Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986 - Essay Example

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH PROMOTION Introduction to Health Promotion 6th November Abstract Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986 has concisely depicted the important aspects that determine the health of individuals. Food security, income, employment, housing are among the various aspects that are covered by the charter. This paper discusses the major health promotion perspective that the charter cover. These includes, healthy public policy, supportive environment, enhancing community involvement, enhancing personal skills, Team work in provision of health services as well as moving into the future. The paper also depicts the similarity and differences between the Saudi Arabia health promotion policies and the health promotion perspectives as outlined by Ottawa Charter. The similarity includes primary health care to all individuals, health cities programme, partnership in health promotion and health conferences. The differences covered by the paper are lack of involvement of members of local community and failure to meet emerging health issues. In order to promote health in Saudi Arabia two aspects should be emulated. The first one is balanced life style and good nutrition and the second one is establishment of proper national health information system. Introduction Health promotion entails the various aspects that enhance the ability of individuals to effectively control the determinants of their health. Through appropriate health promotion, individuals are not only able to care for their health, but also they acquire the ability to guide others on health matters. In order to ensure citizens are exposed to a healthy condition, government authorities in various countries have embarked on improving vital aspects that determines the health of individuals. These aspects include food security, income, employment, housing and good working conditions, sustainable resources, social justice and equity as well as stable eco-system (Bracht, 1999). This paper will analyze the difference and the similarity between health promotion perspective as outlined by Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986 and those adopted by ministry of health in Saudi Arabia. Health promotion perspective as outlined by Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986 Healthy public policy In addition to health care, health promotion entails guiding the policy makers in making essential decisions that affects the health of individuals. In order to make policies that are effective in addressing the challenges that affects the promotion of health, various aspects are followed by policy makers. These include proper legislation, organizational changes, taxation as well as fiscal policies. Effective coordination of these policies is fundamental in ensuring that individuals are exposed to healthy goods, good working environment and safe services. In order to avoid the negativities that are associated with non-healthy environment, it is fundamental for relevant authorities to come up with policies that are focused at eliminating the obstacles that hinders provision of healthy care to all individuals (Dychtwald, 1986). Supportive environment To ensure a strong link between the environment and the people, it is essential to consider health as part of the goals that the community aims to achieve. In this regard, members of the community should emulate reciprocal maintenance that entails taking care of natural environment as well as each other (Ewles, 2005). One of the major aspects that can promote health globally is by considering environment conservation as a global responsibility. It is important to note that leisure and the patterns of life adopted by individuals have a reasonable result on the health. In this regard, members of the community should ensure that work is organized in such a way that it creates healthy conditions. Enhancing community involvement In order to promote health, it is paramount for government authorities including ministries of health to involve community in making decision that affects their health. In addition, members of the community should be engaged in planning and implementing health policies that are focused at attaining better health conditions. Some of the major ways of ensuring public involvement include use of the existing human as well as financial resources to support the provision of health (WHO, 1999). In addition, members of the community should easily access the health information from the health departments. Enhancing personal skills One of the major perspectives of health promotion is to encourage personal skills that are related to health matters. This involves giving individuals opportunities to have control over their personal health affairs and environment. In the same way, it is essential to enable individuals to learn on the various aspects that would enhance their ability to cope with chronic illnesses that have become major challenges in the contemporary world. In order to ensure development of personal health, ministries of health should be at the forefront in providing trainings that cover health matters in schools, homes and during communal work (Green and Lewis, 1986). Such training requires the involvement of health professionals, voluntary organizations and media. Team work in provision of health services It is imperative to share health services among individuals in the community. This means that government, health professional and voluntary organizations should collaborate in provision of health services. In addition, the health system that is put in place through the collaboration of the various parties should respect the cultural needs of the local community. It is also significant for the health system to provide broader view that covers the political, social and economic requirements of the community it serves. In order to reorient health services, continuous training of the health promoters is vital to ensure their awareness