Program For Children Developing A Health Literacy In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Read the scenario below.
Respond to the questions in full sentences. Be sure to use standard English grammar and spelling
Why is information on health literacy essential for this group?
What is the initial step you would take before designing the program?
What role/function would you play in the beginning of the assessment phase?
What role/function would you play at the end of the program?
What additional resources would be needed to implement this program?Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Scenario:

As a Community Health Nurse, you are assigned to develop a health literacy program at the Yvonne Learning Center to promote health literacy in a low-income urban area. This program will focus on children ages 3-7 years old, 9-12 years old and 14 to 18 years old .

You will provide basic health information and services about health and teach the children about their bodies and how having a positive attitude and good behaviors influence their health in general.

The goal of information literacy is to promote self-learning and the ability to be self-sufficient.

Developing a Health Literacy Program for Children in a Low Income Urban Area 1. Read the scenario below. 2. Respond to the questions in full sentences. Be sure to use standard English grammar and spelling. Please use APA format and include both a title page and a reference page with at least 3 references. • a. Why is information on health literacy essential for this group? b. What is the initial step you would take before designing the program? c. What role/function would you play in the beginning of the assessment phase? d. What role/function would you play at the end of the program? e. What additional resources would be needed to implement this program? Scenario: As a Community Health Nurse, you are assigned to develop a health literacy program at the Yvonne Learning Center to promote health literacy in a low-income urban area. This program will focus on children ages 3-7 years old, 9-12 years old and 14 to 18 years old . You will provide basic health information and services about health and teach the children about their bodies and how having a positive attitude and good behaviors influence their health in general. The goal of information literacy is to promote self-learning and the ability to be self-sufficient.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Although the connection between early life experiences and later health is becoming increasingly clear, what is needed, now, is a new organizing framework for childhood health promotion, grounded in the latest science. We review the evidence base to identify the steps in the overall pathway to ensuring better health for all children. A key factor in optimizing health in early childhood is building capacities of parents and communities. Although often overlooked, capacities are integral to building the foundations of lifelong health in early childhood. We outline a framework for policymakers and practitioners to guide future decision-making and investments in early childhood health promotion.

There is a growing recognition that health in the earliest years lays the groundwork for lifelong well-being. This life-course view is particularly valuable for understanding the roots of health disparities and the potential role of early childhood policies and programs in producing benefits well into the adult years.1–5 Focusing health promotion and disease prevention efforts on children in the first 5 years of life can provide important strategies for reducing the population-level burden of disease.

Several recent reports thoughtfully consider the factors that place young children at risk for poor outcomes and list recommendations for effective interventions.1,6 What is now needed, to advance the field of early childhood health promotion, is an underlying, organizing framework to illustrate the intermediate steps linking policies and programs to outcomes. Such a conceptualization will allow stakeholders to develop, apply, and sustain policies and programs that promote public health goals across early childhood settings.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The framework presented here, introduced by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child in collaboration with the Women’s and Children’s Health Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, illustrates the key pathway that policymakers and practitioners can follow to promote children’s health in the preschool years.5 This framework advances previous efforts to link policies to intended health outcomes by embedding the capacities of parents and communities within the pathway; these capacities are integral to ensuring optimal environments and experiences for young children.

Our objectives are to (1) describe a framework linking early childhood policies and programs to subsequent health outcomes, (2) outline key action steps within the framework and the underlying scientific evidence, and (3) demonstrate how the framework can be applied to evaluate current policies and programs and spur innovative, evidence-based strategies to improve children’s health.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Family capacities are resources that parents and other caregivers bring to the tasks of raising young children. They can be grouped into 4 general categories9: financial resources (economic ability to purchase material goods or services), time spent with or for children, psychological resources (physical and mental health and parenting style), and human capital (knowledge and skills for decision-making acquired through education or training, experience, or interactions with medical providers or others outside the immediate family).

Table of Contents

Financial resources.

More than 22% of children younger than 6 years in the United States live in poor families. This constitutes more than 5 million infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.10 Numerous studies have documented the link between childhood poverty and poor health and developmental outcomes in early life and subsequent adult attainment.11 The association, in large part, is associated with the availability of fewer resources for families living at or below poverty compared with those with higher incomes. Fewer financial resources may limit caregivers’ ability to purchase goods such as health care, housing, child care, and food Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Time investments.

Most young children today are raised by working caregivers with serious time constraints. Despite the rise in maternal workforce participation, recent studies have observed an increase in the number of hours parents spend with their children.13,14 This uptick may be a result of families finding ways to maximize their time and decrease “work and family conflict,” by shifting occupations, altering places of work, and increasing fathers’ involvement.13,15 However, less-educated parents in low-wage jobs have not realized similar gains in time investments with their children. Well-educated parents allocate a higher number of hours to caring for children compared with less-educated parents. Less-educated working parents often do not have the same level of flexibility or resources to meet the challenges because of the demand of low-income jobs,16 which disproportionately require shift work or nonstandard hours.17 In addition, lack of paid leave may limit breastfeeding duration18 and time spent forming critical maternal–infant attachments Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Psychological resources.

Psychological resources of family and caregivers are critical to children’s health and development. These resources include parental mental health and more broadly the skills and abilities caregivers possess to address parenting demands. Prevalence estimates of maternal depressive symptoms in the postpartum period range from 8% to 15%20 and approximately 32% in mothers of toddlers.21 The quality of parent–child interaction is an important mediator of the relation between depression and adverse child outcomes ranging from less favorable patterns of health care utilization to increased negative affect and aggression.2,22 Maternal depression is associated with more hostile and less responsive parenting behaviors. Less is known about this relation among fathers; however, studies of paternal depression also show negative effects on parenting and the parent–child relationship.23,24 In addition, sources of stress such as marital discord independently affect parenting practices and increase rates of children’s neglect and maltreatment Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Human capital.

