Health Promotion: Strategies for Disease Prevention and Management

HEALTH PROMOTION 1
HEALTH PROMOTION
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HEALTH PROMOTION 2
HEALTH PROMOTION-CASE SCENARIO ONE
Introduction
Health promotion is integral in the control and management of disease and infections.
Individuals, government agencies or nongovernmental organizations may carry out health
promotion activities in different communities. Purposely, health promotion programs are
intended to engage and empower communities and individuals to enhance the choice of healthy
lifestyles and behaviours. In addition, health promotion aims at facilitating changes among
individuals and communities necessary for reducing the risks of chronic diseases. Through this
enablement, health promotes enable communities and individuals to have control over major
determinants of their health (Kumar and Preetha,2012). According to the world health
organization, health promotion is the process through which health promoters help individuals to
have increased control and improve their health. In addition to focusing on the behaviour of
individuals, Health promotion also focuses on different environmental and social interventions
(WHO, 2016). These environmental and social interventions protect the health of individuals and
play a major role in improving the quality of life by not only focusing on cure and treatment but
also on the preventing and addressing the root causes of diseases. Health promotion is important
in healthcare in that it helps in the prevention and reduction of diseases. It empowers individuals
and communities to enforce changes and choose healthy behaviours to minimize the risk of
having chronic diseases and other illnesses(Kumar and Preetha, 2012). The goals of healthcare
include the improvement and maintenance of health through treatment, diagnosis and prevention
of injury, illness, and disease, mental and physical impairments (Kumar and Preetha, 2012).
Therefore, health promotion is part of a health care professional’s roles. In particular, nurses play
a major role in health promotion. They do this by developing community programs and sharing
knowledge with communities and members of the community. Additionally, nurses play a role in
teaching individuals about the dangers of using drugs including tobacco and alcohol, which are
linked to various disease and health conditions. Finally, nurses also play a major role in the
promotion of constant health checkups which a significant element in disease prevention and
health promotion. Health promotion entails the elements of healthy cities, health literacy and
good governance for health (World Health Organization, 2016). The essay will discuss the
concept of health promotion by considering relevant literature and focusing on health promotion
strategies relevant to the identified scenario.

HEALTH PROMOTION 3
Evidence Base
The term overweight is used to refer to body weight that is more than healthy or normal
weight for different body height. Extra body fact causes individuals to become overweight. This
definition is based on body mass index, whereby individuals with body mass index of between
25 and 30. According to the World Health Organization (2018) the number of overweight
individuals in the world has been on the rise in the recent past. According to 2016 statistics,
about 1,9 billion adults were overweight. In addition, the statistic showed that 39% of adults
aged above 18 years were overweight. In addition, 41 million children aged below 5 were also
found to be obese in the same year (World Health Organization, 2018). Being obese may lead to
multiple health problems including pre-diabetes, type two diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty
liver disease and certain types of cancers. Prediabetes is a situation in which blood glucose levels
are above the normal level but not as high for an individual to be diagnosed with diabetes.
Prediabetes could develop to type 2-diabetes overtime (Basu, 2019).
According to Huizen (2019), individuals with prediabetes become unable to use insulin
correctly leading to the presence of too much blood sugar in the old stream. Therefore, this can
lead to damage of kidneys, the heart and blood vessels. These are the likely outcomes in Ru Shi’s
health (Weatherspoon, 2019).
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), more than 84 million
American adults have pre-diabetes. About 90% of these people are not aware if they have the
condition. A study carried out in Hong Kong between 2014 and 2016 established that 50% of
individuals aged 15 and above were overweight. These statistics presented a rise from 17.8% to
20.1% in a period of 10 years (Xinqi, 2017).
Pre-diabetes is linked to many factors. Genetic factors are a common cause of pre-
diabetes. This means that an individual stands a higher risk of developing the disease if it runs in
the family (The Right Diet for Prediabetes, 2019). In addition, lifestyle factors may play a major
role in the development of the disease. For example, the consumption of foods with high
amounts of fats, starches and sugar overload the body with more glucose than required
(American Heart Association, 2015). Sedentary lifestyles and excess body fats are also risk
factors for pre-diabetes. For Ru Shi, unhealthy eating habits, sedentary lifestyle and genetic
factors can be linked to her condition. Consumption of healthy food choices such as whole
grains, vegetables and fruits can reduce the risk of pre-diabetes

HEALTH PROMOTION 4
Needs assessment and levels of health promotion work
Successful health promotion programs require sufficient about the target community or
population. Gathering of the right adequate information leads to the development and adoption of
the most effective health interventions. A health needs assessment is, therefore, the process
through which the unmet healthcare and health needs of a population are identified. The process
also entails the enforcement of necessary changes to meet these needs (Netto et al., 2010).
The concept of need incorporates the needs expressed by the communities and those felt
by practitioners. It deviates from the concept of demand and puts into consideration the ability of
individuals to benefit from public health and healthcare programs (Netto et al., 2010). In health
promotion endeavours, it is important for healthcare practitioners to consider the type of health
problems experienced by people in order to enforce the necessary changes to facilitate the
necessary changes(Netto et al., 2010).
This health promotion is based on a normative need assessment. A normative need is a
need defined by professionals or experts in accordance with their own standards. In case some
individuals within the target community fall short of the set standards, a need is identified
(WHO, Rowe, McClelland and Billingham, 2011). For example, experts consider a BMI of 25 or
below as a representation of normal body weight. In case some individuals do not meet these
criteria, a need for weight management education or pre-diabetes management is deemed to
arise. The fact that Ru Shi has a Body Mass Index of 29, means that she falls short of the set
normal weight standards. Therefore, health promotion is based on normative needs assessment.
What level of health promotion work would be relevant for Ru Shi and why?
Health promotion efforts may be categorized into primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
This categorization is needed to enable health promoters to focus their efforts across all the
stages of diseases. The primary level of promotion is intended to curtail the incidence of
disability and disease within the population. The primary level of promotion does this by
eliminating factors associated with the reduction of good health(Sharma,2016). On the other
hand, secondary promotion focuses on limiting the progression of the disease through activities
such as early detection and interventions.
Finally, tertiary prevention is focused on the reduction of an already established disease.
Tertiary promotion efforts focus on minimizing the progression of the disease for individuals
who are already diagnosed with a disease(Sharma,2016). It is, therefore, the most suitable level