Primary Health Care and Health Promotion

Health Promotion is a fundamental practise in ensuring optimum population health. In this essay I will be discussing the ‘settings’ based approach (SBA) of Health Promotion (HP) as a process for achieving sustainable improvements in health outcomes. I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approach in relation to key movements which demonstrate the method in action.

Public health is positioned as one in light of the fact that public health is central to 21st century medicinal services and shares the same general objectives as whatever is left of the health care framework - lessening sudden death and minimizing the impacts of ailment, incapacity, and damage furthermore gives financial and social advantages to the area, due to some degree to expanded profit.

Equality in everything, including health issues, has to be the main feature of the modern world. National health programs of the US operate to ensure adequate and timely treatment of all citizens. Nevertheless, health indicators of some racial and ethnic groups are significantly worse than of the white Americans. It applies to the Hispanic Americans and significantly affects their lives. The current health status of this minority is far from satisfactory and needs improvements through existing programs and the development of new approaches to address

The World Health Organization has defined health as: “Health is a state of complete physical, psychological, and social wellbeing and not simply the absence of disease or infirmity.” The essay defines the importance of health care why is it important to have a quality health and remain healthy. For remaining health it’s necessary to have a health care plan. This help in giving best and timely treatment which would indirectly help reducing death rate and increase productivity which would help in the progress of the economy.

The next interview was of an Asian American family. This is a military family, the father meet, married and brought back to the United States a 23 year old Vietnamese woman. Family is vital to this Asian American family and respect is expected. Over the years, the mother has adapted to some western ways but maintains certain culture values and passed them on to her children. Diet plays a huge part in their health maintenance and protection. The diet manly consists of rice, vegetables and fish. Along with diet, exercise and staying fit is a big part of their ethnic background. The mother stated to me “Don’t you see all the Asian ladies at the gym? We take pride in staying fit.” To them their body is a temple and needs to be cared for. Spirituality of mind body and soul is another significant part of their health. Partaking in meditation, massage therapy and acupuncture are ways to rid the body of imbalance and place it back in balance to fight illness and diseases. Illness may be attributed to organic or physical problems an imbalance of yin and yang, an obstruction of chi (life energy), a failure to be in harmony with nature, punishment for immoral behavior (in this or past lives), or a curse placed by an offended spirit ("Vietnamese Cultural Profile — EthnoMed," n.d.). While this family is westernized in some ways, by going to the doctor and

The disease progress goes through a series of natural stages (The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, 2017). Health promotion interventions/preventive measures can be applied during any stage of the process. The interventions and measures are to stop disease progression; therefore, it is a critical step of health promotion. There are many collaborative actions to empower patients to make these decisions based on the best of their interest. Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention are part of the collaborative actions. There are pre-extensive factors such as environment, economic, social, culture, and behavior factors which can increase ones’ risk for disease. The prevention health care is to decease or minimize these risks to hence the outcome. Primary prevention are intervention/measures that assists individuals take actions instead of preventing personal exposure to these risk factors.

The health promotion practicum course helped me explore around town in finding places to do my internship under a licensed Physical Therapy. I took this course since the class can help me discover my own self and see if I am choosing the right path for myself in the future. I did an internship when I was in the community college with my human services course. I volunteered at the activities stations at Hilo Medical Center and worked with nurses. I knew back than, I did not see myself as a Nurse, and that’s where I noticed a Physical therapist and witness up hand, in what they do. From there, I changed my track and I knew I would rather help people in a difference aspect compared to a nurse.

The object of this assignment is to critically appraise a health promotion initiative related to midwifery practice. The initiative chosen is a NHS Health Scotland leaflet entitled 'Smoking: giving up during pregnancy: a guide for pregnant women who want to stop smoking' (NHS Health Scotland 2003). It will be referred to as the 'initiative' or the 'leaflet' throughout this assignment.

Throughout this assignment the author will demonstrate knowledge of health promotion and its link in addressing health needs. The role of the nurse in delivering health promotion at primary, secondary and tertiary levels will be discussed and how national policy influences that delivery on the chosen topic of smoking. Barriers to health promotion will also be discussed and how these barriers could be overcome.

Health promotion is defined as the provision of information and/or education to individuals, families and communities that encourage family unity, community commitment, and traditional spiritually that makes positive contributions to their health status (Definition of wellness.Com). It is our job as providers to promote health by any means necessary to improve community wellness.

According to Leiyu Shi and Douglas A. Singh (2015), “Health determinants are major factors that, over time affect the health and well-being of individuals and populations” (p.52). Differences are constantly being made throughout the health care system, communities and various cultural groups for the healthcare administrations to expand their reach beyond medical services. Today in many areas health care professionals are taking a different approach by focusing not only on health but on the well-being of the people as well. In order for many of the health care professionals to improve the communities in which they serve they must improve on the four key determinants of health.

Fitness and wellness are related to the prevalence of certain diseases (Fair, 2011). Most diseases that are strongly associated with risk factors or behaviors are preventable (Bezner, 2015). These diseases when not prevented may lead to decreased quality of life, disability and even death. It is better to prevent the occurrence of certain diseases by addressing modifiable risk factors, than to wait for the patient to suffer the consequences before we take action. Health promotion through prevention and wellness is therefore a vital component of health care system in any community. Bezner (2015) defined health promotion as the process of empowering a person to change his lifestyle and behavior, with the purpose of improving the overall health of people living in the community. According to Bezner (2015) physical therapists are ideal messengers and role models in health promotion and wellness. In line with this, physical therapists should participate in creating a health promotion initiative for the community to decrease health care costs, decrease mortality and to alleviate the risk of having chronic diseases (McGinnis, Williams-Russo, & Knickman, 2002). One example of a health promotion initiative that can be created by physical therapists is a wellness and prevention program for the elderly.

Health promotion utilises theories and models to guide practice. A theory is the general principles of a framework of ideas in regards to a particular topic. (Merriam-webster.com, 2016) A model is a set plan of action based on theoretical ideas to achieve a set goal. (Merriam-webster.com, 2016)

Evidence of the health promoting power of primary care has increased ever since investigators have been able to differentiate primary care from other characteristics of the health services delivery system. Studies constantly show that primary care has a positive effect on health results. It reduces mortality and morbidity, and it is considerably more lucrative than specialty based care. Therefore primary care is essential. Some of the beneficial impacts of primary care on health are:

Primary health care, often abbreviated as PHC, has been defined as essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology, made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community. It is through their full participation and at a cost that the community and the country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination". In other words, PHC is an approach to health beyond the traditional health care system that focuses on health equity-producing social policy. PHC includes all areas that play a role in health, such as access to health services, environment and lifestyle.