Health & Wellness Lecture Notes

Objectives

• Explain how Healthy People guides public health goals for Americans.
• Discuss how individuals define health.
• Analyze health models: health belief, health promotion, basic human needs, and holistic health models to understand patients' attitudes toward health and health practices.
• Describe variables influencing health, beliefs, and practices.
• Outline health promotion, health education, and illness prevention activities.
• Discuss the three levels of prevention:
  • Primary Prevention: Preventing disease before it occurs.
  • Secondary Prevention: Early detection and prompt treatment of disease.
  • Tertiary Prevention: Reducing the impact of an ongoing illness.
• Compare and contrast nonmodifiable vs modifiable risk factors that threaten health.
• Discuss nursing's role in modifying risk factors and changing health behaviors.
• Describe influences on illness behavior and its emotional impact on patients and families.

Healthy People Framework

• Definition: It provides evidence-based, 10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing disease.
• Healthy People 2020 identified leading health indicators (LHIs), focusing on high-priority health issues.
• Healthy People 2030 promotes a holistic approach to health promotion and disease prevention.

Definition of Health

• WHO Definition (1947 & 2018): A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• Health is personally defined, influenced by values, personality, and lifestyle, often framed by life circumstances.

Models of Health and Illness (Part 1)

• Models explain complex concepts such as health and illness.
• Health Beliefs and Health Behaviors:
  • Positive Behaviors: Immunizations, proper sleep, exercise, stress management, nutrition.
  • Negative Behaviors: Smoking, substance abuse, poor diet, non-compliance with medications.

Health Belief Model

• Components:
  • Individual Perceptions: Susceptibility to and seriousness of disease influence likelihood of taking action.
  • Modifying Factors: Demographics, sociopsychological factors, perceived benefits vs. barriers to preventive action, and cues to action.
• Cues to Action: Includes media campaigns, advice from others, and experiences with illness.

Health Promotion Model

• Defines health as a positive dynamic state, not just the absence of disease.
• Aims to:
  1. Increase patient well-being.
  2. Focus on:
  • Individual characteristics and experiences.
  • Behavior-specific knowledge and affect.
  • Commitment to change in behavior.

Health Promotion Model (Visual Breakdown)

• Individual characteristics influence cognitions and affect which lead to behavioral outcomes:
  • Constructs include perceived benefits/barriers, self-efficacy, prior behavior, and interpersonal influences.

Models of Health and Illness (Part 2)

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Helps understand interrelationships of basic human needs.
• Holistic Health Model: Promotes optimal health by addressing all aspects of a person's life, such as emotional, social, and physical needs.

Variables Influencing Health and Health Beliefs

• External Variables:
  • Family roles and practices impact health definitions and practices.
  • Social Determinants: Economic stability, education, access to health care, and neighborhood effects.

Risk Factors

• Definition: Variables increasing vulnerability to illnesses or accidents.
  • Nonmodifiable: Age, gender, genetics can't be changed.
  • Modifiable: Lifestyle choices such as nutrition, exercise, and sleep.
• Environment: Living conditions directly affect health and behaviors.

Risk Factor Modification and Changing Health Behaviors

• Use health education and counseling to address risk factors.
• Transtheoretical Model of Change: Stages include:
  1. Precontemplation
  2. Contemplation
  3. Preparation
  4. Action
  5. Maintenance

Understanding Illness

• Overview: Illness is a state where a person's overall functioning is impaired.
  • Acute Illness: Short and severe duration.
  • Chronic Illness: Persists longer than six months.

Illness Behavior

• Involves individual monitoring and interpreting symptoms, influenced by:
  • Internal Variables: Personal perception of illness.
  • External Variables: Visibility of symptoms, social support, cultural background.

Impact of Illness on Patient and Family

• Behavioral and emotional changes can arise, affecting:
  • Body image, self-concept, family roles, and family dynamics.

Caring for Yourself

• Recommendations for maintaining health:
  • Nutritious diet, adequate sleep, regular exercise, and relaxation activities.
  • Establish work-family balance and find personal time for grieving and spiritual health.
  • Seek mentors for support.

Nursing Assessment: Health Promotion

• Conduct health history and physical examinations focusing on:
  • Physical fitness including cardiorespiratory, muscular fitness, and flexibility.

Nursing Assessment - Lifestyle and Risk Appraisal

• Evaluate personal habits, recreation, occupation, and practices that promote optimal living.
  • Use Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) tools and life-stress reviews.

Nursing Interventions for Health Promotion

• Methods include:
  • Role modeling, counseling (individual or telephone), and health education to support lifestyle changes.

Patient Teaching: Lifestyle Changes

• Objective: Help patients reduce health risks associated with poor habits through behavior change.
• Teaching Strategies: Include active listening, identifying barriers, assisting in goal setting, and reinforcing change.
• Evaluation: Patients maintain exercise and dietary calendars, enabling observation of adherence and positive reinforcement.