Arthritis and Osteoporosis Awareness Campaign - Case Study Example

Arthritis and Osteoporosis Awareness Campaign Run By: Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia Organization Personnel Involved: Staff members of the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia Following evident threats to human lives posed by arthritis and osteoporosis, several health organizations such as the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia have come up with campaigns to help eradicate the disease. In reality, many people in the world believe that arthritis and osteoporosis are diseases that only affect the old people.1 To begin with, if arthritis is looked at keenly, it will be realized that it is a disease that occurs in the form of joint disorders. The joint disorders could involve the inflammation of the joints. On the other hand, osteoporosis is also a disease that affects the bones. The disease occurs when there is a decrease in both the mass and density of the bones. In the long run, this can lead to fracture of the bones. As said earlier on, many people have superstitions and myths that these two diseases are prone only to the old people. The ignorance has resulted in increased cases of bone infections and fractures among the young and middle generation. Such challenges are best addressed using public health education.2 Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia as an organization that is at the fore front to fight the myth among people has come up with a campaign to dispel the myth among people that Arthritis and Osteoporosis is an old person’s disease. The name of the campaign is “Arthritis and Osteoporosis Awareness”. The campaign is scheduled to take place across Australia and the organization aims at significantly reducing the ignorance among the Australian citizens concerning arthritis and osteoporosis. The organization’s campaign has various objectives that should be achieved. Furthermore, the organization has to come up with various strategies of achieving the objectives of the campaign. Without doubt, strategies must involve funds, thus, there should be equitable budget allocation for the strategies. Objectives of the Campaign Though there are several objectives that the organization’s campaign has, there are a few that stand out and that can help dispel the myth among people that arthritis and osteoporosis is an old person’s disease.3 To start with, one objective of the “Arthritis and Osteoporosis Awareness” campaign is to enhance the awareness among the citizens of Australia of the fact that not only the old can suffer from arthritis and osteoporosis but also the young and middle generation people can. A proper campaign to ensure this objective is achieved would take approximately duration of 21 days. During the duration, the targeted number of people will be roughly 50,000, a good number for the start. Though awareness is the name of the campaign, there are several ways and means of making people aware. Similarly, the campaign can be done across Australia but making people aware of the diseases can be the least of concern of the campaign teams. So in order to eradicate the ignorance, making people aware of the two diseases must be among the objectives. The other objective of the campaign is to provide medication for a good number of people suffering from arthritis and osteoporosis. This will be inclusive of the young, middle and the old generation. The provision of medication will require approximately 14 days. During that time, an estimated 20, 000 victims should be attended to by the staff members of the organization. When medication is provide for all generations, it will help promote awareness among the youths too. The youths will start thinking towards the line that they too can suffer from arthritis and osteoporosis.4 The third objective of the campaign is to attempt and reduce the cases of arthritis and osteoporosis in some states of Australia that is Tasmania and Queensland. This is due to the limited funds of US$100, 000. Reduction of the incidences will involve good diets and exercises. This is targeted at roughly 10, 000 people and will need a duration of 10 days. Just like other campaigns against polio, malaria and HIV/AIDS, a strong campaign against arthritis and osteoporosis involving creation of awareness among all generations will result to a significant reduction of the cases or incidences of the two diseases among the citizens of Australia residing within the states of Tasmania and Queensland. The fourth objective of the campaign is to provide all forms of support, including physical and financial support to the individuals of all generations suffering from either arthritis or osteoporosis.5 This is the most important objective that if achieved, will enhance the people’s awareness of the two diseases. Financial support adds weight to any type of campaign, and without doubt, if included in the campaign, the probability of the campaign being successful is very high. Provision of financial support is targeted at approximately 5000 people mainly in the poor states. Since this requires movement and thorough work, it will take approximately 18 days. Strategies to achieve stated objectives In order to achieve the above objectives, the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia should come up with strategies that are effective. Different objectives have different strategies that will enhance their achievement. To begin with, a strategy that will help enhance awareness among the people of Australia is the introduction of community based services across the country. Such services will equip the citizens with the ability of identifying the signs and symptoms of either arthritis or osteoporosis. Once the citizens are able to identify a person suffering from either arthritis or osteoporosis, most probably, they will see people of all generations that suffer from the two diseases. As a result, the objective of making people aware that not only the old can suffer from arthritis and osteoporosis will have been achieved. Additionally, another strategy that can achieve the objective of making people aware of arthritis and osteoporosis is the provision of education to the citizens. Education is very effective in enhancing awareness. When citizens are educated on the factors that cause the diseases and that anybody can suffer from them, in extension, they will have been made aware that any individual and not only the old persons can suffer from the diseases. Provision of education can involve the use of community speakers and health practitioners and professionals. The other strategy of enhancing awareness of arthritis and osteoporosis among the citizens of Australia is by engaging the community in health matters and decisions. For example, engaging the community in vaccinations, free medications and treatments in hospitals will enhance the awareness of the citizens regarding the two diseases. This strategy will have helped achieve the campaign’s objective of provision of medication for individuals suffering from arthritis and osteoporosis.6 Establishment of support groups by the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australia organization is another strategy that can be used to enhance awareness among the people of Australia. During the campaigns against the myths that only the old suffer from arthritis and osteoporosis, when support groups are established, they will provide physical and financial support to the victims of the two diseases and as a result one objective of the campaign will have been achieved.7 The other possible strategy that the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Western Australian organization should use during its awareness campaigns is to lobby for the government to establish health institutions such as clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. In its own capacity, the organization should use part of its budget to help buy medication once the institutions are established. Though this might take a long time, once the institutions are established and well equipped with staff and medications, it will be a big step towards making the citizens of Australia aware of arthritis and osteoporosis. On the other hand, the establishment of the health institutions will help achieve the campaign objective of eradicating arthritis and osteoporosis.8 The use of communication interventions such as mass media for example televisions, radios, newspapers and magazines and social media for example Face book and Twitter is another strategy that the organization can use to enhance the awareness among the citizens of Australia. The media is a very viral but effective means of communication as it can reach a good number of people at a fast speed. Therefore, it can be used to help achieve the objective of making people aware of arthritis and osteoporosis and dispelling the myth that only the old persons can suffer from such diseases.9 Budget Allocation for the Strategies The available budget for the organization’s campaigns is US$100, 000. One strategy covered by this budget is the introduction of community based services. This will account for approximately US$20, 000. The budget will also cover provision of education to the citizens. This will account for US$20, 000. In addition, the engagement of the community in health matters and decisions will also be covered in the budget accounting for US$ 15,000. A further US$ 20, 000 part of the allocated budget will be used in the purchase of medication in health institutions once established by the government of Australia. This is because one strategy of the organization is to lobby the government to establish health institutions. The budget will also cover the establishment of support groups. This will require approximately US$20, 000. US$5,000 of the budget will be used for communication interventions such as mass media and social media. Works Cited Arthritis and Osteoporosis WA. Osteoporosis Model of Care: Musculoskeletal, Diabetes & Endocrine, Falls Prevention and aged care health networks. 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.healthnetworks.health.wa.gov.au/modelsofcare/docs/Osteoporosis_MOC. pdf Accessed on 17th October, 2013. Osteoporosis and Arthritis. Monitoring national priority areas in WA. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.health.wa.gov.au/publications/documents/Arthritis%20and%20Osteoporosis. pdf. Accessed on 3rd Sept. 2013. Wright, Kevin, Lisa Sparks and Dan Ohair (2012). Health Communication in the 21st Century. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More