Introduction
Nola Pender established the Health Promotion Model in 1962. According to Peterson and Bredow (2013), Nola’s model is an example of a middle-range theory. Middle-range theories “fill gaps between grand nursing theories and nursing practices” (Peterson & Bredow, 2013, p. 32). Nola established the theory to create a link between nursing studies and practices. The Health Promotion Model’s scope is narrow.
Consequently, it is possible to apply the theory in both research and practice. The theory focuses on behavioral standards of the lifestyle that affect one’s health. Chinn and Kramer (2011) posit that the insight of health is naturally recognized as the target of nursing. People realize their capacities through close interactions with nursing. Nola’s model offers a mutual relation worldview. The model’s multidimensional facts include spiritual, cultural, biopsychosocial, and environmental attributes. The theory is “holistic, and it sees individuals as the sum of individual parts interacting with their environment” (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011, p. 47).
Purpose of theory
Pender came up with the Health Promotion Model to help nurses to identify the main factors that contribute to health behavior (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011). In return, the nurses would come up with counseling programs aimed at advocating healthy ways of life.
Explanation of the theory
The Health Promotion Model originated from two social theories, which are “The Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Fishbein’s expectancy-value theory” (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011, p. 47). Fishbein’s expectancy-value theory holds that individuals are likely to invest their energy and resources in the activities that they believe will result in constructive outcomes. On the other hand, Bandura’s social cognitive theory alleges that self-worthiness encourages people to change their behavior. The nursing theoretical framework consists of four meta paradigms, which are personality, health, surroundings, and nursing (Chinn & Kramer, 2011). All these standards are incorporated in Pender’s model, and they are transposable. There is the interaction between personality, health, surroundings, and nursing when people start moving away from sickness and persistent disease en route for wellness and vigor. People are related to their surroundings, wellbeing, and nursing. Pender alleges that personal health is inseparable from the community health and that people are mutually dependent with the entirety of the universe. In other words, the theory holds that it is difficult for one to be well in the midst of an unhealthy world.
Pender’s approach pays attention to three areas, which are “Individual characteristics and experiences, behavior-specific cognitions and affect, and behavior outcomes” (May & Rew, 2012, p. 116).
According to Pender’s theory, every person has exclusive personal traits and skills, which influence their actions. In other words, past occurrences contribute to present and future knowledge. May and Rew allege, “The set of variables for behavior explicit knowledge and effect have important motivational significance” (2012, p. 116). The variables can be altered through nursing feats. Health endorsing action is the desired behavioral result, and which marks the climax of the Health Promotion Model. These variables should help to improve health, boost functional aptitude, and enhance the value of life throughout the development stages.
Concepts of the Theory
The Health Promotion Model is based on four fundamental concepts, which are person, the environment, nursing, and health. A person is “a biopsychosocial organism that is partially shaped by the environment but also seeks to create a climate in which inherent and acquired human potential can be fully expressed” (Butts & Rich, 2011, p. 57). Consequently, there is a mutual relationship between an individual and the surroundings. The theory posits that personal qualities and life experience play a greater role in shaping one’s health behavior. Pender believed that individuals have exclusive personal traits and knowledge that influence successive actions. These qualities, coupled with the environment, affect one’s behavior.
The environment as the second concept of the Health Promotion Model refers to the physical, cultural, and social background in which an individual grows (Butts & Rich, 2011). In many cases, people adopt certain behaviors based on upbringing. Hence, the theory claims that an individual can alter his or her environment to come up with a constructive framework of signs and catalysts for health-enhancing actions. Nursing is the third key concept of the Health Promotion Model. The model treats nursing as a collaboration between individuals, relatives, and society to nurture an appropriate atmosphere for the demonstration of the best possible fitness and high-level health. As mentioned earlier, personal health depends on the interaction between a person and his or her environment. The environment comprises of relatives and society at large. Pender’s model defines health as the realization of intrinsic and gained human capacity through objective-oriented behavior, proficient self-care, and mutual relationship with others (May & Rew, 2010). The model argues that health can only be achieved by making regular adjustments of personal behavior to suit the environment.
Practical application
Pender’s Health Promotion Model is applied in daily life, particularly in the nursing environment. The model helps the nurses to relate personal traits with treatment procedures. Pender alleged that Health Promotion Model intends to help nurses to understand the key factors that contribute to health behavior as a foundation for behavioral counseling (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011). Health Promotion Model is used in patient teaching. The model assumes that health practitioners can influence patients’ ways of life. Presently, Pender’s model is used in helping individuals suffering from cancer. The model supposes that personal behavior and actions contribute to a healthy or unhealthy life (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011). Therefore, medical practitioners have used the model to initiate exercise as one of the measures to help breast cancer survivors. Besides, nurses have come up with a physical activity plan based on the Health Promotion Model. The program seeks to understand the patient’s past behavior, social and cultural environment, and personal influences to help in determining the right treatment.
