Unit 1 Assignment 1 Culture Of Health

Question 1- Culture of Health
The health of a nation is its wealth, as the strength of a community reflects how healthy its inhabitants are. It is of paramount importance to have leaders who are committed to promoting and protecting the health of the population. The importance of a culture of health can’t be overemphasized due to the immense benefits both to the community members and the government. Undue expenditures due to chronic diseases or health conditions can be prevented if there is an effective culture of health. Therefore, national leaders need to show commitment by making necessary changes to the system through political and financial will, thereby creating an environment which promotes healthy lifestyles. These can be done in various ways through policy, legislature and various programmatic activities.
A current scourge
in the United States is health disparities. To achieve a culture of health, there is need to ensure affordable, accessible and quality health care for all, irrespective of socioeconomic status. National government can help eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities through new programs and policies or by evaluating current programs that are focused on health equity, the ones that are evidence based can be implemented nationally. Programs that identify populations most at risk, promote cultural competent health education, support community drive programs based on preventive activities such as health promotion and education in areas with poor socioeconomic status, can help to eliminate disparities. Also, ensuring diverse and culturally competent health care providers through trainings ensure quality and competent health care is provided for all. Benchmarks would have been identified prior to implementing the program; the effort of the success can be measured by comparing health indices and outcomes to the benchmarks across racial and socioeconomic lines every year end.
Apart from health disparities, globally, preventable risk factors such as physical inactivity, poor diet, and tobacco use etc. are influencing health outcomes negatively. Childhood and adult obesity have been on the rise in recent years. There is need for commitment from national leaders e.g. providing adequate funding for preventive activities, which target these leading preventable risk factors. Interventions that target these factors at all levels using a systems approach are important. There is need for widespread health education on these risk factors and their consequences, as these can help target behavior change. Public health messages can be delivered through national programs with a focus on healthy meals and exercise. Parents are in control of their children’s meal, so the health messages need to be reiterated daily and made easily accessible through billboards, radios, and television. This is with the aim of preventing a rise in the epidemic. Community elders can be used in interventions to propagate the healthy lifestyle messages, the built environment should also favor exercise such as presence of healthy restaurants and food stores, presence of bicycle tracks and parks to encourage exercise and cycling.
Fruit and vegetables should be incorporated into the lunch of children at schools with at least an hour of playtime to encourage exercise. To tackle smoke exposure, national programs can be created that deliver widespread public health messages, provision of community health centers that provide services such as counseling and nicotine patches. National policy that all schools be made tobacco free should be passed. Benchmarks would have been set at the beginning of the various programs, after implementation, metrics will be measured at the end of every year over a period of 10 years. Metrics will include rates of childhood and adult obesity, rates of other preventable chronic health conditions, rates of individuals engaging in exercise, rates of individual incorporating fruits and vegetables into meals etc. which will be compared to benchmarks to check for
improvements.
I believe with the above, we can all work towards implementing a culture of health through healthy lifestyles and equitable health.