Health Promotion: Reflection on Decision to Work Alone and Communicating to Different Audiences

This article discusses the challenges of working in a group and the benefits of working alone in health promotion. It also provides insights on how to communicate with different audiences in promoting health. The key messages to be communicated include informing the residents of Bourke on the risks associated with their lifestyle and how to mitigate them. The article also highlights the role of health practitioners in promoting health. The subject of the article is health promotion, and it does not mention any specific course code, course name, or college/university.

Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION 1
HEALTH PROMOTION
Name
Professor’s name
Affiliation

HEALTH PROMOTION 2
Reflection on decision to work alone
This reflection is based on an occurrence that happened to me when we were given a task
to do by our lecturer. We were given an opportunity to choose whether to work in a group or
individually. I decided to work in a group because I felt that the task would have been performed
better in a group through sharing of responsibilities and widening our scope of thinking (Detels,
Beaglehole, Lansang & Gulliford, 2011). Little did I know the numerous challenges and bad
experiences that were awaiting me in the group discussion. Out of the eight members of the
group, only one member arrived on time to a meeting that we had scheduled. Four members did
not show up while the rest came an hour late. When I made inquiry on where they were, one of
them told me that she had gone home and the others gave vague excuses (Gillespie, 2012).
I was very much annoyed with what had happened to me. I wish I had not joined that
group discussion. I felt that much of my time had been wasted by working with people who were
not serious with their academic work. I had put much expectation in the group discussion but
they were all shut down with the experience that I encountered. From the experience, I realized
that at times working in a group can be very frustrating. I always feel that, when given an
opportunity to choose, working individually on an assignment is the best option that I can choose
(Eades, Ferguson & O'Carroll, 2011). Working individually helps me set my own deadline on
when to finish an assignment or a task. It also gives me an opportunity to determine the quality
of work that I need to produce. Finally, it helps me to determine the grades that I want and
therefore put in place the mechanisms of achieving it. I will always work alone unless the
lecturer requires me to work in groups (Hay, Mond, Buttner & Darby, 2008).
Key messages to be communicated
Residents of Bourke, which is found in Western New South Wale Local Health District
(WNSWLHD), are faced with several health related challenges and risks. Majority of these risks
are brought by the lifestyle in which they lead. Residents of Bourke need to be informed of the
risk that is associated with the lifestyle that they are leading. They should be informed on how
their eating habits has contributed to increased obesity especially in female. They should also be
informed that obesity leads to health complication and diseases like diabetes (Jorm, 2012).

HEALTH PROMOTION 3
Once the people of Bourke are made aware of the problem, they should also be informed
on how the risks can be mitigated and prevented. They should also be informed on the role in
which they are going to play in the prevention process. The community should finally be
informed on the benefits of practicing healthful lifestyle (Kingsley, Townsend & Henderson‐
Wilson, 2009).
The health practitioner wants to know the role they are going to play in the health
promotion. They are also interested in knowing how the health promotion is going to contribute
to the achievement of the goal of improving the health of the community (Keim, 2008).
Communicating to different audiences
1. Communicating with the community
Communication forms a basis for action. People can only take action if only they know
the basis upon which they are to act. The health promotion officer should consider several factors
when communicating to the general public. He should understand the social and the cultural
beliefs of the people in which he intends to communicate to, in the current case, the people of
Bourke. Understanding the culture of a given group of people enables one to know how best to
communicate with them. It also enables one to know the cultural boundaries in which one is not
supposed to pass. Community at Bourke needs to be made aware of the health status in their
place, the risk which is facing them and the possible solutions. Receptivity of the community
will depend on how effective communication is made (Cochran et al. 2008).
The community at Bourke is composed of diverse people with varying literacy level.
Therefore simplicity in the message disseminated is crucial. It will enable the people to easily
understand the message. Information presented to the general public should be balanced, that is,
it should give both the positive side and negative side of the actions to be taken. The mode of
communication transmission to be adopted should be in a position to reach the maximum number
of audience possible. It should be easily accessible to large audiences (Paradies, Harris &
Anderson, 2008).
Information communicated should be repeated to the general public. Repetition creates
emphasis. This will ensure that the general public does not forget the content of information. The

HEALTH PROMOTION 4
general public should be informed the part they are going to play in the upcoming campaign.
This will make them feel part of the program. Inclusion will also help them own the program and
also adhere to the requirement of the program.
2. Communication with the health professional
Implementation of the health program will require support and effort of different parties.
One of the key implementer is the health workers in the WNSWLHD. Therefore communicating
to them concerning the health promotion program is inevitable. Information given to them should
be sufficient enough to enable them to make a decision of either supporting the program or not.
As opposed to communicating with the general public, communicating with professionals
requires use of professional language. It also takes a more formalized structure.
The communication provided to the professionals should be evidence-based. This means
that the proposal to be adopted or to be voted in is based on scientifically proven data.
Professionals reasons scientifically and professionally. They should therefore be provided with
information that convinces them fully.
The overall objective of health is to promote well-being of humanity. Health care workers
are always ready to adopt any intervention that is geared towards improving the well-being of
humanity. It is necessary for the health promotion officer to highlight how the promotion
program is going to assist in achievement of the overall objectives. He should also explain how
the program is going to assist in dealing with some of the challenges that the hospital is going
through (Kohl 3rd et al. 2012).

HEALTH PROMOTION 5
References
Cochran, P. A., Marshall, C. A., Garcia-Downing, C., Kendall, E., Cook, D., McCubbin,
L., & Gover, R. M. S. (2008). Indigenous ways of knowing: Implications for
participatory research and community. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1),
22-27.
Detels, R., Beaglehole, R., Lansang, M. A., & Gulliford, M. (2011). Oxford textbook of
public health. Oxford University Press.
Eades, C. E., Ferguson, J. S., & O'Carroll, R. E. (2011). Public health in community
pharmacy: a systematic review of pharmacist and consumer views. BMC public
health, 11(1), 582.
Gillespie, L. D. (2012). Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the
community.
Hay, P. J., Mond, J., Buttner, P., & Darby, A. (2008). Eating disorder behaviors are
increasing: findings from two sequential community surveys in South Australia.
PloS one, 3(2), e1541.
Jorm, A. F. (2012). Mental health literacy: Empowering the community to take action for
better mental health. American Psychologist, 67(3), 231.
Keim, M. E. (2008). Building human resilience: the role of public health preparedness
and response as an adaptation to climate change. American journal of preventive
medicine, 35(5), 508-516.
Kingsley, J. Y., Townsend, M., & Henderson‐Wilson, C. (2009). Cultivating health and
wellbeing: members' perceptions of the health benefits of a Port Melbourne
community garden. Leisure studies, 28(2), 207-219.
Kohl 3rd, H. W., Craig, C. L., Lambert, E. V., Inoue, S., Alkandari, J. R., Leetongin,
G., ... & Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group. (2012). The pandemic
of physical inactivity: global action for public health. The Lancet, 380(9838), 294-
305.

HEALTH PROMOTION 6
Paradies, Y., Harris, R., & Anderson, I. (2008). The impact of racism on Indigenous
health in Australia and Aotearoa: Towards a research agenda. Cooperative
Research Centre for Aboriginal Health.