Health Promotion Roles - Essay Example

?Health Promotion By Health Promotion Roles WHO According to the WHO 11th General Programme of Work, the role of the organization in health promotion is to offer leadership when it comes to issues that are critical to public health through engagement with local partners through joint measures (2013, para 1). The organization is involved in defining research agenda while stimulating the creation, transformation and propagation of valuable health knowledge. Secondly, the WHO is tasked in shaping healthy norms and principles that will guide nations in formulating health promotion policies, and this also includes the monitoring their implementation and offering advice where appropriate based on international standards. For instance, the organization sets standards which helps to safeguard public safety in terms of nutrition or quality preventative medicine. Thirdly, the WHO role is to articulate on the ethical plus evidence-based health promotion strategy options, through provision of technical support, promoting change, and constructing sustainable institutional capabilities. Thus, the organization eases technical support to nations even as it monitors and disseminates progress on public health needs, while assisting in political mobilization and financial support. The other role of WHO in health promotion is to scan and report on any international outbreak alerts even as it institutes response networks in preparation for any form of outbreaks. Accordingly, the organization helps national authorities together with local communities in strengthening their overall capability to manage all forms of crises. This is more so through guaranteeing effective and well-timed action when it comes to tackling public health concerns. The organization ensures local health structures are operating effectively and efficiently, and if not to mitigate against the outcomes of a particular public health crisis. Therefore, the WHO is involved in monitoring global health situation while assessing the changing health trends (World Health Organization, 2013, para 3). Educational Authorities The role of national Education Authority in the delivery of health promotion is based on the 1998 strategy framework referred to as ‘Saving lives – Our Healthier Nation’ (National Health Service, 2013, para 3). Thus, the roles of educational authorities does not just involve highlighting public health through personal behaviour change or lifestyle change, but also through health improvement with a strong emphasis on the wider social, monetary and environmental determinant of wellbeing. Their main responsibility is to research and broadcast facts and information regarding health improvement. Secondly, education authorities are involved in providing advice on creating and implementing of health standards while developing the capability and competence of personnel working on health enhancement. Thirdly, they are responsible for fostering skills and programs required for effective team healthcare, such as interdisciplinary team education for learners in nursing, and social work. Therefore, their job is to place a duty on educational institutions to ensure that they promote children and learners mental, emotional, and social as well as their physical health. This is not just through the creation of curriculums which have a holistic view to health and wellbeing, but also through the promotion of NHS nutrition, public health awareness and expertise in planning and deliverance of good lifestyle behaviors in schools (Ewles, 2006, p.29) Social workers Social workers also play a huge role in the delivery of health promotion. Firstly, they are involved in defining evidence?pedestal interventions that do not just focus on individual level care, but also community level care (Payne, 2005, p. 217). For instance, applying teaching and counselling in addressing lifestyle diseases like obesity or chronic illnesses. Secondly, social workers are mandated to Increase communities and individuals protective health aspects while minimizing risk factors for illnesses through coming up and implementing policies which address risk factors like tobacco, alcohol abuse and substance abuse. Thirdly, they promote oral health admission through advocacy and creation of awareness by offering advice on proper nutrition, easing admission to medication, and observance to agreed medical management. Thus, social workers act as counselors, caseworkers, health advocates in organizations and corporations, evaluators of risk and care needs, in addition to being care managers. Their overall outcomes should lead to promoting individuals ability to make the most of their own capabilities including life options through education, training, and healthier social activities (Marsh & Fisher, 2005, p. 23). Critical Evaluation In terms of effectiveness, social workers have not been that effective in advising the public regarding contemporary health concerns, like proper nutrition or exer­cise in a professional and self-fulfilment way. This is evident by the increased episodes of lifestyle diseases like heart attack and obesity. In particular, they have observed comparatively impersonal services replacing some of the most personal centred and imperative human concerns. The WHO organization can also be considered to be rather ineffective in promoting public health, since it has placed most of its responsibilities into the hands of technocrats and experts, and who ultimately are usually linked with outsized and centralized bureaucracies. The WHO does not take on health promotion as an intervention directed at enhancing the general health of people, but instead health promotion by the organization is based on targeting specific disease agents. On the other hand, education authorities have been rather effective in health promotion, since they have taken it to transcend constricted medical apprehensions to embrace defined models of wellbeing, self-growth, as well as social better­ment. Thus, concepts linked to illness prevention are advocated and promoted in learning institutions in a more specific manner (Tones & Tilford, 2001, p. 107). The goals of WHO in delivering and promotion of health is to make nations and communities