of the changes that occur in the health sectors that affect the needs of the community (Taylor et al, 1982). Moving into the future Health promotion is achieved through the activities that individuals undertake in their fields. Similarly, health promotion should be focused at caring for others as well as ensuring that the environment allows members of the community to attain proper health (Teague, 1987). In order to attain objective of promoting health in future, it is essential to engage all individual as equal partners. Similarity between Ottawa health promotion perspectives and Saudi Arabia health policies Primary health care to all individuals One of the major similarities of the health perspectives as depicted by Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and health policies in Saudi Arabia is that residents of Saudi Arabia can easily access health care at local hospitals. Through increasing the budgetary allocation by 60%, ministry of health in Saudi Arabia ensures that hospitals have the ability to provide effective health services to the members of the community. Health cities programme In order to ensure health environment and good working condition and to be in line with Ottawa health promotion policies, ministry of health in Saudi Arabia has put in place comprehensive programs that ensure food security as well as water and radiation security in cities. Partnership in health promotion The engagement of various partners including UNDP, WHO and UNAIDS in the promotion of health in Saudi Arabia, has enhanced the provision of health services in the country (WHO, 1999). Through the technical and financial support from other partners such as The Arab Red Crescent Organization, the ministry of health has effectively addressed the health challenges in Saudi Arabia. Health conferences The organization of health conferences in Saudi Arabia is significant in ensuring that various stakeholders are engaged in decision making, planning and implementation of health services. As stipulated by Ottawa health conference, government and international organizations should initiate forums where medical professional meet and discusses various programs and strategies to promote health. One of the notable companies that are engaged in establishing health conferences in Saudi Arabia is Al Rabie Saudi Foods Company (Mohammed, 2009). Being one of its social corporate responsibilities, Al Rabie recognizes and rewards medical professional who are dedicated in provision of excellent services to cater for health matters of the Saudi Arabia residents. Differences between Ottawa health promotion perspectives and Saudi Arabia health policies Lack of involvement of members of local community As stipulated by the health promotion perspectives, it is important to involve local community in the promotion of health services. However, in Saudi Arabia most of the work force in the health sector is foreign. With only 39% of the work force coming from members of the local community, the engagement of the local people is minimal. Failure to meet emerging health issues Due to separation of financing and control of health care, the ministry of health in Saudi Arabia has not effectively addressed the emerging health issues. This has caused inadequate training of the health professionals leading to an increase in the level of hypertension cases, diabetes and cancer diseases (Peter and Harvey, 2009). Ways of promoting health in Saudi Arabia Balanced life style and good nutrition The health challenges faced by the Saudi Arabia residents are mostly related to bad nutrition. Bad eating habit has resulted to an increase in cases of osteoporosis and diabetes which can be addressed if a proper life style and balanced diets are emulated. In order to avoid high costs associated with treatment of such diseases, it is paramount for health promoters to train members of the public on the importance of good diet (Nicolas, 2009). Establishment of proper national health information system Effective information system that covers all the aspects of health is an essential aspect that will ensure adequate information to the local communities (Charles, 2009). Lack of accessibility to vital information that affects the health of many people in Saudi Arabia is one of the major causes of the spread of preventable diseases. In order to ensure involvement of local people in promotion of health, it is fundamental for the Saudi Arabia government to hire local professionals to operate the health information systems. Conclusion The role of Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986 in streamlining the perspectives of health promotion cannot be overlooked. According to the charter, policy makers should treat health promotion as an important aspect in their decision making. In addition, it is equally important to engage local communities in the promotion of health. This should be undertaken through trainings and seminars as well as in the implementation of health promotion policies. To ensure that the health of individuals is not compromised, it is necessary for ministry of health in all countries to make sure that the health policies adopted are in line with the perspective of health promotion as outlined in the Ottawa Charter. Due to the high costs of health provision especially in the developing countries, it is fundamental for governments to increase budgetary allocation to cover for the health needs of all the people. References Bracht, F. (1999). Health promotion at the community level: new advances. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Charles, J. (2009). Information Systems for Healthcare Management. Riyadh: Health Administration Press. Dychtwald K. (1986).Wellness and health promotion for the elderly. Rockville: Aspen Systems Corp. Ewles, L. (2005). Promoting Health - a practical guide. Balliere Tindall: Edinburgh. Green, W., Lewis, M. (1986). Measurement and evaluation in health education and health promotion. Palo Alto: Mayfield Pub. Co. Mohammed, H. 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