Prenatal smoking cessation for a composite rural county, staged by readiness and judged on biochemically confirmed quitting, is what this MN505 Unit 8 plan sets out. Searches like "mn 505 unit 8 assignment example", "mn505 unit 8 sample" and "mn505 unit 8 example" land here.
Quitting for Two in Birch Ridge County: A Stage-Matched Health Promotion Plan for Smoking During Pregnancy
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MN505: Epidemiology and Health Promotion
Unit 8 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Birch Ridge County, its clinic and all figures are composites continued from the Unit 7 profile. No real county or program is described.
Problem Statement
The Unit 7 profile found that 17.3 percent of births in Birch Ridge County from 2019 to 2023 were to mothers who smoked during pregnancy, against 6.8 percent statewide, about 37 pregnancies a year. Smoking in pregnancy raises the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, placental complications and sudden infant death, and quitting at any point in pregnancy reduces those risks (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2020). The county's health center prenatal clinic sees most pregnant residents, which gives the plan a point of contact.
Goal and Objectives
Goal: reduce smoking during pregnancy among Birch Ridge residents. Primary objective: by the end of the plan's second year, at least 30 percent of enrolled pregnant smokers will be abstinent at delivery, confirmed by exhaled carbon monoxide below 4 parts per million, compared with an estimated 10 percent with usual care. Secondary objective: at least 15 percent of enrolled patients will remain abstinent, with the same confirmation, at six months postpartum.
Why the Transtheoretical Model
The Transtheoretical Model describes behavior change as movement through stages: precontemplation, when a person is not considering change; contemplation, when she is thinking about it; preparation, when she plans to act soon; action, when she has recently changed; and maintenance, when the change has lasted six months or more (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983). People in different stages respond to different kinds of help (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997). Pregnant smokers in the county are spread across all five stages, so a single message, such as a pamphlet urging everyone to quit, would reach the women in preparation and miss most of the rest. Stages therefore organize the plan's activities, and the logic table below reads from top to bottom as a patient's possible path from not considering quitting to staying quit after delivery.
Logic Table
Precontemplation. Activity: brief advice at every prenatal visit using the 5 A's, asking about smoking, advising quitting in a clear personal way, assessing willingness, assisting and arranging follow-up; carbon monoxide readings taken at each visit and shared with the patient as a number she can see. Delivered by: prenatal nurse. Measured by: proportion of visits with documented advice and a carbon monoxide reading.
Contemplation. Activity: a 15-minute motivational interviewing session exploring her own reasons, including the baby's health, cost and household smoking; information on the quitline's pregnancy protocol. Delivered by: prenatal nurse trained in motivational interviewing. Measured by: proportion of contemplators who set a quit date.
Preparation. Activity: a quit date set with the nurse; referral to the state quitline's pregnancy protocol with a warm handoff by phone during the visit; a plan for triggers such as partner smoking. Delivered by: prenatal nurse and quitline coach. Measured by: completed quitline referrals.
Action. Activity: vouchers for groceries or baby supplies earned for each carbon monoxide reading confirming abstinence, starting at 10 dollars and rising with consecutive negative readings, reset after a positive reading. Financial incentives tied to verified abstinence have produced higher quit rates among pregnant smokers than usual care (Higgins et al., 2012). Delivered by: clinic staff. Measured by: verified abstinence at each visit.
Maintenance. Activity: continued carbon monoxide checks and vouchers through 12 weeks postpartum at well-baby visits; home visiting nurses reinforce abstinence and address partner smoking. Delivered by: pediatric clinic staff and home visiting nurses. Measured by: verified abstinence at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum.
Postpartum Relapse
The maintenance row exists because many women who quit during pregnancy resume smoking within months of delivery. A plan that ended at birth would count temporary success as a result. Extending vouchers and checks through the postpartum period, and involving the pediatric clinic and home visiting program, keeps support in place during the months when relapse is most common.
Reach and Equity
Three features of the county shape who the plan can reach. Transportation is the first: about one household in sixteen lacks a vehicle, and prenatal care may require a long drive, so carbon monoxide checks and voucher visits will be scheduled on the same day as prenatal appointments, and home visiting nurses will carry monitors for women who miss visits. Household smoking is the second: many pregnant smokers live with a partner who smokes, and quitting is harder in a smoking household, so the plan offers partners a quitline referral and nicotine replacement through the state program at the same visit. Broadband is the third: a quarter of households lack it, so no activity depends on an app or video session, and the quitline's telephone service is the default.
