Health Improvement Plan

Michael Zaleski

Client Overview

• Gender: Female

• Age: 46

• Education: high school

• Profession: Deli worker

• Family Situation: Lives with husband, son, and daughter

• Chief Complaints: Not enough sleep, and addiction to cigarettes

Overview of health history

• Weight: 175

• Height:5’10

• Adult illnesses: Hyperthyroidism (1994), Walking pneumonia (2002), and inflamed gallbladder which was removed (2011)

• Family health history: Diabetes

• Modes of relaxation: Watching TV, drinking, and communicating with friends via phone

Research• Smoking leads to death, and also a psychological

dependency for tobacco which is unhealthy (Taylor, G. 2014 January 21)

• Each cigarette smoked is killing thousands a cells within minutes, it takes minutes rather than years for tobacco to effect you negatively (Narayanassamy, V. 2013, June 1)

• Switching to electronic cigarettes is beneficial in helping you quit with no side effects left from the e-cig, making quitting easier (PhD, R.G 2014, January 1)

• Making a “crave journal” to document when you smoke, when you pass up a smoke, or when you’re really craving it has been proven to effectively reduce smoking (Robinson , L., & Smith, M. 2014 May 1)

Target Behavior

•Reduce smoking from half a pack a day to eventually quitting

Theory (HBM)

• High Perceived Susceptibility: Higher risk of developing a disease like lung cancer, or emphysema

• Low Perceived Severity: Doesn’t have health problems now, and have tried to quit smoking before and did not succeed

• Perceived Barriers: Has been smoking for many years (20+), the temptation to smoke because her friends are smoking, and uses smoking to relax

• High Self-Efficacy: Married, no major health problems as of late, and support from family and friends

Theory (cont…)• Reducing B’s smoking will allow her to become healthier, and

breathe clearly

• Increased Perceived Severity: Millions of people die every year from tobacco use, and smokers have a shorter life expectancy (about 10 years shorter)

• Different Ways of Coping With Stress: Electronic cigarette will be the best and only thing if the client still wants that smoking sensation

• Raise Perceived Benefits: Reducing or quitting smoking will instantly make B feel healthier than ever with clear lungs and no wheezing after doing some kind of exercise

• Never Say Negative Things: Keep self-efficacy up

• Get Help from Peers: To encourage B not to smoke and have her smoking friends not encourage her to smoke, or even offer her one

Smart Goal

• 4 weeks B will have reduced her smoking intake gradually by smoking a little less everyday

• Find other ways to cope with not smoking most likely an e-cig or vaporizer

• Lecture B on the enormous amount of health risks she’s taking with smoking, and show how it would be better if she stopped smoking

• With each week her intake should be down at least two cigarettes less than the week before, slowly but surely quitting smoking

• Will use a “crave journal” to document when she smokes, and keep track of how much day-by-day

Intervention Highlights

•Changing B’s intake of smoking

•Enlightening client B about the harms of smoking

Results

• B has reduced intake of smoking each week, even if it is only two cigarettes less than the week before

• Changing B’s smoking habits have made her healthier and happy

• Over all client B was not a hundred percent interested in reducing smoking, but after showing everything that could happen she followed my plan to reduce her smoking little by little

• She has gone from a half a pack to a quarter pack in 4 weeks

• Very soon client B is going to get an electric cigarette or vaporizer as an alternative to smoking

DataMONDAY TUESDAY WED. THURS. FRIDAY SATURDA

YSUNDAY

WEEK 1 Half a pack Half a pack Half a pack Half a pack Half a pack Half a pack 9 cigs

WEEK 2 9 cigs 8 cigs Half a pack 9 cigs 9 cigs Half a pack 8 cigs

WEEK 3 8 cigs 9 cigs 9 cigs 7 cigs 8 cigs 7 cigs 7 cigs

WEEK 4 7 cigs 6 cigs 7 cigs 6 cigs 8 cigs 6 cigs 5 cigs

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

10 10 10 10

9

8

7

5

B’s cigarette smoking before and after intervention

Before After

Personal/Professional Analysis

• Using a theory to guide an intervention is easier said than done, especially if client is not a hundred percent determined

• With trying to help my client change their lifestyle for better health I realized I enjoy doing so

• Using The Health Belief Model (HBM) it’s easier to show the client factors, susceptibility, benefits, etc.

• Hopefully this will lead to the client quitting smoking

References• Taylor, G. (2014, January 21). Change in mental health after

smoking cessation: systematic review and meta-analysis. . Retrieved may 15, 2014 from http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g1151

• PhD, R. G. (2014, January 1). E-cigarette benefits. . Retrieved may 15, 2014, from http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/129/19/1972.full

• Robinson, L., & Smith, M. (2014, May 1). How to quit smoking. . Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://helpguide.org/mental/quit_smoking_cessation.html

• Narayanassamy, V. (2013, June 1). The effect of tobacco smoking within minutes. . Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.significancemagazine.org/details/webexclusive/1000531/the-effect-of-tobacco-smoking-within-minutes.html