1 Health Promotion Student’s First Name, Middle Initial(s), Last Name Institutional Affiliation Course Number and Name Instructor's Name and Title Assignment Due Date 2 Health Promotion Older adults usually lead a calm and inactive lifestyle. It is a rare case when an elderly person lives without health barriers or social stigma. There is a common misconception that after reaching a particular age, one should not take care of their health, do sport, and follow a diet. That is why health promotion among older adults is a topical healthcare issue that requires action, especially from medical professionals. Nowadays, the elderly suppose that a healthy lifestyle is not for them anymore. The majority feel reluctant about doing physical exercises and report most activities to be burdensome. Because of having an extended family to take care of, they usually have no time to spend on their own health. Due to their advanced age, they lack confidence since they are sure they lose in comparison to their younger counterparts in terms of sport. The older one gets, the more fearful of potential injuries they become (Liljas et al., 2017). Therefore, health promotion among older adults is quite complicated, mainly because of a shortage of interest on their part. Due to the current importance of the issue, healthcare professionals need to facilitate the situation. For instance, visiting homes promoting health may be beneficial for reaching people in deprived areas where there is a lack of proper transportation. This approach can also establish trustworthy relationships between the elderly and medical staff, which may lead to easier persuasion. Another suggestion is to involve their family into this discussion to encourage them to commence or resume doing sport. Engaging peers may be also a fruitful technique since people usually tend to follow suit of someone of their age (Liljas et al., 2017). The combination of all the above-mentioned strategies may play a crucial role in health promotion among older adults due to creating a trusty and comfortable environment for them. There are specific theories that corroborate the importance of a healthy lifestyle as well as ethical code principals that need to be abidden by to promote health among older populations. 3 For instance, the activity theory claims that constant activity facilitates the process of aging. Logically, doing sport will only play a beneficial role in life of the elderly (Edelman et al., 2013). Moreover, the subculture theory states that older adults feel more comfortable among their peers. Therefore, following an example of one's peers can stimulate one to become healthier and age without critical health issues (Edelman et al., 2013). To promote a healthy lifestyle efficiently, medical professionals need to adhere to the principal of beneficence. It implies that they must act in a kind and charitable way with the only goal to assist the elderly with becoming healthier and, as a result, merrier. Recipients of such a promotion must feel that they are taken care of (Gaines, 2020). Another principal to take into consideration is non-maleficence, which means doing no harm. Healthcare workers need to explain only how wholesome and useful leading a healthy lifestyle will be for the elderly, but not to discourage them by threatening that if they do not do sport, they will decease soon and in pain. In other words, they should not inspire them to have suicidal or homicidal thoughts (Gaines, 2020). Health promotion among older adults is supported by the activity and subculture theories and must be conducted through beneficence and nonmaleficence. Health promotion among older adults is an issue of current importance that needs to be alleviated by healthcare professionals, in particular. Due to a lack of confidence, fear, family business and other reasons, the elderly often neglect their health, do not sport, and ignore proper nutrition. Visiting homes can be an efficient approach since here a direct contact between an older person and a medical professional along with trust are established. Involving the family and peers of the elderly can also be a good technique to make them follow suit. Acting beneficent and non-maleficent will only assist with convincing older adults of leading a healthy lifestyle. References 4 Edelman. C. L., Kudzma, E. C., & Mandle, C. L. (2013). Health promotion throughout the life span. Mosby. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-0-323-091411/cfi/6/2!/4/10/4@0:48.8 Gaines, K. (September 4, 2020). What is the nursing code of ethics? Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/education/nursing-code-of-ethics/ Liljas, A. E. M., Walters, K., Jovicic, A., Iliffe, S., Manthorpe, J., Goodman, C., & Kharicha, K. (2017). Strategies to improve engagement of ‘hard to reach’ older people in research on health promotion: a systematic review. BMC Public Health, 17(349). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4241-8
