Unit 2 Article Review Assignment Health Promotion Strategies

CHE 6303, Strategies of Health Promotion 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

2. Identify connections between health and the environment. 2.1 Analyze what is meant by the term theory in relation to explanations of behavior. 2.2 Identify the top health indicators/health issues faced by the United States. 2.3 Explain various interventions or change strategies that an effective health promotion program

would use in order to change people’s health behavior.

3. Explain how different areas of health are interrelated (i.e., holistic view of health). 3.1 Understand selected critiques of these behavioral theories. 3.2 Outline factors (e.g., social and environmental) contributing to people’s behaviors in terms

of their health.

Reading Assignment Chapter 3: Social Behavioral Theory and Its Roots Chapter 4: Individual Health Behavior Theories

Unit Lesson Our next discussion will focus on people’s behavior toward their healthy and unhealthy lifestyles. We will then discuss how health promotion programs should work or be designed . We will also explore multiple risk factors and how they affect our bodies, our lifestyles, and our overall quality of life. Effective health promotion programs should promote healthier lifestyles and chronic disease management by having a strong and complete message on health behaviors and work on changing unhealthy behaviors. There should also be a baseline understanding of why these behaviors occur in the first place. Our textbook discusses the importance of mobilizing communities to effect change. This process includes defining the community, assessing the community, and understanding the community’s needs. When we discuss behavior, we refer to an individual’s actions, emotions, attitudes, norms, beliefs, and perceptions. There are many theories on behavior, which are also included within your textbook. For the purposes of this lecture, we will outline key concepts related to behavioral health. Why do we focus on changing behavior? According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (n.d.), these 10 so-called health indicators are also 10 major health issues faced by our country:

1. Physical activity: This includes a routine such as walking, jogging, sports, lifting weights, and other physical activities.

2. Overweight and obesity: There are many factors that can be attributed to being overweight and obese. These include an unhealthy diet, minimal physical activities, health conditions, stress, and medications.

3. Tobacco use: This substance has contributed to many health issues to the primary user and to other secondary users that inhale the smoke. Health issues include addiction, cancer, oral issues, and other health issues.

4. Substance abuse: This occurs when a substance—whether legal or illegal—is abused. Examples can include the inhalation of household items such as glue and paint. Illegal substances can include cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamines.

5. Responsible sexual behavior: This is the action of using protection during sexual activity. This includes condoms, birth control, and other proven methods.

6. Mental health: This can contribute to social and emotional issues for the individual without proper education, counseling, and other treatment options suitable to the disease.

UNIT II STUDY GUIDE

Health Behavior Theories

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7. Injury and violence: This can be attributed to occupational issues in the work place. The violence can be due to domestic issues including physical and mental abuse.

8. Environmental quality: These are factors that include the air, ground, water, food, and other considerations that can affect your environmental health. Sometimes, environmental quality can affect unborn children, creating developmental and physical disorders.

9. Immunization: Vaccines or immunizations are a form of disease prevention. These are introduced to the body before the disease occurs. The body develops antibodies against the actual diseases, thus increasing the chances of not becoming infected with the disease.

10. Access to health care: This is becoming more of a reality because of affordable health insurance. There are still some special populations that do not have adequate access to healthcare (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, n.d.).

Some people—while realizing and seeing the problem—have no real intentions to change it. Other people are aware of the problem and are thinking of changing it, but they do not have any plans to change it. Another group might have strong intentions and actually have certain plans in mind and possibly even take some first steps toward changing their ways, but they become very unstable by the end. In addition to these behaviors, actions, or inactions, people also could be evaluating or believing whether they actually have a small or significant risk of ever getting the disease. Some of us at some point said, "Nah, this won’t happen to me; I’m young and strong." Other factors that could play a role or roles in terms of people engaging in certain behaviors toward their health might include their personal/individual values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, knowledge, their social support or network, and the environment they are in now or had been in the past. So, the conclusion you can make is that one’s health behaviors are shaped as a result of many social and environmental factors. Religious beliefs might also influence one’s health behaviors or health-related choices. For example, some religious or customary practices do not allow blood transfusions or birth control and believe very strongly in faith-based healing. These aspects would then affect individuals’ actions and behaviors in terms of their health and prevention. So far, we have discussed that there are certain behaviors that people act on, and these behaviors are the product of various individual, social, cultural, religious, and environmental factors. Effective health promotion programs analyze the available data and research and use them to their advantage. For example, for the past several years or even a decade or two, there have been studies pointing out the high incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, and cancer occurring in many individuals living in our country. Some of the contributory factors include unhealthy diets, alcohol and tobacco use, and sedentary lifestyles (i.e. lack of physical exercise). Let’s take the Health Belief Model (HBM) as the background used for a health promotion that wants to implement certain interventions or change strategies so people can change their health behaviors. The HBM is being used in high blood pressure screening campaigns, and some of these change strategies might be as follows:

 Define what populations are at risk, and indicate the levels of risk.

 Tailor risk information based on an individual’s characteristics or behaviors.

 Help the individual develop an accurate perception of his or her own risk.

 Specify the consequences of a condition and recommended action.

 Explain how, where, and when to take action and what the potential positive results will be.

 Offer re-assurance, incentives, and assistance.

 Provide “how-to” information, and promote awareness.

 Provide training and guidance in performing action.

 Give verbal reinforcement.

 Demonstrate desired behaviors. (National Cancer Institute, 2012, p. 14, Table 2) In conclusion, it is important to outline how to positively impact and change individuals’ unhealthy behaviors. We need to understand why these behaviors occur in the first place and what some of the social and environmental factors are that contribute to these behaviors. Once these aspects are established and the data is available, we can then design our health promotion strategies. However, these strategies should also be concerned with the disease prevention and early detection of disease. Think of a health promotion as the marketing of ideas and attitudes that can improve the quality of life for individuals and their families. This marketing can be done in communities, schools, and workplaces (e.g., employees’ wellness programs). When we talk about disease prevention, we are referring to certain behaviors that significantly lower the risk for

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individuals actually getting the diseases in the first place. These might include fitness programs, nutrition and weight management, and stress management. Lastly, another set of activities would be concentrated on various early detection methods that would improve an individual’s chances of actually surviving the disease. These methods might include getting regular check-ups (physicals) and performing self-exams (e.g., to detect early signs of breast cancer). In performing all of these methods, it is very important that individuals are being persuaded to change their ways and are being effectively influenced and motivated!

References Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). What are the leading health indicators. Retrieved

from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2010/LHI/lhiwhat.htm National Cancer Institute. (2012). Theory at a glance: A guide for health promotion practice (2nd ed.).

Retrieved from http://www.sneb.org/2014/Theory%20at%20a%20Glance.pdf