Health Promotion, Wellness, and Illness Prevention

Flashcards covering Health Promotion, Illness Prevention (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary), Health Literacy, Illness Types/Phases, Risk Factors/Stages of Change, and Stress Adaptation Theories.

Health Education

Teaches people to care for themselves in healthy ways, including physical awareness, stress management, and self responsibility.

Illness Prevention

Protects patients from actual or potential threats to health, such as obtaining immunizations or fluoride in the water system.

Passive illness Prevention

Prevention measures implemented by external entities, such as a city putting fluoride in the water system to protect civilians' teeth.

Active prevention

Involves the individual doing something for themselves to prevent illness.

Primary Prevention

True prevention aimed at getting ahead of an accident or illness, such as health screenings.

Secondary Prevention

Focuses on those who have a disease or are at risk for developing one; involves nursing interventions to delay further consequences, such as a diabetic performing blood sugar testing.

Tertiary Prevention

Occurs when a defect or disability is permanent or irreversible; nurses aim to prevent the disease from escalating further.

Health Literacy

Educating the patient at a 5th grade level using small understandable words; referred to as the "new vital sign."

Acute Illness

Very sudden illness that lasts for a short time and requires hospitalization or medications.

Chronic Illness

Illness lasting longer than 6 months where the focus is not on curing, but learning how to live with it and managing symptoms, often including periods of remission.

Exacerbation

A flare-up of a chronic illness that makes it become acute due to its sudden onset.

Prodromal Phase

The initial phase of illness where the patient doesn't feel good.

Symptoms Phase

The phase of illness characterized by observable symptoms.

Seeking help Phase

The phase where the patient seeks help from a physician.

Dependency Phase

The phase where the patient waits for a diagnosis and instructions on how to get better.

Recovery Phase

The phase where the patient regains independence and health and is feeling better.

Modifiable alterations

Risk factors that can be changed, such as lifestyle or nutrition.

Nonmodifiable Risk Factors

Factors that cannot be changed, such as age, gender, and heredity.

Precontemplated Stage

The first stage of risk factors where the patient hasn't even thought about making a change.

Contemplated Stage

The second stage where the patient is thinking about making a change.

Preparation Stage

The third stage where the patient is making a plan to change.

Action Stage

The fourth stage where the patient carries out their plan.

Maintenance Stage

The fifth stage where the new behavior sticks and becomes a routine.

Stress

A nonspecific response the body has when any demand is made on it.

Adaptation

The ability to adjust to changes that occur in an individual's world.

Alarm Phase (Hans Theory)

The initial phase where you feel the stress.

Resistance Phase (Hans Theory)

The phase where you have a higher potential of getting sick.

Exhaustion Phase (Hans Theory)

The phase where you will get sick because you cannot get over the stressor; the body tries but fails to return to homeostasis.

General Adaptation Phase (Hans Theory)

The final stage where you are most vulnerable and stressed to the max; this state becomes the patient's new "normal."