Public Health Initiatives and Nutritional Interventions - Essay Example

University Student Id Course Date Executive summary This report is exploring the public health initiatives where the benefits of nutrition interventions are provided from the international and national perspective. It analyses the public nutrition programs, the theory and evidence behind their implementation and development. The report further explores the stakeholders in the public health program implementation and development. The success of the programs entirely depends on the engagement of the stakeholders. The major focus for the intervention of the public a health is actually to develop human health as well as the quality of the life via the prevention and treatment of the various diseases. Introduction In this report, the health issue of focus is diabetes among the people above the age of 65 years in west midlands, UK. The preference of diabetes is high in UK than in most of the other regions like United States mainly because of the eating habits. In United Kingdom Diabetes is among the common nutritional disease that has been affecting the aged people in west midlands and other regions globally. There are many deaths among the aged people that are associated with diabetes that can be addressed using nutritional solutions. Currently, approximately 538,000 people are suffering from diabetes and the number is expected to increase by the year 2035. As a result, there is need for nutritional intervention to reduce the increase in the number of people suffering from diabetes. The public health in most cases is usually focused on the threats to human health which is based on the analysis of the population health. Moreover, the various dimensions of the health have actually defined the term health as a complete state of social, physical and also the mental well-being of an individual but not only the absence of infirmity or disease (Caraher and Cowburn, 2005). In addition, the public health mostly incorporates the interdisciplinary approaches which include; the mental health, behavioral health, health services, epidemiology and also the biostatistics among the others. However, the modern practice of the public health always requires a multidisciplinary team of workers as well as professionals such as the physicians, medical assistants, public health nurses, pharmacists and also engineers and lawyers for the public health. Interventions The best interventions include nutritional education to the people aged above 65 years is among the most appropriate intervention to reduce the increased spread of diabetes. The manifestation of diabetes can be controlled through nutritional advice because many aged people suffering from diabetes lack the necessary nutritional advice. Stakeholders theory is and engagement theory of the citizens through increasing communication concerning the nutritional interventions that can be used are the best theories in the interventions. The citizens expect the government to make sure the necessary programmes for enhancing their health are implemented. While at the international perspective, there have been some nutrition interventions like health eating habits that have led to improved lives of the people. These measures have greatly contributed to the improvement of population health and a longer life expectancy. The public health makes a lot of efforts in preventing diseases in both the developed nations and the developing nations through the various organizations which are non-governmental and also through the systems of the local health (Barba, et al, 2004). Moreover, the World Health Organization is one of the international agencies which usually coordinates and also acts upon the global issues that are related to the public health. However, there has been a huge disparity in the accessibility of the health care services and also other initiatives for the public health between the nations which are already developed and the nations which are developing. For instance, in the countries which are developing, there is still formation of the infrastructures for the public health that are taking place. Stakeholders have been playing an important role in managing the diseases. For example, there has been some international initiatives aimed at reducing the spread of diseases that can be prevented or controlled. The international initiatives have been incorporated in the public health initiatives to ensure the prevention of diseases and injuries by promoting healthy behaviors in the societies. The majority of the diseases are usually preventable by simply practicing non-medical methods. The treatment of a certain disease can play a significant role in the prevention of the spread of diseases during an outbreak of a contagious disease (Bennett and Glasgow, 2009). The majority of the countries in most cases possess their own government agencies such as the health ministries which are held responsible for the public health and mostly respond to the domestic issues of health. For instance, in the United States, the major initiatives for the public health are usually both the state and the local departments for the health. However, the international and local initiatives that have been existing have failed to address the issue of diabetes adequately. Public health nutrition programmes The majority of the governments usually recognize the significance of the public health programmes in the reduction of the spread of diseases and also the aging effects, even though they do not greatly support those programmes in the terms of funding (French, et al, 2004). In accordance to the World Health Organizations, some of the main functions of the public health programmes are; 1. Provision of leadership on the critical matters of health as well as forming a partnership in the case when a joint action is required (Michie, et al, 2009). 2. Making the research agendas concerning the public health and also disseminating important information concerning health. 3. Promoting and also monitoring the health status of people as well as assessing the trends for the public health (Michie, et al, 2009). The surveillance for the public health has eventually resulted into the prioritization of some of the critical issues for the public health which usually faces the whole world such as the HIV/AIDS and diabetes. However, even though the prioritization of the critical issues concerning health is of great significance, it has still its own consequences such as all the foreign aid being directed into a certain disease programme (Shils and Shike, 2006). Moreover, some of the policies and also programmes which are related to the promotion of the public health might be controversial. In addition, a large number of the health problems which usually face many people in most cases they result from various maladaptive individual behaviors such as the over consumption of the novel substances which are harmful to the human body. Also, some of the new technologies which include the modern transportation can lead to various health problems since they reduce the physical activity of the body (Campos, Doxey and Hammond, 2011). Furthermore, according to the research, it has been clearly observed that health measures can be effectively followed by incorporating evolutionary motivations rather than providing information concerning the health effects to people. Public health has been used in the health care for the assessment of the current services as well as evaluating whether those services are actually meeting the goals of the health care system. The public health usually ascertains various requirements which are expressed by the health professional and also stakeholders (Michie, et al, 2009). Public health is used in health care in the process of identifying which interventions are most appropriate in the provision of the health services. The public health