The typical activities aimed at improving the state of heart health include those aimed at increasing the relevant knowledge and promoting daily exercise and a healthy diet, in particular, vegetables and fruits (Zhu, Ho, and Wong 265, 292-299; Janssen et al. 622, 636; Minossi and Pellanda 19-21). Such a program can be named “cardiovascular risk factor intervention program” and its suggestions are guided by the idea of modifying heart disease risk factors, such as obesity, physical inactivity, and a high-sodium diet (Covelli 173-175; Janssen et al. 620-621). This guidance allows us to form the following logical model for heart disease intervention and health improvement programs in elementary school children.
The resources that are necessary for the program include the human resources: the governing body of the school, several teachers and (or) parents willing to promote the program, health consultants. Money expenses are unlikely to exceed the amount usually spent on staff and meals significantly.
If the resources are provided, the following activities can be carried out. Health education is going to be paid particular attention to due to the effectiveness of this lifestyle-changing activity (Zhu, Ho, and Wong 292-299). Apart from that, parent involvement is particularly important in the case of children’s health improvement (Minossi and Pellanda 19-21). Therefore, curricula for cardiac health education among teachers, children, and their parents should be developed with attention paid to the age and the role of every particular group in the program. Apart from that, the ideas for the changes in physical education lessons and the menu should be developed, assessed (preferably with the active participation of parents), and implemented.
If the activities are carried out, then the outputs will include the number of awareness lessons as well as the number of those who have attended them. The changes in the quality of meals and PE lessons will be assessed theoretically; with time, an assessment of the long-term results could also be proposed.
If the outputs are living up to the expectations, the following outcomes are to be expected. First of all, all he mentioned groups of people will increase their awareness concerning heart diseases and related risks. This will enable the groups (particularly children) to use the knowledge outside the controlled environment. Apart from that, with time, the improvement of the children’s health is to be expected. The programs of this kind have been implemented with a varied level of success in elementary schools and other environments, which allows us to suggest that the desired outcomes are likely to be achieved (Covelli 174).
References
Covelli, Maureen McCormick. “Efficacy Of A School-Based Cardiac Health Promotion Intervention Program For African-American Adolescents.” Applied Nursing Research 21.4 (2008): 173-180. Elsevier BV. Web.
Janssen, V. et al. “Lifestyle Modification Programmes For Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Randomized Controlled Trials.” European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 20.4 (2012): 620-640. SAGE Publications. Web.
Minossi, Vanessa, and Lucia Pellanda. “The “Happy Heart” Educational Program For Changes In Health Habits In Children And Their Families: Protocol For A Randomized Clinical Trial.” BioMed Central Pediatrics 15.1 (2015): 19-29. Springer Science. Web.
Zhu, Li-Xia, Shuk-Ching Ho, and Thomas KS Wong. “Effectiveness Of Health Education Programs On Exercise Behavior Among Patients With Heart Disease: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine 6.4 (2013): 265-301. Wiley-Blackwell. Web.