scholarly journals Making a “Pledge”: Moral Suasion and Health Promotion Practice

Challenges ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Glenn Laverack

Moral suasion offers a versatile and low-cost approach to influence social norms and risky health behaviours, but is often neglected in health promotion in favour of using educational approaches. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and the benefits of using moral suasion in health promotion. Past and present experiences of using moral suasion to promote health are discussed in conjunction with other approaches, such as harm reduction. The challenge of using moral suasion as an approach is that it focuses on individual behaviour change, rather than addressing the broader structural causes of poor health. However, the paper concludes that the versatility of the moral suasion approach and the success of using “pledges” means that it can be an important intervention, alongside other educational and motivational techniques, to help to change behaviours at the individual and collective levels.

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Ege Møller

This paper investigates how the concept of motivation functions in health promotion practice. It provides an analysis of the understandings and articulations of motivation at the levels of the state, health professionals, and citizens. It finds that motivation takes on different meanings and functions depending on the perspective; thus the general agreement on the importance of motivation in health promotion does not correspond to a mutual understanding of what motivation actually is: motivation works variously as technology, a statistically created collective informed consent, and a moral imperative. It is conceived of as an instrumentalized psychological entity but also expressed as a complex and context-bound phenomenon. The paper concludes by arguing that motivation must be seen as the latter: a relational concept, relating to concrete social and situational contexts rather than an instrumental psychological entity within the individual.


1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hal Swerissen

Health promotion has changed significantly over the past twenty years. From its origins based on relatively simple models of individual behaviour change it has evolved to incorporate complex models involving multi causal influences. Interventions have developed from single method, single risk factor to integrated, multi factorial approaches. Similarly, from initial exploratory intervention trials, longer term government sponsored health promotion programs have evolved. Significant dedicated agencies and programs with continuing responsibilities for health promotion are now common.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Svanholm ◽  
E Viitasara ◽  
H Carlerby

Abstract Background Previous research has indicated that migrants risk facing inequities both internationally and in Sweden; integration policies are therefore important to study. How health is described in policies affects how health interventions are approached. A discourse analysis offers a way of understanding how health is framed within the integration policies of the Establishment Program. The aim was to critically analyse the health discourses used in Swedish and European Union (EU) integration policies. Methods A critical discourse analysis, inspired by Fairclough, was performed on integration policies related to Sweden, on local, regional, national and the EU level. The policies of the Establishment Program, which focuses on newly arrived migrants (refugees, persons of subsidiary protection and their relatives who arrived through family reunification), were chosen for the analysis, and 17 documents were analysed in total. Results The analysis of the documents showed that although no definition of health was presented, health discourses were expressed in the form of the medicalization of health and the individualization of health. This not only by the terminology used, but also in how the healthcare sector was considered responsible for any health related issue and how individual health behaviours were of focus in interventions to promote health. Conclusions A pathogenic approach to health was visible in the policies and individual disease prevention was the main health focus. The results showed similarities to previous research highlighting how a particular understanding of health in a neoliberal context is formed. Key messages Health as a resource is missing in the integration policy documents. Viewing health as an individual quality puts the responsibility of promoting health on the individual.


One Health ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100284
Author(s):  
Christa A. Gallagher ◽  
Jon R. Keehner ◽  
Luis Pablo Hervé-Claude ◽  
Craig Stephen

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 5S-7S
Author(s):  
Jill Sonke ◽  
Lourdes Rodríguez ◽  
Melissa A. Valerio-Shewmaker

The arts—and the arts and culture sector—offer fertile ground for achieving a culture of health in the United States. The arts and artists are agents of change and can help enable this vision and also address the most critical public health issues we are contending with, including COVID-19 and racism. The arts provide means for engaging dialogue, influencing behaviors, disrupting paradigms and fueling social movements. The arts uncover and illuminate issues. They engage us emotionally and intellectually. They challenge assumptions. They call out injustice. They drive collective action. They heal—making arts + public health collaboration very relevant in this historic moment. In this special Health Promotion Practice supplement on arts in public health, you’ll find powerful examples and evidence of how cross-sector collaboration between public health and the arts can advance health promotion goals and impacts, and make health promotion programs not only more accessible to diverse populations but also more equitable and effective in addressing the upstream systems, policies, and structures that create health disparities. You will see how the arts can empower health communication, support health literacy, provide direct and measurable health benefits to individuals and communities, and support coping and resilience in response to COVID-19. This issue itself exemplifies cross-sector collaboration, as it was created through partnership between Health Promotion Practice, the Society for Public Health Education, ArtPlace America, and the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, and presents voices from across the public health, arts, and community development sectors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J A Carroll ◽  
J Rodgers ◽  
J Lyons-Reid ◽  
R Bennett

