Activity 1.1.

1 Intervention Inventory
Introduction
Look around. Someone in the class is probably wearing glasses or contact lenses.
Most likely someone in your school is sporting a cast or using crutches. Maybe you
took an aspirin this morning for a raging headache or chugged a sports drink after
your morning workout. In some way, each of these devices, medications or
treatments, helped people improve their quality of life. Medical interventions are any
measure whose purpose is to improve health or alter the course of a disease.
Unless faced with a serious illness or injury, we often forgot about the variety of
medical interventions that function to keep us well.

Medicine is changing at a rapid pace. Many diseases that were lethal hundreds of
years ago can now be controlled or even cured. New devices, medications,
procedures, and tests help to extend and improve our quality of life. In both
Principles of the Biomedical Sciences and Human Body Systems, you examined
interventions related to specific illnesses or diseases. In this course, you will explore
medical interventions of the past, present, and even the future.

In this activity, you will brainstorm the vast array of medical interventions, big and
small, new and old, which function to maintain health and homeostasis in our bodies.
You will then work with your team to organize your ideas and group these
interventions into categories. This year, you will become acquainted with the
members of the Smith family. Their stories will introduce you to modern medical
interventions as well as help you visualize the future of medicine. As you follow their
family, through good times and bad, be on the lookout for medical interventions.
Equipment
 Post-it® Notes (3” x 3”) – assorted colors
 Poster board or sentence strips
 Black marker
 Masking tape
 Laboratory journal
Procedure
1. Obtain a pack of Post-it® notes and a black marker from your teacher.
2. Brainstorm the term “Medical Interventions.” Identify devices, treatments,
medications, or other support items which qualify as a medical intervention. The
intervention could be as complicated as a surgery or as simple as a Band-Aid.
The intervention can occur before, during or after diagnosis of a disease.
3. Write each idea, phrase or topic you come up with on a separate Post-it® note.
4. Following directions from your teacher, walk around the room and randomly
place each Post-it® note on the classroom wall.

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Medical Interventions Activity 1.1.1 Intervention Inventory – Page 1
 5. As you walk, continue to write ideas down on new notes and post them on the
wall. Let ideas flow.
6. When the teacher informs you that time is up, stop adding new Post-it® notes to
the wall.
7. Walk around the room and look at all of the ideas on the walls. If you see ideas,
phrases or topics that seem to fit together, move these notes together to form
groups. Discuss these changes with your classmates.
8. When your teacher informs you that time is up, return to your seat.
9. Discuss the ideas that you saw around the room. If additional interventions come
up in the discussion, add new Post-it® notes to those already on the wall. Follow
your teacher’s instructions for adding new notes to the wall.
10. Meet with the team members you have been assigned by your teacher.
11. Obtain sentence strips or pieces of poster board from your teacher. With your
team members, stand near the Post-it® note groups you have been assigned.
12. Exchange ideas with your team and come up with a title or heading for each
group of notes. If you find ideas, phrases or intervention names that do not fit
with the rest of the group, look around the room and transfer these notes to
another team.
13. Write the title or heading for each group on a sentence strip and tape it above the
appropriate group.
14. When instructed to do so by your teacher, report out your titles and the items in
each group of interventions. Explain your reasoning for the grouping and for the
name of the category.
15. As a class, decide on the major categories of medical interventions.
16. Write down these categories in your laboratory journal. Make sure to include a
few examples for each category. Be on the lookout for these classes of
interventions as you progress through the entire course.
Conclusion
1. Explain how medical interventions are used in the diagnosis of disease.

2. Describe one intervention that came up in the class discussion which surprised
you.

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3. Describe at least two medical interventions you have encountered in the past
week. How did these medical interventions relate to your overall wellness and
body homeostasis?

4. Describe two things can people do in their day-to-day life to protect themselves
from disease or injury. Hint: Think about the actions that put a person at risk for
disease or injury.

5. What category of medical interventions do you feel is most important in the future
of medicine? Explain your reasoning.

© 2010 Project Lead The Way, Inc.

Medical Interventions Activity 1.1.1 Intervention Inventory – Page 3