Review the article “Improving Female Preventive Health Care Delivery Through Practice
Change” found in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider why the Every Woman
Matters program was not effective in meeting its goals.
Using the Walden Library and other credible websites, identify at least two successful
advocacy programs for early cancer screening and evaluate the characteristics that made
them effective based on the evidence presented in the article or website.
To complete:
Write a 3- to 5-page paper that includes the following:
Summarize the Every Woman Matters program and how the issue of women’s preventive
health care was approached. Analyze possible reasons the program was ineffective.
Summarize the characteristics at least two prevention programs that advocate for early
screening, describing what made them successful.
If you were the nurse leader in charge of developing a follow-up to the Every Woman
Matters program, what strategies would you propose for creating a more effective
prevention program?
Promoting Positive Health Behaviors
Every Woman Matters program and women’s preventive health care
The EWM is a program that is funded federally and it caters for office visits for women
in need of lab fees, pap tests, pelvic exams, and clinical breast exams. The program also caters
for some few diagnostic tests as well as age-appropriate mammography. Between 1992 to 2011,
the program offered 110,465 mammograms where 914 breast cancer cases were discovered.
Women who benefited from paid office visits in addition to screening services had to be
aged 40- 74 years and match the income guidelines that the program applied. Women who were
eligible for this program were exempted from Medicaid benefits. Moreover, they belonged to
HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) or had Medicare Part B, programs where screening
services were already catered for.
Every Woman Matters’ services are provided in around eight hundred mammography
radiology groups or facilities, laboratories, hospitals, and health care offices and clinics.
Community partners serve in all Nebraska counties and ensure that the program is available to all
PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS 2
women. Moreover, they carry out health education activities and enroll women who are eligible.
Through reducing barriers, the partners ensure the program is accessible to women.
The Medicaid Treatment Bill (LB677) for Nebraska was passed in 2001 in the
Legislature. Women who had been diagnosed with cervical invasive cancer, cervical pre-cancer,
or breast cancer through the program would benefit greatly after 1 st September, 2001. Nebraska’s
Medicaid would cater for their treatment. Presently, 1,075 women who were diagnosed via the
program have been reimbursed by Medicaid Women’s Cancer Control Program.
Beginning from 2001, the program has provided preventive tests for diabetes and
cardiovascular diseases (Williams, Deci & Ryan, 2008). The program in conjunction with
Nebraska Colon Cancer Screening Program provides screening tests for colon cancer to both
men and women who are eligible and aged between 50- 74 years. To ensure healthier lives,
personalized information and education are also provided. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention funds the program.
Reasons for ineffectiveness
The Every Woman Matters program failed owing to the fact that the screening rates in a
majority of the practices fell short of the standard levels, which left women at unnecessary risks.
In addition, there were numerous barriers to screening at the practice systems, physician, and
patient levels. Irrespective of the benefits that women enjoy from the EWM program, the
cervical and breast cancer screening levels are far below the ideal.
Early cancer screening prevention programs
The Norton Cancer Institute aims at minimizing the number of individuals who are
vulnerable to cancer through early detection and prevention. The Prevention and Early Detection
Program at the institute offers comprehensive assessments, testing, cancer screening, and follow-
PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS 3
ups to assess people who are at risk of contracting cancer. In addition, clients are offered the
accessibility to genetic counselors, which enables determining risks to different cancers funded
on family history. The program’s Mobile Prevention Center offers community members with
proper access to preventive education and screenings. Early detections from cancer screenings
and genetic testing allow treatment to begin before the symptoms appear, which improves
survival rates and treatment outcomes greatly (McLeroy et al., 1988).
The Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program at the New Mexico Department
of Health aims at ensuring accessibility to diagnostic and screening services to cervical and
breast cancer that are high-quality. There is a keen focus on women who are underserved. In
addition, public awareness is enhanced through education on disease processes, prevention, and
the significance of regular and frequent screening exams so as to promote early detection. The
diagnostic and screening services are age-appropriate and ensure the recommended care
standards for cervical and breast cancer.
The two programs have been extremely successful as they promote the recommended
standards of caring for cancer and focus on the following components; prevention, early
detection, treatment, and palliative care.
Strategies for an effective prevention program
There is a need to be informed of the goal of a prevention program so as to work towards
its effectiveness. Cancer screening among women has been extremely beneficial in minimizing
suffering, reducing health care costs, and saving lives. More specifically, cervical and breast
cancers’ periodic screening has been particularly effective in minimizing the disease burden as
far as women are concerned (Martins & McNeil, 2009). Systematic change reviews strategies
PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS 4
denote practices as extremely complex systems. Therefore, there is a need for more complex and
effective strategies that promote practices for sustaining and initiating change.
Transforming practice behavior calls for teamwork for all staff and clinicians, the
willingness and flexibility to change, and should be founded on individualized interventions that
are based on the dynamic and unique patterns of every system. The GAPS model is exceptionally
beneficial in promoting preventive care as well as modifying office operations. Office staff
should be involved in every step including supporting the improvements, planning routines’
modifications, assessing the present routines, and goal setting. In addition, leadership,
involvement of stakeholders, creation of partnerships, being sensitive to people’s needs and
responding to them, systemic approach, decision making, seeking continuous improvement, and
using the stepwise approach are equally vital.
PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS 5
References
Martins, R. K., & McNeil, D. W. (2009). Review of Motivational Interviewing in promoting
health behaviors. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(4), 283-293.
McLeroy, K. R., Bibeau, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz, K. (1988). An ecological perspective on
health promotion programs. Health Education & Behavior, 15(4), 351-377.
Williams, G. C., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Building health-care partnerships by
supporting autonomy: Promoting maintained behavior change and positive health
outcomes. Partnerships in healthcare: Transforming relational process, 67-87.