Prevention and Population Health
Introduction and Instructions:
The Aggregates and Prevention Levels Assignment helps learners focus on several foundational concepts of population health nursing. First, understanding populations, communities, and aggregates is vital for nurses. Second, working knowledge and applying skills about the levels of prevention are essential in population health nursing practice. Developing the knowledge base and the first step of skills in these foundational concepts of population health nursing is the basis for this assignment.
Students may complete the aggregate and the prevention assignment individually or with a team of their choice. Whether choosing the individual or team approach, all students must submit the aggregate and prevention assignment to the courseroom assignment dropbox for grade credit. Be sure to tell the instructor the names of the team on the assignment worksheet.
Aggregate Section:
Do this Section First as the Prevention Section Builds on this Section! The aggregate section of the assignment focuses on the foundations for population health nursing. Each learner will describe the concepts of community, population, and aggregate. Then, describe a specific aggregate using at least three data sources about the aggregate from the Resource Folder in the Courseroom under the content tab and Mustang Library NU400 Data Guide: http://libguides.smsu.edu/nurs400
| Aggregate Section Elements and Grading Rubric | Possible Points | Earned Points |
| Define population (1-2 sentences and give an example) Chapter 1 of the textbook explains these terms and other sources are in module 4 in the courseroom. | 0.5 | |
| Define community (1-2 sentences and give an example) | 0.5 | |
| Comparison Consideration: No answer needed—this is just a comment about population and community. Sometimes people ask about the difference between a community and population. Some textbooks even vary in how they define population and community! So, confusion about these terms is common. The meanings have changed throughout time with technological inventions, such as the internet and smart phones! Consider this difference: A population may have similarities (example: all persons in Minnesota with coronary heart disease), but the members do not have a relationship or interact with each other. Whereas a community has similarities (example: all persons who live in Star County) and may interact with each other. Just food for thought! No answer needed for this item! | 0 | |
| Define aggregate (1-2 sentences and give an example) | 0.5 | |
| Describe an aggregate and tell the common characteristics of the aggregate (1 paragraph; cite at least three sources of data) | 3.0 | |
| List References below in APA format; (minimum of three) | 0.5 | |
| Section Sub-Total Points | 5 |
Complete the aggregate section first and then the prevention section. The Prevention section is a learning tool to help you prepare for your Community Health Assessment assignment. The section includes primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention definitions and population-based practice levels. Students provide one example for each type of prevention and population-based levels of practice specific to the aggregate described in the aggregate section. Use 7th ed. APA formatting for the assignment. Students may reference their Nies and McEwen textbook. Please avoid content quotations, and instead, paraphrase and synthesize the answers and responses.
Levels of Prevention
| Levels of Prevention Section Elements and Grading Rubric | Points Possible | Points Earned |
| Define Primary Prevention (1-2 sentences with source citation) | 0.25 | |
| Identify two examples of Primary Prevention specific to the aggregate you described in your aggregate worksheet. 1. 2. | 0.5 | |
| Define Secondary Prevention (1-2 sentences with source citation) | 0.25 | |
| Identify two examples of Secondary Prevention specific to the aggregate you described in your aggregate worksheet. 1. 2. | 0.5 | |
| Define Tertiary Prevention (1-2 sentences with source citation) | 0.25 | |
| Identify two examples of Tertiary Prevention specific to the aggregate your described in your aggregate worksheet. 1. 2. | 0.5 | |
| Fourth Level of Prevention: There is a movement for a fourth level of prevention, so this information is included here: Quaternary Prevention takes an ethical stance on preventing harm to humans from medical overuse or unethical medical treatments that cause more harm than good (Alber et al., 2017; Martins et al., 2018). Martins et al. (2019) stress the importance of research evidence to support safe medical treatments as a vital part of quaternary prevention. This includes the consideration of weighing the pros and cons of medical treatment (Martins et al., 2019). Examples include over-medicating and overuse of x-ray procedures. No response needed for this; just information about a change taking place. Alber, K., Kuehlein, T. Schedlbauer, A., & Schaffer, S. (2017). Medical overuse and quaternary prevention in primary care—A qualitative study with general practitioners. BMS Family Practice, 18, Article number: 99. https://bmcfampract.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-017-0667-4 Martins, C., Godycki-Cwirko, M., Heleno, B., & Brodersen, J. (2018). Quaternary prevention: Reviewing the concept. The European Journal of General Practice, 24(1), 106–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2017.1422177 Martins, C., Godycki-Cwirko, M., Heleno, B., & Brodersen, J. (2019). Quaternary prevention: an evidence-based concept aiming to protect patients from medical harm. The British Journal of General Practice: The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 69(689), 614–615. | 0 | |
| Define Population-based individual-focused and family-focused practice (1-2 sentences with source citation) | 0.25 | |
| Identify one example of population-based individual-focused and one example of family focused practice specific to the aggregate you described in your aggregate worksheet. Individual-focused Example: Family-focused Example: | 0.5 | |
| Define Population-based community-focused practice (1-2 sentences with source citation) | 0.25 | |
| Identify one example of population-based community-focused practice specific to the aggregate you described in your aggregate worksheet. | 0.5 | |
| Define Population-based systems-focused practice | 0.25 | |
| Identify one example of population-based systems-focused practice specific to the aggregate you described in your aggregate worksheet. | 0.5 | |
| Reference(s) listed below in APA format (minimum of one citation and reference) | 0.5 | |
| Population Section Sub-Total | 5 | |
| Aggregate and Prevention Total (10 possible) |
Once you complete this assignment, submit it to the courseroom dropbox for grade credit.
Week 4 Module 4: A Deeper Look at Prevention and Aggregates
Module Overview
During week four, you will complete course activities related to prevention and aggregates while taking a deeper dive when looking at aggregates and prevention.
Overall Topics
- Aggregates
- Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Levels of Prevention – you do read about this during Weeks 1 & 2 and in Nies & McEwen’s text, Chapter 1, however this week you will add to your knowledge level about population health prevention levels. SMSU Nursing uses the four levels of prevention: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Be aware that some sources use three levels of prevention, and some sources use four levels of prevention!
Module Learning Objectives
By the end of this week, students will:
- Describe what an aggregate population means.
- Describe an aggregate population.
- Describe the meanings of primary, secondary, tertiary prevention, and quaternary prevention.
- Explain examples of primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary prevention.
Learning Assignments
- Complete Aggregate and Prevention Worksheet
- View Virtual Module: Leibold (2021) Levels of Prevention at https://softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/SVWNzCadZevUMA/html