Social Networking Sites Health Promotion Framework - Assignment Example

ENHANCING THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES PROGRAM: EMPOWERING A LOCAL COMMUNITY TO INTENSIFY INTERACTION FOR HEALTH PROMOTION

Q1

Initiative: Social Networking Sites Program in Health Promotion

The importance of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) cannot be overemphasized in the present time to increase control over the chronic diseases and reduction of the burden of diseases. The nature of diseases that are currently inflicting communities need more of interaction and sharing of information than in the past because of the shift from infectious diseases such as dysentery to chronic ones such as cancers and diabetes mellitus. Health promotion, which relies on interaction, has an imperative role in redressing this shift since most of the chronic diseases have a behavioral component. Despite the emphasis of health promotion on interactions in the community, there seems to be deviance in kind of approach that puts importance on the health promoters than the community. The primary input of health promotion as described by many scholars is community interaction while the outcome is individuals having control over and improved health. This can be seen even in the description of health promotion as captured by World Health Organization (WHO) in the year 2013 and Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion of 1986. Health promotion is described in terms of a process rather than an incident. The process seeks to make people to continuously have control over and improve health (Dugani and Bhutta, 2017). Basing on this well thought out description of health promotion, the strategies that are developed should have the same tone as seen in the definition.

Viewing Health Promotion from the perspective of a communal, social and environmental drive rather than on an individual prism, Social Networking Sites (SNSs) should be dovetailed in the Health Promotion as a primary element rather than an afterthought. This is because the imperativeness of interaction and communication need to be bolstered and made robust to attain an effective health promotion strategy (Dugani and Bhutta, 2017). However, there seems to be a gap, both in depth and width, in the way health promotors emphasize on the sociality and behavioral change in the pursuit of health promotion but overlook the need for interactions on the Social Networking Sites (SNS). There can never be a social or a communal event that can successfully be done without interaction. More so, the stubborn overlook on Social Networking Sites negates what has been referred by Cragg and Macdowall (2013) Ottawa Chatter provision that emphasizes need to seek a seamless and continuous increase on control over health and improving health through social interactions (Cragg and Macdowall,2013). From the look of events, it seems the community has been rendered passive participants, and a rather individualized approach is being used in place of communal approach. Beaudet & Boisvert (2011) indicated that Social Networking Sites makes individual active participants for a noble course such as health promotion. It also has the capacity of transforming a community from being a participant to being the drivers of the significant event such as health promotion (Beaudet & Boisvert, 2011). To that effect, Social Networking Sites (SNSs) need to be incorporated in the health promotion strategy. The interaction and the drive coming from the community rather than health promoters will increase the societal control over disease and improve their health.

Q2

Analysis of Social Networking Sites in Pursuit of Health Promotion

In a research article done by Karen and Nathan (2017) it revealed the potential of social networking sites (SNSs) in the pursuit of health promotion. This is based on the idea that health promotion is dependent much on the social determiners of health. On the other hand, in the modern times, SNSs forms one of the major social health determiners that can be used in health promotion. More so, SNSs has more influence on social and personal behavioral change. The other aspect that makes SNSs an important tool in the health promotion is how the world is shifting from the brick and mortar operation to online platform. The health promotion of the yesteryears dwells on physical meeting rather than the virtual meeting since the social media was not envisaged in it. There is more traffic on the online platform at any given time than in the real world making social media an active area of interest when it comes to a social event or process such as health promotion.

More so, it has been shown that incessant exposure to online content tends to form a schema in mind and influence human behavior. This is an effect that can be of benefit to health promotion if used positively. Any event that can change human behavior its paramount to health promotion. Social media content has seen to negatively affect populations in being more racists, violent and other negative behavior. These is because of exposure to such content over and over again making them become as the schema representing such content. In the same breath, if a community within a closed group of SNSs can be formed, and then repeated message of health promotion is shared then the behavior can be changed and the control over diseases and health can be attained. Also, it is a communal sharing that affects the individualized level of changing behavior.

The diseases of modern time need more of changing behavior compare with historical diseases that required health education. The chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancers and chronic kidney diseases (CKD) have a bigger behavioral causation than the other non-modifiable factor such as genetic. These chronic diseases are caused by behavioral aspects such as sedentary lifestyle, nutrition, and other modifiable factors. The SNSs, on the other hand, has shown the capacity of changing behavior. Since most of the chronic diseases are caused by mostly modifiable factors, changing the behavior of members of a community through the exposure to educative content will help minimize the burden of chronic diseases in the community (Cragg and Macdowall,2013). . It is from this perspective that there is need of using a technological approach in persuading people to engage in healthy behaviors (Karen and Nathan, 2017). Health promotors can communicate to many online individuals through tailored health messages. The effective means is through use of the SNSs that has a diverse way of using it. This includes digital health information access, fitness related digital gaming, self-tracking for health, big data insights and internet-based application built on The Web.

