Health Promotion
Elva Cantu
09/08/12

Health Promotion Health promotion is helping people take charge of their body in order to obtain the best health possible. It is learning to balance physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health. Lifestyle change is encouraged through awareness and through an environment that supports good health practices. The purpose of health promotion is to encourage good health behaviors and improve living and working conditions which will then enhance a better quality of life and reduce premature deaths. There are three levels of health promotion prevention which include primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention is an action taken before there is any onset of disease and it removes the possibility that the disease will occur. Positive health is promoted and encouraged which in return, enables an individual to lead a productive life. Secondary prevention is an action taken to stop the progress of a disease at its beginning stage and prevent complications. It is in the domain of clinical medicine. It is less effective and more expensive than primary prevention. The third level is tertiary prevention which provides measures to reduce or limit disabilities and impairment caused by disease and bad health. It lessens suffering and helps patients adjust to the conditions.

There are various theories on how to implement health promotion which targets behavior change. Elder et al. (1999) summarized the important ingredients for successful health promotion and prevention programs. Methods should include helping the person want to change, assuring him that he has the needed skills, and that he is capable of using the skills to change a particular behavior. To achieve his goal, he must be faced with a limited amount of barriers and he should be provided with social and medical information and reinforcement. As far as possible, there should be enablers to help achieve the behavior but an avoidance of any one sanctioning the behavior. Methods should have a positive affect regarding the behavior. (276). An example of a primary level of health promotion was found in the article titled School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6-18. Many chronic diseases which lead to death are caused by a result of physical inactivity. A pattern of inactivity often develops in childhood. In order to correct this problem, a school-based physical activity intervention program that is relevant to public health practice and is aimed at increasing physical activity is implemented. The purpose is to develop a healthy lifestyle of behaviors that will lead to a reduced risk for many chronic diseases in adulthood. The primary strategy is to create lifestyle patterns of regular physical activity. An example of a primary level leading into a secondary level of health promotion is found in the article Interventions for Preventing Obesity in Children. There is growing evidence of the impact of overweight and obesity on functioning, health and well being. The aim is to prevent obesity but there has to be an intervention for a child who is already over weight. First of all, the child’s behaviors have to be changed. He must want to change and then feel that he has the ability to make the change. He must be given the proper help, encouragement and resources. His activity level must be increased and diet-related factors must be positively altered. Nutrition knowledge has to be increased, preparation and eating practices improved with higher levels of fruit and vegetables, less fat and a reduced intake of sweets and carbonated drinks. The article Psychological interventions for parents of children and adolescents with chronic illness is an example of tertiary level of health promotion. Psychological therapies have been developed for parents of children and adolescents with a chronic illness and are designed to improve parent and child behavior, mental health, and family functioning. It includes coping strategies for the parents. The aim is to also improve a child ‘s disability and symptoms. The roles of nurses and their responsibilities have changed over the years. In recent years, research, technology, and the change from hospital-centered patient care to a more primary, preventive care within the community has required an increase in the responsibilities of nurses which make it necessary for nurses to have a stronger basic knowledge of the medical field. They are required to be more independent in making clinical decisions, managing cases, supervising support personnel, and helping patients with resources, treatment procedures, and healthy choices. (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Position Statement, 2000)Because of the change to community nursing where outpatient centers include homes, workplaces, public schools and nursing centers, nurses need further studies that emphasizes leadership, management, wellness, health promotion, disease prevention, as well as illness and disease management. Registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients, other health care professionals and be competent in designing, providing, managing, and coordinating care. BSN nurses are providing more complex aspects of daily care and patient education, but they are also designing and coordinating a nursing care plan from pre-admission to post-discharge.

References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Position Statement, 2000
Dobbins M, DeCorby K, Robeson P, Husson H, Tirilis D. School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6-18. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD007651. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007651.

Eccleston C, Palermo TM, Fisher E, Law E. Psychological interventions for parents of children and adolescents with chronic illness. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD009660. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009660.pub2.

Elder, J. P., Ayala, G. X., & Harris, S. (1999). Theories and intervention approaches to health-behavior change in primary care. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 17, 275–284.

Ellis, Sara. (April 2, 2006). To BSN or Not to BSN-That is the Nurse’s Question,Reference and Education.

Waters E, de Silva-Sanigorski A, Hall BJ, Brown T, Campbell KJ, Gao Y, Armstrong R, Prosser L, Summerbell CD. Interventions for preventing obesity in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD001871. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001871.pub3.

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