| Course | PAC 230 Families and Health Psychology |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Family intervention proposal |
| Length | About 1,028 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PAC 230 Module 8
Healthier Families, Not Only Healthier Patients: A Family-Centered Intervention Proposal for a Community Health Center
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
PAC 230: Families and Health Psychology
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Healthier Families, Not Only Healthier Patients: A Family-Centered Intervention Proposal for a Community Health Center
The Toledo clinic in these papers, Maumee Valley Family Health, sees the effects of substance use across generations every day: a grandmother raising grandchildren while her daughter is in treatment, a teenager vaping and drinking in a household where adults drink heavily, a father whose family cannot get him to see anyone. The center treats each patient well, but its services are organized around individuals. This proposal argues for a family-centered program to reduce adverse health outcomes in these families, using evidence-based interventions and illustrated with the Dawsons, the family followed through this course. The center and the Dawsons are fictional, invented to teach the course's ideas; the studies are real.
The Evidence
Three interventions, each tested in randomized trials, address different points in a family's life.
Nurse home visiting begins before birth. Olds et al. (1997) reported fifteen-year follow-up results from a trial in Elmira, New York, in which first-time mothers, many of them young, unmarried or low-income, were randomly assigned to receive home visits from nurses during pregnancy and the first two years of the child's life or to receive comparison services. Over fifteen years, nurse-visited women had fewer verified reports of child abuse and neglect. Among low-income unmarried women, those who were visited also had fewer subsequent births, fewer months on public assistance, fewer behavioral impairments due to alcohol and drug use and fewer arrests.
Family skills programs reach families of young adolescents. Spoth et al. (2001) tested the Iowa Strengthening Families Program, a seven-session program in which parents and their sixth-grade children met separately and together to build parenting skills, communication and children's skills for resisting peer pressure. Families in rural Iowa schools were randomly assigned to this program, to another brief family program or to a minimal-contact control. Four years later, in tenth grade, adolescents from families in the Strengthening Families Program had significantly lower rates of initiating alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use and of getting drunk than those in the control group.
Community Reinforcement and Family Training, known as CRAFT, helps families whose relative refuses treatment. Meyers et al. (1998) trained concerned family members of people who used drugs and would not seek treatment. Family members learned to recognize their relative's patterns, reward sober behavior, allow natural consequences of use, improve communication, protect their own safety and well-being and invite the relative into treatment at moments of openness. Most family members who participated succeeded in getting their relative into treatment, and family members' own well-being improved.
The Proposed Program
| Component | Who it serves | Delivered by | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse home visiting, through a partnership with an established local provider | First-time pregnant patients with risk factors, including substance use | Visiting nurses, with referral from the center's prenatal clinic | Pregnancy through age two |
| Strengthening Families groups | Families with children aged ten to fourteen, especially where a parent or relative has a substance use disorder | Two trained facilitators from the center's behavioral health staff | Seven weekly evening sessions, three cycles a year |
| CRAFT for concerned family members | Relatives of people with substance use who refuse treatment | A trained behavioral health clinician | About twelve individual sessions |
How It Would Serve the Dawsons
The Dawsons illustrate how the components fit together. Brianna, sixteen, is past the age for Strengthening Families, but her younger brother, eleven, is not; the family could join a group cycle, giving the household skills for talking about substance use while Brianna's vaping is addressed separately. Carla's cousin has asked her for advice about a son who drinks heavily and refuses help; a referral to CRAFT would give the cousin skills and support. And if Mike and his partner have a child, nurse home visiting would be offered during the pregnancy, building on his recovery. Each component addresses a different point in the family's life, and together they treat the family, not only the patient.
Implementation
The center would begin with the components it can launch most quickly. CRAFT requires training one clinician and can start within three months. Strengthening Families requires training two facilitators and a room in the evening, with dinner and child care to support attendance, and could begin its first cycle within six months. Nurse home visiting would be offered through a partnership with an established local provider, with the center's prenatal clinic making referrals. Funding could come from the center's existing behavioral health budget, local public health grants and Medicaid reimbursement where available. A family program coordinator, half-time, would recruit families, track participation and coordinate with partners.
Evaluation
The center would measure participation and outcomes for each component. For CRAFT, the main outcome is whether the relative enters treatment within six months, along with family members' own stress. For Strengthening Families, outcomes include parent and child reports of family communication and, through annual follow-up surveys, adolescents' substance use compared with a waiting-list group. For home visiting, the partner's data on prenatal care, birth outcomes and child protective services reports would be reviewed. Results would be reported to the center's board after twelve months, with a decision about expansion.