Human capital includes the skills that serve as an advantage related to employment opportunities for parents or increased knowledge about child rearing. Educational attainment is perhaps the most commonly recognized form of human capital. Approximately one fourth of children at 9 months of age have mothers who have not graduated high school, with rates varying by race/ethnicity.25 Multiple theoretical models describe the relation between parental education and child outcomes.26Educated parents are more likely to earn higher incomes, which in turn may allow for an increased financial investment with regard to providing enhanced resources and experiences for their children. Alternatively, higher educational attainment may be a proxy for quality of parent–child interactions or greater emphasis on learning and other behaviors that are rewarded in school.

Health literacy of parent or caregiver is another important form of human capital. Health literacy is the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information needed to make basic health-related decisions.27 Approximately 30% of US parents have limited health literacy skills.28 Caregivers’ health literacy influences children’s access to and use of health care services as well as the development of children’s own health literacy.29 Low parental literacy is associated with low levels of other preventive health behaviors such as breastfeeding and identification of appropriate food portion sizes for children, even after adjustment for demographic factors such as race/ethnicity and language Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Community Capacities

Families and caregivers most directly influence young children, but there is extensive evidence highlighting the important role of communities.2,31 Community capacity can be described as the underlying processes within the neighborhood to affect health and well-being. Specifically, community capacity may affect early childhood health in 2 main ways—institutional resources and collective efficacy.32

Institutional resources.

Institutional resources include parks, fresh food markets, and early education centers. These institutions play important roles in promoting the health and development of young children, yet there is varied level of investment across communities. Physical features such as the proximity of parks and green space increase physical activity for children and provide opportunities for children and parents to interact and enhance social ties.33,34 Proximity of parks alone does not guarantee use; other factors such as parental perceptions of safety and playground characteristics must also be considered in concert with increasing access to “built” environments.35,36Neighborhoods with access to retailers with fresh food options have healthier diets compared with neighborhoods with greater availability of processed food Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

In addition, one half to two thirds of early education centers fail to meet the minimum safety requirements.38 Children who attend poor-quality child care facilities receive less supervision and individualized attention; they are also at increased risk for injuries because of unsafe conditions including hazardous playground equipment, missing safety gates, and unsafe cribs.39,40

Collective efficacy.

Collective efficacy is the ability of communities to establish informal social structures and a broader sense of mutual trust and shared values.32,41,42Collective efficacy emphasizes not only the role of social connections within communities but also the function of social control mechanisms. These mechanisms include monitoring the behavior of others and supervising children.41,43 Although parenting behavior has been hypothesized to be a primary mechanism by which collective efficacy may have an impact on child outcomes, little empirical research has examined this in the context of families with young children Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Linking the Foundations of Health to Health Outcomes

The foundations of health refer to broad domains of personal experiences and environmental conditions in early childhood; these serve as important building blocks for later adult health. Basic biological processes and structures are shaped by early experiences. The interactions among experiences, environments, and biology are powerful influences on childhood health and exert their effects into adolescence and later adulthood. “Getting it right” in early childhood by ensuring children’s foundational needs are met can avoid costly and less effective solutions that are needed to “fix” later health problems. Thus, in describing the foundations of health, we focus on “positive” experiences and environments that are needed to optimize children’s health and development. However, investments in reduction of significant adversity, including neglect and maltreatment, are equally important as they undermine the foundations of health.1

The science across multiple fields including public health, medicine, psychology, and sociology points to 4 core foundations of children’s health: responsive caregiving, safe and secure environments, adequate and appropriate nutrition, and health-promoting behaviors. Focusing on these areas does not negate the importance of other influences, but does highlight 4 key contexts that are highly interconnected, are important for all children, and can be strengthened through early childhood policies and programs.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Rapid improvements in health and nutrition in developing countries may be ascribed to specific, deliberate, health- and nutrition-related interventions and to changes in the underlying social, economic, and health environments. This chapter is concerned with the contribution of specific interventions, while recognizing that improved living standards in the long run provide the essential basis for improved health. Consideration of the environment as the context for interventions is crucial in determining their initiation and in modifying their effect, and it must be taken into account when assessing this effect.

Undoubtedly much change has stemmed from scientific advances, immunization being a prominent case. However, the organizational aspects of health and nutrition protection are equally critical. In the past several decades, people’s contact with trained workers has been instrumental in improving health in developing countries. This factor applies particularly to poor people in poor countries but is relevant everywhere; indeed, it is a reason that social services have essentially eliminated almost all occurrences of child malnutrition in Europe (where, when malnourished children are seen, it is caused by neglect).Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Community-based programs under many circumstances provide this crucial contact. Their role is partly in improving access to technology and resources, but it is also important in fostering behavior change and, more generally, in supporting caring practices (Engle, Bentley, and Pelto 2000; UNICEF 1990). Such programs may also play a part in mobilizing social demand for services and in generating pressure for policy change.

Access to healthcare services is critical to good health, yet rural residents face a variety of access barriers. A 1993 National Academies report, Access to Healthcare in America, defined access as the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best possible health outcomes. A 2014 RUPRI Health Panel report on rural healthcare access summarizes additional definitions of accesswith examples of measures that can be used to determine access.

