Which term is a generic description of a program or policy designed to impact health problems?

• A. Policy
• B. Program
• C. Strategy
• D. Intervention

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that an intervention is the action taken to influence health outcomes. It’s the broad term for any deliberate measure aimed at preventing or reducing health problems, and it can include policies, programs, or sets of actions as implemented in real life. A policy represents rules or guidelines, and a program is a coordinated set of activities; a strategy is the planned approach. But what ties them together is the concrete effort to change health, which is what an intervention describes. For example, implementing a new tax on sugary drinks is a policy, but when that policy is put into practice to reduce obesity, the actual effort to change behavior and health outcomes is the intervention.