Uzvre4203 Public Health And Health Assessment Answers

Answer:

Introduction:

Public health system has a myriad of challenges that need to be addressed. One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this is to carry out a well-organized health promotion. Health promotion is a campaign carried out to sensitize the public on various issues of health concern. Health promotion has been effective in dealing with all the communicable and non-communicable diseases because it creates a desirable behavior change in the community. This paper presents an in-depth and critical discussion on health campaign in the UK.

Effects of Socioeconomic Influences on Health

There are different socioeconomic factors that influence health. These include income, level of education, social class, lifestyle, geographical location, cultural traditions, and beliefs. According to the Department of Transport, Environment and Regions, the socio-economic consist of 33 indicators which are grouped into income, health, housing, education, employment, and access t services.  

The level of income has a great influence on healthcare in the society. It influences the ability of people to get access to healthcare services. The level of income determines if people can afford the healthcare services that they need. The rich people are more accessible to quality healthcare services than the poor ones. Unlike the rich people, the poor people cannot get access to healthcare services because of lack of affordability (Jorgensen, Carnes & Downs 2016). When it comes to education, it is only the literate individuals who have a deeper understanding of health matters and can make right decisions regarding their health such as beneficial lifestyles.

Culture also influences healthcare because it determines whether people can choose to seek for modern healthcare services or not. It is therefore important to note that these socioeconomic factors play a significant role in determining the equity and equality in healthcare accessibility, quality and outcomes. Cultural views on health can make people to prefer or feel afraid of healthcare services in the society (Tones, Robinson & Tilford 2013). Therefore, to bridge the gap in healthcare disparities, the authority should take the necessary measures to address such socioeconomic factors.

The Relevance of Government Sources in Reporting on Inequalities in Health

As a supreme organ in the country, the government should be responsible for the operation of the healthcare sector. The government should be at the forefront of supporting healthcare sector because one of its primary responsibilities is to provide healthcare services to its citizens. Therefore, to effectively discharge this mandate, the government should, among other things, fund the healthcare sector, provide healthcare professionals, and avail all the required facilities.

Government sources can help in measuring the levels of health inequalities in the country.  Before the government takes the necessary steps to address any cases of inequality that exist in the healthcare sector, the epidemiology department should collect data. This can be done by taking a number of measures such as the carrying out of health surveys to determine the extent of disparities in the sector. The government should allocate enough resources to carry out periodical surveys on how the health services are distributed to different parts of the country. Through such surveys, the government can manage to get adequate and accurate information that can be relied upon to address the challenges.

The surveys can equip the government with the data it needs in understanding the real situation before taking the necessary measures to resolve the challenge (Wegleitner, Heimerl, & Kellehear 2015). This is why it is important for the government to periodically collect data on health inequalities at all times.  It can be provide ultimate solution to the perpetual challenge of health inequality in the country. The data collected by the government sources are reliable and accurate. If used, the data can help in providing enough information in understanding the levels of disparities in health and identify the changes to adopt to improve the quality of healthcare services in the country.

Reasons for Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services

One of the major challenges facing the healthcare sector in the country is uneven distribution of healthcare services. Many people have not been able to freely access quality healthcare services because of a number of social, economic, geographical, and political reasons.

The first barrier to accessing healthcare services in the country is culture. People with superstitious beliefs that do not support healthcare tend to refrain from seeking for modern medical services. The people who find it challenging to access healthcare services are the underprivileged. Unlike their privileged counterparts, people in the low social class are associated with conservative beliefs that hinder them from seeking for healthcare services (Head, Noar, Iannarino & Harrington 2013). This is what happens to most of the indigenous communities within the UK and across the world.

Besides, accessibility to healthcare services has also been hindered by economic factors or financial constraints. The high rise in the costs of healthcare services has been hindering the poor and unemployed people from accessing healthcare services. Most of these people find it hard to access the services because they are uninsured and cannot afford to pay for the services on their own (Leichter 2014). However, the rich people who have money do not face similar challenges because they have money to use when seeking for medical services.

