Health is an important factor in everyone's life. When people talk about health, some are solely focused and concerned on the physical aspect of the health. However, health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (Davies & Macdowall, 2006). Keeping oneself healthy emotionally, physically, and spiritually maintains and improves quality of life. From infants to older adults, maintaining optimal health is a common goal for all of us. As health care members, it is our responsibility to promote optimal health to patients and the general public. According to Davies & Macdowall, (2006), health promotion is the "process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health". It is imperative for health care members to fully explore and understand the theories of health and health promotion to establish effective planning and interventions for patients. In United States, we have more culturally and ethnically diverse population than any other country. The morbidity and mortality rates, prevalence of risk behaviors, and determinants of health behaviors are all different among various cultures and ethnic groups (Glanz & Rimer, 1997). As a result, health care members must incorporate possible characteristics such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, and geographical location of targeted populations when applying health behavior theories. Health Belief Model The Health Belief Model (HBM) is one of the widely used theories in the health care field to facilitate health promotion. The model applies six concepts to the theory, which includes perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceiv... ... middle of paper ... ...sion, and diabetes. This result indicates that there needs to be more emphasis on the smoking cessation programs in acute care settings. The effective smoking cessation programs in acute care settings can help patients to successfully quit and improve their overall health. Conclusion There are numerous theories of health promotion and health behavior practice out there for patients and the general public. However, not all theories are equally effective and successful in health promotion. It is important to understand that specific health promotion will require a specific theory to achieve desired outcomes. As health care members, it is our responsibilities to identify these theories and apply them to appropriate health promotion. Also, education is a necessity in health promotion for patients to fully recognize and identify their risks in health behavior.
DiClemente, R. J., Salazar, L. F., & Crosby, R. A. (2013). Health Behavior Theory for Public Health: Principles, Foundations, and Applications. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Tannahill, A., Tannahill, C., & Downie, R. S. (1999) Health Promotion. Models and Values. Oxford University Press.
Health communication, at its most effective incorporates the study and use of communication strategies to education, inform, and influence individual and societal decisions for the purpose of promoting health (Site, 2012). The goal of health communication is to promote healthy lifestyle changes and practices in a population through the use of communication methods and tools. Health communication covers a variety of health issues including disease prevention, health promotion, health care policy, and the...
Given the magnitude of health costs, both financial and in terms of human suffering, it is essential that preventive interventions be developed and/or enhanced. Nurses, physicians, and other helping professionals are in a good position, by virtue of their training, to add to such preventive efforts. Health is defined as a condition of physical, mental, and social well being and the absence of disease or other abnormal condition. It is not a static condition; constant change and adaptation to stress result in homeostasis (Mosby's Medical and Nursing Dictionary, 1994 p. 742). The fact that we can improve our health and extend our lives by changing our behaviors (i.e., eating well, exercising, not smoking, and reducing stress) supports the incorporation of health education, and prevention programs into a broad variety of settings.
To start off, I am going to explain the Health Promotion definition. Health is one’s ability to function well physically, mentally, and socially in order to function within the environment in which they are living in (World Health Organization, 2016). Encouraging one’s control over their own health in relation to social and environmental interventions defines health promotion which leads to the optimization of health (World Health Organization, 2016). It is essential for older adults to partake in changing their lifestyle in terms of their behavior and applying the knowledge they receive from health care providers in order to promote health (World Health Organization, 2016). Older adults mostly have a hard time taking care of themselves and need the assistance to guide them for their well-being. Therefore, nurses have a vital role in providing information and teaching individuals how to gain healthy ideas to promote healthy behaviors. Health promotion is a crucial element in supporting an older adult living with a health challenge such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Health promotion is a multifaceted movement with a core value on respect, empowerment, equity, inclusion and social justice (MacDougall 2002). Aims to achieve holistic health, while it is influenced by medical and social determinants. These determinants which aids to deter...
