Health Promotion throughout the Life Span - Term Paper Example

Health Promotion throughout the Life Span1. Should education be in response to the needs expressed by the patient or should it be professionally determined? Education should tailor-made to address the needs of the patient and should be grounded on professional advice but any intervention formulated to educate the patient should be a shared decision between the health care professional. If there is consensus, there is a better chance of compliance and adherence to the regimen which may be prescribed by the professional as part of patient education. 2. Should a major aim be to achieve health related behaviour change and associated health outcomes?

Yes, achieving health-related behavioural change and associated health outcomes may be a major aim of health education. However, optimal efficacy for changing health behaviour and addressing risk factors can not be attained through one-on-one health education. Population-level factors also need to be addressed (Institute of Medicine, 2003). 3. How far should education be directed towards achieving outcomes with demonstrable economic benefits?As far as government initiatives on health education of patients are concerned, there should be some way of measuring the economic benefits of such efforts to justify public expenditure in this respect.

However, the primordial responsibility of health care professionals whether in private practice or in government / public service is to “ensure the delivery of safe and efficacious treatments based upon sound clinical research . [hence,] economic and social aspects of health care have received less attention” (Farquhar, Summers & Sorkin, 2001, p. xviii). Demonstrable economic benefits should be considered only as far as it would not hinder the delivery of safe and effective health care to the patients.4. Is it acceptable to let patients make their own decisions if these turn out to be contrary to professionally recommended ones?

Although this may be difficult to accept among health care professionals, they are obliged to respect patient autonomy according to British law. Patient autonomy involves “respecting the patient’s right to make personal treatment decisions regardless of professional opinion” (Read & Jervis, 2003, p. 75). Patient autonomy should, however, be bounded by the following requirements: (1) the patient is mentally competent to make the decision; and (2) the patient has been provided with adequate information regarding the decision ((Read & Jervis, 2003; Medical Protection Society, 2010).5. Can health professionals accept working to outcomes determined by patients?Yes. According to Edelman and Mandle (2006), “the goal of health education is to help individuals, families and communities, through their own actions and initiative, optimal states of health, [thus] health education should facilitate voluntary actions to promote health” (p. 22). In which case, health professionals should work in tandem with patients on patient-determined outcomes to support positive and well-informed lifestyle and behavioural changes.6. Take three adverts and analyse them using the concepts in this module, including the target audience, the communication objectives using the AIDA model, the adverts message into what is being said and how it is being said and the choice of media.

(Please remember to include the adverts when you send in your answer.)Figure 1. Crest Toothpaste Print Advert (Montemurro, 2009) The target audience of this Crest print advert are teenagers and adults since younger children do not usually read magazines or newspapers and even if the latter do, they would not get the message. The advert illustrates the existence of the product Crest. The message is simple but catchy enough to get the target audience attention with the two different ahhhhhhhhs – the upper in pain, the lower soothing, although the advert Montemurro (2009) explained it’s more of a feeling of relief or pressure.

The advert ventured to produce an action – brush the teeth three times a day, and was also able to communicate to the audience that they should desire to avail of the product to avoid toothache or the pain of tooth extraction. However, there is some negativity observed in the message of the advert from the point of view of healthcare, because it may send the wrong message that brushing three times a day is enough. The use of the word OR may indicate that there is no need to go to the dentist.

However, the ad is just a rendition of a proposed ad for a newspaper.Figure 2. Screenshot of Listerine TV advert video (YouTube, 2011) Following is the transcript of the advert: “Look at what your mouth goes through in a day. Everyday millions of germs multiply in your mouth. So don’t just brush. Use Listerine daily. It’s clinically proven to kill up to 97% of germs left behind after brushing. Nothing cleans deeper. Listerine. Millions of germs, one killer mouthwash”. The TV advert is believed to be designed for older children, teenagers and adults because of the simplicity of the words used and the attempt to portray the travails of the mouth everyday.

The advert followed the AIDA communication model as it created awareness of the product on television not just because of the sound but because the opening line introduces what one’s mouth experiences everyday. The video continued to arouse interest in the message because of an implied warning about the millions of germs. The advert also arouses audience desire to procure the product since it kills 97% of germs left behind after brushing. The use of 97% gives the audience an impression of truth in their advertising because Listerine did not claim that a hundred of the germs left after brushing will be decimated with the product.

The use of the sentence “nothing cleans deeper” is an implicit invitation for the audience to buy the product because nothing else can do what is does. It even assured brand retention by repeating the word “Listerine” and what it does best. Again, from the healthcare viewpoint, the role of the dentist in dental care was overlooked. Figure 3. Screenshot of Chewable Toothbrush Internet Advert (Modern Gent, n. d.). The Internet advert shown next page is actually introducing a new and innovative product – chewable toothbrush.

The target audience may be older children, teenagers and adults – everyone competent enough to surf and read. I believe the Internet is a wise choice for advert media. Being an introductory product, the chewable toothbrush needs more space to convince the target audience to buy the product. However, the AIDA model was not followed much. The catch phrase causes awareness, but for the Google generation who do not necessarily enjoy reading lines and lines of text, the advert may not really foster much interest on the product.

A lot of technical terms were introduced in the voluminous information provided. From my own opinion, only the awareness part of the AIDA model was accomplished by this Internet advert.ReferencesEdelman, C. L. & Mandle, C. L. (2006). Health promotion throughout the life span (6th ed). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier / Mosby.Farquhar, I., Summers, K. & Sorkin, A. (2001). Investing in health: The social and economic benefits of health care innovation. Oxford, GBR: Elsevier Science.Institute of Medicine (2003).

The future of the public’s health in the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Medical Protection Society (2010). Consent 2010 – the basics. Retrieved from: http://www.medicalprotection.org/uk/factsheets/consent-basics.Modern Gent (n.d.). Rolly brush mini chewable toothbrushes. Retrieved from http://www.moderngent.com/rolly/chewable_toothbrushes.phpRead, S., & Jervis, J. (2003). Sudden death. In I. Wood & M. Rhodes (Eds.), Medical assessment units: The initial management of acute medical patients (pp.72-93). London, GBR: Whurr Publishers.

YouTube (2011). Listerine mouth vs. life: The TV ad. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDfYye4Z7RI&feature=relmfu.