On the other hand, educational factors can bar people from equally accessing healthcare services. When people are not educated, they cannot be empowered to make important decisions regarding their health. At the same time, lack of education might prevent people from going to the healthcare facilities to seek for medication. These are some of the reasons for the barriers in accessing healthcare services in Australia.

Models of Health Promotion

Links between Government Strategies and Models of Health Promotion

Health promotion is a fundamental initiative that should be undertaken by the government. It can help in addressing a health challenge that requires steps like sensitization and behavior change by the public. Through such promotion campaigns, the government can get an opportunity to inform the public about issues of health concern as well as appeal to them to be part of a solution because it is for a common good. When planning to engage in health promotion, the government should involve the contribution of all the concerned stakes and give them an opportunity to actively participate right from the beginning up to the end (Lupton 2015). For example, when intending to reduce the instances of smoking in the community, a Smoke Cessation Officer can be employed to oversee the campaign process. However, for this to be a success, health campaign should be done by applying the most appropriate strategies and models such as ecological, social cognitive, stages of change, health belief, and relapse prevention models.

The first model of promotion to apply during health campaign is ecological model. According to this theory, a health campaign should be based on the interaction between the individual members of the public and the cultural, social, and physical environment. Healthcare is a diverse concept which involves many things. For people to be healthy, they need to establish a cordial relationship with the surrounding. So, when applied in health promotion, ecological model can be instrumental in harmonizing the government policies before coming up with appropriate strategies to address the issue at hand. This model is good for a health campaign because it studies individuals and analyze their relationship with the immediate surroundings (Henley, Gleason & Quinlan 2016).

The other model that should be applied during health promotion is health belief model. According to this model, health campaign should be tailored towards the prevention of diseases. So, when designing a health promotion program, the government should be committed to finding a solution to the health issues at hand. The model advocate for a predictive approach in which a short and long-term program is designed to recommend prevention for a healthcare problem based on its prevalence, magnitude of threat and the susceptibility of the community (Sharma 2016).  The model can therefore be relied upon to provide the authorities with an opportunity to gather reliable data assess the situation, communicate to the community, and impart the necessary skills to be used in the process of behavior change.

Finally, health promotion campaign should be done using the relapse prevention model. Here, the campaign should mainly focus on the anticipating the obstacles barring the community from adopting the required behavior. This model can be of great contribution when carrying out a health campaign in the community. People do lapse because of various reasons. Therefore, to provide a health solution, the reasons for relapse should be adequately known (Leichter 2014). The information from such studies can help in providing appropriate solution to the community. It can be used in designing a promotion program that center on the provision of coping skills, lifestyle rebalancing, and the shift from negative and undesirable behaviors.

These approaches will have to be applied by the Smoke Cessation Officer. If properly utilized, the approaches will help in brining the desired behavior change in the community. Therefore, the Smoke Cessation Officer should use his expertise to collaborate with other players to adequately educate the community embers and sensitize them to adopt a smoking-free life.

Role of Professionals in meeting Government Targets for Health Promotion

Health promotion should be carried out by the government because it is a very important activity to undertake. Apart from identifying a health issue of concern, health promotion can be relied upon to educate the public and advocate for a behavior change. However, for the government to succeed in its promotional campaigns, it needs to seek for the services of professionals (Lupton 2015). These are required because of the important contributions they make in the campaign. The professionals to use during health promotion campaigns are social workers, community health workers, nurses, physicians, counselors, and community leaders. Each of these experts has an important contribution to make in the campaign.

First, the professionals can help planning for the health promotion campaign. As a matter of fact, health promotion is a complex and challenging exercise. It needs well-trained and experienced professionals to help in planning for all the activities. The health promotion can have good goals, but if not properly planned, none of these goals can be accomplished. Therefore, before launching any program, the government should hire experts to help in planning and designing the entire program (Sharma 2016). If this is properly done, all the activities can be conducted with fewer constraints. For example, if planned well, time and other resources can be effectively utilized without any unnecessary wastage.

