Smoking as an Example of Health Promotion Strategy - Assignment Example

Smoking as an Example of Health Promotion Strategy Health is a of complete physical, mental and social well-being, aside from the absence of physical disease or infirmity (WHO, 2012, p. 1 of 3). This definition was adopted by the World Health Organization and entered into force on April 7, 1948 and has not been changed since. In a more familiar term, health is the general condition of both the human mind and body. Good heath is the absence of all sicknesses as well as pain, the presence of which translates to the lack of it (Bonita, Beaglehole and Kjellström, 2006, p. 15). Although the definition is somewhat subject, the meaning is more or less the same in all its forms and is easily understood by many. However, many risks pose a threat to overall well-being of healthy people. Among these are the genetics of an individual, and environmental factors, such as food safety, environmental issues, medical interventions and lifestyle risks (Hillier, 2006, p. 1). In order to preserve health, it is necessary to gain information as well as to do things necessary to remain healthy. As defined by the World Health Organization (2009, p. 1), health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. It is a responsibility that is not just confined to certain persons or groups with authorities, but is also extended to all citizens. In order to obtain optimum health, a combination of both the proper information as well as the proper know-how is necessary. Ultimately however, the decision to be healthy and to maintain it is still dependent on the individual’s choices. Among the most common yet risks to good health is the addiction to substances, which can be anything from drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. Due to the response of the body to the initial rush of endorphins, the body’s feel-good hormones, a certain craving sets in, creating a need to get more of the rush (Henderson, 2000, p. 26). This could eventually lead to addiction, which after some time may be hard to reverse. An example given in this paper is the habit of smoking, which is one of the most common addictions worldwide, and affects both men and women alike. Smoking causes premature death at an equal rate for both men and women, likely due to one of its habit-forming component: nicotine (Keir, Wise and Krebs, 2003, 1026). It has been linked to many diseases of the respiratory system, including cancer of the lungs, throat, emphysema, chronic sinusitis, among others. However, despite the health risks associated with smoking, it is still a prevalent habit not just among the older populations, but to younger people as well, mostly due to mainstream pop culture (Lipsitt and Mitnick, 1991, p. 34). This brings the topic of the effectiveness of health promotion strategies against smoking into light. Risky behaviour is governed by several mechanisms, which was frequently observed to form around the time of adolescence (Lipsitt and Mitnick, 1991, p. 7). Due to the limited or lack of experience, adolescents would normally try doing behaviours which mostly would consist of harmless activities, with minimal risk. However, at times doing far too many risky things may pose more harm than none, especially when certain behaviours did not cause any harmful result during the first try. Such miscalculated results would elicit even more risks from the part of whoever does it. Another finding showed that as an adolescent gets older psychologically, some risky behaviours (e.g. driving fast, doing drugs, drinking, etc.) tend to get risk rates at a lower perception than when younger adolescents were asked about the same thing, which is more likely due to older adolescents starting to engage in risky behaviour and not getting any harmful consequence (ibid., p. 18). In order to prevent such risky behaviours from going out of control for the individual concerned, it is important that information regarding about it is disseminated properly. Communication can be a vital force in the promotion of health as well as the prevention or halting of repeated risky behaviours among the population. A successful exchange of information between the speaker and the target audience would assure of at least getting the point to reach the intended listeners, and the former internalizing and doing what they heard (Corcoran, 2007, p. 6). To better promote the message of the promotion of health across the population, aside from citing the medical benefits of the cessation of smoking, the social, organisational, environmental and policy strategies should be taken into account as well (Shumaker, Ockene and Riekert, 2009, p.20). How the message is sent should be as important as what the message is all about, since many people would tend to respond to things that they can relate much into (Corcoran, 2007, p. 10 and DiClemente, Crosby and Kegler, 2009, 536). At present, even though there are many health promotions and regulations with regards to smoking, these are still not enough as there are still a lot of people dying due to smoking-related diseases every year. This is mainly due to the perception of many people on society only informing people about the dangers, but not necessarily regulating the use of tobacco by the general public (Hillier, 2006, p.81). The riskiness of such a behaviour does not inhibit the younger population in trying it, thus after so many years of smoking, people who started young would have even more difficulties in stopping their behaviour (Keir, Wise and Krebs, 2003, p. 432). Another factor would be the contradictions in mass media with regards to smoking. More and more people are exposed to almost unregulated advertisements that portray most of the regular population as smokers, thus instead of being an act of rebellion, it becomes an act of conformity among different age groups (Hillier, 2006, p. 81). Along with the proper message sent to the general population, it is also imperative that the concerned individuals have enough willingness to undertake and maintain the necessary behaviours in order to remain healthy, or to increase their health (Shumaker, Ockene and Riekert, 2009, p.20). Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In the US alone, if 20% of a group of participants in a smoking cessation program would be able to quit in a year, it is regarded as an unusual success. Factors such as habit-forming behaviours, non-related reasons as well as economic or environmental factors may prevent an individual in behaving what is needed in order to get healthy. Assuming that health is a main priority, and that there are enough support groups or systems available, there should be changes observed in the behaviours of persons concerned. Otherwise, the lack of reinforcements would just allow the continuation of risky behaviours as usual (Lipsitt and Mitnick, 1991, p. 81). At present there are several models that could very well explain the behaviours of people with regards to their health and their actions in either improving it or not. One is the Health Belief Model, wherein a person’s perspective on health would depend on their perception on disease susceptibility, the benefits they will reap, possible barriers in achieving their goals as well as cues or stimuli for them to begin their actions (Shumaker, Ockene and Riekert, 2009, p. 21). Another model is the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour, wherein a person’s actions would be largely dependent on their intentions, what other people might say regarding their actions, as well as their goals, and that everything is planned, up to the end results. If the beneficial results would outweigh the risks and failures involved, people would socially comply to do it (ibid., p. 23). Self-regulation model on the other hand, is mostly based on an individual’s plan of actions and is mostly a self-feedback system. This model would need an adequate amount of discipline and willpower since most of the stimuli would come from the individual’s perceptions on health. Lastly is the Health Decision Model, wherein there is much more focus on a person’s health decisions. Decision analysis, behavioural decision theory and health beliefs are combined, and the end results would be dependent on the patient’s preference of either health or disease (Corcoran, 2007, p. 155). The models have differences with regards to the approach on how people would behave with regards to their health, but the similarities would be with how the person would think when the topic of achieving good health is brought up: in order to be or remain healthy, steps must be done in order to get the desired result. Although many proposed models of behavioural change are available, in the end, the implementation of any would still be dependent on the strategies and methods in order to achieve the promotion of health (Corcoran, 2007, p.141). In order to enable the successful intervention of health promoters, there should also be an established relationship between the promoter and the audience, as well as the way the message is relayed in between the two parties. Aside from the way of sending the message to the target population, as well as follow-ups by the people, there is also the problem of financial input as well as ethical considerations in health promotion (Johnson and Stoskopf, 2010, p. 4). In industrialised countries, healthcare may be one of the few things that most of the population take for granted, since they could afford to have periodic checkups, access to medicine as well as to practitioners. As for the developing countries, it is considered to be a luxury for only those who can afford it (DiClemente, Crosby. and Kegler, 2009, p. 531). Therefore, is important that strategies must be implemented not just based on the financial as well as the manpower capabilities available, but also on the socio-demography of the concerned population as well. Aside from that, strictly following protocols not just in the medical aspect but also the social, cultural as well as the political aspects should also be taken into consideration, since outside influences would be a lot stronger to most people than their own selves (Hillier, 2006, p. 81). If the priority of health is one of the main objectives, it would be easier to adapt strategies to incorporate it in a group’s plan. Otherwise, this would just remain in the sidelines. Lastly, privately-owned organizations have better chances of providing proper health promotion due to financial grants, as compared to small, publicly owned ones (Corcoran, 2007, 125). Although health is not a means to an end, it is necessary in order to live each day. Individuals have the capacity to choose whether they want to stay healthy or not, by weighing their options as well as letting external factors influence their decision-making. In choosing to depend on substances however, like smoking, it would be very hard to point out the dangers if the risks would be absent at first. Hence, an effective solution to maintain the quality of life and health would be the overall effort of health promoters and organisations, the general populace as well as policy-makers should take part in creating a strong stand to remain healthy as well as to develop positive behaviours instead of taking risks that could cause disease and eventually the loss of life of millions of people all over the globe. References Bonita, R., Beaglehole, R. and Kjellström, T. 2006. Basic epidemiology. Geneva: World Health Organization Corcoran, N. 2007. Communicating health: strategies for health promotion. London: Sage Publications Ltd. DiClemente, R.J., Crosby, R.A. and Kegler, M. 2009. Emerging theories in health promotion and practice and research. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Henderson, E.C.2000. Understanding addiction. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. Hillier, D. 2006. Communicating risks to the public: a global perspective. Hampshire: Grower Publishing Limited. Johnson, J.A. and Stoskopf, C.H. 2010. Comparative health systems: global perspectives. London: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Keir, L. Wise, B.A. and Krebs, C. 2003. Medical assisting: essentials of administrative and clinical competencies. Clinton Park, New York: Delmar Learning Inc. Lipsitt, L.P. and Mitnick, L.L. 1991. Self-regulatory behavior and risk-taking: causes and consequences. New Jersey: Ablex Printing Corp. Shumaker, S.A., Ockene J.K. and Riekert, K.A. 2009. The handbook of health behavior change. New York: Springer Publishing Company LLC. World Health Organization. 2009. Milestones in health promotion: statements from global conferences. Geneva: World Health Organization ______. 2012. Frequently asked questions: what is the WHO definition of health? [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/suggestions/faq/en/ [Accessed 13 January 2012]. Read More