Ideally, residents should be able to conveniently and confidently access services such as primary care, dental care, behavioral health, emergency care, and public health services. According to Healthy People 2020, access to healthcare is important for:Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Overall physical, social, and mental health status
Disease prevention
Detection, diagnosis, and treatment of illness
Quality of life
Preventable death
Life expectancy

Rural residents often encounter barriers to healthcare that limit their ability to obtain the care they need. In order for rural residents to have sufficient access, necessary and appropriate healthcare services must be available and obtainable in a timely manner. Even when an adequate supply of healthcare services exists in the community, there are other factors to consider in terms of healthcare access. For instance, to have good healthcare access, a rural resident must also have:Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Financial means to pay for services, such as health or dental insurance that is accepted by the provider
Means to reach and use services, such as transportation to services that may be located at a distance, and the ability to take paid time off of work to use such services
Confidence in their ability to communicate with healthcare providers, particularly if the patient is not fluent in English or has poor health literacy
Trust that they can use services without compromising privacy
Belief that they will receive quality care

This guide provides an overview of healthcare access in rural America including discussion on the importance and benefits of healthcare access and the barriers that rural residents experience. The guide includes information on:

Barriers to care, including workforce shortages and health insurance status
Transportation
Health literacy
Stigma associated with conditions in rural communities, such as mental health or substance abuse Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Many low income first-generation college students who are reading and doing math at a seventh or eighth grade level are admitted into college. Every year, as many as 1.7 million first-year students entering both two- and four-year colleges will take a remedial course to learn the skills they need to enroll in a college-level course. African American, Hispanic, and low-income students represent the largest populations of entering college freshmen who require remedial courses. In fact, 64.7 percent of low-income students who are enrolled in a 2-year college and 31.9 percent enrolled in a 4-year college will require remediation. Academic challenges are often deep-seeded and begin in primary and secondary school, which when left unaddressed, often leads to remediation at the postsecondary level.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

In community-based programs, workers—often volunteers and part-time workers—interact with households to protect their health and nutrition and to facilitate access to treatment of sickness. Mothers and children are the primary focus, but others in the household should participate. Commonly, people go regularly to a central point in their community—for example, for growth monitoring and promotion—or are visited at home by a health and nutrition worker. The existence, training, support, and supervision of the community worker—based in the community or operating from a nearby health facility—are indispensable features of these programs. Thus community organizations are a key aspect of community-based health and nutrition programs (CHNPs).

This chapter focuses on large-scale (national or state) programs. Although these programs are primarily initiated and run at the local level, links with the national level and levels in between are necessary. Both horizontal and vertical organizations are needed. Local organizations make action happen, but they need input and resources, such as training, supervision, and supplies, from more central levels.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The experience on which this chapter is based comes from a considerable number of national and large-scale programs. Most of these programs include both nutrition and health activities, aimed particularly at the health and survival of reproductive-age women and children. We draw on these experiences as we try to put forward principles on which future programs can be based—programs that may have broader health objectives for other population groups and diseases.

As of 2001, some 19 percent of global deaths were among children—and 99 percent of all child deaths took place in low- and middle-income countries. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost attributed to zero- to four-year-olds—plus maternal and perinatal conditions, nutrition deficiencies, and endocrine disorders—amount to 42 percent of the total disease burden (all ages, both sexes) from all causes for developing regions. CHNPs address about 40 percent of the disease burden. In terms of prevention, Mason, Musgrove, and Habicht (2003) estimated that eliminating malnutrition would remove one-third of the global disease burden. Comparative studies by Ezzati, Lopez, and others (2002) and Ezzati, Vander Hoorn, and others (2003) have reemphasized malnutrition as the predominant risk factor and improvement of nutrition as playing a potentially major role in reducing the burden. Clinical deficiencies contribute directly to malnutrition, but even more, malnutrition is a risk factor for infectious diseases (table 56.1). Furthermore, changes in child malnutrition levels in developing countries are closely related to the countries’ mortality trends (Pelletier and Frongillo 2003).Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Responsive caregiving.

The care that infants experience, whether from parents, extended family members, or child care professionals, lays the groundwork for the development of a multitude of basic health processes, including self-regulation, attention, and, ultimately, social–emotional functioning.44–46 Moreover, the quality of the care children experience is predictive of a range of developmental and health outcomes.47–52

Early childhood is a time of rapid development in body systems that are critical to health, including the brain, nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. These systems are under construction even before birth, and, from the earliest moments of life, a child’s experiences and environments exert powerful influences on his or her development and subsequent functioning. Social, cultural, and economic determinants of health shape the context of early experiences and environments and are particularly salient in early childhood when the roots of lifelong health and development are being established. Poorly constructed systems have an impact on health in early life, and these effects may be magnified as children grow into adulthood. Establishing strong systems in early childhood by meeting the foundational needs of all children may avoid costly and less effective solutions required to redress disease later in life.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The current patchwork of health-promotion policies and programs for young children and their families emerged during the growth of public health and medical care programs in the 20th century.8 As a consequence, this nonsystem does not reflect recent advances arising from molecular biology, genomics and epigenetics, neuroscience, and social science that emphasize the significance of early experiences and the importance of families and communities in promoting children’s health. Nor do they reflect the importance of considering social, economic, and cultural determinants of health in strategies to promote health and reduce disparities. A new framework grounded in the latest science is needed to conceptualize how early childhood programs should be designed to enhance children’s health and development and to inform investments in early childhood programs and policies.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Our framework illustrates (Figure 1) the pathway by which policies and programs can promote childhood health outcomes and ultimately have an impact on life-course health. Policies and programs operate to enhance family and community capacities. These capacities enable the building of the foundations of health in early childhood. The foundations of health encompass the basic needs of all children—responsive care, safe and secure environments, adequate and appropriate nutrition, and health-promoting behaviors. The foundations of health, in turn, influence basic biological mechanisms that shape health and development in early childhood and across the life span. In addition, the figure illustrates the moderating role of the 2 important contexts that are critical considerations for strategies aimed at promoting children’s health. First, social, economic, and cultural determinants of health, including the effects of poverty, education, and discrimination, directly and indirectly influence each aspect of the conceptual model. And second, the settings—or places—in which young children and their families live, work, and develop, are ideal sites for interventions. Building on the work of Bronfenbrenner and other social–ecological models, the framework illustrates the importance of considering the individual within a dynamic embedded system characterized by the interrelatedness of multiple levels of influence Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health education is one strategy for implementing health promotion and disease prevention programs. Health education provides learning experiences on health topics. Health education strategies are tailored for their target population. Health education presents information to target populations on particular health topics, including the health benefits/threats they face, and provides tools to build capacity and support behavior change in an appropriate setting.

