KMP Task

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Part A

1. The health concern in the District of Columbia is tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of the lungs caused by a single infectious agent. It is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the bacterium can attack other parts of the body too, including the spine, kidney, and brain. It is the second-largest killer in the world compared to other diseases caused by a single agent. Its Microbial causes were discovered in 1882 by a German microbiologist Robert Koch. The World Health Organization declared TB a global emergency in 1993. According to the organization, approximately nine million people contract the disease annually across the world. It is ranked among the top three causes of death for women between 15 and 44 years.

• In Washington DC, the worst-case reported was in the 1930s when the city reported the 4th highest deaths resulting from TB in the United States. Recent statistics indicate that the rate of TB incidences declined by 1.3 % from 2017 to 2018 (Raju et al., 2016). Moreover, a significant percentage of individuals diagnosed with the disease are individuals who were not born in the United States.

Symptoms

Individuals with TB infection show no signs. However, people with active TB disease may have the following symptoms: a persistent cough, weight loss, fever, night sweats, coughing up blood, loss of appetite, and constant fatigue.

Some of the primary community resources and prevention resources set to address the issue of TB are as follows:

• The health officials in the community and from the federal government advice local institutions and practitioners and assist them in implementing TB control programs.
• The local authorities have also enacted laws and regulations that support TB control activities.
• The government has also employed adequate and appropriate clinicians to conduct TB control activities.
• The government has allocated enough funds to be used in the fight against TB. Non-governmental agencies have also injected some funds into the programs to help in running the control activities. 
• Optimal TB prevention programs need a multidisciplinary strategy, and thus policymakers have established networks with community groups to form coalitions (Raju et al., 2016). The members ensure that TB control programs are accessible to high-risk individuals and offer culturally appropriate services.

To manage persons who have the disease or who are suspected of having the disease, the officials in DC follow to ensure the completion of patient therapy to reduce transmission, cure illness, and prevent the mutation of the bacteria into a drug-resistant state. This is achieved through:

• Developing a treatment plan- specific employees in the health sector, are assigned and held accountable for the education and treatment of TB patients. They also help maintain continuous therapy and ensure that contacts are examined. They ensure that immediately TB is diagnosed treatment is initiated and the case is reported.
• Clinical services-the authorities ensure that clinic services provided by TB control programs are accessible and acceptable community members.
• Promoting adherence- the techniques of encouraging adherence to therapy are tailored to meet the customers’ needs, beliefs about health, social support system, and lifestyle (Raju et al., 2016).

Causes of Tuberculosis

• Is caused by bacteria that are passed from an infected person to another person through microscopic droplets released in the air. This occurs when an individual with active tuberculosis coughs, sneezes, laughs, speaks, spits, or sings. Despite being a contagious disease, it is not easy for a healthy person to catch it. Experts suggest that the likelihood of contracting TB from a stranger is very low compared to that of contracting the disease from some you share so much time. Moreover, patients with active TB who have undergone appropriate treatment for at least two weeks cease to be contagious.

1. Evidence-Based Practices associated with TB

The initial guidelines on TB treatment were produced in 1990 but lacked evidence categories given as recommendations. They allowed the use of ethambutol drug to be used in patients who were likely to have isoniazid resistance. Later, the results of national research on lymph node tuberculosis indicated that treatment durations could range between 6 months, where patients undergo chemotherapy or even take longer for some people.

Evidence-based diagnosis

Evidence-based diagnosis requires the synthesis of evidence on various diagnostic tests or systematic reviews.

For a long time, clinicians had the tuberculin skin test as the only approach to detecting latent TB infection. Today, two ex vivo interferon-gamma release assays(IGRAs) are commercially licensed for use in diagnosing latent TB infection among both healthy people and people with low immunity. Researchers used Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens (RD1 antigens) and overnight (16- to 24-h) incubation times to evaluate IGRAs.

Part B

1. Social Media Campaign Objective

My social media campaign objective would be to reduce the rates of TB infections in Washington, DC. It is evident that the rates of the disease incidences are declining but is vital that the disease is entirely eradicated since it is contagious and as long as there are individuals out there still suffering from the disease, the risk of contracting still exist. The social media strategy is intended to offer education to the community concerning the disease. The campaign will include informing individuals on the risk factors and prevention methods. It will also guide those who are already sick to adhere to medication for proper and quick recovery. Moreover, the social media campaign will fight against the stigmatization of individuals suffering the disease since most people associate the disease with HIV/AIDS. The campaign will, therefore, motivate the sick to seek medical attention while condemning discrimination of TB patients.

2. Social marketing interventions

One of the social marketing interventions would be Informed Decision-making intervention. Since some individuals may not understand the risks associated with contracting TB, it would be prudent that they are taught on the issues surrounding the disease. This will include the risk factors, methods of prevention, and the importance of getting tested.

Countermarketing would also be useful in the war against. Tobacco countermarketing will be effective since smoking of cigarettes encourages the risk of TB 2-3 fold and also contributes to poor treatment results. The campaign will include therefore oppositional techniques which will aim at telling individuals on the adverse effects of smoking tobacco.  

