Health Promotion and Improvements
Methods
Learning Outcomes
 Understand the concept of Health Promotion
 Understand a range of approaches to Health Promotion
 Understand types of Health Promotion
 Understand Ethical Issues in Health Promotion
Health Promotion
 What is your understanding of Health Promotion? What is involved in the process?
 The WHO (World Health Organisation) define Health Promotion as:
‘ Health Promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their
Health’
 Health Promotion involves providing information to others which will help to improve
their Health and Well-Being.
 Different models of Health Promotion and Health Education attempt to promote health
 Five main approaches to Health Promotion:
 The Medical Approach
 The Behaviour Change Approach
 The Educational Approach
 The Client-Centred Approach
 The Societal-Change Approach
Five Approaches to Health Promotion
Medical Approach
Medical intervention tends to be an
effective way to prevent disease. It takes
responsibility away from the individual.
People generally trust the method, as
strategies have been developed
scientifically with trials to prove
effectiveness. For e.g. Mammography a
medical intervention to detect breast
cancer.
Educational Approach
This aim is to give information, ensure
knowledge and understanding of heath
issues and to enable well-informed
decisions to be made. Information about
health is presented and people are helped
to explore their values and attitudes and to
make their own decisions. Examples
include school health education
programmes and breastfeeding clinics
Group Work
In your groups carry out an in-depth study of the Health
Promotion Approach. Consider:
 The main elements of the approach
 How and where it is used? Examples of campaigns?
 The effectiveness of the approach, advantages and disadvantages
Societal- Change Approach
The aim is to effect changes on the physical, social and economic
environment to make it more conductive to good health. The focus
is on changing society, not on changing individuals. When a
traditional behaviour of a society is proven to be unhealthy, a
cultural change has to be achieved to improve health. For e.g. Ear
defenders should be worn by anyone who is exposed to loud noise
in their work as commended by Health and Safety at Work Act
1974.
Behaviour-Change Approach
The aim is to change people’s individual
attitudes and behaviours, so that they adapt a
‘healthy’ lifestyle. Examples include teaching
people how to stop smoking, education about
‘sensible’ drinking , encouraging people to
become more physically active , look after their
teeth, eat the right food and so on.
Client-Centred Approach
The aim to work with clients to help them
identify what they want to know about and take
action on, to make their own decisions and
choices according to their own interest and
values. One-to-one basis with individuals. For
example contraception is a very personal issue
and can be quite complex. There is a variety of
methods to choose from, each with advantaged
and disadvantages.
Shock Tactics
Presenting individuals with the potential
consequences of their behaviour can be enough
to frighten people into changing their lifestyle.
For example drink driving adverts, health
warnings on cigarette packets
Types of Health Promotion
 Health can be promoted when people are fully fit, have a
permanent disability or are chronically sick. Health promoters aim
to enable people to be as well as possible
 Primary Health Promotion- Primary health promotion means
preventing ill health occurring at all
 Secondary Health Promotion- Secondary health promotion
involves detecting illness in early stages through screening or
medical examination and giving treatment to correct any
abnormality
 Tertiary Health Promotion- Tertiary health promotion
involves preventing an existing condition from worsening
Ethical Issues in Health Promotion
 Although Health Promotion aims to improve well-being, there are
also ethical issues to consider.
 It is not the place of Health Professionals to make value judgments
on the way others choose to live particularly if their behaviour does
not cause harm to others.
Assignment 1
 Outline two approaches used in promoting health and discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of each approach
 500-600 words
 At least 2 references
.
Next Week
 Looking at types of Health Care Services Provided.
 Looking at the Organisation of Health Services.