The following definition of health promotion is from the World Health Organization’s Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion [71]:

The process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health.It involves the population as a whole in the context of their everyday lives, rather than focusing on people at risk for specific diseases, and is directed toward action on the determinants or causes of health.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Universal child and family health services have the opportunity to conduct a range of evidence-based health promotion strategies that aim to encourage families to create attitudes, behaviours and environments to promote optimal health for children.

There are many ways in which health promotion is delivered in a universal child and family health service and these may include:

the provision of information to parents through written or audio-visual resources;
a discussion between the worker and the family, or demonstration of a health- promoting behaviour;
role modelling through specifically set up groups and through experiences of other parents; and
community awareness activities.
There are four core service elements related to health promotion:
1. prevention of disease, injury and illness;
2. health education, anticipatory guidance and parenting skill development;
3. support that builds confidence and is reassuring for mothers, fathers and carers; and
4. community capacity building.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper
Prevention of disease, injury and illness
Prevention of disease is a core component of child and family health service provision. The combination of monitoring of child and family health whilst conducting preventative health activities provides opportunities for early intervention and detection and the prevention of ill-health. Disease-prevention activities include: immunisation, promotion of breastfeeding and nutrition, information about SIDS and co-sleeping, oral health surveillance, and safety and injury prevention, for example, road safety.

Examples of effective health promotion activities for child and family health
Promoting breastfeeding
Promoting child and family nutrition
SIDS prevention and education [72]
Injury prevention [73]
Promoting physical activity
Smoking cessation programs such as ‘quit’ activities and ‘brief interventions’
Promoting early literacy [63, 73]
Health education, anticipatory guidance and parenting skill development
Health education, anticipatory guidance and parenting skill development are interrelated components of health promotion. These components may occur during individual contact with parents and carers, or in a group setting [74, 75]. The benefits of a group delivery include peer support and cost-effective use of resources.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The World Health Organization (1998) defines health education as ‘consciously constructed opportunities for learning, involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conductive to individual and community health’.

Health education is not only concerned with the communication of information, but also with fostering the motivation, skills and confidence (self-efficacy) necessary to take action to improve health.

For example, health education by child and family health services includes providing structured breastfeeding support. Systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library have identified the importance of support to the success of breastfeeding [76] with both peer and professional support shown to be effective in increasing breastfeeding rates during the first two months following birth. Child and family health nurses are regularly involved in interventions providing structured breastfeeding support to mothers [77].Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Universal child and family health services provide structured anticipatory guidance about a child’s development and behaviour. Anticipatory guidance gives parents practical information about ‘what to expect’ in the child’s behaviour, growth and development in the immediate and longer term. It provides parents with the knowledge they need to provide positive experiences and environments for their child and reduces the anxiety for new parents. For example, universal child and family health services are well positioned to actively influence parents and carers to undertake activities that promote literacy development [67].

Furthermore, through play, children practise and master the necessary skills needed for later childhood and adult life [78]. Parents and carers play an important role in the facilitation of play as they respond to and promote the interactions of their child. Child and family health services can promote play as the ‘work’ of infants and young children and necessary for the development of language, symbolic thinking, problem solving, social skills, and motor skills.

Anticipatory guidance may also be provided for the mother’s health and wellbeing. Common anticipatory guidance topics based on the review of state and territory frameworks are provided in Table 6.
Top of page Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper
Health education and anticipatory guidance topics
physical needs of the infant/young child information and skills development – feeding, bathing, clothing, skin care
normal infant and child sleep expectations and settling management
nutrition – breastfeeding, introducing a healthy diet, weaning
oral health education [79]
emotional needs of the infant – mother/child interaction, attachment, early brain development
normal behaviour and behaviour management – tantrums, self-comforting behaviour, separation anxiety, toilet training
activities to support development – speech and language, early introduction to books, movement and activity [73, 80]
developmentally appropriate play activities
child safety
preparing for preschool and school
Parent recall of health promotion and anticipatory guidance decreases with increasing numbers of topics set for each discussion. One study found that when more than nine topics were discussed at any one session, parent recall decreased significantly [81]. Services may determine health promotion education strategies beyond the core health promotion topics above to reflect the needs of the community, or their practice wisdom. However, some targeting of messages at each contact is likely to improve the effectiveness of the activities. It is important that clinicians develop the skill of recognising ‘teachable moments’ [82], or times when parents are keyed into an issue and express interest and are therefore receptive to input.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Support for mothers, fathers and carers
Parents value appropriate support to assist in building confidence across key transition points such as transition to parenthood [83] and transition to school [84].

Maternal health
The health of the mother (or primary carer) is integral to the health and wellbeing of the child and family. Many women report feeling unprepared for the transition to motherhood [85-87], lack confidence in their parenting skills and there is a high occurrence of parental stress, postnatal distress and depression in the short and long term after birth [27, 88, 89]. Physical recovery from birth may take 9-12 months and women report health problems including bowel problems, urinary incontinence, perineal pain, backache and exhaustion [90-92]. Some women also experience difficulties with breastfeeding in the early postnatal period, such as pain and nipple damage, inadequate milk supply and mastitis.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Public health education and promotion aims to advance knowledge of public health measures and implement the most effective strategies for health promotion. The goal of public health education and promotion is to strengthen public health infrastructure and systems. It is based on the premise that educating the public, policymakers, and workforce professionals is fundamental to ensuring an effective public health system.

The purpose of public health education and health promotion is to help individuals make better health choices; to help health professionals more effectively engage in evidence-based practices; and to help societies protect and promote population health through programming and policy initiatives.

These health problems affect the quality of a woman’s life and may impact on her relationships [92]. The universal child and family health service is ideally situated to identify any physical health issues and offer appropriate advice and referral for women.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Public health education is focused on helping groups of people, whether they are a small community group or a large population of people. The work of public health educators is accomplished through the development and implementation of educational campaigns and programs that are designed to promote healthy environments, habits, and behaviors.

