Posted: March 24th, 2023

Health Promotion

Chapter 1 Discussion

Defining health is necessary for people to understand the concept means its application in various contexts, such as health promotion. The idea indicates the state of complete wellbeing, physically, mentally, and socially (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013). Healthy people should not suffer from illnesses or conditions that threaten their welfare. People should strive to achieve the state of well-being to reduce the cost of care and loss of productivity.

Knowledge plays a significant role in achieving the necessary state of health. Therefore, health education refers to the process of providing knowledge on health-related issues to individuals and communities (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013). It exposes people to evidence-based information to change their behaviors and adopt healthy ones. Health education entails transfer of knowledge from competent care providers and other experts to target individuals and communities to support behavior change in health-related issues.

Education relates to the promotion of positive behavior among individuals and communities through various communication channels. Health promotion, hence, is the concerted effort to promote positive health behaviors through education and policy support to improve health (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013). Health promotion aims at creating change in individuals, groups, and communities to become more health-oriented. The process involves effective implementation of health promotion programs targeting particular groups or populations with specific information such as the need to exercise to prevent lifestyle diseases, including obesity.

Health care experts develop well-designed programs to support education and health promotion efforts targeting different communities. A health promotion program is the actual implementation of health promotion efforts, including acquisition of resources necessary to make the process effective (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013).  Hence, implementers of health promotion should create and implement a program to undertake the process successfully.

Health promotion involves nine assumptions that play a role in the success of the programs. One of the assumptions of health promotion is the presence of various contributions to health. The premise is critical because health does not occur in isolation because many factors affect the process. Many factors play a significant role in determining whether a person is healthy or not (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013). Consequently, those aspects influence behavioral change during health promotion efforts. Health educators should understand the various factors that determine the level of success in health promotion programs (Fertman, 2016). They should influence these forces to create a suitable environment for the success of their programs.

The factors can be internal to individuals targeted in the behavior change efforts. An example of an internal factor that influences the success of health promotion programs is the will power. People with a strong will to change can receive information in a more effective way than those who lack the will power. The factor is particularly crucial in behaviors such as exercise of smoking cessation. Externally, many factors affect the achievement in the implementation and success of health promotion programs. One of the important factors is social support. People with adequate backing from their families and friends are more likely to change their behavior as a result of health promotion programs. Generally, the factors can either support or hinder the success of programs depending on the way they are understood and addressed.

Chapter 2 Discussion

Organizations are affected negatively due to lack of optimal health status of their employees. Workers should have a team of healthy and motivated employees to work optimally. Workplaces with 200 employees can still operate below its expected performance because of health-related issues. For example, if employees remain absent from many days, the company’s performance may be affected (Baxter, Sanderson, Venn, Blizzard, & Palmer, 2014). Fortunately, many of the issues are preventable through adoption of positive behavior within the workplace. One of the approaches towards achieving optimal health in organizations is adoption of regular exercises for employees. The beginning step in the implementation of an exercise program is performing a needs assessment that reveals the extent of the issue and the need for a solution.

Various companies need an exercise program but fail to identify the necessity in time to solve it successfully. The results of the needs assessment reveal the urgency of an exercise program that will benefit the company and employees in many ways (Baxter, Sanderson, Venn, Blizzard, & Palmer, 2014). One of the critical reasons for the program is to reduce absenteeism in the company, which is mainly caused by back problems. When employees keep getting sick, they spend extended durations  away from work, seeking health care and resting. Consequently, the company loses considerable productive time when many employees miss work due to preventable problems such as back pain (Goetzel et al., 2014). The exercise program will promote health and prevent illnesses, which result from tiredness and strain without any adequate way of reliving them. Therefore, the proposed program will benefit the organization since a high proportion of its workforce will remain on duty unless for any other reason not related to health.

Besides the benefits to the company, the proposed program will be beneficial to workers. The program will increase workers’ satisfaction and decrease the number of premature deaths from preventable conditions. Furthermore, it will reduce health care costs suffered by employees due to regular sickness (Baxter, Sanderson, Venn, Blizzard, & Palmer, 2014). Generally, the company has a responsibility for ensuring the welfare of employees. Therefore, investing in the exercise program is critical, and it will be beneficial in the long-term for the firm and its workers.

A planning committee is necessary to ensure successful implementation of the program. Given the size of the company, the committee will have ten members from different departments to initiate and organize the program and ensure that all the necessary resources are available (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2013). The managers from different departments will be required to serve on the committee to improve the possibility of adherence. Their leadership competence informs the choice of the managers to oversee the planning of the program in running the company. The executives are already leaders in the company and will lead the development and implementation process effectively (Eldredge et al., 2016). They will go beyond planning and implementing the program to ensuring that their subordinates comply with its needs. Besides, they understand the effects of negative health outcomes in the company, including absenteeism and reduced performance. Thus, their influence in the firm is instrumental in successful adoption of the exercise program in the company. When implementing the program, the company will collaborate with a local gym to provide the necessary skills and expertise. It will have a qualified trainer to guide employees on the appropriate exercises. It will also partner with healthcare providers to offer guidelines for healthy exercise for the employees.