Health Promotion in the Workplace - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION Health promotion is the act of enlightening the society about how to improve health status. This is by explaining the positive and negative health effects of various actions. Health care providers undertake health promotion by adhering to legal legislations and professional codes of ethics. These individuals encourage the society to focus on positive actions and shun the negative ones. This essay will reflect on my experience in my group health promotion workshop concerning type 2 Diabetes and will also identify and discuss the legal and ethical frameworks that are currently used to ensure safe, morally acceptable standards of practice at workplace. a. DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES Legislations are the rules that the government creates and imposes them on all health care organizations (Ashcroft, 2007). The state does this to ensure that health care givers treat patients using the safest methods. Legislations also help to protect the rights of both patients and health care givers. Ethical issues, on the other hand, are standards that help to determine actions that may be accepted by the society (Scriven, 2010). Ethical considerations help to emphasize and complement legislations. This means that health promoters use ethics whether there are legislations or not. This is because both ethics and legislations support one another when they exist, and when one is absent, the other is applicable (Seedhouse, 2009). For example, when an individual is suffering from type 2 diabetes, ethical considerations require health care givers to maintain the confidentiality of the disease between them and patients. Legislation on the other hand prevents individuals from compelling others to inform when they are suffering from illnesses such as type 2 diabetes. b. DISCUSS THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION AS A MEANS OF PROTECTING BOTH PROVIDERS AND RECIPIENTS OF CARE State legislations help to safeguard patients from being discriminated against and from being provided with poor services in health care centres. For example, the “Equality Act of 2010” protects diabetes victims from being shown prejudice at the workplace (Kronenfeld, 2012). This rule requires employers to give diabetes patients equal employment opportunities like others who do not suffer from the illness. Legislations also enable diabetes patients to enjoy the freedom of autonomy by requiring health providers to maintain the confidentiality of patient’s information. Health care givers are not supposed to expose the diabetes condition of a patient without the consent of that recipient (Ham, 2009). Health care givers also have the right to maintain the confidentiality of their condition when they suffer from type 2 diabetes. Patients are not supposed to coerce their providers to expose their health statuses. Government legislations also protect health care givers who suffer from diabetes from being overworked (Seedhouse, 2009). The state has done this by creating a rule that requires health centres to give nurses and doctors time off from work when it is necessary. These individuals use the break to carry out exercises, seek advice from their peers, and plan how to cope with the disease. This legislation also protects patients who suffer from type 2 diabetes; it allows them to take time off from work when they want to visit their doctors for appointments and also when the disease becomes severe (Ham, 2009). IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE A RANGE OF ETHICAL THEORY TO JUSTIFY DECISION MAKING IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE The code of beneficence postulates that health service providers should undertake only the strategies that increase benefits to the community (Sinding, 2010). This is because these actions contribute to the improvement of the health conditions of individuals. For example, service providers who deal with patients with Type 2 diabetes should educate the community about the effects of various diets. These health professionals need to point out the effects of all diets on diabetes so that the society may differentiate safe foods from unsafe ones. Health promoters may, for example, inform the community that type 2 diabetes is caused by excess sugar in the body, and that they should avoid foods with a lot of sugar such as biscuits and chips. The promoters may also encourage women who have Type 2 diabetes to undertake healthy exercises so that they may improve their condition. This helps the women to regulate the sugar in their bodies and maintain it at the normal level. However, service providers should inform these individuals to undertake exercises only with advice from their doctors. This is because there are individuals who are not fit to perform various exercises. All this information is beneficial to the society because it helps those with diabetes to regulate their condition and livelong; and it helps those who do not have the disease to take precautionary measures to avoid it. The principle of autonomy argues that health service providers should allow patients to make their own decisions, and they should respect the verdicts of their clients (Naidoo, & Wills, 2009). For example, when clients with Type 2 diabetes reject exercises, health professionals may not be able to coerce these individuals to perform exercises. This would be against the principle of autonomy. However, in the case diabetes patients who have mental illnesses, the state has formulated a regulation known as the, “Mental Health Act,” which requires health professionals to take on decisions against the will of patients. This is as long as the providers make decisions that are beneficial to patients with the disease (Thompson, 2014). This law limits providers to make only beneficial decisions for patients because the clients may sue them, and if it is found that the choice they made was not helpful, the professionals may be sued for breaking the law. For example, health providers may detain patients with mental health so that they may monitor them closely. Conclusion This paper has discussed moral and legal issues associated with health promotion and treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The essay has identified legal issues to be those that are stated by the government; while ethical ones are those that are determined by professional bodies and are acceptable to the society. The next section of the paper has identified legislations that help in protecting both care givers and patients who suffer from diabetes. The ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence have also been identified with regard to diabetes. The standard of autonomy has identified the exceptional case of mentally sick individuals who may be coerced to perform various functions because of their incapability to make correct decisions References Ashcroft, R. E. (2007). Principles of health care ethics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Graham, G. (2004). Eight theories of ethics. London: Routledge. Ham, C. (2009). Health policy in Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kronenfeld, J. J. (2012). Issues in health and health care related to race/ethnicity, immigration, SES and gender. Bingley: Emerald. Naidoo, J., & Wills, J. (2009). Foundations of health promotion. Oxford: Saunders. Rasheed, E. (2010). Health and social care. London: Hodder Education. Scriven, A. (2010). Promoting health: A practical guide. London: Elsevier Health Sciences. Seedhouse, D. (2009). Ethics: The heart of health care. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Sinding, A. H. (2010). Human rights, dignity and autonomy in health care and social services: nordic perspectives. Berlin: BWV, Berliner Wiss.-Verl. Thompson, S. R. (2014). The essential guide to public health and health promotion. London: Routledge. Read More