NR 442
(EDAPT WEEK 3)
HEALTH POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Community Health Nursing
,COMMUNITY NR 442 EDAPT NOTES WEEK 3
HEALTH POLICIES AND PRACTICES:
Health promotion is an important component of health and well-being. Nurses are well
positioned to assess for opportunities to educate about ways to improve health and well-
being.
Health promotion is enabling people to increase their control over and improve their
health. Health equity is when everyone has an opportunity to achieve their full health
potential. Health disparity is a difference in health that is related to a social, economic,
and/or environmental disadvantage.
Smoking status, diet, activity level, and alcohol intake are all modifiable risk factors. People
have control over modifiable risk factors.
Race, gender, and family history of a disease are all nonmodifiable risk factors. People have
little to no control over nonmodifiable risk factors.
Health promotion theories and models help explain why people may or may not change
their behavior. The Health Belief Model suggests that a person’s perceived threat of
illness combined with their belief in the effectiveness of the recommended action predicts
the likelihood of the person making the change. The Transtheoretical Model focuses on
the phases of decision-making. Knowing which stage of change a person is in may be
helpful in determining the most effective intervention strategy.
Health promotion is enabling people to increase control over and improve their health
through a combination of health education and support. Nurses contribute significantly to
health promotion in a community because nurses are looked to for advice on improving
health. Community health nurses and their clients engage in health promotion activities in
workplace settings, schools, clinics, and communities. Some examples of health promotion
activities include screenings of height, weight, and blood pressure; vision and hearing
screening; health fairs.
Health promotion information shared as a poster or on social media can be an effective
way to present information. Effective posters are focused, designed for a particular
audience, send a clear message, and are graphic.
Healthy People is the United States national public health goals to improve the health and
well-being of individuals, organizations, and communities. There are several Healthy People
goals related to health promotion.
,Health People Goal Health Promotion Activity
Promote health and safety A public health department is implementing a community
in community settings.
health improvement plan
Strengthen the workforce Ensure workers wear hearing protection in jobs where they
by promoting health and
well-being. are exposed to loud noise
Improve health by Legislation to increase funding to reduce food insecurity
promoting healthy eating
and making nutritious and hunger
foods available.
Promote healthy and safe An apartment building that prohibits smoking
home environments.
RISK AND HEALTH IN COMMUNITY:
A risk factor is exposure to something known to be associated with a disease. An example
would be a person who smokes has an increased risk for lung cancer.
It is possible to predict a person’s risk for disease using known criteria. For example, the
frequency of disease varies based on exposure to some risk factors, including air pollution
and second-hand tobacco smoke. To establish the risk factor contributed to the
development of the disease, the exposure must have occurred before the onset of disease
and exposure verified, not assumed.
A risk assessment can be completed to determine the risk of exposure to individuals,
groups, and populations. Modifiable risk factors are those that a person has control over,
such as diet, exercise, and smoking. Nonmodifiable risk factors are those that a person has
little or no control over, such as genetics, gender, age, and environmental exposure.
Causes of death are often a result of modifiable risk factors, so engaging people in healthy
behaviors is critical to their health outcomes.
A family health history is useful for identifying possible health risks. Knowing about a family
health history risk is essential to being able to actively engage in risk-reduction behaviors.
For example, clients with family members who had breast or ovarian cancer may need to
, begin screening earlier or have genetic testing done. If a person has a family history of
heart disease, they may want to try to reduce their risk by eating a healthy diet, being
physically active, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Health promotion models or theories help the nurse understand why people act the way
they do and why they may or may not change their behavior. Two common health
promotion theories are the Health Belief Model and the Transtheoretical Model.
The Health Belief Model includes several constructs: perceived seriousness, perceived
susceptibility, perceived benefits of treatment, perceived barriers to treatment, cues to
action, and self-efficacy. These constructs are related to the following questions:
How serious does the client perceive the condition?
How susceptible does the client perceive they are for developing the condition?
What does the client perceive as benefits of prevention or treatment?
What does the client perceive as barriers to prevention or treatment?
The Transtheoretical Model assumes that behavior change takes place over time. The
theory includes several stages:
Precontemplation: the person has no intention of making any changes for the next
six months due to a lack of information or failure on previous attempts at change.
Contemplation: The person has some intention to act in the next six months and is
weighing the pros and cons.
Preparation: The person intends to act in the next month and has a plan.
Action: The person has changed behavior for less than six months.
Maintenance: The person has changed behavior for more than six months.
Question:
The nurse is caring for a client who smokes and recognizes their risk of cancer related to
continuing smoking. The likelihood that the client will quit smoking is based on the client
perceiving that the benefits outweigh the barriers. The client has already indicated they
understand the risks, so the nurse should focus on strategies to promote smoking
cessation to minimize the perceived barriers.
The nurse is working with a group of clients to increase their physical activity levels.
The group has developed a plan to meet three times a week at a local walking trail.
The clients are in which phase of making a change?
The clients are in the preparation phase because they have not yet begun to act. In the
precontemplation phase, the clients would not have a plan for making changes. During the
contemplation phase, the clients would be weighing the pros and cons of increasing their
physical activity levels. Motivation is not a part of the transtheoretical model.
