Mid week reply

Reply to this peer in 100 words

Lacey King

Many areas of healthcare, including nursing changed during the 20^th century due to evidenced based practice. I feel that one thing that changed drastically during this time was how we promote healthcare. Health promotion is the process of helping people to move toward a state of optimal health through lifestyle changes. Over the span of the past century, our society has changed in many ways and these changes have ultimately affected certain health choices and the patterns of diseases. This has resulted in the emergence of the health promotion field (Snelling, 2014). Snelling (2014) explains how the emergence of health promotion was a direct consequence of the rising rates of chronic illnesses in the mid-20^th century. Health promotion, which works closely with public health and health education, has many benefits and contributes to an increase in life expectancy. Providing education on ways to avoid acquiring and transmitting diseases and promoting a healthy lifestyle has come to the forefront of healthcare, causing the incidence of certain illnesses to decrease drastically.  Judd & Sitzman (2014) talk of HIV and state that, “the incidence of HIV in the United States decreased in recent years through campaigns to (a) raise disease awareness, (b) identify preventative strategies, and (c) disseminate information about early treatment interventions” (p 260). It is our responsibility to educate the public on how to stay healthy by involving ourselves in ways to help control such infections by promoting things such as immunizations (Judd & Sitzman, 2014).

References

Judd, D., Sitzman, K., (2014). Chapter 11: Nursing in the United States from the 1980’s to 2000:

Opportunity, Technology, Autonomy, and Globalization.  A history of american nursing: trends

and eras. (2^nd ed. p. 260). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Snelling, A., (2014). Chapter 1: Health Promotion.  Introduction to health promotion. John Wiley & Sons

Incorporated.