Benefits of health promotion

A Healthy lifestyle is promoted by being educated in prevention methods and strategies. How is health promotion define and what is its purpose? The nursing roles, responsibilities and implementation methods for health promotion will be addressed, finally, a comparison of the health promotion levels. Health promotion is defined as the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. (World health organization, n. d) Health promotion helps prevent diseases, premature death and disability.

It is voluntary which result in positive behavior changes and an increase in knowledge.

The purpose of health promotion is to influence the healthy behavior of humans while taking a look at the living conditions and the working environment. Acknowledging how it influences and is incorporated in to the health promotion model in all communities. Nursing roles are evolving in health promotion by including clinical nursing practices, consultations, follow-up treatment, patient education and illness prevention. Nursing assume community-based care using evidence-based practice.

Understanding the nursing role will help the outcome in promoting health promotion resulting in an increase of patient knowledge, self-management and the quality of life.

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Furthermore, nurses are often in contact with family members, caregivers, and the community. They should assume the role as a healthcare promoter. The responsibilities include, being proactive, multi-disciplinary in nursing and to view themselves as movers for a change. Understanding includes adapting to trends, society changes and how this affects health promotion. Nurses have an advantage to develop a promotion strategy to increase change in healthy behavior.

In addition, acquiring skills in emergency care, counseling, advocacy, public, family and community needs are helpful in the individual assessment of health promotion of each person. The implementation methods for health promotion that encompasses all areas of nursing are clarifying roles and responsibility, collecting information which should be done at a different level in the hospital and interpreting results from summarizing data from patient response to healthcare given and performance scores. Developing a quality improvement plan that is continuously monitor with re-analysis on a regular basis is highly recommended.

Understanding the nature of health promotion is embracing the challenges and opportunity to healthcare professional to influence healthcare promotion. Doing so, let’s compare the three levels of health promotion: first level of health promotion is primary prevention which includes activities to help avoid a given healthcare problem. In the article “Effectiveness of a community based health promotion program targeting people with hypertension and high cholesterol”, it addressed patient knowledge and understanding hypertension and high cholesterol complications from their self-care behaviors, in which an effort to change was made.

Having the knowledge about hypertension doesn’t always result in behavioral change but may result in a problem such as a lack of response, an increase in disability and a decrease in life expectancy. If the participants had self-efficacy and was able to manage chronic diseases, there would be an influence of self-care behavior which can be incorporated into the health promotion efforts. In this study primary prevention help improve the participants overall view and behavior towards hypertension and high cholesterol.

The second level of health promotion which is identified and treat non symptomatic individuals who have already developed risk factors or pre-clinical diseases but the condition is present. In the article “Health coaching to improve Hypertension treatment in a low-income, minority population”, Participations received a community based health promotion program in which the goal of the program is to provide information on hypertension and high cholesterol and educated on problem solving and skills to improve self-efficacy.

Multiple strategies to promote the development and self-efficacy information were given on DVDs about hypertension and high cholesterol. Self-care booklets, group support (counseling and exercising) and telephone follow-up were also included. The results after a six months study showed an increase in patient motivation and health behavior. There was a decrease in HDL level and blood pressure. Patients found it much easier to deal with hypertension and cholesterol by using the self-care skills.

Because of the community based program there was an increase in confidence in each patient that participated an identifying the secondary prevention behavioral interventions were successful in this community study. The tertiary level of heal promotion involves care of the current diseases and restoring to the highest function while minimizing the negative effects of the present disease as well to prevent complications. In the article “Rehabilitation for patients after stroke in a tertiary hospital: Is it early and intensive enough?

”, addresses stroke survivors who receive early and intensive rehabilitation within the first 24 hours result in walking as early of 3. 5 days verses 7. 5 days. Stoke survivors are discharged home too early before gaining any independence in mobility lowers the rehabilitation success. Providing early motor recovery helps with the patients and family satisfactory and emotional support. Not to mention there were a lower risk of in-hospital deaths. There were also shorter hospital stays and greater short and long term functional gains.

The tertiary level of promotion in the article is restoring the stroke survivor to its previous state before the stroke as well preventing any future complications. In conclusion, health promotion in nursing is prevention. Improving the strategies to improving health promotion should be a very important issue to the current health reform environment. So when we look at what is needed, let’s look at the framework of health promotion defining it as addressing the healthy behaviors in every community and nationally.

The healthcare professionals are responsible to educate, advocate, prevent and promote. Under the umbrella of health promotion the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention will ensure healthy conditions if use in every nursing role and responsibility. This health promotion should run parallel with our interactions within the care and encounters of patients, family members and the community. Health promotion is like a cure, which depends on the strength of healthcare professional to accept this global responsibility.