What the Program Cannot Do
Family programs do not replace treatment for people with substance use disorders, and they cannot remove poverty, unstable housing or the availability of substances in a community. Some families will decline to participate, and their choices must be respected. The program is one part of a broader effort, but it addresses families directly, which individual care alone does not. It also depends on staff who believe in it; facilitators who are trained but unconvinced deliver weaker sessions, so the center should choose them with care and support them through their first cycle.
Conclusion
Families carry both the burden of substance use and the power to reduce it. Olds and colleagues show that nurse home visiting can protect children and mothers over fifteen years, Spoth, Redmond and Shin show that a brief family program can reduce adolescent substance use and Meyers and colleagues show that families can be trained to help a resistant relative into treatment. A family-centered program at Maumee Valley Family Health would extend care from patients to the families around them.
References
Meyers, R. J., Miller, W. R., Hill, D. E., & Tonigan, J. S. (1998). Community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT): Engaging unmotivated drug users in treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse, 10(3), 291-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-3289(99)00003-6
Olds, D. L., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Pettitt, L. M., & Luckey, D. (1997). Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect: Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. JAMA, 278(8), 637-643. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1997.03550080047038
Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2001). Randomized trial of brief family interventions for general populations: Adolescent substance use outcomes 4 years following baseline. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 627-642. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.69.4.627
PAC 230 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
The last module of PAC 230 usually asks for an intervention proposal: a plan for reducing adverse health outcomes in families, grounded in evidence and practical enough to implement. Read your Aspen course's Module 8 instructions; the center and family here are invented. Define the problem and the population. Review evidence-based interventions, with their designs and results. Propose a program with specific components, staffing and timing. Show how it would serve a real or realistic family. Address implementation, including costs and partners. Plan an evaluation with measurable outcomes, and cite every study in APA 7, with a sentence on what the program cannot fix. Say which component starts first and why.
How this PAC 230 Module 8 example is built
The center serves many families in which substance use affects several generations. Olds and colleagues' JAMA report on the Elmira home visiting trial supplies fifteen-year outcomes. Spoth, Redmond and Shin's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology trial reports the Iowa Strengthening Families Program's effects in tenth grade. Meyers and colleagues' Journal of Substance Abuse study describes CRAFT's engagement results. A three-row table lays out the program's components, who delivers them and for whom. The Dawsons show how the components fit: a family program for Brianna's household and CRAFT for a cousin's family. Implementation, starting with CRAFT because it needs only one trained clinician, and an evaluation plan with outcome measures and a twelve-month review close the proposal.
Reading the PAC 230 Module 8 grading rubric
Intervention proposals earn credit for defining the problem, grounding components in evidence, planning implementation realistically and measuring results. This example reports each trial's design and main findings accurately, including the populations in which effects were found. Each program component is tied to its evidence. The family illustration shows how the components fit together without overpromising. Implementation addresses staffing, partnerships and funding sources. The evaluation plan names measures, timing and comparison, so the center could tell whether the program works. A closing section names what the program cannot change, which shows the realism instructors reward in proposals. The order of launch follows cost and readiness.
PAC 230 Module 8 help from the desk
Intervention proposals often list good ideas without evidence or detail. Ground each component in a tested program and report its results accurately. Another weakness is ignoring implementation: who delivers the program, how families are recruited and how it is paid for. Tailor components to the population. Illustrate with a family to show how the pieces fit. Build the evaluation into the proposal itself, naming outcomes and, if you can, a comparison group. Be honest about limits; family programs cannot solve poverty or replace treatment. Avoid promising more than the evidence supports, and respect families' choices about participation. Name the partners you would need, and give the first ninety days a concrete timeline. Budget for dinner and child care if you want parents to come.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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- PAC 230 Module 3: Health Behavior and Behavior Change
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- PAC 230 Module 6: Substance Use as a Health Behavior
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- PAC 110 Module 2: Biological and Genetic Theories
- PAC 115 Module 5: Nervous System and Mental Health Terms
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PAC 230 Module 8 questions, answered
What does PAC 230 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's PAC 230 ends with methods for reducing adverse health outcomes, so an evidence-based intervention proposal for families is typical. Confirm with your Module 8 prompt.
Does nurse home visiting help families?
Olds and colleagues' fifteen-year follow-up found nurse-visited mothers had fewer reports of child maltreatment and fewer substance-related impairments, especially among low-income unmarried mothers.
Can family programs prevent teen substance use?
Spoth, Redmond and Shin found that a seven-session family program reduced adolescents' alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use four years later.
Where can I find a free PAC 230 Module 8 sample paper?
The full proposal is above: a family-centered program for a health center, with three evidence-based components and an evaluation plan.
What is CRAFT?
Community Reinforcement and Family Training teaches family members skills to encourage a resistant relative into treatment; Meyers and colleagues found most participants succeeded.