Public health is a comprehensive notion that encompasses an array of serious points of concern that pose threats to modern society’s well-being. Among the many factors that affect public health, cancer-related conditions retain one of the leading positions in terms of damage and mortality. This group of diseases includes dozens of tumor variants that can develop themselves without evident symptoms. Early stages of cancer are susceptible to intensive interventions that preserve the well-being of the patient. However, in many situations, the disease is identified too late to avoid dire complications. Several types of cancer do not reveal themselves until the tumor expands beyond its origin point, permeating surrounding tissue and organs. Therefore, early prevention depends heavily on regular screenings and check-ups performed by the population. A public health policy that promotes cancer literacy, as well as the importance of frequent screenings, is likely to yield positive results. Furthermore, this proposal argues that the hazards of cancer are as serious for middle-aged adults as they are for older patients.
The outlined policy change primarily addresses the aspect of public education in terms of cancer varieties, signs, dangers, and preventive measures. Longest’s model introduces the three stages of the effective paradigm shift, which are formulation, implementation, and modification. Therefore, the first step is to formulate the problem that consists of the rising cancer incidence and mortality rates among middle-aged residents. This tendency is reported by Gilchrist et al. (2020), who added that the prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle among working adults today is a major contributor to the problem. For people aged 45-49, the incidence of cancer is already at 350 cases per 100,000 people (National Cancer Institute, 2021). While the same number for older adults is twice as high, the gap remains on a steady decrease. It is possible that middle-aged people complete their check-ups too rarely, which is not all of their cases are identified and included in the statistics. Consequently, the scale of the problem can be even more considerable.
The identified problem is to be addressed through an updated public education agenda. More specifically, public health institutions will communicate more closely with their middle-aged residents, educating them about the reality of cancer and the importance of timely screening. This process can be done with the help of modern solutions, including videoconference lectures, informative websites, and mobile applications. The contents are to be developed in a clear and concise yet accurate manner, avoiding complex terminology. In other words, public health educators will speak the same language as their target audience, and middle-aged adults with a sedentary lifestyle will be the primary stakeholders of this initiative. They are treated as the target audience for the campaign, as they belong to the identified risk group.
However, this range expands beyond the obvious limits, including their family members of all generations, who also suffer when their loved ones are diagnosed with late-stage cancers. When the prevalence of middle-aged cancer finally decreases, people will feel relieved about the health of their parents or children. On the other hand, an increase in screening attendance will put some stress on medical professionals. In addition, the costs of care may increase within the system upon the first step of its implementation. Nevertheless, the national healthcare framework will benefit from a healthier population in the long term, which is why prominent health community leaders are needed for the promotion of the program. People who successfully survived cancer due to timely diagnostics are equally important in this regard. Having completed the first year of the educational program, it will then be possible to evaluate its impact by comparing the statistics of check-ups done, cancers found, cancers cured, and cancer mortality within the demographic group. Based on this data, modifications will be made to the program’s design, thus completing the policy change cycle.
The lack of attention to personal health among middle-aged adults is the key argument in favor of the policy. As described above, too many cases are diagnosed when the tumor already grows toward later stages, making the prognosis negative. With the proposed educational policy in place, regular screenings will help to identify cancer in earlier stages when full recovery is still highly plausible. This will decrease mortality and promote public health throughout the country. The opponents of this model may rightfully claim that all data is already available to the public. The health system does not attempt to make the benefits of screening a secret, and any reasonable adult has access to all information, including statistics. While this is true, the delivery of data is the distinct key point of the proposed policy. Instead of searching and critically analyzing disjointed bits of information, middle-aged adults will have access to a concise, highly accurate source developed to be understood with ease.
Ultimately, humanity will then make a major step toward defeating cancer if these measures are taken to illustrate the scope of the problem and promote regular screening among middle-aged adults. While cancer is less prevalent among them, as compared to the elderly, the lack of timely identification is a serious risk factor. Middle-aged people are concerned with their careers and personal relationships, still feeling healthy, which is why they may be negligent about their health. Under such circumstances, cancer takes its time to grow and only reveals itself upon ascending to a late stage when treatment is unlikely to yield full remission. As a result, the system has the capacity to defeat cancer, but the lack of mutual engagement serves as a major disadvantage.
References
Gilchrist, S. C., Howard, V. J., & Akinyemiju, T. (2020). Association of sedentary behavior with cancer mortality in middle-aged and older US adults. JAMA Oncology, 6(8), 1210–1217.
National Cancer Institute. (2021). Age and cancer risk. Web.