Public health educators, who may work either as teachers or as behind-the-scenes administrators or program developers, are responsible for:

Assessing individual and community needs
Managing health education programs and personnel
Writing grants and finding proposals
Evaluating health education programs
Developing social marketing and media campaigns
Utilizing a variety of educational/training methods
Conducting research
Writing scholarly journals
Developing educational methods
Coordinating, promoting, and evaluating programs Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The work of public health educators may be focused on any number of public health issues, such as:

Disease prevention
Emotional/mental health
Environmental health
First aid
Human growth and development
Nutrition and eating issues
Safety and disaster preparedness
Sexual health
Substance abuse prevention

Public health educators working for health insurers and private companies may provide counseling, programs, or education services related to:Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Hypertension
Nutrition
Physical fitness
Smoking cessation
Stress management
Substance abuse prevention
Weight control

They may also help companies meet occupational health and safety regulations and identify community health resources for employees.

In community organizations and government agencies, public health educators are called upon to identify a community’s needs and mobilize strategies and resources for improving the health status of the community.

Health status and related health behaviors are determined by influences at multiple levels: personal, organizational/institutional, environmental, and policy. Because significant and dynamic interrelationships exist among these different levels of health determinants, educational and community-based programs are most likely to succeed in improving health and wellness when they address influences at all levels and in a variety of environments/settings.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Educational and community-based programs and strategies played an important role in reaching Healthy People 2010 objectives. Over the next several years, they will continue to contribute to the improvement of health outcomes in the United States.

Educational and community-based programs and strategies are designed to reach people outside of traditional health care settings. These settings may include:

Schools
Worksites
Health care facilities
Communities

Each setting provides opportunities to reach people using existing social structures. This maximizes impact and reduces the time and resources necessary for program development. People often have high levels of contact with these settings, both directly and indirectly. Programs that combine multiple—if not all 4—settings can have a greater impact than programs using only 1 setting. While populations reached will sometimes overlap, people who are not accessible in 1 setting may be in another Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Using nontraditional settings can help encourage informal information sharing within communities through peer social interaction. Reaching out to people in different settings also allows for greater tailoring of health information and education.

Educational and community-based programs encourage and enhance health and wellness by educating communities on topics such as:

Chronic diseases
Injury and violence prevention
Mental illness/behavioral health
Unintended pregnancy
Oral health
Tobacco use
Substance abuse
Nutrition
Physical activity
Obesity prevention Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health and quality of life rely on many community systems and factors, not simply on a well-functioning health and medical care system. Making changes within existing systems, such as improving school health programs and policies, can effectively improve the health of many in the community.

For a community to improve its health, its members must often change aspects of the physical, social, organizational, and even political environments in order to eliminate or reduce factors that contribute to health problems or to introduce new elements that promote better health. Changes might include:

Instituting new programs, policies, and practices
Changing aspects of the physical or organizational infrastructure
Changing community attitudes, beliefs, or social norms Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

In cases where community health promotion activities are initiated by a health department or organization, organizers have a responsibility to engage the community. Realizing the vision of healthy people in healthy communities is possible only if the community, in its full cultural, social, and economic diversity, is an authentic partner in changing the conditions for health.2

Three emerging public health issues in the area of educational and community-based programs have been identified.

Adopting a Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child approach to reduce dropout rates.
- The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model expands on the 8 elements of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Coordinated School Health (CSH) approach and is combined with the whole child framework. CDC and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) developed this expanded model—in collaboration with key leaders from the fields of health, public health, education, and school health—to strengthen a unified and collaborative approach designed to improve learning and health in our Nation’s schools.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper
Establishing an evidence base for community health and education policy interventions to determine their impact and effectiveness.
Increasing the number and skill level of community health and other auxiliary public health workers to support the achievement of healthier communities.

These issues are important to the field of public health and warrant further research, analysis, and monitoring to fully understand their effects on educational and community-based programs.

Perinatal mental health problems are known to impact significantly on the woman [24, 93], her infant and family [88]. The relationship between an infant and their primary caregiver is significantly affected by maternal depression and can negatively influence the child’s long-term mental and physical health [94]. Periodic contact with child and family health services provides an important opportunity to ask a mother, father and/or other primary carers about their own social and emotional wellbeing and to identify risk for and/or detect possible depression or related disorders. Services can then offer support and appropriate early intervention or referral [4]. The (draft) Clinical Practice Guidelines [95] recommend the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) be used by health professionals as an initial step in screening all omen for possible depression in the ante and postnatal period.

Engaging fathers
Child and family health services can further promote the wellbeing of children by harnessing the full potential of fathers to contribute to the wellbeing of children and families.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

‘Father-inclusive’ practice occurs when the needs and perspectives of fathers are incorporated into the planning, development and delivery of services. For services aiming to support families, bringing fathers into everyday activities is a crucial part of inclusive practice.

