Health Promotion: The Three Levels of Prevention

Health Promotion:

The three levels of prevention in health promotion in nursing practice are primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The process of prevention in nursing practice is made up of preventing diseases, curing them, and restricting their progression. These three levels of prevention work towards health promotion, which is described as the combination of academic and environmental support for living conditions and actions that contribute to the well-being of an individual and the community. The main goal of health promotion is to allow people to make informed decisions about their behaviors and actions in relation to health and well-being. As previously mentioned, health promotion is achieved through primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention deals with specific protection while secondary prevention involves early diagnosis, treatment, and restricting illness and tertiary prevention focuses on restoration and rehabilitation.

Review and Comparison of Articles:

As an important aspect in nursing practice, health promotion prevention has been a topic of extensive research in the nursing field. There are various studies that have been conducted to examine this issue in light of the evolving nursing roles and responsibilities in health promotion and the use of health promotion methods in every area of nursing. Due to the widespread research on health promotion prevention, this paper reviews and compares three studies on the issue. The primary prevention article examines health promotion and ill-health prevention in light of the role of general practice (Peckham, Hann & Boyce, 2011, p.317). The article considers primary care as the foundation of public health and health promotion with regards to the role of general practitioners in promoting health and preventing disease. The secondary prevention article evaluates addressing mental health promotion in chronic disease prevention and health promotion (Perry et al., 2010, p.2337). The authors discuss how a comprehensive public health approach could be an effective way of preventing chronic disease while promoting health. The third article presents tertiary prevention for stroke by discussing the four lifestyle related risk factors that contribute to recurrence of the disease (Lawrence et al., 2009, p.471).

Since the articles focus on different aspect of prevention, they have different definitions of health promotion. In the primary prevention journal, health promotion is described as working towards good health and well-being through holistic strategies like health education, behavior change, empowerment, community development, protection, and prevention (Peckham, Hann & Boyce, 2011, p.318). Secondary prevention article describes health promotion as the process of enabling individuals to enhance control of their health and its risk factors, which in turn improves their health (Perry et al., 2010, p.2338). Health promotion in the tertiary article is described as providing information, education, and interventions geared towards provoking and supporting lifestyle change.

Purpose of Health Promotion in Nursing Practice:

Health promotion plays a crucial role in primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention with regards to promoting the health and well-being of individuals and the community. Health promotion helps nurses to save lives, lessen illness, and reduce the costs of interventions to the patient. Through health promotion, nurses engage patients in setting and establishing realistic health goals, educating patients regarding lifestyle changes, and helping patients to achieve health goals.

Evolving Nursing Role and Responsibilities in Health Promotion:

As evident in these articles, nursing roles and responsibilities must evolve as health promotion and treatment measures continue to evolve. In general practice, nurses should acquire necessary skills for effective health promotion while working together with other practitioners in nursing to promote health and prevent illness. Nurses are also required to reorganize health services and determine cost-effective ways for public health interventions. The roles and responsibilities of nurses must also evolve from promoting individual approaches towards health to developing population-based interventions as part of a comprehensive public health approach. Nurses should also provide information, education, and interventions that enable patients to own the journey to their well-being and health.

With regards to implementing approaches towards health promotion in nursing, these articles provide various methods. Some of these methods that include all areas of nursing include acquiring necessary skills for health promotion and illness-prevention, collaborate with other health care practitioners, and develop individual and community-based approaches. In addition, nurses should encourage appropriate use of lifestyle-related risk factors through recommended evidence-based guidelines.

Three Levels of Health Promotion Prevention:

These articles show the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of health promotion prevention. Primary prevention is geared towards lessening exposure to risk factors that result in the disease such as cessation of smoking while secondary prevention deals with early diagnosis and timely treatment of disease. On the other hand, tertiary prevention basically involves rehabilitation through which patients focus on restoring some functions after an illness or disease has advanced.