Besides, professionals can help in studying the target population and understanding their characteristics and needs. Health promotion is like any other program that is designed for a specific population in the community. However, to ensure that the program is embraced by the target population, it should be designed to suit them.  To do this, the program should be designed to be responsive to the needs of the target population. Meaning, issues like cultural values, levels of education, income levels, and other socioeconomic factors should be put into consideration (Crane & Matten 2016). For example, after ascertaining the level of income of the population, the professionals should come up with an appropriate broadcast, print, and online medium to use to access them.

Lastly, the professionals can help in coming up with decisions on how to educate the community. Since the major goal of health campaign is to educate the public to adopt a behavior change, it can be much better if the people are properly educated. To do so, the program should be manned by professionals, who have a deeper understanding of the audience, and teaching strategies to adopt. Teaching is a sensitive activity that requires the contribution of professionals (Corcoran 2013). It is only professionals who know how to teach, communicate well, make a good use of language, interact with learners, appeal to them and win their confidence no matter how diverse their needs might be.  

Role of Routines in the Promotion of a Healthy Living

The contemporary society is full of chronic, communicable, and non-communicable diseases most of which result from the interaction between individuals and the surrounding in which they live/operate. The main reason why health promotional campaigns focus on behavior change is because it is a key element in the attainment of a healthy living. To do so, one needs to create and maintain a daily routine which of course helps in the following ways:

Daily routine can help in improving an individual’s physical health. Physical exercises such as dancing, running, jogging, walking, cycling, or yoga is very important in the life of a person. They can play a significant role in improving the life of an individual. These activities improve physical health because they engage the body and brain. Therefore, when doing them, one becomes active, lively and physically-strong. At the same time, they can help in dealing with illnesses such as obesity and diabetes. Engagement in physical activity can be a solution to obesity because it burns calories in the body. Once a person loses calories, it cannot be possible for them to contract obesity (Lee Westmaas, Berg, Alcaraz & Stein 2015).  It is therefore a routine recommended to the Smoke Cessation Officer when campaigning against smoking.

Daily routine can also help in improving individual’s psychological and spiritual well-being. A person who eats, sleeps, or interacts with others well is not stressed at all. Meaning, he can live a comfortable life because he has nothing to worry him. A good sleep can help in improving one’s well-being because it gives the brain enough time to have rest. This kind of routine also suites an anti-smoking campaign because it can help in eliciting the required behavior change.

On the other hand, a person who engages in religious activities lie meditation and prayer can help in improving health because such activities provide spiritual nourishment. A connection with God can be a healthy thing to do because it gives people a fulfillment that cannot be gotten from anywhere else (Mellon, Hickey, Doyle, Dolan & Williams 2014).  These activities can improve one’s well-being because they disengage one from unnecessary stresses and distractions that might prevent one from focusing on the future. The Smoke Cessation Officer should also consider applying this routine when educating the community members.
Factors influencing Health Promotion

How Health Beliefs Relate to Theories of Health Behavior

Health promotion is subject to the influences of socioeconomic factors such as age, gender, level of education, income, and cultural beliefs. This justifies why the authorities should properly study the population before rolling-out an appropriate promotional program. Health belief refers to the convictions which determine people’s views and attitudes towards health. Simply put, health belief refers to what an individual beliefs in as far as health issues such as ithe causes, effects, symptoms and treatment of illnesses is concerned. Although health is a very important thing in the society, its acceptance is greatly influenced by individual beliefs. People always display mix reactions to health matters purely because of their beliefs (O'connor, Martin, Weeks & Ong 2014).

There is a close relationship between individual health beliefs and theories of health behavior. Individuals’ health beliefs are closely related to health behavior theories such as Health Belief Model (HBM), Behavioral Learning Theory (BLT), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), Planned Behavior Theory (PBT), and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA).  These theories relate to health behaviors because they explain how people’s views towards health influence their health behaviors. Some people have a positive attitude towards health because they believe that it is a good thing that can benefit them a great deal (DiClemente, Salazar & Crosby 2013). However, as clearly explained by the HBM and SCT, only desirable health practices that yield positive incentives are supported by individuals. It is therefore important to note that health behavior theory can provide a reliable justification to the beliefs held by individuals (Livi, Zeri & Baroni 2017). It is these beliefs that influence individuals’ view on health services, acceptance, and adherence to, and compliance with medications and medical interventions provided by the healthcare providers.

