Health promotion is focused on community-level interventions that help shape the contexts in which people learn, love, work, and live. Components of health promotion include advocacy, policy change, adjusting environments, and coalition building.
Health promotion efforts involve collecting and analyzing data, assessing and evaluation the progress of programs and services, setting priorities for interventions, meeting with key stakeholders and decision-makers, structural changes to improve the health of the population, advocating for policies, and implementing health initiatives.
Health promotion programs include specific interventions that will enhance supportive environments and encourage healthy behaviors. This approach to primary disease prevention is intended to have a beneficial effect by encouraging people to take responsibility for their own health.
Also, health promotion involves an ecological approach, recognizing that many health behaviors are not likely to change unless environmental factors are also changed.
What is Health?
For humans, physical health means having a healthy body. When people in a region have adequate nutrition, health care, quality of life, and standards of living, their height and weight usually increase. The English word "health" comes from the word "hale," meaning being whole or wholeness. The word "hale" comes from the European root "kailo" meaning uninjured and of good omen. Health is not just about physical well-being, but also involves social and mental factors and the absence of disease and infirmity.
Health Promotion
For your Health Promotion, there are several important points that you should focus on:
1- Preventive Screenings
Preventive screenings are cost-effective ways to identify and treat health issues before they develop or get worse. Health promotion efforts focus on preventive screenings as the first-line, primary prevention strategies. These screenings are gender- and age-specific, vary from institution to institution, and change as new information and measures become available.
2- Immunizations
Many contagious diseases have been practically eradicated thanks to immunizations. Also called vaccines, immunizations are injectable solutions that protect you against certain illnesses and chronic diseases. They contain either parts of bacteria or viruses or whole weak or killed microbes. This is done so that they cannot cause the immunized person to contract the illness. Rather, the parts or weak microbes stimulate the immune system once they are in the person's body. This allows the body to produce antibodies that are capable of destroying the bacteria or viruses, should they ever be encountered.
3- Healthy Relationships
A healthy relationship supports you and the other person. Strong, enjoyable relationships improve all aspects of life, strengthen your mind, and connect you to others. When a relationship is not healthy, it can become a tremendous drain and constant source of stress. Like many things in life, relationships get better when you put work into them. Learn how to make and keep your relationship strong.
4- Sexual Health
Sexual health involves more than just the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Reproductive health is an important part of a person's overall wellness, especially during the childbearing years. Sexual health is determined by economic, behavioral, and social factors. Numerous factors affect a person's reproductive health decision-making, such as social norms, age, education, medical care, income, geographic location, sexual orientation, insurance status, and alcohol and/or drug dependence. To reduce health disparities and improve the health of all Americans, healthcare providers must understand and address all of these determinants.
5- Low Cost Ways to Get Healthy
Maintaining your health is of utmost importance. In order to be productive and successful, you must first be healthy. Low cost ways to get healthy include immunizations, exercising, going outdoors, cutting down on allergens in the home, getting adequate sleep, eating a healthy diet, cutting down on salt, and socializing. Other ways to get healthy include:
- Say no to junk food
- Use healthy recipes
- Stock up on healthy snacks
- Find a workout partner
- Order healthy options when dining out
- Make water your default drink
- Include your spouse or partner
- Schedule active breaks
- Drink red wine
- Eat more berries and whole grains
- Stop smoking