Health promotion programs are designed to empower individuals towards adopting behaviors that would help them avoid the risk of acquiring chronic illnesses. These health promotion programs also aim to change individuals and communities via delivering information addressing how to amend unhealthy health attitudes and practices. A review of research is needed in this area to focus on the sociocultural methods for protecting those living in underserved areas from ill-health (Grandes et al., 2017). Environmental factors, including food consumption patterns, physical activity, demographic, and families’ ways of life, influence their health. Review of literature is of particular importance in the generation of health policies aimed at empowering individuals and communities to take center stage in taking action for their health through inter-sectoral collaborations. Analyzing research will enable the public health personnel to identify and prioritize the health issues and settle on the most workable and cost-effective intervention with active community involvement.
The cost-effectiveness of health promotion programs is an essential aspect in determining their effectiveness. Monitoring cost-effectiveness is critical due to the limited resources to support personnel, facilities’ running, and these programs’ operations in the rural communities. High poverty level rates in underserved societies are frequently an obstacle to accessing health promotion programs. Moreover, the underserved in rural areas are low in numbers. Such populations predominantly consist of the poor people who lack the financial muscle to pay for the health promotion programs. Economic evaluation techniques aim to compare the value of the interventions’ inputs and benefits with other alternative options (Grandes et al., 2017). It is necessary to determine the type and the availability of the resources required in addressing public health problems and the amount of time needed to achieve the expected results.
Health promotion programs are considered feasible with desired health outcomes if the quality is considered. Maintaining a high-quality health promotion program is an integral component in ensuring its success, as articulated by Dickerson et al. (2020). First, the intersectoral collaboration of the public health practitioner and other professionals, including doctors, nurses, and laboratory personnel, is achieved. Their involvement would promote the creation of high-quality interventions to address the health issues affecting the underserved populations. Second, continued evaluation of the attainment of a health promotion program’s goals is vital in ensuring quality as unfulfilled or ineffective dreams are modified.
It is imperative for healthcare professionals, especially nurses, to mitigate the health inequalities among underserved populations. During the development and the implementation of health programs, it is essential to consider the cultural sensitivity element (Dickerson et al., 2020). The attainment of this goal requires the local communities’ involvement in the planning, decision making, and implementation and evaluation stages of the health promotion program. Individuals selected to participate in that process must be conversant with the underserved population’s culture and community-based language. Their collaboration will promote culturally sensitive interventions and facilitate the programs’ adoption (Grandes et al., 2017). Health promotion programs need to utilize locally available resources to promote the culture of local societies.
Proper human and materials management is another critical aspect of maintaining the quality of the programs. According to Laverack (2017), understanding the importance of behavior change is another crucial health promotion point. People’s behaviors have a significant role in determining their health. Therefore, change in behavior would go a long way in reducing the morbidity and mortality rates from lifestyle diseases. Furthermore, public health personnel would incorporate behavior change models in the implementation of effective health promotion strategies.
In conclusion, it is important to ensure that health promotion programs that are locally accepted are developed. The adoption of these programs by the marginalized community requires respect of the cultural values of the indigenous society. The managers of the health promotion programs should increase their accessibility by promoting cost effectiveness. Moreover, effective public health promotion agendas need to focuses on changing the unhealthy practices in the society. Researchers and healthcare personnel need to elaborate creative ways of promoting lifestyle changes. Comprehensive plans are necessary to address the barriers to accessing health promotion programs by the underserved populations.
References
Dickerson, D., Baldwin, J. A., Belcourt, A., Belone, L., Gittelsohn, J., Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula, J., Lowe, J., Patten, C. A., & Wallerstein, N. (2020). Encompassing cultural contexts within scientific research methodologies in the development of health promotion interventions. Prevention Science, 21, 33–42. Web.
Grandes, G., Sanchez, A., Cortada, J. M., Pombo, H., Martinez, C., Balagué, L., Corrales, M. H., de la Peña, E., Mugica, J., & Gorostiza, E. (2017). Collaborative modelling of an implementation strategy: A case study to integrate health promotion in primary and community care. BMC Research Notes, 10(1), 699. Web.
Laverack, G. (2017). The challenge of behaviour change and health promotion. Challenges, 8(2), 25. Web.