Discuss the influences on health in a modern society along with the factors which influence national and regional strategies

Brief

Unit number and title

Unit 29/ Health Promotion

Qualification

BTEC Level 5 HND in Health & Social Care

Assignment title

The Role of Health Promotion in Health and Social Care

Purpose of this assignment

This unit aims to provide learners with an understanding of the influences on health in a modern society and also the factors which influence national and regional strategies to promote health.

Practitioners who work in health and social care require an understanding of the influences on the health of the individuals with whom they work. This unit will provide learners with the knowledge and understanding of pertinent issues and also factors which prevent some individuals from accessing health support. Learners will investigate a range of influences on health and also reasons for the varied success of health promotion campaigns and strategies.

Reference is made to the role of national and regional strategies and professionals. Theories of health behaviour are examined and linked with government strategies to improve the health of individuals in society. Potential conflicts between local industry and health promotion are considered, for example anti-smoking campaigns and parents employed within the tobacco industry.

Learners are invited to plan a health promotion campaign for a specific group in society, which could be conducted within their own workplace in order to provide a context for the unit.

Scenario

Health promotion is an important part of the work of a wide range of health care practitioners and those engaged in education and social welfare.  Due to high mortality rates caused by alcohol and smoking related illnesses, your local council won funding to develop a Health Promotion Program. Your organisation has been invited to participate in this programme. Your employer has asked you to investigate and produce a report on the causes of inequalities in health in your borough.

Alternatively you can use your own practice in an area of your health and social care setting or interest related to health and social care.

Task 1 Report Section 1 (LO 1 AC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and M1, M2, M3, D1)

Write a report using the case scenario. The first section must include the following in your discussion, to demonstrate an understanding of the effects of socio-economic circumstances on health. You might want to consider the effects of the following on health:

• disposable income
• unemployment
• lifestyle choices
• Environment (1.1)

An assessment of the importance of government resources such as reports/research on inequalities in health in relation to the case study/other health problems. (1.2)

Sources of information for (1.2)

• Reports and enquiries e.g. The Black Report DHSS 1980, Acheson Report `Independent Inquiry in `Inequalities in Health` 1998, Health and Lifestyle Surveys (HALS), Health Survey for England (HSFE), census data, your local authority data.

Identify and discuss the reason for any possible barriers to accessing health care in your borough/UK.  (1.3)

Task Guidance:

• To achieve M1, you must demonstrate how the social context may influence the ability to access health making reference to particular groups in society
• To achieve M2, you should refer to a range of sources of information throughout your work making reference to a number of strategies, policies and models of health promotion and justifying the selection methods.
• To achieve M3 your report will be presented as a formal report which uses terms that are appropriate for those that are both familiar with terminology and less familiar. 
• To achieve D1 you need to evaluate and synthesise information in response to decisions made in selecting certain principles and concepts

Indicative word count: 850 words)

Task 2 Report Section 2 (LO2  AC 2.1,2.2, 2.3 and M1, M2, M3, D1)

Using the case scenario; in the second section of your discussion within your report you must demonstrate your understanding of models of health promotion by:

Identifying and analysing the links between government strategies and models of health promotion in relation to the case study or related health problems. (2.1)

Models of Health Promotion to be covered:

• Medical, social, behavioural change, health education, differences between health promotion and health education.

Government Strategies:

• campaigns e.g. anti-smoking campaigns, Healthy Eating, Dare campaign, vaccination programmes, safety in the home, sun protection, Sure Start, Every Child Matters, government health promotion targets.

National and regional health promotion:

• structures e.g. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), role of Primary Care Trusts, partnerships between local authorities and strategic health authorities, role of voluntary groups e.g. Epilepsy Action and Asthma UK

Explain the role different professionals in health and social care have on meeting health promotion targets set by government in relation to the case study or related health problems. (2.2)

Role of professionals

• Health visitors and others e.g. school nurses; school dental checks, liaison with parents and carers.

Discussing the role of routines in promoting healthy living in relation to alcohol and smoking, raised in the case study or related health problems. (2.3)

Routines within the settings:

• personal hygiene; healthy eating, resting exercise

Task Guidance:

• To achieve M1, you must demonstrate how the social context may influence the ability to access health making reference to particular groups in society
• To achieve M2, you should refer to a range of sources of information throughout your work making reference to a number of strategies, policies and models of health promotion and justifying the selection methods.
• To achieve M3 your report will be presented as a formal report which uses terms that are appropriate for those that are both familiar with terminology and less familiar. 
• To achieve D1 you need to evaluate and synthesise information in response to decisions made in selecting certain principles and concepts

Indicative word count: 850 words)

Task 3 Report Section 3   (LO3 AC 3.1,3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2 M3 and D2)

In the third section of your discussion within your report, you must:

Identify and explain how health beliefs relate to theories of health behaviour. (3.1)

You may want to consider the following factors which influence health promotion campaigns: -

Factors:

• Health beliefs, cultural and religious practices, previous experience of health promotion, education and understanding.

Theories of health behaviour

• Health Belief Model (Becker 1974)
• Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980)
• Health Action Model (Tones, 1990)
• Stages of Change Model (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1984)

Identify and discuss the potential effects of conflicts with local industry on health promotion with respect to alcohol and smoking related illnesses/other health problems.   (3.2)

Potential conflicts with industry:

• e.g. tobacco, alcohol,

Explain with examples the importance of providing relevant health-related information to the public with respect to the case study. (3.3) 

Examples:

• access to information, relevance of information to target group

Task Guidance:

• To achieve M3 your report will be presented as a formal report which uses terms that are appropriate for those that are both familiar with terminology and less familiar. 
• To achieve D2 You must demonstrate you are able to think effectively, and you have reached decisions which are supported by authentic sources.

Indicative word count: 850 words) 

Task 4 Plan a Health Promotion Campaign (LO4: 4.1, 4.2 and D3)

Plan a health promotion campaign to meet specific objectives.

In your explanation you must:

Explain how the promotion campaign supports other health promotion strategies.

• Target setting and objectives – what is the purpose/aim of the campaign and how it will be achieved?
• Why is the campaign needed?  Normative need/felt need/expressed need/comparative need.
• Importance of health policy/legislation
• Information gathering – statistics to provide evidence to support the need for the campaign
• What approaches could be used/Types of resources
• Challenging prejudice/misinformation/awareness of religious and cultural practices
• Consultation with appropriate agencies and professionals, for example links with national charities/support groups.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the program-obtaining feedback from participants – whether or not the campaign was successful (4.1, 4.2).

Task Guidance:

To achieve D3 you must demonstrate that you have completed your work independently with minimal support.  Justifying the proposed approaches and methods in your health education plan and the effectiveness of the programme has been measured and evaluated.

Indicative word count: 500 words)