Health promotion is an important element of the government's health agenda. Critically discuss this statement with specific reference to the contribution of the occupational health nurse.

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Health promotion is an important element of the government’s health agenda. Critically discuss this statement with specific reference to the contribution of the occupational health nurse.

Health promotion is an important element of the government’s health agenda. On forming a new government New Labour set public health policies in line with it’s health agenda. Out of this rose a new white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, which sets ambitious targets for life expectancy to be increased, and inequalities in health to be reduced. The Labour Government plan to achieve this through it’s public health policy in a “third way” (Connelly 1999). Labour’s policies are aimed at strengthening communities, and encouraging individuals to seize opportunities and take responsibility for their action. This essay will demonstrate how the Government hopes to address improving the health of individuals and reducing health inequalities through health promotion and how occupational health nurses will contribute. Firstly the issue of what health is and what health means to different individuals will be discussed. Once health has been defined the area of health promotion will be looked at, paying particular reference to the different theories and models of health promotion and looking at those that are relevant to the field of occupational health. Only then will the health agenda, and the contribution that the occupational health nurse has towards the government’s strategies, be discussed in relation to health promotion and the working environment.

The aims and objectives of this essay therefore are:

 Aims:

To critically discuss the roles and contributions of occupational health nurses to the effectiveness of health promotion in the workplace in light of the government strategy Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation and Securing Health Together.

Objectives:

  • Examine the definition and concepts of health
  • Examine the theory and different definitions of health promotion and empowerment models
  • Examine the strategy of Securing Health Together and its contribution to the Our Healthier Nation white paper
  • Discuss the occupational health nurse’s role in the contribution of these targets in relation to workplace health promotion

Occupational health nurses are nurses who work within the working environment. An occupational health nurse can be defined as a qualified general nurse, registered with the NMC who has attended a post registered specialised course in occupational health nursing recognised by the statutory bodies in the UK (RCN 1995). The role of the occupational health nurse is to promote the health and well being of individuals at work and as such is primarily a preventative rather than curative role as it focuses on well and not ill individuals (Chorley & Kitney 2000). An occupational health nurse has access to a large number of the working population. The government has been quick to include occupational health nurses in their public health agenda due to the wide audience that they have through the working population. The development of the occupational health strategy for the next ten years (Securing Health Together), which uses the work environment to help people maintain or improve their health is further evidence that the government believe that occupational health nurses can contribute to the government’s health agenda.

Before the theories and definitions of health promotion can be looked at the concept of health must be understood. A concept can be defined as an idea, or mental image of reality, it is the building blocks and elements of a theory (Rodwell 1996). Definitions of health arise from many different perspectives. For some individuals the definition of health is the absence of illness or disease. This definition sends powerful signals that health is about not having a disease. This view that health is the absence of illness or disease, and that medical treatment can restore good health has been criticized because the word health is actually derived from whole, and healing giving rise to the idea that health concerns the whole person (Naidoo & Wills 1994). This definition of health is multi-dimensional, in that it is not solely concerned with physical health, but also addresses mental, social, emotional and spiritual health (Kendall & Latter 1997). This is in keeping with The World Health Organisation (WHO 1946) definition of the concept of health as “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.  Health is subject to wide individual, social and cultural interpretation. Individuals experience health and illness, but it is through influences such as culture, class and gender that the experiences are shaped. Images of health are also built on media messages and prevalent ideas about health rights, levels of service, access, awareness and so on. These images of health also include social expectations about what it means to be healthy in a particular society. The nature of health is that the different aspects are inter-related. Some authors, namely Aggleton & Homans (1987) and Ewles and Simnett (1992) believe that health is holistic and one must take into account the different influences and interactions of the different dimensions. The dimensions that they discuss are an inner circle of physical, mental, emotional, social, sexual and spiritual health. This is surrounded by two outer circles of the broader health dimensions, namely social and environmental factors. The social factors link to the structure of society and the link with health, for example, the infrastructure that is required. The environmental aspect takes into account the environment in which individuals live, including housing, sanitation etc. Indeed social advances in living conditions such as improved sanitation and nutrition have been responsible for most of the reduction in mortality rates in the last century ( McKeown & Lowe 1974). However, whilst mortality rates have reduced, the inequalities in health between social class has in fact risen. Naidoo and Wills (1994) argue that one reason for this is that the “distribution of health mirrors the distribution of material resources within society”. Britain has inequalities in wealth and income, which are associated with inequalities in health (Townsend et al 1988). The government are aware of the continued inequalities in health and have therefore developed the “Our Healthier Nation” initiative that has the two key aims of increasing life expectancy by reducing ill health and tackling the inequalities in health (Health and Safety Executive 1998).

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Health is a major focus of interest and concern in society with the notion of health as “the foundation of achievement” (Seedhouse 1986). Health promotion is generally understood as the activities that intend to prevent disease, improve health and thus enhance wellbeing (Naidoo & Wills 1998). Kendall and Latters (1997) argue that health promotion should be aimed at enhancing positive health and wellbeing and not just focussing on the prevention of ill health. This is because they believe that health promotion is often perceived negatively as it advises “giving up pleasurable habits for the sake of avoiding illness in ...

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