Executive Summary (Benchmark Assessment)
In this assignment, you will select a program, quality improvement initiative, or other project from your place of employment. Assume you are presenting this program to the board for approval of funding. Write an executive summary (850-1,000 words) to present to the board, from which they will make their decision to fund your program or project. The summary should include:
1) The purpose of the program or project.
2) The target population or audience.
3) The benefits of the program or project
4) The cost or budget justification.
5) The basis upon which the program or project will be evaluated.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Turnitin Score of less than 18%
Executive summary
The Zinc supplementation program is a very important program that should be implemented as one of health programs that will ensure that good health of individuals is guaranteed. Zinc is one of the most crucial micronutrients that is naturally found in some founds and therefore those foods that lack zinc or have inadequate amount of zinc should be supplemented with zinc for the purpose of boosting the amount of zinc in those individuals that consume particular foods with limited amount of zinc (Gomez, Ramos, & Craviuto, 2009).
Zinc plays a lot important of roles in the human body including the following: synthesis of hormone thyroid, aids in body defense mechanism by killing pathogens that may get into the body system and cause diseases, perform antioxidant functions to get rid of the free radicals that may cause harm in the body, ensuring faster sperm mobility and normal levels of testosterone which is a male hormone that plays the major role in fertilization process hence ensuring improved fertility of the sperms produced by men during sexual intercourse (Barley, 2013).
In addition zinc is fundamental in facilitating vital cell division which produces more body cells that replace those body cells that die especially on the skin and the gastrointestinal tract lining, for proper vision and sound health of the hair nails and the skin, good brain, improvement of one’s appetite health just to mention but a few.
The Zinc supplementation program is very important especially those individuals that have infected with HIV virus and therefore they are immune-compromised (Cole, 2010). The people infected by HIV virus especially those at the symptomatic stage, that is, AIDS stage which usually exhibits symptoms and signs such as hair loss, poor taste acuity, and poor healing of wounds, poor body immunity, chronic and severe diarrhea, and dry skin which are some of the symptoms of those individuals that have zinc deficiency (Golden, 2013). Apart from those people infected with HIV virus, everyone needs zinc. Children need zinc to grow while the adults need zinc for good health. Growing infants, children and adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers, athletes, vegetarians and the elderly often require more zinc. This means that every one of us needs to have adequate amount of serum zinc, but those individuals like those infected by HIV virus and any degenerative disease need zinc more that people who are healthy (Deo, Borghi, & Garza, 2011).
The zinc supplementation program will ensure that those foods that are inadequate in zinc are boosted and therefore the victims of zinc deficiency are able to meet their daily requirements and also the population at large maintains normal amounts of zinc in the body (Seoane & Latham, 2011). If the program is well implemented, the consequences that come to individuals due to zinc deficiency in the body system will be minimized if not eradicated. In the long run, this will ensure that resources that are usually used by the health entities to try and contain the effects brought about by zinc deficiency. Most importantly, mortality rates will be drastically reduced thereby improving the life expectancy of the general population.
For this zinc supplementation program to be a success in a health facility, funding is mandatory and a very important requirement. It is on this basis that I am before this to request for the sum of $ 5 million for the purpose of implementing this program. These funds will be used to in the following manner: purchase the require supplements for the target group, training of the health professionals on how to carry out the program effectively and efficiently, paying of the health personnel’s that will be involved in the program, purchasing of the equipment and reagents that are used in determining the amount of serum zinc in the body, settling of logistic matters and for contingency purposes (Skuse, 2012).
After the implementation of the program, its effectiveness must be evaluated to determine whether its goals have been achieved and the impact seen or felt by both the target group and the funders or the sponsors of the program. This project’s effectiveness will be evaluated by comparing the baseline health status information of the individuals enrolled in the program with the health status of the same individuals at the end a specified period of time that the program will take (Waterlow, 2012). This can be done by doing random sampling statistics technique for the individuals enrolled in the program to determine their progress.
From the results obtained, it is then possible to evaluate whether the program has achieved its purpose of ensuring that zinc levels for that given population are adequate to carry out the physiological functions in the body. The zinc levels in the body are measured through laboratory or biochemical methods to determine zinc serum levels. The obtained serum levels are then compared with cut off points or standard that is deemed to be adequate for normal functioning of human body and alleviating all the symptoms and medical complication that are due to zinc deficiency.
References
Barley.C.C, J. (2013). The Epic. Drum of Magazine.
Cole, T. J. (2010). Body Mass Index cut off to define thinness of children with cerebral palsy. Environment & Health Research unit, Medical Research council of South Africa vol 3.
Deo, O. Borghi, E., & Garza, H. (2011). WHO growth reference study group. WHO.
Golden, N. H. (2013). Expected body weight in adolescents: comparison between weight-for- stature and BMI methods pediatric. Journal of Health and Medicine 7(12), p 56-87
Gomez, F., Ramos, G., R, F., & Craviuto, M. J. (2009). Mortality in second and third degree malnutrition. Oxford: Oxford UP
Skuse, D. H. (2012). Failure to thrive and the risk of child abuse; a prospective survey.
Waterlow, J. C. (2012). Classification & definition of protein-calorie malnutrition. Chicago: Pearson.