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that physical activity (PA) promotes health and reduces risk for non-communicable diseases. However, 55% of Australian women did not meet the recommended levels of PA in 2018-19. There remains a gap in knowledge regarding the individual, household, and neighbourhood barriers to physical activity between women from high and low socioeconomic suburbs. We conducted a mixed-methods study to ascertain subjective accounts of the socioecological reasons for different daily logistics, travel, and PA between these groups. In addition to daily mobility data collated from GIS iPhone apps, in-depth interviews were held with 16 women from the high (Ashgrove) and low (Durack) SEP suburbs in Brisbane. Interview data was analysed at the individual, social, and environmental levels to unearth resistance to PA via these thematic strata. Individual psychological barriers to being active that were unique to low SE suburbs included the 'lack of enjoyment' gained from PA. Both high and low SE suburbs reported being 'time poor'. For low SEP participants, this was driven by financial demands, and for high SEP participants, this was driven by work demands. Both groups reported being burnt out. Individual physical barriers for both groups included sore joints, injury, pelvic pain and weight. Social barriers unique to participants from a high SE suburb included 'opportunities to exercise socially', and 'mother guilt'. Both groups reported 'family responsibilities' as a social barrier. Neighbourhood changes that could increase PA in the low SEP suburb included facilities to increase walkability. Participants from the high SE suburb were largely satisfied with the state of their neighbourhood. This study provides foundational insight into improved public health strategies for increasing levels of PA amongst women in Brisbane from different SEP groups. Our findings support the idea that a combination of broad strategies and a targeted approach is needed. Key messages Women from high and low socioeconomic suburbs experience different barriers to physical activity. Health promotion strategies need to accommodate this to improve overall health and reduce inequality. Women from high and low socioeconomic suburbs face psychological, physical and social barriers to exercise. Broad health promotion strategies and a targeted approach is required to address barriers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 2036-2060 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIA MENICHETTI ◽  
PIETRO CIPRESSO ◽  
DARIO BUSSOLIN ◽  
GUENDALINA GRAFFIGNA

ABSTRACTIn 2002, the World Health Organization emphasised the concept of active ageing to manage and increase the last third of life. Although many efforts have been made to optimise treatment management, less attention has been paid to health promotion initiatives. To date, few shared guidelines exist that promote an active life in healthy older targets. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review to map health promotion interventions that targeted an active and healthy ageing among older citizens. Articles containing the key term active ageing and seven synonyms were searched for in the electronic databases. Because we were interested in actions aimed to promote healthier lifestyles, we connected the string with the term health. A total of 3,918 titles were retrieved and 20 articles were extracted. Twelve of the 20 studies used group interventions, five interventions targeted the individual level and three interventions targeted the community level. Interventions differed for the health focus of the programmes, which ranged from physical activity interventions to social participation or cognitive functioning. Most of the studies aimed to act on psychological components. The review suggests that different interventions promoted for active ageing are effective in improving specific healthy and active lifestyles; however, no studies were concerned directly with a holistic process of citizen health engagement to improve long-term outcomes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 813-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara K Redman

Although patient education is central to the ethical practice of nursing, it can be practiced in an ethically contested or unethical way. It is sometimes used to: forward a societal goal the individual might not have chosen; assume that patients should learn to accommodate unjust treatment; exclude the views of all except the dominant health care provider group; limit the knowledge a patient can receive; make invalid or unreliable judgments about what a patient can learn; or require a patient to change his or her identity to meet a medical ideal. Both health promotion education and manipulating patient beliefs in situations of uncertainty are ethically contested. Nussbaum's capabilities approach is used here as a moral framework through which to view the goals and practice of patient education. This provides better guidance than the current conception of patient education as an instrument to carry out the directives of medical practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy ◽  
Danielle E. Jake-Schoffman ◽  
Camelia Singletary ◽  
Marquivieus Wright ◽  
Anthony Crimarco ◽  
...  

Background. Wearable physical activity (PA) trackers are becoming increasingly popular for intervention and assessment in health promotion research and practice. The purpose of this article is to present lessons learned from four studies that used commercial PA tracking devices for PA intervention or assessment, present issues encountered with their use, and provide guidelines for determining which tools to use. Method. Four case studies are presented that used PA tracking devices (iBitz, Zamzee, FitBit Flex and Zip, Omron Digital Pedometer, Sensewear Armband, and MisFit Flash) in the field—two used the tools for intervention and two used the tools as assessment methods. Results. The four studies presented had varying levels of success with using PA devices and experienced several issues that impacted their studies, such as companies that went out of business, missing data, and lost devices. Percentage ranges for devices that were lost were 0% to 29% and was 0% to 87% for those devices that malfunctioned or lost data. Conclusions. There is a need for low-cost, easy-to-use, accurate PA tracking devices to use as both intervention and assessment tools in health promotion research related to PA.


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