Introduction
Health promotion is a medical process that aims at attaining full mental, physical, and well-being of people in the society. It enables people to have total control of their health and as a result of this, improves their life span. Considered as an everyday life resource, health must be taken care of in order to have control of every other aspect of life. Good health enables people to have a positive aspect on life, and brings out the physical abilities of people to cope with the environment.
Health, being a central part of everyday life, requires that the basic prerequisites be met in order to bring out a solid foundation of good health. In his book, Vandiver elaborates how good health plays a major role in everyday life and that the medical sector alone cannot be able to cater for these basic prerequisites that build up to a strong foundation to good health (2009). Resulting from this, there is an inter-sectoral coordination that exists to help promote health and the sectors involved include the government as well as insurance companies. There are several health promotion approaches that facilitate effective health promotion, some of these approaches include; medical, educational, social changes, behavioral changes, and empowerment.
Health Promotion Approach
Medical health promotion: a practice that incorporates all the sectors involved in the medical department at all levels. An illustration by Linsley, Kane & Owen (2011) shows that there are health consequences that result from improper implementation of this approach when the policy makers redirect the decision based on health promotion. This health promotion approach aims at reducing death rates that result from premature births as well as morbidity as some of the consequences that result from poor implementation of this approach. Methods used for the implementation of this approach include risk education and medical intervention. Health promotion policy brings together various but corresponding approaches that include taxation, legislation, organizational change of the medical facility, and financial measures of the facility that result in good health, social policy, and income that promote increased equity.
Just like any other new method to be implemented in any organization, medical approach could not be implemented without any criticism. Medical approach overlooks social and environmental factors and looks forward to an increase in medical involvement and conformity.
This approach was implemented by incorporating the various departments in the clinical setting I was working. Risk education methodology as well as medical intervention was used to all the staff members to enable effective implementation of the approach and embracing health promotion policy resulted in good health, social policy, and income that promote increased equity. This approach was much effective to the clinic compared to the literature.
Educational health promotion: a practice that provides information that gives support to social and personal development of an individual, develop life ability, and health education. Through education, this approach provides a wide range of control that an individual is able to access in order to have control of her health and environment, and make conducive choices that concern her health. It aims at providing information and developed the ability to people so that they can make informed choices on issues concerning their health (Vandiver, 2009). Methodology used for implementation of this approach includes provision of information through mass media and small groups, through group discussions, and role plays. This giving of information to the people enables them to keep learning throughout their lives, to prepare them for the stages of life, and to know how to deal with injuries as well as chronic illnesses.
The main problem that accompanies this health promotion approach is the assumption of the relation that exists between knowledge, attitude, and behavior changes of people.
Through giving information to people, they were able to learn how important their health is to them. Role plays, group discussions and mass media and small groups made it easy to implement educational approach and resulted in quality health promotion and good care of health among the people. The effectiveness of this method was better as compared to literature.
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Order nowSocial Changes health promotion: a practice that enhances the strengthening of the community. The strengthening of the community is facilitated through setting priorities that are solid, decision making, strategy planning and implementation to ensure the outcome is good health. This approach aims at bringing about changes that give people better health in their social, physical and economic environment. In order to effectively implement this approach, there is need to have access to information, opportunities of learning health matters, and support necessary for funding. With these needs in place, community development is able to improve on self help and social support and with these, the development of a flexible structure for the strengthening of public participation and course of health matters.
The main challenge that hinders the effective implementation of this approach is the requirement for the major structural changes (Linsley, Kane & Owen, 2011). This challenge creates vulnerability from the official opposition.
Social changes as a method of health promotion approach find difficulty in its implementation since the structural changes required are major and not all clinical settings have the means to meet these structural changes. Resulting from this, the clinical setting stands vulnerable to opposition from officials. The effectiveness of this approach is not as in the literature.
Empowerment health promotion: a practice that encourages the need for taking care of one another, for the community, and for the natural environment. This need is the guiding standard of people, a community, a nation, a region, and the whole world at large that encourages maintenance of a socio-ecological attitude towards health. It aims to identify the health needs of an individual or community and gather knowledge, ability and approach to act ahead through a program of action. Scriven 2012 elaborates the complexity and interrelation of the societies we are in cannot separate health from the other goals we have and the protection of natural resources emphasizes our responsibilities. The methods involved in the implementation of empowerment approach include counseling, advocacy, solving problems, public participation, and community development.Criticisms that come with this approach is that it is not easy to enumerate results, and that there is a lot of assumptions that coherent choices are healthy.
Through the methods of implementation of this approach, public participation, counseling as well as community development plays a major role in ensuring that this approach is effective. The people are able to understand that coming up together and participating in solving problems plays a major role in their health. The implementation is far more effective compared to the literature.
Behavioral Changes health promotion: a practice that provides room for an individual to change her behavior for the betterment of her health (Dixey, 2012). Negative behaviors affect an individual’s health negatively while positive behavior affects it positively. It aims to encourage an individual adopt healthy behaviors. Methods used in implementing this approach are explicit learning, cueing, and prompting. The difficulties facing this approach are ignoring social and economic factors, difficulties in addressing behavioral causes, and blaming of the victim.
There is difficulty in the implementation of this approach in the clinical setting because of the difficulties that arise with the use of this approach. The blaming of the victims and failure to address behavioral causes makes it hard and is not as the literature puts it.
Conclusion
- The paper encompasses an experience of the myriad health promotion approaches in nursing. Among the approaches discussed are medical health promotion, educational health promotion, social Changes health promotion, empowerment health promotion and behavioral changes health promotion. The paper illustrates how these approaches have been implemented, and shows their effectiveness.
- References
- Dixey, R. (2012). Health promotion global principles and practice. Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CABI
- Linsley, P., Kane, R., & Owen, S. (2011). Nursing for public health: promotion, principles, and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Scriven, A. (2012). Health promotion settings: principles and practice. Los Angeles: Sage.
- Vandiver, V. (2009). Integrating health promotion and mental health an introduction to policies, principles, and practices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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