Introduction
Health Promotion is carried out in order to obtain optimal health of individuals. Optimal health is the balance of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual health. In order to carry out a health promotion program it is essential to create awareness among groups of people to carry out activities that will help them lead better and healthier lives. This is especially beneficial when the program is carried out in a group of young individuals, to help them lead healthy lifestyles in their years to come (“American Journal of Health Promotion”, 2008).
Characteristics of the Group
The group selected for the health promotion program is the high school teenage group, ranging from fifteen to nineteen years of age. The students belong to grade eight to twelve. All of them come from middle class families, from the middle income group. Since the program is being carried out in an international school, the students belong to a diversity of cultures, from American to South East Asian. Thus, the languages they speak also differ from one another.
Goals of the Program
The goals of the health promotion program are as follows:
- to attain a reduced number of tobacco users amongst teenagers
- to assist in developing healthy habits by a minimum of a weeks time
- to promote an active lifestyle through exercise
- to create awareness of the hazards of smoking
For the implementation of any health promotion program, it is important to first enable the people in the group, to carry out the activities in the process for promotion and protection of their health (“Key Health Promotion Strategies”, 2008). Healthy behavior is to be enhanced through the appropriate utilization of human and material resources. Health education helps health promotion, as unawareness is eliminated through the knowledge imparted by health education.
In order to achieve the goals set for this health promotion program, it is firstly required to create optimal conditions for success. The student group has to be told fore mostly, of the aims of the program, and provide as convincing an introduction as possible, to gain attraction and willingness to implement for goal achievement. This is the main thing that is required for success of the program, with emphasis on the benefits that will be gained.
After briefing the group of the benefits of the implementation of the health promotion program, they can be made aware of the processes they will go through, to attract them. They can be told that the program will have seminars to attend, following which they can avail free lunch from the cafeteria. Along with the free meals, they will get free T-shirts with captions of “No Smoking” or similar slogans. These little incentives, along with major ones, like the subscription of a health magazine monthly for free, for a time span of one year, may create more willingness of students to participate in the program.
The relation of the incentive of the magazine offer is that if the students go adrift in their health plans, by forgetting to follow healthy lifestyles, or if they start smoking again with friends, they can be reminded of the hazards on reception of the magazine. Upon reading the health related issue, the student may once again sprout up as a health conscious individual, boosting up the spirit once again. This repeated action will enable the student to stick to healthy habits, and get rid of the bad habits of smoking, etc.
Success of the Program
The health promotion program, lasting a month, aims to develop and show results related to good health practices. Smoking is a horrible habit, as all of us know. But the youth of today consider it and the use of tobacco through other means, like chewing, a fashion. If they do not smoke, they will be considered outcasts among the peer group. According to the World Health Organization, one out of two youngsters who begin smoking and continue with it will die of a tobacco related disease. Smoking is an addiction, and the students have to be told through a fortnightly seminar held at the school auditorium, of its hazards and the way the families of the students are affected by their smoking habits. The students have to be made aware, that once they begin smoking, it is very difficult to stop the habit. Smoking leads to chronic heart diseases and other severe illnesses, which cause death. Smoking also causes lung infections and cancer. An illustration of an infected lung through smoking can be given in on of the seminars held. The next emphasis should be on an active lifestyle. The students will be informed of the importance of exercise and blood circulation to prevent diseases and maintain an appropriate weight, among other positive aspects. Regular exercising controls body weight, circulates blood in the right speed, prevents obesity and diseases such as cardiac failure and diabetes.
Healthy habits that can be focused on include waking up early in the morning, going for a jog or a brisk walk at least thrice in a week; have three meals a day, with two snack times in between. A significant point is to eat a healthy balanced diet, and not just any food that comes in hand. A balanced diet is one which provides all the nutrients needed by the body, including all the food groups, like the meat, cereal, fruit and vegetable group, and milk group. Within one week of the first seminar of the health promotion program, the student group should be able to develop these habits, including going to bed early, which is also essential for a healthy life.
The program success is based on the implementation of the plans and strategies for goal attainment. The habits that were modified will leave them lighter, and upon questioning after two weeks of time, they will themselves claim that they feel better, and will also appear to be fresher than before. The school auditorium would be the place for the student participation and gathering, and all the exhibits of the program leader will be done through slides. Cross questioning sessions will enable the students to get clarity of any confusion that may arise. Leaflets will be handed out in order to guide the students of what they have to do as participants of the program. The cafeteria will be free of junk food for a month, providing only healthy nourishing food items, which will also motivate the students to take in health food.
These actions if taken religiously will surely produce positive results and leave a lasting impact on the students, who have been taking life non seriously, paying no attention to health and affecting their future.
References
American Journal of Health Promotion 2008. Web.
Key Health Promotion Strategies: WHO 2008. Web.
School Health and Youth Health Promotion : WHO 2008. Web.