This paper will provide as an example to how we as nurses can be successful in applying the nursing process and various technological advances to promote the health and well being of our patients. Involved in this process, we must include the following criteria: a understanding of health promotion, a value of health promotion, strategies and content to promote health, involve the patient in the process, address barriers to successful health promotion, and utilize facilitators to health promotion (Whitehead et al. 2008).. We must not focus only on where the patient’s health status is currently but on promoting the positive well being they want to and can move to with our aid and encouragement.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005). Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice – Second Edition. NIH.
Health promotion includes providing activities that improve a person’s health. These activities assist patients to “maintain or enhance their present levels of health. Health promotion activities motivate people to act positively to reach more stable levels of health” (Potter & Perry, 2005, p. 97). In order for nurses to assist patients in obtaining healthy lifestyles, they must first assess a patient’s perception of health. The World Health Organization defines health as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (as cited in Potter & Perry, 2005, p. 91). There are many nursing theories that are based on an individual’s perception of health. This paper will explore how health promotion theories can assist nurses in understanding how these perceptions can affect a person’s lifestyle choices.
These variables can then help to understand why an individual fails to sustain a behaviour. The five models that have been commonly implemented by health behaviour researchers are the health belief model, protection motivation theory, self-efficacy theory, the theory of reasoned action, and the theory of planned behaviour (Sutton, 2002).
The key concept of the health belief model includes threat perception (perceived threat), behavioral evaluation, self-efficacy and other variables. The threat perception has very great relevance in health-related behaviors. This perception are measured by perceived susceptibility (the beliefs about the likelihood of contacting a disease) and perceived severity (the feeling about the seriousness of contacting an illness and leaving it untreated). The behavioral evaluation is assessed by the levels of perceived benefits (the positive effects to be expected), perceived barriers (potential negative aspects of a health behavior), and cues to action (the strategies to activated one’s readiness). The self-efficacy key concept was not originally included in of the health belief model, and it was just added in 1998 to look at a person’s belief in his/her ability to take action in order to make a health related change. The other variables that are also the key concepts of the model include diverse demography, sociopsychology, education, and structure. These factors are variable from one to another and indirectly influence an individual’s health-related behavior because the factors influence the perception...
Health promotion consists of all actions that encourage maximum spiritual, mental and physical functions despite of whether an individual is ill or well. Most of these plans are aimed at bringing positive lifestyle changes (Van Leuven, & Prion, 2007). A major core competency for all NPs is health promotion. Through regular screening, immunizations and counselling, NPs can guide their patients towards the goal of health promotion and disease prevention. As a future NP, my goal is to provide patient-centered, holistic care focusing on health promotion and sickness prevention. I also believe that an understanding of practice models like Pender’s Health Promotion Model will enable me to empower patients to obtain self-efficacy and behavior specific changes.
Diclemente, C., Fairhurst, S., Prochaska, J., Rossi, J., Velasques, M., Velices, W. (1991). The process of smoking cessation: An analysis
... wants their patients to start eating healthier it could help give them ideas on how to change their patient’s intentions. The health care provider could help the patient realize that the important people in their life want them to eat healthy, and this could help change their behavior. They could educate them on the effects of eating healthier and ultimately change their attitude about eating healthy. For example, the patient does not have to cut junk food out completely; they just have to eat it in moderation. This is just one situation were the theories could help in the health care field. There are many other ways these theories are useful. It is important to understand these theories in order to understand that behavior is affected by someone’s intentions. This makes it easier to understand what affects a person’s intentions and how they can be changed.
To answer my questions I looked to my clinical instructor and other resources such as course literature. From these resources, I learned that the purpose of health promotion is to move individuals, groups, and communities closer to optimal well being by educating (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008). Prior to this I thought it also involved preventing illness, but health promotion does not focus on this. Examples of health promotion programs include health education demonstrations, supporting smoke-free environments, encouraging physical fitness, general wellness, smoking cessation, exercise and physical conditioning, weight control, stress management, nutritional awareness, and work safety (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008). In my research I also found that altering personal habits, lifestyle, and environment have a lot to do with promoting