Essay Sample on Health Education and Promotion

Introduction

Most individuals are prone to widespread and persistent health inequities they are exposed to a local and national level. The health inequities experienced in most nations are associated with imbalances in resources, money, and power distribution. As a result, tackling the unjust and unnecessary health disparities obliges all the government health agencies to promote sustainable policies within their respective jurisdictions. The endorsement of suitable health policies will have a significant impact on the social determinants that affect public healthcare. Besides, human rights activists advocate for political prioritization to mitigate and improve health equities that arise from various social determinants. Countries should develop effective health equity policies to exemplify their determination to resolve health inequalities. Hence, the adopted healthcare policies should promote social factors that reduce intergenerational health disparities. The government needs to initiate various programs that will enlighten the society on its fundamental role in eliminating the perpetuation of healthcare imbalances. For that reason, the adoption of effective health delivery policies should introduce sustainable social factors that will promote public health education and the delivery of quality healthcare to society.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Governance and Sustainability

The governance system adopted by a specific nation has a significant impact on its healthcare's delivery approach. Furthermore, the government policies implemented by the private and government stakeholders determine the progress made in eliminating imbalances in the public health. The government needs to develop effective delivery systems that incorporate an inclusive societal and government approach in resolving social determinants that hinder equity and better health services. Consequently, the achievement of projected healthcare goals demands for better coherence action plans on services, investments, and guidelines from all the stakeholders. Likewise, the government should advocate for the prioritization of universal healthcare access at the regional, national, and transnational levels (Marmot, Allen, Bell, Bloomer & Goldblatt, 2012). Once a nation succeeds in establishing the required framework that guarantees quality healthcare services to its citizens, it should articulate for universal health access. Hence, government and private stakeholders should implement efficient health delivery systems that will motivate other nations to emulate their approach to promote the provision of universal quality healthcare.

Environmental and sustainability factors have a significant impact on health equity. Moreover, in most regions where environmental pollution is rampant, they are often characterized by an uneven distribution of ecological hazards. As a result, most of the factors that determine social and health equity are mutually dependent on the issues that influence economic and environmental sustainability. For instance, an increase in the consumption of animal fats is likely to enhance society's risk on cardiovascular and cancer diseases (Roberts, Donkin & Marmot, 2016). Similarly, over-production of animal foodstuffs to cater to the food shortage concerns is likely to lead to an increase in the greenhouse gases emissions. Subsequently, the developing nations should not emulate most of the industrial processes used by high-income nations. The consequences of emulating such approaches might have dire consequences on the public's health and natural environment. Therefore, developing nations should adopt sustainable environmental policies that promote better and quality healthcare service delivery.

Policy Recommendations

The public health stakeholders should focus on developing interventions that reduce the impact of social determinants that promote health inequities. The mitigation policy aims at utilizing the public health personnel's skills to aid in developing effective local policies that address health imbalances. The government and private agencies have a fundamental role in mitigating social causes that hinder better healthcare service. Moreover, the policy obligates the public health officials to establish a framework that focuses on addressing the leading health disparities and ill healthcare prevention. Hence, the health workers should integrate the proposed framework through educating the practices nurses and health trainers on the implementing required public health goals (Marmot, 2010). Likewise, the public health personnel should educate the non-health professionals on implementing the proposed interventions. They should focus on launching their public health initiatives at the local level through the children centers, leisure centers, and environmental agencies. As a result, the health officials should assess the proposed interventions' impact through measurable indicators on the health inequalities to enhance cost-efficiency and effectiveness of the adopted policies.

The health professionals should increase social participation in the community to minimize health inequities. Consequently, the private and government stakeholders need to enhance the empowerment programs on community and individual by educating them about the national healthcare objectives and policies. Besides, social participation and social networks serve as protective determinants against cognitive decline and dementia among most of the senior citizens. Consequently, the health personnel should identify the community's needs through the social interaction platforms. The public should be encouraged to assist in developing effective social participation interventions that address the social isolation concerns to reduce the health inequalities (Oversveen & Eikemo, 2018). Additionally, providing the society with quality health information is likely to minimize health imbalances and enhance health delivery services. Therefore, the health stakeholders should develop effective social participation platforms that foster reciprocity and social ties with the local community.

Socio-Economic Benefits

There are several socio-economic benefits associated with reducing health inequities. Some of the economists claim that health disproportions have led to a significant decrease in organizational productivity levels. According to Ellermann (2017), several firms have incurred approximately EUR140 billion losses annually due to various health inequalities-related determinants. Subsequently, if the policymakers do not implement effective health policies, some of the European nations are at a risk of losing almost EUR1 trillion yearly. Such health equities-related losses are likely to derail the national gross domestic product by almost 9.4% annually (Ellermann, 2017). However, by implementing suitable health strategies, the regional and local economic growth can be strengthened. Firstly, reducing health imbalances is a crucial social aspect that promotes social equity. Besides, the provision of quality healthcare is one of the fundamental human rights everyone is entitled to despite their social status, political affiliation, religion, and race. Hence, the health inequalities are regarded as unjust and unfair factors that should be addressed. For that reason, reducing health imbalances focuses on promoting social justice and fairness at the local, national, and international levels.

Secondly, minimizing health disproportions is a fundamental economic factor. For instance, disability and ill health concerns are the primary reasons for most employees' early retirement. However, most of the employees between 50 to 60 years old have remarkable professional experience, and it is vital that they are retained as active employees (Oversveen & Eikemo, 2018). As a result, the implementation of suitable health policies will lead to more savings in intellectual capital, increased labor productivity, and low healthcare costs.

A majority of the communities and individuals are vulnerable to the persistent health imbalances at the local and national level due to various social factors that affect quality health services. Furthermore, most countries experience health inequities due to disparities in resources, money, and power distribution. Such countries should adopt a governance system that provides effective health delivery services that will motivate leaders from other nations to emulate their systems. As a result, the national and regional health stakeholders need to advocate for better universal healthcare schemes. Similarly, the developing nations should adopt sustainable environmental policies that will promote the quality of healthcare services. Besides, the public health stakeholders have the mandate to develop intervention policies that will mitigate the social factors that promote health disparities. The intervention policies should be accessed frequently through measurable indicators on health imbalances to determine their effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Likewise, the health experts need to formulate effective strategies that promote social participation to eliminate social isolation that enhances health disparities. Finally, reducing the health inequities leads to several socio-economic advantages that benefit the social from a social equity and economic perspective.

References

Ellermann, C. (2017). Promoting health literacy to reduce health inequalities in societies. European Journal of Public Health, 27(suppl_3). doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckx187.517

Marmot, M., Allen, J., Bell, R., Bloomer, E., & Goldblatt, P. (2012). WHO European review of social determinants of health and the health divide. The Lancet, 380(9846), 1011-1029. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(12)61228-8

Marmot, P. (2010). Fair society, healthy lives: The Marmot reviews. Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post, 37-169.

Oversveen, E., & Eikemo, T. (2018). Reducing social inequalities in health: Moving from the 'causes of the causes' to the 'causes of the structures'. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 46(1), 1-5. doi: 10.1177/1403494818756574

Roberts, J., Donkin, A., & Marmot, M. (2016). Opportunities for reducing socioeconomic inequalities in the mental health of children and young people - reducing adversity and increasing resilience. Journal of Public Mental Health, 15(1), 4-18. doi: 10.1108/jpmh-08-2015-0039