Disxcuss about the Strategies for Health Promotion.
Health promotion implies equipping people with the capability of being able to monitor their own health and keep it at optimum (Edelman, Mandle and Kudzma, 2017). Such a move does not barely mean equipping individuals with appropriate knowledge and skills to shape their health behaviour but goes further to look in to the complex network of factors that influence health. In the contemporary society, there are probably more disease conditions than there have ever been in the past. There has also been a great rise in the member of persons with chronic illnesses such cancer and diabetes in the last few decades. Lifestyle has also greatly changed with increased physical inactivity and a diet loaded with fat and calories. With these great changes in the environment in which we live, health promotion should take a key role in raising the level of health education and equipping people to take care of their own health (Naidoo and Wills, 2016). To effectively do this, there is need to consider the various factors such as the political, social and political that play a part in influencing health of individuals/populations. The Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion that was carried out in 1986 outlined five major strategies for achieving health promotion. The nurse has a very significant role in health promotion. In this essay, the role of the nurse in health promotion will be addressed. The condition that will be discussed is diabetes mellitus type 2. Each of the five principles will be addressed and how the nurse can play a role to promote health in relation to the above-mentioned condition.
Policy greatly determines the course of action to be taken. If the policy does not promote health, then it’s negative impacts will be felt with time. On the other hand, public policies that puts in to consideration the health implications are likely to achieve improved health with time. The nurse is knowledgeable about the aetiology and management of diabetes mellitus type 2. He/she understands that lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity influence the risk for the condition. The nurse would therefore have a significant role in shaping the policy to ensure that as much as possible it contributes to lowering of the risk of the condition in the population. The strategy of building healthy public policy requires that all sectors integrate health promotion factors when designing their policies. Once a policy is made, it affects many people and they must abide by it. For this reason, it is very necessary that the nurse as a health promotion be involved in the formulation of policies. For instance, if an educational policy is being established to guide curriculum of high school students, the nurse could advise that study of diabetes mellitus, that is, the cause and preventive strategies be included in the curriculum. Such a move would equip students from an early age of the risk factors and prevention strategies. This is likely to shape their attitudes and potentially translate to healthy behaviours (Katz and Ness, 2014). With time, such a policy could achieve great reduction in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2.
Nurses can contribute to creating supportive environments diabetes mellitus in several ways. One way would be ensuring that there is a strong support for persons diagnosed with diabetes mellitus at the health facility. For instance, patients with other complication should receives extensive care to make their life as comfortable as health. The disease may make a patient lose hope which may further deteriorate their health. The nurse should be there to empathize with such and refer them to more professional help from a counsellor. Supportive environments have several dimensions. While the nurse may not be able to handle all these dimensions, they can contribute where they can with their professionalism. Other forms of support that may be offered could be educating the patients on the importance of taking a healthy diet and regular physical activity. These two factors have found to lead to better health outcomes among persons with diabetes mellitus (Whitney and Rolfes, 2018).
When the community understands their challenges and needs and come together to act on the same, there are high chances of succeeding in their endeavour. For instance, if the community members appreciated that the burden of diabetes mellitus is too much and must cease, they could better achieve this since they would be dedicated towards the same. When it comes to this, the major role of the nurse is to educate the community members about the disease. The education could include potential causes of the disease and prevention strategies. when a community understands this, they become informed are more likely to improve on their health practices. For instance, they might decide to reduce the amount of saturated fats in their foods and encourage their children to be more active. A knowledgeable community is empowered and is more likely to have better health outcomes. It has long been known that educating people leads to shaping of their attitudes. When attitudes are shaped by the education, then there is a likelihood that the attitudes will translate to practice. Let us look at an example. If a community understands that vigorous physical activity for 30 minutes a day or moderate activity for one hour daily reduces the chances of developing diabetes mellitus type 2 and other chronic conditions, they would most likely engage in the recommended activity levels.
If an individual develops skills that are geared towards a healthy living, then that individual is more likely to enjoy better health. The nurse can play a huge role in equipping persons and communities with personal skills that promote health and prevent/manage diabetes mellitus type 2. Again, the most effective method here seems to be education. Since most of the times the nurse is at the healthcare facility, they are likely only to reach a small section of the community. To reach a wider proportion of the community, the nurse could in partnership with other health professionals organize community outreaches to sensitize and educate people about diabetes mellitus. This way, they reach wider audiences and equip more people with preventive and management strategies. Repetitive learning results in better enhancement of skills. For this reason, it is necessary that such community outreach trainings be carried out at least once every month. As seen from the discussion above, the nurse has a pivotal role in shaping the health skills of a community mainly through education and training.
Reorienting health services implies using practices that are supported by evidence. As days go by, more scientific facts are dug out concerning diabetes mellitus. The nurse could play a part in reorienting health services in two main ways. One, they should endeavour to keep updated with the most recent scientific findings about diabetes mellitus. This way, they are up to date and provide their patients/clients with information and care that is up to date. Another way in which the nurse can contribute to reorienting health services is through engaging in research. There are still questions that science has not answered about diabetes mellitus. There has not yet been established a cure for instance. A nurse could engage in research to add to the body of knowledge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, health promotion implies equipping individuals with the skills necessary to take care of their health. The promotion aims at identifying all the factors that play together to influence health to ensure that such influence is towards the positive direction. The first international conference on health promotion was held at Ottawa, Canada in 1986. It identified five major strategies that can be used to promote health. The five strategies were building public policy that is healthy, creation of environments that are supportive, strengthening the action of the community, developing personal skills and reorienting health care services. The nurse has a pivotal role in these five strategies when it comes to prevention and management of diabetes mellitus type 2. For instance, they could reorient health services through keeping themselves up to date with the current scientific findings relating to diabetes or even carrying out research to answer the questions that science is yet to answer. Another way in which they play a role is through educating and training individuals and communities on risk factors, prevention and management strategies. By doing this repetitively, they create positive personal skills that promote health. In addition to promoting health, they help the communities act regarding the health problems that they are facing.
References
Edelman, C. L., Mandle, C. L., & Kudzma, E. C. (2017). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Katz, M. J., & Ness, S. M. (2014). Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.
Naidoo, J., & Wills, J. (2016). Foundations for Health Promotion-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Tangvarasittichai, S. (2015). Oxidative stress, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. World journal of diabetes, 6(3), 456.
Whitney, E. N., & Rolfes, S. R. (2018). Understanding nutrition. Cengage Learning.
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