3. Suitable Social Media Platform

I would select Facebook as the social media platform for users to communicate with the public about fighting TB. The platform has over 2.2 billion active users every month and 1.4 billion users globally. Statistics indicate that the United States has the highest number of Facebook users in the world and thus using it in the campaign increases the likelihood that many people will access the information. The benefits of using Facebook include:

• Increased exposure to targets- the huge fan-base enables the message to reach a wide population and thus the probability that the message will get to the target audience.
• Facebook will make it easy to get connections in terms of people willing to join the initiative and with a significant number, it will easy to access the whole population.
• It will lower the cost of the campaign-opening a Facebook page is free, and thus it will only require uploading of a few photographs. Moreover, it will be cheaper compared to moving from place.
• Facebook allows one to keep the existing audience engaged. Constant communication with the audience is allowed, and thus, the account manager can respond to the questions and concerns of the audience. The interaction also helps to build trust, maintain their interests, and educate them.

1. Ways in which the population will benefit from the health message

The population will benefit from the campaigns in various ways, including:

• The public will learn ways in which they can protect themselves against contracting TB
• Individuals will learn how to take care of TB patients
• The messages will enlighten the population on symptoms of TB and thus help them know when it is appropriate to seek medical intervention
• Campaigning against the stigmatization of TB patients will encourage more individuals to accept their condition and seek treatment.
• Individuals already suffering TB will learn of facilities that are close to their residence.
• The campaigns will also include counselling to the sick and motivation
• The education and warnings against excessive smoking of tobacco will help reduce incidences of respiratory diseases and premature deaths.

Part C

The best practices for implementing social media tools for health marketing include:

• Stress preventive care- experts advice that healthcare campaigning should focus on preventive care since many people are ready to make a change, but they need leaders to guide them through the process.
• Healthcare campaigners should display credibility and legitimacy to social media users- individuals require the right story and need it to be authentic so that they can share it in their accounts too (Neiger et al., 2012).
• Post stories that are relatable- social media users like stories which they find relevant and can identify with.
• Build interactive user-experience- healthcare campaigners on social media platforms are encouraged to create interactive sessions by initiating conversations which people can contribute to and share their experiences or offer their opinions. The campaigners should also answer questions asked by users.
• Use data to drive strategy- since individuals have varying preferences, and it is advisable that campaigners should investigate and know what users care most about to avoid posting content that pushes away some users.
• Post regularly- posting regularly relevant content makes the users visit the page frequently and are like to invite their friends to visit the page and thus the message will continue to spread.

Part D

Stakeholder roles and responsibilities in implementing a social media campaign plan

• Project management stakeholders-they oversee the project and may work with private companies or other interested parties, including the government in seeking support. They also have an ethical obligation to the campaign.
• Private stakeholders- private stakeholders may include government agencies and interested parties who support the campaign. They engage in discussions and vote on proposals to determine the message that should be posted that which is not suitable for posting. They also offer oversight responsibilities.
• Viewers-the viewers comprise social media users, and they are the main target of the campaign. Their primary responsibility is to visit the page, like the content and help in applying and spreading the message.

Possible public and private partnerships

The organization may consider partnering with health facilities who would assist in providing credible information to post in social media. Other potential partners may include higher learning institutions, local authorities and non-governmental agencies, and religious institutions.

1. Weekly 1 timeline for implementing social media campaign plan

Day	Activity
Sunday	Post about TB history of TB and prevalence and discuss user contributions
Monday	Post causes of TB and discuss them
Tuesday	Post about symptoms
Wednesday	Prevention measures
Thursday	React to different opinions from individuals and ask questions
Friday	Initiate conversation from the topic
Saturday	Reflect with users on the general benefits of the

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the campaign

• Observe the trend of followers whether it is increasing or decreasing
• Evaluate the reactions on posts
• Investigate the reach
• Observe the amount of traffic in the posts
• Examine the click-through rate as it indicates the frequency of direct conversations  

1. Cost of implementing the campaign

The cost of implementing the campaign will be negligible since it costs $0 to open a Facebook account. I will also feed information and photos on the page in person to avoid expenses. Moreover, I expect to not research since I will partners with local hospitals who would provide reliable information. 

Part E

Role of Social Media in Nursing

• Social media provides a platform for communication between healthcare practitioners
• It also helps nurses to find their peers
• Social media provides a channel through which organizations can communicate to member nurses efficiently (Jacobsen & Forste, 2011).
• Nurses can also form professional groups over social media, where they can carry out research activities.
• Social media also helps qualified nurses to identify vacant positions quickly

References

Jacobsen, W. C., & Forste, R. (2011). The wired generation: Academic and social outcomes of electronic media use among university students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(5), 275-280.

Neiger, B. L., Thackeray, R., Van Wagenen, S. A., Hanson, C. L., West, J. H., Barnes, M. D., & Fagen, M. C. (2012). Use of social media in health promotion: purposes, key performance indicators, and evaluation metrics. Health promotion practice, 13(2), 159-164.

Raju, R. M., Raju, S. M., Zhao, Y., & Rubin, E. J. (2016). Leveraging advances in tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment to address nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. Emerging infectious diseases, 22(3), 365.