healthy years to
their life.
Health Promotion Goals:
According to Issel and Wells (2017), the feasibility of a project is determined on the
basis of the realistic set goals that are reliable and at the same time attainable within a
stipulated period of time. As suggested by Jones et al. (2014), the goals of a health promotion
program must satisfy the parameters of being specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and
timely regulated. These parameters help in monitoring and evaluating the success rate of the
program in bringing about a difference in the perception and the attitude of the participants.
The primary aim of the project is to motivate the students of the Frankston High School in
Victoria to quit alcohol consumption. Also, the program intends to reduce the prevalence of

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alcohol consumption among the targeted audience by 3%. Also, the program would improve
access to rehabilitation and support programmes to encourage students to quit alcohol and opt
for a healthy lifestyle.
Health Prevention Management Perspective:
According to Skinner et al. (2015), health promotion programs must be based on a
conceptual health promotion model so that the impact can reach out to a major target
audience. The alcohol cessation health promotion program would be based on the health
belief model. The model is derived from the psychological and behavioural theory that is
built upon two behavioural traits that include the desire to avoid illness and restoring the
belief that the health condition is curable (Green & Murphy, 2014). In addition to this, the
goals of the health promotion program would be divided into the three levels of prevention
that include, the primary, secondary and the tertiary levels. The primary level considers
adapting measures to reduce the prevalence of the problem, the secondary level includes
undertaking screening measures to detect the problem and the tertiary level includes adapting
remedial steps to control the problem (Elredge et al., 2016).
Therefore, the primary aim of the proposed health promotion program would be to
reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular disorders and oral cancer in the target audience. The
secondary aim would include the provision of complete body-check up in order to identify
students who are at a high risk of developing cardiovascular disorders. The tertiary aim
would involve supporting students with appropriate referral and intervention programs in
order to motivate them to give up alcohol and lead a healthy life. The project would make use
of education and awareness workshops to disseminate the knowledge about the negative
impact of alcohol on physical health. Information about the health risks associated with binge
drinking and long term alcohol consumption would also be briefed to the students. In addition

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to this, the benefit of quitting alcohol would also be explained to the students (focusing on
Indigenous Australians) and support options would also be discussed that could help students
in quitting alcohol. The program would typically make use of a combination of health literacy
along with counselling to motivate students in giving up alcohol consumption.
Stakeholders and Community involved:
The health promotion program is never an individual effort but involves the combined
effort of multiple stakeholders. According to Korda and Itani (2013), stakeholders can be
classified into three categories that include the primary, secondary and the tertiary
stakeholders. The primary stakeholders include the organizers and the participants of the
health promotion program. On the other hand, the secondary stakeholders as well as the
tertiary stakeholders indirectly regulate the program and are passively involved with the
planning and execution of the program. For the proposed health promotion and evaluation
program, the primary stakeholders would be the organizing committee, the participants and
the team of physician and community nurses who would be responsible for conducting the
program. The secondary stakeholder would include the advisory board of the school, the
faculty members and the immediate family members of the student. The tertiary stakeholders
would include the neighbour and the peers of the students. In addition to this, the project
would also involve the rehabilitation and the support services that would offer assistance to
the students and it would also include the healthcare organizations contacted for funding the
project and supplying manpower to the project.
Health Message:
A concise and clear health message makes it easy to communicate about the main
principle of the health promotion program. The concise health message for the proposed
health promotion program would be “Don’t drown your health in alcohol”. The health

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message critically describes the health risks associated with alcohol and also hints at the
support services available to quit alcohol for a healthier life.
Health Promotion Activity:
The health promotion activity would be conducted in a three-fold process. The first
would comprise of an education and awareness workshop where the students would be taught
about the negative impact of alcohol on the physical health. Health risks related to
cardiovascular disorders and oral cancer would be discussed by physician and the team of
community nurses. The health literacy would be promoted through informative presentations
and posters. The next step would involve conducting a complete body check-up of the
students in order to access that whether or not they are at a risk of developing cardiovascular
disorders or oral cancer. The final step would involve motivating the students to give up
alcohol. This would be done by sharing success stories of individuals who successfully gave
up alcohol to lead a healthier and happier life. Also, this step would also involve a health
counsellor conducting a session to discuss about the support options available that can help in
quitting alcohol.
Health Promotion Evaluation:
The process of evaluation helps in stringently monitoring the success rate of the
health promotion program. In addition to this a sound evaluation scheme also helps in
accessing the feasibility of the established goals and whether or not the steps undertaken are
effectively helping in achieving positive outcome (Korda & Itani, 2013). In order to evaluate
the success rate of the proposed health promotion program a survey would be conducted. The
survey forms would be distributed to the participants and the completed form would be
collected from the participants at the end of the program (Fertman & Allensworth, 2016). The

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responses would then be analysed using quantitative data analysis in order to understand the
effectiveness of the health promotion program.
Conclusion:
Therefore to conclude, it can be mentioned that excessive alcohol consumption is an
emerging problem among the middle school as well as high school students. Consumption of
alcohol is associated with a number of negative impacts on health that includes, risks of
developing cardiovascular disorders, oral cancer as well as gastrointestinal ulcer. Recent
statistical findings suggest that the prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption is highest in
the region of Victoria. Also, the prevalence rate has been reported to be higher in the non-
indigenous Australians compared to the indigenous Australians. This accounts for the reason
why the health promotion is designed for the target audience that includes students aged 15 to
21 years. The health promotion program would be based on the health belief model and
would include conducting an education and awareness session, where care professionals
would talk about the negative implication of alcohol on health and diagnose students at a high
risk of developing cardiovascular disorders and other health disorders related to alcohol
consumption. In addition to this, it would also comprise of supporting students with
counselling and support options to quit alcohol and add healthy years to their life. Finally the
effectiveness of the program would be evaluated on the basis of survey responses collected
from students.

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References:
Abs.gov.au (2019). 4307.0.55.001 - Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, Australia, 2016-17.
[online] Abs.gov.au. Available at:
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%20Release12016-17 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].
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S. (2016). Planning health promotion programs: an intervention mapping approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Fertman, C. I., & Allensworth, D. D. (Eds.). (2016). Health promotion programs: from
theory to practice. John Wiley & Sons.p.90
Green, E. C., & Murphy, E. (2014). Health belief model. The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia
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Issel, L. M., & Wells, R. (2017). Health program planning and evaluation. Jones & Bartlett
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model interventions in improving adherence: a systematic review. Health psychology
review, 8(3), 253-269.
Korda, H., & Itani, Z. (2013). Harnessing social media for health promotion and behavior
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Livingston, M., Raninen, J., Slade, T., Swift, W., Lloyd, B., & Dietze, P. (2016).
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model. Addiction, 111(9), 1590-1598.

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Salazar, L. F., Crosby, R. A., & DiClemente, R. J. (2015). Research methods in health
promotion. John Wiley & Sons.p.80-85
Shield, K. D., Parry, C., & Rehm, J. (2014). Chronic diseases and conditions related to
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