Health Promotion Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Promotion Plan - Essay Example Compared to the mortality rates from all races, deaths from malignant neoplasms are higher among African Americans as the mortality rate of malignant neoplasms from all races is only 321.2; meanwhile, hypertension is cited as the 10th most common cause of death among African Americans and the ever-present predisposing factor for diseases of the heart, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and kidney diseases (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012, n.p.). With the identification of hypertension as the problem of the population or the underlying determinants of certain chronic diseases, health promotion will be geared towards addressing hypertension among African Americans aged 55 years and older, promoting multi-sectoral policies and programs to improve health and reduce health disparities, and educating the public about evidence-based interventions to prevent, treat and control hypertension. In addition, it is easy address hypertension than malignant neoplasms among African Americans as hypertension is a modifiable, controllable risk factor. Objective In the Healthy People 2020 Objectives for heart disease and stroke, a 10-percent improvement from baseline is set to determine efficacy of health promotion, intervention, or treatment. The proportion of adult African Americans who died from hypertension is 23.4; thus, the main objective of this paper is to reduce the proportion of adults (aged 55 years and older) who died from hypertension from 23.4 to 21.1 (HDS-5.1). Aspects of Collaboration To prevent hypertension and promote health, collaboration from government, local community, clinicians, other health care professionals, nurse-managed hypertension facilities, public health workers and community outreach workers, and patients is a must. Each of the following care professionals has their own aspects of collaboration of how to promote health and prevent hypertension. Government agencies are responsible for implementing policies and programs to address hypertension and in fundi ng for the general health of the population. Community aspects of collaboration include civic, philanthropic, religious, and senior organizations that could provide locally focused orientation to the health needs of the diverse target population. Clinicians and other health care professionals influence or reinforce instructions to improve patient lifestyles and blood pressure control. Nurse-managed hypertension facilities also contribute to better hypertension control. Public health nurses and community outreach workers screen, identify cases, refer and track follow-up appointments, and educate patients. Meanwhile, patient is at the central core of collaboration as their motivation and compliance to treatment facilitate better blood pressure control and reduction of incidence of hypertension. Therefore, collaborative groups’ shared roles in preventing hypertension and promotion of health include reinforcing awareness of hypertension risks, conveying the importance of blood pr essure management, and educating effective lifestyle interventions, pharmacologic therapies, and treatment adherence (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004, 62). . Organizational/Policy Changes The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion stated that health promotion action means building healthy public policy which puts health on the agenda of policy makers in all sectors and at all