(EDAPT WEEK 3)
HEALTH POLICIES AND PRACTICES
Community Health Nursing
,COMMUNITY NR 442 EDAPT NOTES WEEK 3
HEALTH POLICIES AND PRACTICES:
Health promotion is an important component of health and well-being. Nurses are well
positioned to assess for opportunities to educate about ways to improve health and well-
being.
Health promotion is enabling people to increase their control over and improve their
health. Health equity is when everyone has an opportunity to achieve their full health
potential. Health disparity is a difference in health that is related to a social, economic,
and/or environmental disadvantage.
Smoking status, diet, activity level, and alcohol intake are all modifiable risk factors. People
have control over modifiable risk factors.
Race, gender, and family history of a disease are all nonmodifiable risk factors. People have
little to no control over nonmodifiable risk factors.
Health promotion theories and models help explain why people may or may not change
their behavior. The Health Belief Model suggests that a person’s perceived threat of
illness combined with their belief in the effectiveness of the recommended action predicts
the likelihood of the person making the change. The Transtheoretical Model focuses on
the phases of decision-making. Knowing which stage of change a person is in may be
helpful in determining the most effective intervention strategy.
Health promotion is enabling people to increase control over and improve their health
through a combination of health education and support. Nurses contribute significantly to
health promotion in a community because nurses are looked to for advice on improving
health. Community health nurses and their clients engage in health promotion activities in
workplace settings, schools, clinics, and communities. Some examples of health promotion
activities include screenings of height, weight, and blood pressure; vision and hearing
screening; health fairs.
Health promotion information shared as a poster or on social media can be an effective
way to present information. Effective posters are focused, designed for a particular
audience, send a clear message, and are graphic.
Healthy People is the United States national public health goals to improve the health and
well-being of individuals, organizations, and communities. There are several Healthy People
goals related to health promotion.
,Health People Goal Health Promotion Activity
Promote health and safety A public health department is implementing a community
in community settings.
health improvement plan
Strengthen the workforce Ensure workers wear hearing protection in jobs where they
by promoting health and
well-being. are exposed to loud noise
Improve health by Legislation to increase funding to reduce food insecurity
promoting healthy eating
and making nutritious and hunger
foods available.
Promote healthy and safe An apartment building that prohibits smoking
home environments.
RISK AND HEALTH IN COMMUNITY:
A risk factor is exposure to something known to be associated with a disease. An example
would be a person who smokes has an increased risk for lung cancer.
It is possible to predict a person’s risk for disease using known criteria. For example, the
frequency of disease varies based on exposure to some risk factors, including air pollution
and second-hand tobacco smoke. To establish the risk factor contributed to the
development of the disease, the exposure must have occurred before the onset of disease
and exposure verified, not assumed.
A risk assessment can be completed to determine the risk of exposure to individuals,
groups, and populations. Modifiable risk factors are those that a person has control over,
such as diet, exercise, and smoking. Nonmodifiable risk factors are those that a person has
little or no control over, such as genetics, gender, age, and environmental exposure.
Causes of death are often a result of modifiable risk factors, so engaging people in healthy
behaviors is critical to their health outcomes.
A family health history is useful for identifying possible health risks. Knowing about a family
health history risk is essential to being able to actively engage in risk-reduction behaviors.
For example, clients with family members who had breast or ovarian cancer may need to
, begin screening earlier or have genetic testing done. If a person has a family history of
heart disease, they may want to try to reduce their risk by eating a healthy diet, being
physically active, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Health promotion models or theories help the nurse understand why people act the way
they do and why they may or may not change their behavior. Two common health
promotion theories are the Health Belief Model and the Transtheoretical Model.
The Health Belief Model includes several constructs: perceived seriousness, perceived
susceptibility, perceived benefits of treatment, perceived barriers to treatment, cues to
action, and self-efficacy. These constructs are related to the following questions:
How serious does the client perceive the condition?
How susceptible does the client perceive they are for developing the condition?
What does the client perceive as benefits of prevention or treatment?
What does the client perceive as barriers to prevention or treatment?
The Transtheoretical Model assumes that behavior change takes place over time. The
theory includes several stages:
Precontemplation: the person has no intention of making any changes for the next
six months due to a lack of information or failure on previous attempts at change.
Contemplation: The person has some intention to act in the next six months and is
weighing the pros and cons.
Preparation: The person intends to act in the next month and has a plan.
Action: The person has changed behavior for less than six months.
Maintenance: The person has changed behavior for more than six months.
Question:
The nurse is caring for a client who smokes and recognizes their risk of cancer related to
continuing smoking. The likelihood that the client will quit smoking is based on the client
perceiving that the benefits outweigh the barriers. The client has already indicated they
understand the risks, so the nurse should focus on strategies to promote smoking
cessation to minimize the perceived barriers.
The nurse is working with a group of clients to increase their physical activity levels.
The group has developed a plan to meet three times a week at a local walking trail.
The clients are in which phase of making a change?
The clients are in the preparation phase because they have not yet begun to act. In the
precontemplation phase, the clients would not have a plan for making changes. During the
contemplation phase, the clients would be weighing the pros and cons of increasing their
physical activity levels. Motivation is not a part of the transtheoretical model.