Health Promotion Model is used in treating adults suffering from broken bones and fractures. Through Pender’s model, the nurses understand that adults’ past active lifestyle is likely to affect their recovery process. Consequently, the nurses come up with a treatment procedure that embraces the patient’s normal lifestyle (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011). The nurses believe that patients can quickly recover if they use a treatment plan that does not alter their normal life. Moreover, nurses use the Health Promotion Model to help patients to understand how lifestyle may affect their recovery. In response, the patients strive to change their lifestyle as a way to assume full control of their wellbeing.
Rebecca Syx gives a case study of how the Health Promotion Model was used to treat a patient suffering from broken hip and blood pressure in her Orthopedic Nursing Journal (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2011). According to the article, nurses used Pender’s model to create a treatment plan that was related to the patient’s lifestyle. They incorporated the patient’s daily routine into the treatment plan to lure the patient into collaborating. Based on the Health Promotion Model, the nurses knew very well that factors like past routine and personal factors would affect the patient’s supposed benefits and hurdles to health endorsement. Consequently, they enlightened the patient on the importance of changing his lifestyle as a way to facilitate his healing process. Eventually, the patient was able to cope with the problem.
Health Promotion Model and research
Pender’s Health Promotion Model is widely used in research. Present studies support the experimental worth of Pender’s Health Promotion Model. May and Rew allege, “Health Promotion Model has been used as a framework to gain information about cultural beliefs and values, and to demonstrate a need for culturally diverse health promotion programs” (2012, p. 117). The model has helped researchers to assess the current health promotion programs. What’s more, scholars have used Pender’s model to carry out descriptive studies aimed at explaining the present methods of preventing diabetes. In Taiwan, the Health Promotion Model has been used to research the sex disparity linked to physical activities. The model was preferred because it brings together the numerous elements that influence physical activity.
One of the studies that were conducted using the Health Promotion Model was the research conducted by Kerr, Lusk, and Ronis in 2002. The study sought to explain the rationale behind the use of hearing protection gadgets among Mexican American workers (May & Rew, 2010). The researchers used the model to verify the correlation between the use of hearing protection gadgets and cognitive-perceptual issues.
Health Promotion Model and Education
Health Promotion Model is used in varied fields. They include education, medical, and research fields. In education, the Health Promotion Model is used to create programs used in nursing education. The model has been used to educate nurses about the variables that affect health behavior (Butts & Rich, 2011). In return, nurses can create treatment plans that relate to these variables, therefore, helping patients to recover. Health Promotion Model amalgamates research findings from psychology, nursing, and public health. Thus, the model is used to train nurses on human health behavior. It equips the nurses with vast knowledge about psychological, social, and cultural variables that affect personal health. Hence, the nurses are left in a better position to deal with these variables. Apart from creating nursing education programs, the Health Promotion Model can be used to educate the public on ways to address health challenges like overweight. The model can be used to enlighten the parents on their role in curbing overweight among the school-going children. The repercussions of overweight are both communal and psychological. Therefore, the model can be used to teach the public about the social and psychological measures that can be used to address the challenges caused by overweight.
Conclusion
The Health Promotion Model is crucial in promoting a healthy lifestyle. The model helps medical practitioners to identify personal behavior and environmental factors that hamper a healthy way of life. One of the primary objectives of the design was to establish a link between nursing studies and practices. Indeed, the model has been used in numerous nursing education programs. Today, the model is used to train nurses on how to deal with behavioral variables that affect health behavior. What’s more, Pender’s model has been used to treat cancer survivors and adults recovering from broken bones. In research, the Health Promotion Model has helped the scholars to examine the existing health promotion programs. Moreover, the model has been used to study sex disparity linked to physical activities.
Reference List
Butts, J. & Rich, K. (2011). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Chinn, P. & Kramer, M. (2011). Integrated theory and knowledge development in nursing. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
May, K. & Rew, L. (2012). Mexican American youths’ and mothers’ explanatory models of diabetes prevention. Journal for Specialist in Pediatric Nursing, 15(1), 6-15.
Pender, N., Murdaugh, C. & Parsons, M. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice. Ohio: Ohio State University Press.
Peterson, S. & Bredow, T. (2013). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.