Implementation Timeline
Months 1 to 3: train prenatal nurses in the 5 A's and motivational interviewing, purchase monitors, set up voucher accounting and a data form. Month 4: begin enrollment at the prenatal clinic. Month 7: first quarterly review of process measures. Month 12: first report of verified abstinence at delivery for women enrolled in the first months. Months 13 to 24: continue, extend postpartum follow-up through the pediatric clinic and home visiting program, and report outcomes at 24 months.
Evaluation
Measures were set before any activity begins. Outcome: verified abstinence at delivery and at six months postpartum among enrolled smokers. Process: proportion of prenatal visits with documented 5 A's advice and carbon monoxide readings; proportion of contemplators with a quit date; quitline referral completion; voucher redemption. Balancing: patient-reported burden of carbon monoxide testing and any decline in prenatal visit attendance, which would signal that the program is discouraging care. Attendance at sessions is recorded but is not a measure of success. Data will be reviewed every quarter by the clinic's nurse manager and the county health department.
Budget Sketch
Vouchers: up to about 40 enrolled smokers a year, with a maximum of 600 dollars per participant, about 24,000 dollars a year at full redemption. Carbon monoxide monitors and supplies: about 2,500 dollars. Motivational interviewing training for four nurses: about 3,000 dollars. Quitline services: no cost to the county. Estimated first-year total: about 29,500 dollars. The budget follows the activities rather than leading them.
References
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2020). Tobacco and nicotine cessation during pregnancy (Committee Opinion No. 807). Obstetrics and Gynecology, 135(5), e221-e229. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000003822
Higgins, S. T., Washio, Y., Heil, S. H., Solomon, L. J., Gaalema, D. E., Higgins, T. M., & Bernstein, I. M. (2012). Financial incentives for smoking cessation among pregnant and newly postpartum women. Preventive Medicine, 55(Suppl.), S33-S40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.12.016
Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1983). Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: Toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(3), 390-395. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.51.3.390
Prochaska, J. O., & Velicer, W. F. (1997). The transtheoretical model of health behavior change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12(1), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38
How this MN505 Unit 8 example is structured
The plan moves from finding to model to activities to measures, and each step cites the one before. Brevity marks the opening problem statement, because the profile already did that work; it restates the figure and names the gap. Why the Transtheoretical Model fits is argued next: pregnant smokers in the county are spread across stages, and a single message would miss most of them. Stages then organize the activities, so the logic table reads top to bottom as a patient's possible path from not considering quitting to staying quit after delivery. Postpartum relapse gets its own row because many who quit during pregnancy resume within months of delivery, and a plan ending at birth would count temporary success. Evaluation measures are written before any activity begins, and the budget follows the activities rather than leading them.
Get an MN505 Unit 8 example written to your instructions
If your Unit 8 plan builds on a profile from an earlier unit, send that profile too, since the plan follows its finding. Add the prompt, any required model and the rubric. The first custom sample, prepared to those instructions, is free and arrives within 24-48h with a logic table and measures chosen before the activities. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
MN505 Unit 8 questions, answered
Can the plan use a different behavior model?
Yes, if the section allows it and the model fits the behavior. Social Cognitive Theory or the Health Belief Model could organize a cessation plan, but the plan has to use the model throughout, not just name it. The example chose the Transtheoretical Model because readiness to quit varies widely among pregnant smokers, and staging lets the activities match that variation.
Why measure abstinence with a breath or saliva test instead of self-report?
Because self-reported quitting in pregnancy is known to overstate true abstinence, partly because of stigma. Exhaled carbon monoxide or cotinine testing gives a verified outcome that graders and funders both trust. The example uses carbon monoxide readings at visits because they are quick, cheap and immediately visible to the patient, which also supports the intervention itself.
How ambitious should the plan's objective be?
Realistic enough to be met by the activities described, and specific enough to be checked. The example sets its primary objective among enrolled patients, where change can be measured within the plan's two years, and treats the county-wide birth certificate figure as a longer-term indicator. Objectives that promise to halve a county rate in a year tend to draw skeptical comments.