develop strategic measures in enhancing health, through ascertaining that both local and national health policies influence public health in a health promoting manner. On the other hand, the major goal of educational authorities is to develop individual skills, health professionals and learners emotional and social skills capacities, so that they can personally take full advantage of their own health, while shaping health promoting abilities for those people around them. When it comes to social workers, their main objective in health promotion is to build ways of offering appropriate and precise information regarding illnesses, social factors impacting health, in addition to lifestyle or behavioral factors which can impact their health, including what can be performed so as to enhance healthy outcomes (Sheringham & Kalim, 2008, p. 107). Educational authorities and social workers work independently of each other, but they partner in areas such as assessment of healthcare needs, care planning, execution and evaluation of services involved in physical and mental care needs (Wilkinson, 2001, p. 155). They also provide each other with recommendations regarding new public health policies initiatives through the sharing of information and joint advocacy. They also help each other to administer specific health promoting initiatives, so as to ensure they fulfil ethical principles and that they are effective and resourcefully delivered. The WHO as an independent body, mostly collaborates with educational authorities when offering leadership regarding critical health matters through joint actions. Furthermore, WHO will only partner with social workers when offering technical support regarding a certain outbreak, even as its personnel monitor national healthcare situations through evaluation of overall health-trends (World Health Organization, 2013, para 4). The WHO conducts Health Promotion mainly through education and advocacy efforts. For instance, though it’s Schools Networks under the National Healthy School Standard comprising thousands of schools across UK with a focus on enhancing individual skills. This has seen the WHO partnering with educational authorities in conducting health education, especially in aiding young people to develop healthy behaviours while minimizing health inequalities through social inclusion. The WHO also focuses on reorienting nations health services through construction of healthy public policies (World Health Organization, 2013, para 5). On the other hand, educational authorities through partnerships with community organizations and workplace organizations applies behaviour change as part of its lifestyle efforts, such as through an extended occupational safety and healthy living initiatives, whereby the focus is on strengthening individuals and communities through development of personal health skills. Social workers apply community and individual based education programs with a focus on lifestyle and behavioural change strategies. They also use self-help and self-care approach in helping individuals manage their health issues. For instance, through the use of socio-environmental strategies they tend to address social determinants of people health, such as type of food, incomes, housing, addictions and social isolations (Ewles, 2006, p. 30). The approaches are ethically based, since they centre on evidence-based practices like benchmarking and with an emphasis on best practices. Both social workers and educational authorities apply the WHO Charter2 on values and ethical principles, in addition to the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework for Agenda for Change (Wilkinson, 2001, p. 156). These two frameworks provide general ethical principles in promoting health and they include performing good deeds which are also in the best interests of others. Secondly, the principles calls for avoiding doing harm while honouring autonomy, in order to ensure freedom of people and community even as the personnel are required to act in a fair manner through observance of Justice. These health promotion services are not value for money as the WHO, social workers and education authorities work under a framework of promoting preventative health approach through encouragement of individual responsibilities and actions (Wilkinson, 2001, p. 155). However health promotion by WHO, education authorities, and social workers face a number of significant limitations. Firstly, empirical evidences of national social variations are weak or underdeveloped and as such, it becomes hard in determining precisely how individuals react to interventions from mediating factors across the different sections of the population. Secondly, lifestyle, behavioral and socioeconomic classes used in defining populations are rather largely based on individual occupations, therefore, they lack sufficient detail which can help to factor important cultural or social factors which impact on health and wellness. The WHO is also restricted in scope, since it depends only on the goodwill and support of the individual nation stakeholders concerned with promoting health, and as such, lack of goodwill will limit their efforts. List of References Ewles, L. (2006). Key Topics in Public Health: Essential Briefings on Prevention and Health Promotion. London: Elsevier Health Sciences. Marsh, P., & Fisher, M. (2005). Developing the evidence base for social work and social care practice. London: scie.org. National Health Service. (2013). Executive summary of Saving lives: Our Healthier Nation published in 1999. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from http://www.nhshistory.net/savinglives.html Payne, M. (2005). Modern Social Work Theory. London: Palgrave. Sheringham, J., & Kalim, K. (2008). Mastering Public Health: A Guide to Examinations and Revalidation. London: CRC Press. Tones, K., & Tilford, S. (2001). Health Promotion: Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity. London: Nelson Thornes. Wilkinson, C. (2001). Fundamentals of Health at Work: The Social Dimensions. London: Taylor & Francis. World Health Organization. (2013). The role of WHO in public health. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from http://www.who.int/about/brochure_en.pdf Read More