University Article Review: Changing Health Related Behavior in England

This report provides a detailed review of an article focusing on the challenges of changing health-related behavior in England. It analyzes key concepts in public health, including health protection and improvement, and explores sociological perspectives such as conflict theory, symbolic interactioni...Read More

Running Head: ARTICLE REVIEW
CHANGING HEALTH RELATED BEHAVIOR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Learning outcome 1
England has an executive agency known as Public Health England, which is a part of Health and
Social Care in the United Kingdom. They started operating in 2013 after the reorganization of
National Health Service (NHS). They look after the public health issues of the country that
includes health protection, treatment, substance abuse and many other. They look after schools,
colleges, workplaces, medical centres and the wider public. They have several key concepts to
effectively contribute to students, colleagues, clients, patients and wider public such as
increasing more scope and accessibility to people in the field of education, identifying
environmental hazards that can negatively affect the public, handling people who make profits
through the fund used for public health and finding ways to eradicate unemployment and social
issues (Heath 2014). Policies and legislations are being planned and implemented to protect the
health of the public and creating more options for vulnerable groups through eradication of
discrimination or financial constraints. Education in England is far reached and a priority for
every person irrespective of their caste, creed, race, gender or nationality. Their main agenda is
health protection, which is done through researches, national poisons database, reducing harm
from pollution, facilities for people working with hazardous metal, collecting epidemiological
data about life threatening diseases and giving response to major health incidents occurring
(Hunter and Perkins 2014). They look after health improvement through spreading awareness
about substance abuse, healthy diet and lifestyle, chronic disease screening programs, focusing
on health inequalities, organizing disease registration, responding to health incidents and local
health protection. The concept is to look after the health issues, the public of United Kingdom is
facing. Public health in England have started campaigns targeting Cancer and its type such as
lung, kidney, bowel and oesophagus-gastric cancer. Another aspect of public health in England is

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that they look after the mental health of the public and manages the triggers of mental disorders.
Whereas, the article written by Kelly and Barker (2016), talks about changing health related
behaviour in England and is not descriptive about the key concepts used for public health of
England.
Learning outcome 2
To research and critically analyse the sociological concepts to plan care holistically, the approach
of holistic care should be defined through the perspective of human development. Holistic care is
a model of care for the profession of nursing because optimum care and safety is required for
people in the medical settings. Holistic care defines a person as a whole and enhances their
interrelation with social, spiritual, psychological and biological aspects. It is not only needed in a
medical setting but it is also needed in communication, education, complementary treatment and
self-help (McIlfatrick et al. 2014). The sociological concepts in holistic care is that it respects
human dignity, including their culture, emotions, opinions and attitude that contributes to the
satisfaction, recovery and happiness that is based on mutuality, equality, respect in a social
system. In this essay, the public health of England will be in focus and the sociological
perspectives will be utilized. The sociological concept known as Conflict Theory suggests that
society is vulnerable to perpetual conflicts due to the excess demand of limited resources, which
is evident because not every person gets quality food due to financial and social constraints.
Symbolic interactionism is theory of micro-level that is based on the relationship between people
in a society (Denzin 2016). The integral part of communication is language and symbols that
depends on a person’s cultural background and social environment. The holistic care approach is
related to symbolic interaction because the major foundation of any care plan is through
communication, which is an important aspect in this theory. The interaction between a health

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care provider and a client or an interaction between a teacher and a student is focused on
symbolic interactionism. Functionalism is a theory that is based on the ideology that society
works according to the interconnection between several factors, which creates social equilibrium
and balance. Every aspect serves different purpose such as economy, human relations, social
strata, health and education for a complete wellbeing in an individual of a society. Care plans
should be designed in such a way that it touches all the theories in sociology and fulfils the
requirements of the service user. However, the article used in this essay does not mention about
the sociological concepts used in holistic care plan. The needs of a service user is to achieve
quality care and safety with maximum positive patient outcome and holistic care from all
organizations, which is required for the public health.
Learning outcome 3
Holistic care plans are accurate when designed with the help of evidence based practices such as
standardized terminologies that guides and enables information exchange through different social
settings and populations. A standardized protocol records circumstances, events, interventions
and patient data, which supports decision making, quality improvement, clinical care and
outcome research. The keywords for a care plan should be person-centred, collaborative, holistic
and individualized. According to NHS in UK, personalized care and support plans are promoted
for the public in England. It should be made in accordance to the individual and their plans such
as people who receive health facilities from both local authority and NHS healthcare (National
Health Service 2016). Holistic is a subjective and nebulous concept that describes interventions
and approaches to fulfil a patient’s emotional, mental, spiritual and physical needs in a medical
setting but holistic approach is also utilized in every strata of the society that consists of
individuals who need care and support (McCormack and McCance, 2016). The information

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collected about a patient’s health condition is definitive about the care they will be receiving by
the healthcare experts. As it is the basis for evaluation and assessment for the public health and
patients in medical setting. Certain psychological theories are identifying in the approach of
holistic care plan that focuses on healthcare practitioners as well as the patients because it all
revolves around the mind of a human and their relationships. The theory of psychosocial care by
Freud is based on few components, such as a patient uses their consciousness and
unconsciousness depending on the psychology and emotional needs. They perceive situations
according to their self-esteem, self-confidence and self-respect. They find themselves in a
strange environment when they are unable to respond or interact with a nurse during their stay in
a medical setting. These factors affect the planning of care and the holistic approach being
provided to a patient or a normal individual (Mackereth, Brown and Learmonth 2014).

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References
Denzin, N.K., 2016. Symbolic interactionism. The international encyclopedia of communication
theory and philosophy, pp.1-12.
Heath, S., 2014. Local authorities’ public health responsibilities (England). House of Commons
Library.
Hunter, D. and Perkins, N. (2014). partnership working in public health. 1st ed. Policy Press.
Kelly, M.P. and Barker, M., 2016. Why is changing health-related behaviour so
difficult?. Public health, 136, pp.109-116.
Mackereth, C.J., Brown, J.S. and Learmonth, A.M., 2014. Promoting Public Mental Health and
Well-being: Principles Into Practice. 1st ed. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
McCormack, B. and McCance, T. eds., 2016. Person-centred practice in nursing and health
care: theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
McIlfatrick, S., Noble, H., McCorry, N.K., Roulston, A., Hasson, F., McLaughlin, D., Johnston,
G., Rutherford, L., Payne, C., Kernohan, G. and Kelly, S., 2014. Exploring public awareness and
perceptions of palliative care: a qualitative study. Palliative Medicine, 28(3), pp.273-280.
NHS (2016). Personalised care and support planning handbook: The journey to person-centred
care. 1st ed. England: NHS England.