Health and wellness promotion: Nursing

Health is more than just the absence of illness or disease and can be viewed as an objective state of functional stability, balance, and integrity.

Illness is a subjective experience of poor health, and wellness can be thought of as a subjective experience of good health.

Health, illness, and wellness are affected by multiple and interrelated dimensions of a person’s life, including physical, mental, social, environmental, and spiritual components.Now, the health of people and communities is influenced by social determinants of health, which are conditions where people live, work, play, worship, and age.Social determinants of health include genetic, social, and economic circumstances that promote health and wellness, such as having access to healthcare, healthy foods, education, a safe place to live, as well as one’s genetic inheritance.Social determinants of health also include inequities like poverty, discrimination, and social inequities, and can limit access to the resources required to meet physical, mental, and emotional needs.

This is especially true for specific groups, such as LGBTQ2, Black, and Indigenous peoples that have been disproportionately affected by health inequities.The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, created by the World Health Organization in 1986, identifies prerequisites for health, such as peace, shelter, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, and social justice.

It developed strategies for health for people and their communities to work towards. There are 5 strategies.

Building healthy public policy shapes legislation, regulation and public policies that'll determine how financial and material resources are allocated to people living in the community.By creating supportive environments, the community acknowledges the interrelationship between health and the natural and built environments; and it’s focused on creating and sustaining healthy and safe spaces through programs like providing quality childcare for workers, ensuring safe workplaces, creating spaces for walking and recreation, and conserving natural resources.Strengthening community action relies on the collective actions of community members and organizations to promote health.

Some examples include creating a community garden in order to boost food security or building organizations to support community members with disabilities.Developing personal skills is aimed at providing educational opportunities to inform people how to make healthy choices, such as offering parenting classes or encouraging safe physical activities for older adults.Lastly, reorienting health services emphasizes the need to reform the health system to make it more holistic, accessible, and focused on preventative health care and rehabilitation to assist community members to attain their highest level of wellness.

Examples include decreasing the risk of infection by distributing influenza, COVID-19, and other vaccines and improving access to primary health care.

Okay, so the population health promotion model can be used by nurses to develop strategies to address health concerns and inequities.

The model asks: “On what should we take action?” “How should we take action?” “With whom should we act?” and “Why take action?”First, the nurse will determine what area requires action to improve health and wellness by identifying a specific social determinant of health.

For example, the nurse notices that rates of childhood obesity in their community are rising, which can be related to access to healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables.Next, the nurse will determine how to take action to address the problem by using strategies from the Ottawa charter.

This could involve building healthy public policy by advocating for a new grocery store located in a community food desert; creating supportive environments by establishing areas of safe and accessible outdoor recreation; and developing personal skills by teaching families how to prepare healthy and affordable meals.Then the nurse will decide with whom they should collaborate.

At the individual and family level, the nurse can work with patients and their families on developing a plan of care that meets their unique needs; at the community level, the nurse can lobby their local and provincial governments and urban planning committees for policy change.Lastly, the nurse will consider why action should be taken on a particular issue, using evidence-based information to guide decision-making that’s relevant to the community and consistent with its values.Alright, as a quick recap....

Health can be viewed as an objective state of functional stability, balance, and integrity, while wellness is a subjective experience of good health.

Social determinants of health influence the ability of individuals and communities to attain health and wellness. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion identifies five strategies to improve health, and the Population Health Promotion Model can be used by nurses to develop strategies to address health concerns