DQ 2 :What intervention could you implement for this community to enhance outcomes?
The prompt makes you find an existing intervention before proposing one, which turns the task into adaptation rather than invention. The word to answer is enhance: your proposal has to add to something already running.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 22, 2026
Enhance means adding to something already running
The order of the prompt is the instruction. You are told to find a need already being addressed by an intervention before proposing anything, which means the assignment is adaptation rather than invention. That framing is deliberate, because in public health practice the usual situation is not an empty field but a programme that exists and underperforms. So name the existing intervention concretely: a specific programme, in a specific place, with a stated aim, ideally one you can cite. A diabetes prevention programme delivered at a community centre, a school-based immunisation catch-up clinic, a naloxone distribution scheme run by a harm reduction organisation. If you cannot name one, that is a signal to change the need rather than to invent a programme, because the second half of the prompt depends on there being a real thing to improve and on your knowing enough about it to say where it falls short.
The word your proposal has to answer is enhance. That requires you to identify what the existing intervention is not achieving before you can improve it, so make the gap explicit and make it a gap of a particular kind: reach, where the programme works but the people who need it most are not enrolling; retention, where enrolment is fine and completion is not; fidelity, where delivery has drifted from the model that was evaluated; or outcome, where completion is high and the measure has not moved. Each gap implies a different addition, and matching the two is the whole justification. Reach problems point to outreach through trusted intermediaries or relocating the service; retention problems point to transport, childcare, timing and reminder systems; fidelity problems point to training and supervision. Then say how you would know it worked, naming the measure and the timeframe, because a proposal with no evaluation is a suggestion rather than an intervention.
Likely learning objectives
- Locate an existing community intervention before proposing a change.
- Classify the gap as one of reach, retention, fidelity or outcome.
- Match a proposed addition to the specific type of gap identified.
- Specify how the enhancement would be evaluated.
Assignment instructions
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
PHN 652 Topic 6 DQ 2 DQ 2 :What intervention could you implement for this community to enhance outcomes? Assessment Description When addressing an identified community health need, an intervention may already be in place for a similar population. Give an example of a need that is already being addressed by an intervention. What intervention could you implement for this community to enhance outcomes? Justify your answer.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A named community health need.
- 02A specific existing intervention addressing it, with a place and an aim.
- 03An explicit gap in what that intervention achieves.
- 04A proposed addition matched to that gap.
- 05A measure and timeframe for evaluating the enhancement.
The existing intervention, its gap, then your addition
The need and what already addresses it
Name the community need and the existing programme working on it.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A programme identified by name and place, not a category.
What it is not achieving
Classify the gap as reach, retention, fidelity or outcome.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A gap type named rather than a general shortfall.
The enhancement you propose
Describe an addition designed for that specific gap.
What the assessor is likely looking for
An addition whose mechanism matches the gap type.
Why this is the right addition
Justify the match, using evidence for the mechanism where available.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A justification about fit rather than about general effectiveness.
How you would know
Name the outcome measure, the data source and the timeframe.
What the assessor is likely looking for
A measure that would move if, and only if, the gap closed.
Where existing community interventions are catalogued
Recommended databases
- Healthy People 2030
- CDC
- PubMed Central
- GCU Library
Search sequence
- 1.Identify a real programme operating in your area before writing.
- 2.Look for published evaluations of that programme type and what they report as barriers.
- 3.Find evidence on the mechanism you propose, such as reminders or community health workers.
- 4.Note the standard measure used for the outcome you intend to move.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Social Determinants of Health
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion · 2024
The determinants framework, for locating the gap in a community programme's reach.
Leading Health Indicators - Healthy People 2030
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2024
National indicators, for choosing a measure the enhancement should move.
Implementation strategies for large scale quality improvement initiatives in primary care settings: a qualitative assessment
BMC Primary Care · 2023
Implementation strategies in primary care, for fidelity and adoption gaps.
Nurses' and Patients' Perspectives on Care Coordination Across Health Care and Social Services Sectors: A Qualitative Study
PMC / National Library of Medicine · 2025
Care coordination across health and social services, for reach and retention barriers.
Access to Health Services
Healthy People 2030, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion · 2024
Access evidence, for enhancements aimed at people the programme is not reaching.
Before you post to the Topic 6 forum
Common mistakes
- Proposing an intervention from scratch and ignoring the existing one.
- Describing the existing programme without identifying what it fails to do.
- Proposing more education as the answer to every kind of gap.
- Justifying the proposal by its popularity rather than by fit to the gap.
- Omitting evaluation, which leaves the proposal unfalsifiable.
Submission checklist
- Is the existing intervention named specifically enough to be looked up?
- Have you stated the gap as a particular kind of failure?
- Does your proposal address that gap rather than the need in general?
- Is the justification about fit rather than about merit?
- Have you named a measure and a timeframe?
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read Brinevia's academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Maren Caldwell
MSN, RN, CNE
Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation
Maren is a registered nurse with over 15 years of clinical and educational experience in medical-surgical nursing. She writes on NCLEX preparation, patient care fundamentals, pharmacology and evidence-based practice.
Reviewed by
Dr. Tessa Redmond
DNP, RN, CNE
Evidence-based practice and clinical education
Tessa is a doctorally-prepared nurse educator. She reviews Brinevia content for clinical accuracy and alignment with current evidence-based guidelines.