Q3

Social Networking Sites Health Promotion Framework

Social Networking Sites conceptual framework as shown in Figure 1 works on a health promotion principle of changing human behavior. Most of the diseases inflicting societies is due to the modifiable factors that are made by human behaviors. At each level of the schematic health promotion framework has a purpose that it serves. The first level which is SNSs which serves the purpose of identifying the approach to be used in empowering the community to have control over the diseases and improve their health.

The second level shows the focus and the targeted group. The online audience is the target because the accessibility of the internet has been made easier and there is a shift from the real world to the virtual one. This is done with the knowledge that there is more traffic of individual at any time of the day than in the real world. Before the advent of social media, Fry & Zask (2016) posits that the mainstream media, churches, and other social gathering were used to serve as the media of addressing people to change their behaviors. Based on research done by Karen and Nathan (2017) it was shown that the exposure to the online content could change behavior just the way persuasive speeches made in church and social gathering changed behavior. Since health promotion aims to change behavior and make people have control over diseases, the use of social networking sites can influence behavioral change through many strategies.

On the third level, it is the strategies that can be used in changing behavior using the SNSs. All of the strategies are aimed at changing the behavior of the individual so that they can have control over diseases and have improved health (Dugani and Bhutta, 2017). This behavioral change is based on the ideology that increased exposure to certain content tends to change the behavior of consumers. The digital message on the social media is one of the ways that the consumer of social networking messages will be exposed to and influenced to change their ways of life for health promotion.

The self-tracking for health and fitness makes the user of social networking sites to be an active participant in health promotion rather than passive. It will influence them to act on the modifiable factors hence having control on the diseases which according to Fry & Zask (2016) are the elements that are of concern to health promoter. An individual that can track their body mass index can be influenced to modify their weight in an attempt to be fit. This will help them to continuously seek control on diseases and have improved health as one of the tenets of health promotion. The last strategy is the use of big data analysis in controlling the behavior of people. Companies of big data analysis will follow events on the social media and analyze those that were liked, retweeted and with positive comments to use them in influencing behavior. The identified behaviors will then be used by health promoters on social networking sites in an attempt to change perception and behavior of people. The result will be a positive change in the behavior to an individual which is a desirable outcome to health promoter (Cragg and Macdowall,2013).

Figure 1: Social Networking Sites Health Promotion Framework (Cragg and Macdowall,2013).

Q4

Reflection of Ottawa Chatter in Social Networking Sites Approach to Health promotion

The Ottawa Chatter puts emphasis on continuously make people to have control over and improve health in their description of health promotion (Fry & Zask, 2016). The inadequate control of health in most of the cases among community and individuals comes from religious belief, cultural practices, ignorance and behavior that comes with rise in the social class. The target of health promotor therefore is to influence individual that engage on religious and cultural practice at the expense of health to change their way of lives if they are to have control over health. More so, the behavioral change that comes with rise in social class also has an impact on health. Such behavior need to be changed. Before the advent of SNSs, social gatherings have been used to change behavior of individuals.

Behavioral change is therefore imperative for the success in the health promotion. It is one of the social determinant of community health. It is the one that determines whether the old habits and cultural practices are dropped for the better health of the community (Thomson, 2017). Most of the behavioral changes are achieved through empowerment, health education and provision of skills to the focus group (Fry & Zask (2016). For example, women who are not willing to give their children vaccines because of religious believes (Thomson, 2017) should be given science part of it. It has been found out that ignorance makes individual to firmly hold on their dogmatic practices even with evidence that it is a health risk to the community.

Education therefore becomes central in changing behaviors. Social Networking Sites has become an important tool in passing educative health message and influence people in changing their behavior. The exposure to healthy behavior on social media has a capacity in changing old habits that are unhealthy. In case it is vaccines being rejected on the basis of religion, then the health promotor need to combine efforts with the religious leaders on the Social Networking Sites in ensuring dogmatic believes are dropped. The sole purpose is to make people have control over and improve health (Fry & Zask ,2016) which at present can be achieved through influencing behavior of millions of consumers of Social Networking Sites content. Since SNSs impacts positively on the behaviors that limit the control over and improved health, it is therefore in tandem with the provision of Ottawa Chatter on Health Promotion. The behavioral change is therefore one of the pillars if health promotion is to be achieved within the context of Ottawa Chatter (Dugani and Bhutta, 2017).

Finally, it is the outcome of all the effort put in place (Thomson, 2017). The outcome need to be positive where the community has the control over its health. In all these schematic framework, there is an imperative need of coming up with the evaluation and monitoring mechanism to track the process (Thomson, 2017). The scheme need to be evaluated on whether it is working out or not. If it is not working then the approach need to be adjusted accordingly for it have positive impact and outcome.