One example of a national parenting initiative for fathers is the Strong Fathers, Strong Families program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. This program is providing antenatal programs specifically for males to support them in preparing for fatherhood; community and group activities and strategies that promote positive, healthy, active fatherhood and grandfatherhood, and the involvement of males in the early development of their children and grandchildren; health promotion information that promotes new fatherhood and grandfatherhood as a motivating factor for self care; and referral and support to attend local parenting, health and related services (e.g. reproductive health, family wellbeing, counselling, peer support groups) as needed.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Table 7: Principles of Father-Inclusive Practice [96]
Principle 1. Father Awareness: Services develop an understanding of the role and impact of fathers including separated fathers, father figures and stepfathers
Principle 2. Respect for Fathers: Services engage with fathers as partners with respect for their experience, gifts and capacities as fathers.
Principle 3. Equity and Access: All fathers have equal and fair access to the support provided by high quality family services regardless of income, employment status, special educational needs or ethnic / language background.
Principle 4. Father Strengths: A strengths-based approach recognises fathers’ aspirations for their children’s wellbeing and the experience, knowledge and skills that they contribute to this wellbeing.
Principle 5. Practitioners’ Strengths: The existing skills, knowledge and special qualities of the staff for working with fathers are acknowledged.
Principle 6. Advocacy and Empowerment: Services aim to empower fathers to develop their capacity rather than focus on interventions that try to prevent them from doing harm.
Principle 7. Partnership with fathers: Services aim to work in partnership with fathers and their families to build on their knowledge, skills and abilities and to help fathers enhance their positive roles with their children and as part of families.
Principle 8. Recruitment and Training: Appropriate training, credentialling and professional support for staff is a foundation for quality father-inclusive service provision.
Principle 9. Research and Evaluation: Research and evaluation of services should specifically measure father engagement and outcomes relating to this engagement.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Facilitating peer support
Child and family health services provide support for mothers, fathers and carers across key transition points in the early childhood period. For example, CFHNs may facilitate both ‘preparations for parenthood’ and ‘new parents’ groups to address their needs during this transition period. Research suggests increased levels of social support and parenting confidence and high levels of satisfaction amongst parents who attend new parents’ groups facilitated by CFHNs [97-99]. Facilitated peer support groups appear to be successful in
de-emphasising the power and expertise of the professional [99]. These groups often become self-sustaining social networks providing important support for parents [98].Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Community capacity building
Community capacity building is an essential health promotion activity crucial to the achievement of the objectives of the Framework. Capacity building has been broadly defined as encompassing:
empowerment of individuals and groups within defined ‘communities’;
development of skills, knowledge, and confidence;
increased social connections and relationships;
responsive service delivery and policy based in community-identified needsand solutions;
audible community voices;
community involvement;
responsive and accountable decision makers;
resource mobilisation for communities in need; and
community acceptance of programs because they have been involved in development [100].
Capacity building for health promotion can occur with individuals, groups, organisations and communities and includes three core aspects: adequate infrastructure and resources in order to build capacity in individuals and communities, the establishment and maintenance of partnerships and networks are key to ensuring developed programs are sustainable and finally, organisations and communities must develop a ‘problem solving’ approach to health improvement strategies [100]. Universal child and family health services play a key role in community capacity building via activities such as community workshops, health promotion and education activities, collaboration between government and non-government organisations and community agencies such as the Australian Breastfeeding Association and early education and care services.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Disease prevention differs from health promotion because it focuses on specific efforts aimed at reducing the development and severity of chronic diseases and other morbidities.

Wellness is related to health promotion and disease prevention. Wellness is described as the attitudes and active decisions made by an individual that contribute to positive health behaviors and outcomes.

Health promotion and disease prevention programs often address social determinants of health, which influence modifiable risk behaviors. Social determinants of health are the economic, social, cultural, and political conditions in which people are born, grow, and live that affect health status. Modifiable risk behaviors include, for example, tobacco use, poor eating habits, and lack of physical activity, which contribute to the development of chronic disease.

Typical activities for health promotion, disease prevention, and wellness programs include:Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Communication: Raising awareness about healthy behaviors for the general public. Examples of communication strategies include public service announcements, health fairs, mass media campaigns, and newsletters.
Education: Empowering behavior change and actions through increased knowledge. Examples of health education strategies include courses, trainings, and support groups.
Policy, Systems, and Environment: Making systematic changes – through improved laws, rules, and regulations (policy), functional organizational components (systems), and economic, social, or physical environment – to encourage, make available, and enable healthy choices.

Health promotion and disease prevention program models are provided in Module 2.

Chronic Disease in Rural America Topic Guide
Website
Provides information on the impact of chronic disease, strategies for helping chronic disease patients, and funding sources for chronic disease programs.
Organization(s): Rural Health Information Hub

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Website
Provides information, statistics, tools, and resources related to health promotion and disease prevention program planning.
Organization(s): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Prevention Strategy: America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness
Document
This report provides information on the National Prevention Strategy – a comprehensive plan with evidence-based recommendations for building healthy and safe environments, expanding access to quality care, empowering people to make healthier choices, and eliminating health disparities.
Organization(s): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Date: 6/2011 Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Examples of health education activities include:

Lectures
Courses
Seminars
Webinars
Workshops
Classes

Characteristics of health education strategies include:

Participation of the target population.
Completion of a community needs assessmentto identify community capacity, resources, priorities, and needs.
Planned learning activities that increase participants’ knowledge and skills.
Implementation of programs with integrated, well-planned curricula and materials that take place in a setting convenient for participants.
Presentation of information with audiovisual and computer based supports such as slides and projectors, videos, books, CDs, posters, pictures, websites, or software programs.
Ensuring proficiency of program staff, through training, to maintain fidelity to the program model.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper
The Oral Health Outreach Program, implemented by the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (AHEC), provides dental education and outreach to children.
SLV N.E.E.D. (Naloxone Education Empowerment Distribution Program), implemented by the San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center (SLVAHEC) provided educational sessions to providers and community stakeholders on addressing opioid abuse.
Community health workers (CHWs) may deliver health education to the target population. Examples of how CHWs support health education interventions are available in the Community Health Workers Toolkit.
Health education is also used in care coordination to address barriers to care. A health educator is one type of care coordinator who deliver education to individuals, families, and communities. Additional information is available in the Rural Care Coordination Toolkit.

