Health Promotion Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Promotion Issue - Essay Example One such issue is the issue of smoking among health promoters. This issue is one of the most common issues in health care because it negates the teachings and goals which the health practitioners seek for their patients. Patients who have cardiovascular diseases and respiratory tract diseases may find it hard to take their doctor or nurse seriously if these health professionals advice them to quit smoking. In the end, the credibility of these health promoters is diminished. This paper shall now identify the way in which politics relates to this health promotion issue. In addition, it shall consider one theoretical knowledge base (advocacy) and evaluate the way it relates to practice. This paper is being carried out in order to establish a clear understanding of health promotion and the issues which interfere with it. Discussion Health promoters like nurses, doctors, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and other health professionals have vulnerabilities similar to the general popula tion. Just as the general population can be vulnerable to addictive behaviours and substance abuse, so can health promoters (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). The difference is that these health promoters are fully aware of the dangers that their possible addictions can bring to their body and their overall health condition. Moreover, the fact that these health promoters teach and educate their patients and the general public about applying and implementing healthy habits into their life, makes the addictive behaviours a greater concern (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). For the most part, they are compromising their credibility and believability as health professionals and as health promoters. Statistics in the US indicate that smokers among the health professionals are mostly nurses, with about 8% of nurses being smokers and only 1% of physicians being smokers (Ayad, 2010, p. 11). The fact that some of these health professionals smoke within health facilities makes this issue an even more difficult one to re solve. In the UK, the issue of smoking is more prevalent in the nursing profession, with about 30% of nurses being smokers, as compared to doctors with only about 9% of them being smokers (Nursing Times, 2008). With the above scenario in the health care practice, the issue of health promotion now stems from the credibility of health promoters who are also smokers. The health promotion process among nurses, doctors, and other health professionals can be considered in the wider area of health promotion – in terms of politics and research. Politics, more specifically, legislation and policy-making can help implement wider health promotion standards. In different countries and institutions, no smoking ordinances have been used as a means of promoting better health for the general population. In a study by Fichtenberg and Glantz (2002, p. 325), the authors set out to evaluate the impact of having smoke-free workplaces on smoking employees. This study was able to establish that hav ing totally smoke-free workplaces are linked with the reduced prevalence of smoking among smokers. The combination of decreased ease and convenience by which smokers can indulge their habits is effectively reducing the prevalence of smoking among health promoters. Moreover, smoke-free workplaces help protect non-smokers from the negative effects of passive smoking (Fichtenberg and Glantz, 2002, p. 325). Non-smoking policies in hospitals and in other health care facilities assist in the process of reducing smoking among hea