Free «Health Promotion Model Evaluation» Essay Paper

Introduction

Health promotion model evaluation is a complicated process that identifies situations related to health-related activities in order to make decisions of health improvement. Health promotion model evaluation encourages healthcare professionals to prevent and control diseases by educating people, controlling their behavior, and teaching the community to pursue health-promoting lifestyles. Health promotion model evaluation requires examining and preventing unhealthy lifestyles. Healthcare professionals use health promotion models to modify health behaviors of individuals and community, general. In addition, health promotion models serve to improve health protective measures and individual health, as well. This paper aims at examining strengths and limitations of different models to provide a better understanding of their influence upon the improvement of the community’s health. It also suggests that health promotion models are a helpful tool for healthcare stakeholders on the individual and the community levels.

 

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Health Promotion Model

Health promotion encourages people to improve their health by increasing control over their lifestyles, health behavior, and other determinants that contribute to their well-being. Health promotion model targets the authorities responsible for the provision of  healthy food, improved working conditions, appropriate income and level of education and employment. These actions are directed at developing healthcare policies that can protect individuals from diseases. However, they are often limited by the provision of new programs. According to the research, many government authorities in the United States and Canada propose to substitute health promotion by health education (Thorogood &‎ Coombes, 2010). It should be noted that, nowadays, workplace settings play an important role in health promotion. It is also estimated that the majority of the American population lacks physical activity in everyday life. Healthcare authorities indicate that the lack of physical activity has become a serious reason for many diseases in society. Thus, promotion of an active lifestyle such as walking, jogging, exercising, riding a bicycle, and others should become a norm in society. 

Health Belief Model

The health belief model was developed to change health behavior of individuals with the aim of promoting healthy behavior. This model is widely used in health promotion research. The health belief model suggests the interrelation between health behavior, health motivation, and health outcome (Raingruber, 2014). This model tends to develop health behaviors in order to improve individual health. For example, healthcare professionals implement this model to the people with health-related deviant behavior such as smoking, drinking, taking drugs, etc. However, some individuals are engaged in health-related behaviors because of different reasons. For example, nowadays, many people exercise for aesthetic reasons and not for health-relating reasons. Some individuals may experience environmental problems while improving their health beliefs. Thus, individuals who live in dangerous neighborhoods cannot jog outdoors because of safety concerns.

Hernandez (2011) suggests that the health belief model has some limitations because it does not go in compliance with many interpersonal influences. The health belief model encourages patients to realize the importance of taking drugs, for example, if they have certain diseases. Some patients do not feel any symptoms of a disease and, for this reason, do not want to take injections or medicines. The role of the health belief model is to ensure individuals to take treatment and pursue doctors’ prescriptions.

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Theory of Reasoned Action

The theory of reasoned action is based on predictions of behaviors and attitudes. It is derived from the theory of attitudes. This model targets people’s intentions that are determined by their motivations and lead to particular behaviors. The strength of this theory is that it identifies attitudes that encourage individuals to behave in a particular manner. The theory of reasoned actions comprises attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral intentions. It is limited by people’s different attitudes toward the same actions. For example, one may consider exercising as good for health while others consider it uncomfortable. Subjective norms also influence people’s behavior. If a norm is unacceptable in a certain environment, an individual can develop negative behavior towards it. For example, if one’s friend is skeptical about jogging, a person can change his mind about his/her attitude towards this activity. Behavioral intentions serve to predict one’s behavior. The theory of reasoned action can be appropriate in situations when a person wants to make a decision of planned behavior. For example, a person can decide whether to use condoms or whether to make tests for a disease.

Social Cognitive Model

This model is widely used in different disciplines to observe others in social interactions. Windsor (2015) states that while observing others, people use information to build subsequent behaviors and social models. Individuals tend to obtain effective skills and knowledge that can help them to manage complicated demands of life. The theory targets people’s beliefs that encourage them to overcome obstacles and determine goals in everyday life. Its strength is in observation because through observation individuals learn different experiences that can be applicable to their own life situations. As thus, they master their beliefs and experiences. This model can be limited by adequate behavior of an individual in different social settings. Sometimes, targeted models are not ideal, and a person can fail to observe others. For example, incorrect behavior of another person such as drinking a lot of orange juice in the morning can be viewed as a norm.