Health education activities should enhance the overall goal of the health promotion and disease prevention program. Materials developed for health education programs must be culturally appropriate and tailored to the target populations to ensure cultural competence. In rural communities, this means addressing cultural and linguistic differences, and addressing potential barriers to health promotion and disease prevention in rural areas.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health promotion is very relevant today. There is a global acceptance that health and social wellbeing are determined by many factors outside the health system which include socioeconomic conditions, patterns of consumption associated with food and communication, demographic patterns, learning environments, family patterns, the cultural and social fabric of societies; sociopolitical and economic changes, including commercialization and trade and global environmental change. In such a situation, health issues can be effectively addressed by adopting a holistic approach by empowering individuals and communities to take action for their health, fostering leadership for public health, promoting intersectoral action to build healthy public policies in all sectors and creating sustainable health systems. Although, not a new concept, health promotion received an impetus following Alma Ata declaration. Recently it has evolved through a series of international conferences, with the first conference in Canada producing the famous Ottawa charter. Efforts at promoting health encompassing actions at individual and community levels, health system strengthening and multi sectoral partnership can be directed at specific health conditions. It should also include settings-based approach to promote health in specific settings such as schools, hospitals, workplaces, residential areas etc. Health promotion needs to be built into all the policies and if utilized efficiently will lead to positive health outcomes.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health promotion is more relevant today than ever in addressing public health problems. The health scenario is positioned at unique crossroads as the world is facing a ‘triple burden of diseases’ constituted by the unfinished agenda of communicable diseases, newly emerging and re-emerging diseases as well as the unprecedented rise of noncommunicable chronic diseases. The factors which aid progress and development in today’s world such as globalization of trade, urbanization, ease of global travel, advanced technologies, etc., act as a double-edged sword as they lead to positive health outcomes on one hand and increase the vulnerability to poor health on the other hand as these contribute to sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy dietary patterns. There is a high prevalence of tobacco use along with increase in unhealthy dietary practices and decrease in physical activity contributing to increase in biological risk factors which in turn leads to increase in noncommunicable diseases (NCD).(1–3) Figure 1 below illustrates how lifestyle-related issues are contributing to increase in NCDs.(4) The adverse effects of global climate change, sedentary lifestyle, increasing frequency of occurrence of natural disasters, financial crisis, security threats, etc., add to the challenges that public health faces today.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The term health promotion has been used in healthcare for several years. However, the meaning of this term is debated, particularly in nursing. Some nurses might believe that, because they are healthcare practitioners working in healthcare services, that they are ‘by default’ automatically involved in health promotion activities; however, this is often not the case. Instead, they are more likely to be engaging in health education activities; that is, simply providing individuals with health-related information, rather than seeking to empower individuals, families, groups and communities. While health education is related to health promotion, these terms are not interchangeable, since health education is a component of health promotion. This article clarifies these concepts and describes approaches to illness prevention and promoting well-being that nurses can use in their practice with patients across the lifespan.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health, as the World Health Organization (WHO) defines, is the state of complete physical, social and mental well being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of highest attainable standard of health is considered as one of the fundamental rights of every human being.(5) Over the past few decades, there is an increasing recognition that biomedical interventions alone cannot guarantee better health. Health is heavily influenced by factors outside the domain of the health sector, especially social, economic and political forces. These forces largely shape the circumstances in which people grow, live, work and age as well as the systems put in place to deal with health needs ultimately leading to inequities in health between and within countries.(6) Thus, the attainment of the highest possible standard of health depends on a comprehensive, holistic approach which goes beyond the traditional curative care, involving communities, health providers and other stakeholders. This holistic approach should empower individuals and communities to take actions for their own health, foster leadership for public health, promote intersectoral action to build healthy public policies and create sustainable health systems in the society. These elements capture the essence of “health promotion”, which is about enabling people to take control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health. It includes interventions at the personal, organizational, social and political levels to facilitate adaptations (lifestyle, environmental, etc.) conducive to improving or protecting health.(1,2)Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health promotion is not a new concept. The fact that health is determined by factors not only within the health sector but also by factors outside was recognized long back. During the 19^th century, when the germ theory of disease had not yet been established, the specific cause of most diseases was considered to be ‘miasma’ but there was an acceptance that as poverty, destitution, poor living conditions, lack of education, etc., contributed to disease and death. William Alison’s reports (1827-28) on epidemic typhus and relapsing fever, Louis Rene Villerme’s report (1840) on Survey of the physical and moral conditions of the workers employed in the cotton, wool and silk factories John Snow’s classic studies of cholera (1854), etc., stand testimony to this increasing realization on the web of disease causation.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The term ‘Health Promotion’ was coined in 1945 by Henry E. Sigerist, the great medical historian, who defined the four major tasks of medicine as promotion of health, prevention of illness, restoration of the sick and rehabilitation. His statement that health was promoted by providing a decent standard of living, good labor conditions, education, physical culture, means of rest and recreation and required the co-ordinated efforts of statesmen, labor, industry, educators and physicians. It found reflections 40 years later in the Ottawa Charter for health promotion. Sigerist’s observation that “the promotion of health obviously tends to prevent illness, yet effective prevention calls for special protective measures” highlighted the consideration given to the general causes in disease causation along with specific causes as also the role of health promotion in addressing these general causes. Around the same time, the twin causality of diseases was also acknowledged by J.A.Ryle, the first Professor of Social Medicine in Great Britain, who also drew attention to its applicability to non communicable diseases.(7)Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health education and health promotion are two terms which are sometimes used interchangeably. Health education is about providing health information and knowledge to individuals and communities and providing skills to enable individuals to adopt healthy behaviors voluntarily. It is a combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes, whereas health promotion takes a more comprehensive approach to promoting health by involving various players and focusing on multisectoral approaches. Health promotion has a much broader perspective and it is tuned to respond to developments which have a direct or indirect bearing on health such as inequities, changes in the patterns of consumption, environments, cultural beliefs, etc.(3)Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Nurses play an important role in promoting public health. Traditionally, the focus of health promotion by nurses has been on disease prevention and changing the behaviour of individuals with respect to their health. However, their role as promoters of health is more complex, since they have multi-disciplinary knowledge and experience of health promotion in their nursing practice. This paper presents an integrative review aimed at examining the findings of existing research studies (1998–2011) of health promotion practice by nurses. Systematic computer searches were conducted of the Cochrane databases, Cinahl, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus databases, covering the period January 1998 to December 2011. Data were analysed and the results are presented using the concept map method of Novak and Gowin. The review found information on the theoretical basis of health promotion practice by nurses, the range of their expertise, health promotion competencies and the organizational culture associated with health promotion practice. Nurses consider health promotion important but a number of obstacles associated with organizational culture prevent effective delivery.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The ‘New Perspective on the Health of Canadians’ Report known as the Lalonde report, published by the Government of Canada in 1974, challenged the conventional ‘biomedical concept’ of health, paving way for an international debate on the role of nonmedical determinants of health, including individual risk behavior. The report argued that cancers, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses and road traffic accidents were not preventable by the medical model and sought to replace the biomedical concept with ‘Health Field concept’ which consisted of four “health fields”-lifestyle, environment, health care organization, human biology as the determinants of health and disease. The Health Field concept spelt out five strategies for health promotion, regulatory mechanisms, research, efficient health care and goal setting and 23 possible courses of action. Lalonde report was criticized by skeptics as a ploy to stem in the governments rising health care costs by adopting health promotion policies and shifting responsibility of health to local governments and individuals. However, the report was lapped up internationally by countries such as USA, UK, Sweden, etc., who published similar reports. The landmark concept also set the tone for public health discourse and practice in the decades to come.(7–10) Health promotion received a major impetus in 1978, when the Alma Ata declaration acknowledged that the promotion and protection of the health of the people was essential to sustained economic and social development and contributed to a better quality of life and to world peace.(5)Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Growing expectations in public health around the world prompted WHO to partner with Canada to host an international conference on Health Promotion in 1986. It was held in Ottawa, and produced not only the “Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion” but also served as a prelude to subsequent international conferences on health promotion. The Ottawa Charter defined Health Promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. The fundamental conditions and resources for health are: peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. Health promotion thus is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy lifestyles to well being. The Charter called for advocacy for health actions for bringing about favorable political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioral and biological factors for health, enabling people to take control of the factors influencing their health and mediation for multi sectoral action. The Charter defined Health Promotion action as one a) which builds up healthy public policy that combines diverse but complementary approaches including legislation, fiscal measures, taxation and organizational change to build policies which foster equity, b) create supportive environments, c) support community action through empowerment of communities – their ownership and control of their own endeavors and destinies, d) develop personal skills by providing information, education for health, and enhancing life skills and e) reorienting health services towards health promotion from just providing clinical and curative services.(11)Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