provides support to the decision making in the health care sector as well as in the planning process for the health services. In the process of improving the public health, one of the major strategies which should be employed is the promotion of the modern medicine as well as scientific neutrality in order to facilitate the public health campaign. In addition, the scientific neutrality of the public health in making public health policy is quite critical, since it makes sure that the treatment requirements of the people are met despite the prevailing economic and political conditions (Isenring, Capra and Bauer, 2004). Moreover, in accordance with the history concerning the public health, it has been clearly seen that there has been a lot of efforts which have been made by the whole world in improving the health care for every individual. However, the public health history has not actually shown any change in the field of medicine thus suggesting that there is no improvement which has taken place due to the implementation of ineffective methods. Evidence and theory The best theory necessary for the development and implementation of the public health nutrition programme is the leadership theory. For instance, it is through the transformational leadership theory that the stakeholders can be effectively engaged to ensure competitive strategies are developed for enhancing the public health delivery. Transformational leadership theory can be defied as the leadership that ensures engagement of the key stakeholders in making the main nutritional decisions. The citizens can be engaged in the process of coming up with the necessary nutritional interventions that can help in addressing diabetes among the aged population. A research was conducted in the year 2009 by Baillie, et al. that showed that the majority of the individuals usually consider a strong quantitative evidence as the one obtained from the systematic reviews such as the guidance to the community preventive services which collects the results of the primary scientific studies. Moreover, in accordance to the systemic reviews, it has been that among the 52 laws of the public health, 27 of them have been found to be effective, 23 of them had no sufficient evidence to judge its effectiveness, 1 not effective and the one was proved to be harmful (Brownell, et al, 2009). In addition, more quantitative data can be obtained from the policymakers who provide a general guidance on both strategic information and policy approaches on particular issues related to the public health. Furthermore, the surveys for the policymakers can also provide important data concerning the priorities for the particular health issues. The qualitative evidence of the public health usually revolves around the non-numerical observations which are collected through various methods which include; group interviews and also participant observation among others. Moreover, the qualitative evidence in most cases employs the narrative form as its powerful method of influencing the policy deliberations as well as setting the priorities for the public health (Baillie, et al, 2009). However, in doing research concerning the impact of the policy evidence to addressing the health problems, the qualitative data has been much persuasive and also powerful in shaping the health care agendas. Stakeholders have great influence in the public health sector. For example, some of the major stakeholders in the process of ensuring engagement of the citizens in the process of sensitizing people about the benefits of good nutrition in controlling diabetes. The stakeholders can include the research participants, policy makers, researchers and advocacy groups among the others. The stakeholder engagement is defined as the process through which an organization involves individuals who can either influence the decision implementation or even get affected by the decisions made by the organization (Vartanian, Schwartz and Brownell, 2007). However, the stakeholders may either support or oppose the decisions made hence the need to make sure that they are adequately engaged. However, the extent to which the main stakeholders get involved in the process of ensuring communication of the nutritional need among the aged population in west midlands. However, the involvement varies depending on the number of factors such as the engagement purpose and the power sharing structure among the others. Therefore, the methods of engagement always vary whereby there are different models which are used to describe the various levels which stakeholders get involved in the decision making on the public health programmes (Oenema, Tan and Brug, 2005). For instance, the international association for the public participations usually defines five levels through which the involvement in the engagement process can be increased. The five levels are informing, consulting, involving, collaborating and empowering. However, the participation spectrum for the assessment of the stakeholder engagement is always considered in implementing the intervention strategy. There are a large number of reasons as to why it is important to involve the major stakeholders in the development of intervention strategy of engaging the citizens. Moreover, engaging stakeholders in the intervention strategy usually facilitates identification of the areas of agreement and those of disagreement thus providing an opportunity for understanding more about the causes of the stakeholder differences. In addition, the input of the stakeholders assists in the articulation of the various values of the community which are affected by the intervention aimed at addressing the problem (Hoddinott, et al, 2008). In the case of provision of the educational component, the engagement of the stakeholders might lead to the increase in the diabetes literacy among the aged population. Importantly, through the establishment of the mutual understanding as well as trust, the engagement strategies can be implemented as per the intentions of the major stakeholders. Furthermore, the stakeholder input is usually of great significance in improving both the quality and also the trustworthiness in the process of making sure the aged population has the necessary information concerning ways of managing and controlling diabetes. Conclusion Nutritional interventions are important in addressing the increase in the number of aged people in west midlands suffering from diabetes. Diabetes can be controlled and managed to reduce the number of people dying in west midlands especially those above the age of 65 years. Adopting communicating the various ways that people in west midlands can use nutrition in addressing the problem can help in in managing and controlling deaths caused by diabetes. The local and international initiatives developed for enhancing the health of the citizens have to consider the interests of the stakeholders. Even though there have been no specified guidelines or even defined roles of the stakeholders in implementing the intervention strategy, it is quite necessary to understand the process of the strategy implementation. Moreover, several frameworks have been implemented in different disciplines in order to help the decision makers in analyzing the implementation process. However, the stakeholders usually get involved in the various stages of the policy development. The involvement of the stakeholders in the implementation of the proposed intervention can be faced by some challenges. One of these challenges includes the identification of the major stakeholders to represent a large group which is always very difficult. Also, another challenge is that each of the stakeholders may have different views from each other. Also, the process of engaging stakeholders requires various resources which in most cases depend on the engagement method used. 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