Trans-Theoretical Model

This model requires conceptualization of intentional behavior change. It targets different behaviors of people who are seeking health promotion through applying by other theories. Studies have found that trans-theoretical model pursues different stages to modify behavior (Simons-Morton, McLeroy, & Wendel, 2011). Its strengths are in the ability of a person to change during different stages. It is limited by different stages that are more or less effective regarding progress, resistance, balance, and self-efficacy. Only a small amount of people are ready to take action when necessary because they are not sure of the validity of changes. Thus, for example, people would not agree to move into another area with better climate because they are not sure about positive outcomes.

Social Ecological Model

This model targets individuals who try to understand the interactions between individuals and the environment. Social ecological model connects behavioral theories with anthropological theories. Its strengths contain observation and analysis of global problems that influence people’s health-related problems. This model gives a direction to the individuals on how to deal with environmental challenges, stressful life situations, and how to utilize environmental resources. It could be useful in today’s diverse environment that requires different solutions and allows individuals to survive in the complex socio-economic environment. Ecological awareness and social involvement are the main issues and limitations of social ecological model. For example, the social ecological model encourages people to use water effectively in their every-day use.

Proceed-Proceed

It is the most widely used needs assessment model in health promotion and health education. This model targets individuals who collect and analyze information necessary for their health improvement and protection. Its strength is in observation of various factors during which a person can decide in what manner he or she should behave. Windsor (2015) suggests that the proceed-proceed model works in compliance with organizational and social theories that help to frame the person’s behavior. It is limited in resources and, for this reason, other models are used additionally to solve health problems. Different health education and health promotion programs play an important part in the formation of behavior. It can only remind about different types of information that can be useful in health promotion. It is connected with other models. For example, individuals can accept problems only if others accept them too.

Diffusion of Innovations

This theory targets new ideas spread among different cultures. The research asserts that the strength of this model is in the process that allows new ideas to spread through communication via various channels (Windsor, 2015). The diffusion of innovations theory requires an interaction of four main elements: time, innovation, communication channels, and social system. This model helps individuals to understand how ideas, opinions, and products spread among people and how fast innovations occur. Human capital is the main source of this process. It is limited by different approaches of people who belong to different cultures. Individuals can reject an innovation in any stage of observation. For example, a cancer patient who knows about new treatment method can reject it because he/she is not sure about future results.

Social Marketing

According to research, social marketing along with other approaches influence people’s behaviors that can contribute to the increase of social good (Simons-Morton, McLeroy, & Wendel, 2011). Social marketing targets competition and social changes in human behaviors. Although social marketing aims at investing financial goods into people’s life, it also contributes to the social needs. Health promotion can benefit from social marketing in terms of preventing people from smoking, heavy drinking, obesity, and other bad habits. Health problems usually occur in communities that propagate certain lifestyles. Social marketing is an effective tool in health promotion and health education. However, it limits people’s real perception of the effectiveness of using different methods in treatment promotion. Individuals seldom trust advertisements that they see on TV or receive by mail. However, it can be successfully used among the public who trust advertising companies. For example, many people are addicted to the advertised products such as new medicine, treatment, and others.

Relations between Disease Management (DM) and Practice Redesign

Healthcare professionals try to evaluate healthcare interventions that lead to better outcomes for people’s life. One of the elements of this evaluation is disease-management interventions that are usually provided by commercial vendors who have nothing to do with medical experience (e.g. marketing, advertising, etc.). On the other hand, practice redesign is provided by healthcare professionals that target patients’ health problems. Disease management has poor outcomes while practice redesign can be rather effective. The attempts to redesign healthcare delivery allow patients to experience new technology and medicine in their treatment. Hernandez (2011) assumes that disease management has limited abilities in quantitative analysis, and more research is needed to demonstrate how disease management helps improve patient care.

Disease management can reduce healthcare costs, educate patients on how to minimize the negative effects of diseases, and improve the quality of life of individuals with chronic diseases. This strategy is applied to a large population to develop approaches to individual health. Disease management and practice redesign are complimentary strategies. For example, when disease management provides innovations for chronic disease patients, practice redesign strategy provides testing of the following innovations in practice. Disease management cannot provide any practical improvements in patient health because people involved in this strategy are not healthcare professionals.

Conclusion

Health promotion has become an urgent problem worldwide. Human beings have various choices to improve their health through different health promotion programs that are currently implemented by the government. The most important thing is to educate people on developing healthy lifestyles free from alcohol, drugs, and other bad habits that can ruin their health. Society tends to organize social arrangements where individuals learn how to live healthy lives. Positive outcomes depend on health-promoting activities. Evaluators inform the community about activities that help to protect their health. The study suggests that more research is needed to improve health promotion models.