Question

In health studies, what's the difference between a program and an intervention? Does one contain the other?

Answer 1

A Program is a specified set of activities combined according to precise guidelines to achieve a specific purpose. It is a broader term that encompasses various strategies, policies and interventions to achieve predetermined/specific goals and objectives.

For example, the AIDS prevention and control program is a comprehensive program for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS to slow down the spread of HIV infections and to reduce morbidity, mortality, and impact of AIDS.

Intervention is a combination of various elements or strategies designed to achieve program goals and objectives. Interventions may be directed towards an entire population or high-risk groups, and include various strategies like educational programs, screening programs, policies, health promotion campaigns, improvement in environmental sanitation, etc. A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to assess, improve, maintain, promote or modify health, functioning or health conditions.

Interventions can be preventive interventions (prevent the disease from occurring and thus reduce the incidence /new cases of disease) or therapeutic interventions (that treat, mitigate, or postpone the effects of disease and thus reduce the disability, morbidity or mortality associated with a disease). Some interventions may have both effects. They are implemented at multiple settings like in the homes, community, schools, or occupational places and offices. Interventions implemented in multiple settings and using multiple strategies may be the most effective because of the potential to reach a larger number of people in a variety of ways.

Some examples of interventions are vaccination, educational and behavior change, environmental sanitation, injury prevention, prophylactic interventions, nutritional interventions or those directed towards high-risk groups like mother and child health intervention, treatment of infectious diseases, surgical and radiation treatment, control of chronic diseases.

Interventions specified in a plan may again need a program for their implementation. For example needle syringe exchange program as an intervention targeted at reducing the risk of HIV transmission among drug users, PPTCT program to prevent parent to child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Hence both programs and interventions are broader terms, the program contains interventions and again there may be a need of program for implementation of interventions identified under the program.