This benchmark conference led to a series of conferences on health promotion – Adelaide (1988), Sundsvall (1991), Jakarta (1997), Mexico-City (2000), Bangkok (2005) and Nairobi (2009). In Adelaide, the member states acknowledged that government sectors such as agriculture, trade, education, industry and communication had to consider health as an essential factor when formulating healthy public policy. The Sundsvall statement highlighted that poverty and deprivation affecting millions of people who were living in extremely degraded environment affected health. In Jakarta too poverty, low status of women, civil and domestic violence were listed as the major threats to health. The Mexico statement called upon the international community to address the social determinants of health to facilitate achievement of health-related millennium development goals. The Bangkok charter identified four commitments to make health promotion (a) central to the global development agenda; (b) a core responsibility for all governments (c) a key focus of communities and civil society; and (d) a requirement for good corporate practice.(12,13) The last conference in October 2009 in Nairobi called for urgent need to strengthen leadership and workforce, mainstream health promotion, empower communities and individuals, enhance participatory processes and build and apply knowledge for health promotion.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

The health promotion emblem [Figure 2] adopted at the first international conference on health promotion in Ottawa and evolved at subsequent conferences symbolizes the approach to health promotion. The logo has a circle with three wings. It incorporates five key action areas in health promotion (build healthy public policy, create supportive environments for health, strengthen community action for health, develop personal skills and reorient health services) and three basic HP strategies (to enable, mediate and advocate).The Public Health and Health Promotion MSc programme provides students with the advanced skills and multidisciplinary knowledge of principles within public health and health promotion to successfully navigate the challenges and complexities of the health career industry. Upon graduating, you will possess advanced academic and research skills along with a critical understanding of health policy, global public health, and how these relate to politics, psychology, and sociology.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health Promotion and Education is a profession focusing on the behaviors, systems, environments, and policies affecting health at a variety of levels. This profession requires intensive specialized training encompassing the biological, environmental, psychological, social, physical, and medical sciences. It also involves the development of individual, group, institutional, community, and systemic strategies to improve health knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors, which empowers people to take more control over their personal, community, and environmental health and well-being.

Health Promotion and Education strategies include: individual and group education, training and counseling, audio-visual and computerized educational materials development, community development, social action and planning, advocacy, and coalition building.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions. (Source: World Health Organization) At colleges and universities, health promotion serves the core mission of higher education by supporting students and creating healthy learning environments.Health promotion is a complex, ambiguous concept and set of practices. While many have linked it, primarily, to a revolution in health education, its roots go much deeper into the history of public health. It had its contemporary beginnings in the throes of the backlash against bureaucratic and professional dominance exemplified by the new social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. At its heart, health promotion is centred on the values and principles of equity, participation, and empowerment. These concepts are embedded in health promotion’s founding document, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. However, exactly how these values are articulated is often ambiguous. In this chapter, the authors contend that health promoters must intensify their reflection on these core values and principles; particularly in the light of the tendency to slip back into a comfortable paternalism, which reinforces existing power imbalances. We are specifically concerned with the precise interpretation of health equity in health promotion. In order to pursue a deeper level of reflection on the meaning of equity, it is argued that health promotion must engage more deeply with recent developments in political philosophy, political economy and social theory. Following up from the work of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, one of health promotion’s emerging priorities is a reinvigorated push for the global development of ‘healthy public policy’ as seen in the Health in All Policies (HiAP) movement. In this updated chapter, we also address the need for health promotion to engage more directly with core social theoretical concepts related to the generation of social inequalities that underlie health inequities; finally, we explore the relevance of complexity science and systems thinking for health promotion research.Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper

This page is an index of ACHA and other resources on this topic. Resources include association projects, programs, publications, guidelines, and more. Additional information may be available under “External Resources Developing A Health Literacy Program For Children In A Low-Income Urban Area Essay Paper