Western Australia: Tobacco & Drug Abuse in Rural Settings - Essay Sample

Introduction

In Western Australian rural settings, the use of tobacco is accepted. It is a contemporary culture that has been prevalent for a long time. The community inclusivity and social support have made it easy for adult teenagers in Western Australian rural settings to abuse drugs, which eventually leads to addiction (Australian Health Survey, 2016). The frequent use of tobacco as well leads to anxiety and depression the moment the age group realizes it is challenging to cope with drug addiction (Shields, 2016). According to (Australian Health Survey, 2016), although there has been a significant drop in the initiation age of smoking tobacco from 14. 5 to 16.9 years in the past ten years, the use of illicit drugs and tobacco is still prevalent among adult teenagers in the Western Australian nation. The daily smoking rate of tobacco has declined significantly from 2005- 2016 for both men (22.1-12%) and women (19.2%-13.5%) between the ages of 17- 22 years (Australian Health Survey, 2016). Consequently, the average number of tobacco cigar rates smoked per week has declined from 89 in 2005 to 59 in 2016. Nonetheless, when compared to other Australian geographical settings such as Tasmania (6.4%), West Australian rural setting has the highest level of teenage adults associated with the use of tobacco and illicit drugs (15%) (Australian Health Survey, 2016).

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Health-Promotion Intervention to Curb Tobacco Smoking Among Adult Teenage Hood in Aboriginal Culture Group

According to (Caday, Dr. Freddie Bencio, 2017), there is a substantial amount of social science studies that have been conducted to determine motivational theories that can help curb tobacco smoking among adult teenagers, which include social development, health belief models, behavioral change theory, and social development model. Public health intervention programs have the potential to curb smoking behavior and progression of regular smoking among adult teenagers, which may subsequently decrease health inequalities. However, applications that prevent the uptake of smoking behavior need to use more than one theoretical concept to have a positive impact on adult teenagers (Australian Health Survey, 2016). The reason being is that indirect peer pressure may as well be critical in the prevention of smoking. Parents, relatives, and peers have been identified as predictors of smoking onset.

In that perspective, the groups, as mentioned above, are believed to be significant mediators to target prevention strategies. Additionally, according to (Shields 2016), underpinning prevention strategies with established research theories that address the cognitive and social influences of tobacco use may influence the uptake of smoking among adult teenagers. The initiative has been performed through the provision of knowledge about the health effects of tobacco use as well as addressing perceptions and attitudes of tobacco use around peer use and acceptability, and the incorporation of structured lesson and support.

The Framework of the Social Marketing of the Health-Promotion Plan

Product - Education Programs

As earlier stated, poverty is one of the environmental factors affecting West Australian rural settings. It is difficult for a lot of families to cater to their children's' school fees. In that regard, it is become challenging for children to be consistent in attending educational facilities due to financial reasons (Australian Health Survey, 2016). Therefore, the implementation of educational programs in public settings such as halls will give educational opportunities to adult teenagers in the west Australian rural setting to understand the risk associated with the use of tobacco and illicit drugs.

Cost of Implementation

The cost of implementing education programs in the West Australian region is a manageable ambition because the intervention involves enlightening and motivating adult teenagers to stop smoking tobacco since it negatively impacts their health (Australian Health Survey, 2016). In that regard, funds will be distributed to booking for public halls in the region ($ 125), advertising channels such as the use of posters and leaflets ($750) to invite all teenagers to the education programs. Additionally, $ 1,750 will be allocated to physicians and psychotherapist desired during the education campaign period. Therefore, the cost of implementing the health project plan will approximately $ 2,700 (Australian Health Survey, 2016).

Availability of Resources

There is the availability of resources to enlighten and encourage adult teenagers on the use of tobacco and illicit drugs. Firstly, there is the availability of physical resources such as halls in which teenagers may attend to learn about the risk associated with smoking tobacco to their health (Australian Health Survey, 2016). Additionally, there are enough funds to cater for the advertisement channels such as the use of posters and leaflets that will be distributed to the entire West Australian rural setting to inform every one of the events. Lastly, there is the availability of human resources such as physicians and psychologists who are specialized in using behavior intervention methods to encourage teenagers to stop using tobacco.

Promotion of Education Program

As earlier mentioned, there will be the use of posters and leaflets that can be easily assessed by the target audience. Additionally, there will be the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn to promote education programs since adult teenagers can easily assess the channels.

Evaluation Process to Determine Whether Social Marketing Was Successful

The attendance of expected adult teenagers to the advertised public halls will be regarded as successful social marketing. It is expected that at least 63% of the public seats will be occupied on the first day (Australian Health Survey, 2016). It will act as a benchmark in the upcoming education programs to determine whether the attendees will enhance social marketing by inviting their relatives and friends to attend future education programs based on their learning. Lastly, through the use of Australian institutes of health and welfare, the decrease in the number of adult teenagers smoking tobacco will be regarded as successful social marketing.

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2016). Australia's health 2016 (Cat. No. AUS 199). Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/9844cefb-7745-4dd8-9ee2f4d1c3d6a727/19787-AH16.pdf.aspx?inline=true

Caday, Dr. Freddie Bencio. (2017) "Causes of Drug Abuse among College Students: The Australian Experience." The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, Research and Analysis Journals, Doi:10.18535/ijsshi/v4i4.05.

Shields, G. (2016). Autonomy and Mental Disorder. Journal of Mental Health, 25(6), 562-562. Doi: 10.1080/09638237.2016.1207237