Possible Effects of Potential Conflicts with Local Industry on Health Promotion

Health promotion requires collaboration between the government and other concerned stakeholders such as local administration, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), private health sector, professional organizations, the media industry, and school management. Each of these stakeholders has an important role to play in the success of a health promotion. For example, whereas the local administration can be relied upon to provide logistical support, the NGOs can help in providing monetary support (Baum, F. & Fisher, M., 2014).

Although each of these stakeholders is supposed to collaborate, conflicts might arise at times. In case this happens, the health campaign can be seriously affected. Most importantly, the health campaign can fail to accomplish its goals if there is any conflict between the stakeholders. For a successful health campaign, the local health industry should be harmonious and operate without any unnecessary antagonism. In case of any conflict, the program cannot succeed whatsoever. Each player has an important role to play. Without them, it might not be possible to fill the gap. For example, in the absence of the media, the campaign efforts can fail because the information will not reach the target population as anticipated.  Most of the health promotion activities are done through the media. So, in case of any conflict, nothing much can be achieved. A similar challenge can be experienced if the NGOs and private sector fail to participate in the promotion. Should this be the case, the program can be paralyzed because of inadequate funding or management (Naidoo & Wills 2016). These are major players who should never be excluded in any health campaign. In this regard, the government should always take the necessary measures to address any cases of conflict that might arise in the course of health promotion lest it fail tremendously. It can guarantee effective implementation of the campaign.

Importance of providing Relevant Health-Related Information to the Public

Health promotion is a program that is undertaken to serve the interest of the general public. If the government feels it necessary to engage in a health campaign, it should dedicate its resources to do an excellently beneficial job. Once the data is gathered, it should be disseminated to the public as it can be relied upon in the following ways:

First and foremost, relevant health-related data should be availed to the public because it can help in understanding the pattern of endemics in the country. For a very long time, the United Kingdom has been affected by endemics. Most of these outbreaks recur and can be predicted. Therefore, to prepare the public for such eventualities, the government should provide all the relevant information on such disasters.  Once such information is acquired, it can be acted upon and treated with the seriousness it deserves (Anwar-McHenry, et al 2016). Timely information is one of the strategies that can be used in the mitigation or prevention of such pandemics.

Secondly, the government should provide the public with relevant health-related information to inform them about a new disease outbreak n the country. The dynamics of the society has exposed people to numerous diseases. Some of these infections can be so dangerous if not handled in time. Therefore, to ensure that such diseases are eradicated, the public should be adequately informed (Gubrium, Hill & Flicker 2014). Once this is done, the public can be empowered to contribute towards the eradication of such infections. Certain infections require behavior changes that might not be adopted by the public if not adequately informed. In this regard, it should be the responsibility of the government to be ready with such information and relay it to the public whenever necessary (Yoo, Kim & Lee 2016). Otherwise, the public might not cope-up with the new changes or become empowered to be a part of a solution to a health challenge faced at any given time.      

Health Promotion Campaign

Planning a Health Promotion Campaign

Campaign:  Campaign to Eradicate Obesity in the Community

Objectives: The main objectives of the campaign are to 1) Sensitize the community members on the causes of obesity, 2) Provide statistics on obesity in the community and country, and 3) Teach the community to participate in the eradication obesity by changing the lifestyle.

Sponsor: The program will be sponsored by the government of UK through the Ministry of Health

Program Approaches: Individual and group approach will be adopted. Individual members will be educated by organizing for on-on-one discussion sessions. Groups will be taught by organizing for seminars and workshops at different times during the program. Here, experts will be use to lecture the community members on the causes, prevalence, effects, and preventive measures of obesity. Adequate information will also be provided through the radio, TV, and newspapers.  This will help in ensuring that everyone is accessed.

Program Schedule: