Cultural empowerment: concepts and applications

Cultural Empowerment

When planning a health promotion program, we should consider the positive (empowerment process) and the negative behaviors. As we begin to understand our intended audience we can assure the most culturally-appropriate educational intervention. In doing so, we are more likely to create partnerships that help people successfully achieve lasting change and truly promote health.

One of the most common issues that are not discussed in the armed forces is military sexual trauma (MST). This is when an individual will face unnecessary amounts of sexual pain from others they are serving with. A few most common forms include: unwanted sexual touching / grabbing, threating / offensive remarks about someone's body / sexual activities and unwarranted sexual advances. This has begun to occur so frequently that the Veteran Administration conducted a study, where they found that the total amounts of MST affected: 1 in every 5 women and 1 in every 100 men. ("Military Sexual Trauma," 2011) These figures are important, because they are illustrating a how culture endures that allows these kinds of activities to take place on a regular basis. To fully understand the overall scope of the problem we will examine: the positive, existential and negative factors that are affecting everyone (i.e. The PEN Model) Once this occurs, is when we will be able to understand how to implement a health promotion strategy that will effectively address the problem.

Positive

Positive support is when health care professionals are introducing specific techniques that will assist patients in dealing with psychological challenges they will face after the event. The best way to do this is to introduce tools and tactics that will immediately change the focus of the individual away from the negative event. Once this takes place, is when they can more effectively understand what happened and how to be able to cope with the lingering effects. Some good examples of this include: having patients remind themselves that this was a past situation that is not reflecting the present / future, having the individual hold something that is comforting and working with the person to carry positive affirmations with them. These different elements are important, because the combination of them will allow patients to be able to change their underlying state of mind. This is when you can be able to have a positive impact on how they are looking at the situation and what is taking place. ("Coping Skills for Trauma," 2004) (Robins, 1992, pp. 246- 272)

Existential

Existential is when you are not encouraging patients to abandon particular behaviors that may not be harmful to them. While at the same time, this is not helping them to feel better. In the case of MST, this can be utilized by having the person look at the event and what they would do differently if this were to occur. This will not harm the individual by having them come to an understanding of what is taking place. However, it will not help them to be able toeffectively move forward by continually replaying the incident in their minds. Over the course of time, these two factors will balance each other out. (Robins, 1992, pp. 246- 272)

Negative

Negative aspects are when the individual is engaging in different behaviors that will have an effect on the person and those people around them (i.e. family / friends). In case of MST, this can impact the mental health of the patient and how they are able to cope with these lingering issues. A good example of this is someone who is drinking alcohol excessively or they are abusing drugs to hide the pain that they are feeling. These elements are important, because mental health professionals need to be able to identify and prevent the person from using this as an escape. Once this occurs, is when the individual's underlying quality of life will become worse. (Robins, 1992, pp. 246- 272)