SELF-ADMINISTERED INTERVENTIONS - A HEALTH-EDUCATION STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING POPULATION HEALTH

A case is presented for using self-administered interventions (SAIs) a s a viable public health education/promotion option, SAIs are promulga ted as a means to more fully participate in projected health care chan ges, One readily available opportunity is to incorporate SAIs into man aged care organizations concerned about balancing costs and care, and responsible for the health care of the populations they serve, SAIs ar e both clinical and 'population-based' strategies that are viable alte rnatives to 'usual' care because SAIs offer a means to enhance reach, efficiency and efficacy when used independently or as part of a sequen tial, systematic series of interventions, SAIs also have other advanta ges such as being easily shared, disseminated, reusable and capable of including a valuable, inexpensive human resource, trained peer helper s or volunteers, The SAIs of minimal intervention and self-instruction have been widely used with a variety of lifestyle behaviors associate d with cardiovascular disease, Research from the weight management lit erature is used as a heuristic illustration of the application of SAIs , and to describe the nature and potential of SAIs as public health st rategies to meet health care challenges of the future related to servi ce delivery.