Introduction
The promotion of patient education is one of the core tasks of nursing experts. However, due to the presence of strongly held beliefs and a long-established lifestyle, patients may find it difficult to change their habits and develop a healthier outlook on life. In the case under analysis, J. P., a 65-year-old patient with diabetes, needs to be educated on the threats that his current habit of smoking combined with a rather complicated family history of diseases and disorders produce on his well-being. By utilizing Pender’s health promotion model, one will be able to establish a framework for J. P. to comply with when transitioning from his current state of health management to the desired one.
Primary and Secondary Healthcare Needs
Given the current situation with J. P., the necessity to manage the patient’s sugar blood levels is currently the main priority and the essential goal of the treatment process. Therefore, keeping J. P.’s glucose rates at the needed rate has t be viewed as the primary health need. However, given the development of several comorbid health concerns, as well as additional disorders, there are other health needs that can be defined as urgent.
As far as the secondary health needs of J. P. are concerned, the problem with his health literacy is evident. Namely, the presence of bad habits that include smoking and failure to undergo regular hospital checks to alleviate the threat of several critical conditions such as prostate cancer deserve a mentioning. Indeed, given the patient’s family history record, there may be a possibility of him developing prostate cancer due to the poor genetic disposition and his family history. Therefore, regular tests should be run to minimize the threat of prostate cancer and reduce the patient’s exposure to negative factors.
In addition, J. P. needs to be provided with a chance to increase his health literacy since he seems to be completely unaware of the threat that his current lifestyle represents for him. Given his current condition and his family history, J. P. is especially prone to developing additional health concerns, ranging from prostate cancer to heart disease. Therefore, the increase in the patient’s health literacy and awareness of his current condition should be regarded as another secondary objective. It is particularly important that the patient should fully realize the extent of the threat to which his present lifestyle leads. Thus, positive changes in the management of J. P.’s situation will emerge.
Patient’s Health Beliefs and How They Impact His Health Behaviors
Personal beliefs might not seem as relevant when introducing a patient to basic health requirements with which they have to comply in order to recover. However, in the case under analysis, the personal beliefs of the patient play a large role in shaping his chances for recovery. Namely, the fact that J. P. lacks health education significantly and assumes that health-related knowledge is irrelevant to anyone who is not a part of the healthcare industry is very troubling. Namely, the specified mindset is likely to prevent J. P. from developing awareness and health literacy needed to develop the required health awareness and insight.
The problem of building health literacy remains one of the foundational concerns in contemporary nursing and healthcare. On the one hand, the rise in the availability of information and the increase in the opportunity for nurse-patient communication have made it possible to improve health literacy rates. Namely, by addressing a broader audience, nurses have managed to eradicate harmful health myths in local communities (Svavarsdóttir, Sigurðardóttir, & Steinsbekk, 2016). On the other hand, the abundance of data makes it very difficult to distinguish between genuinely important and useful data and the one that perpetuates myths about healthcare, aggravating patients’ conditions (Rowe et al., 2019). Therefore, guidance and proficiency are crucial in establishing a health literacy course for patients.
Therefore, in the case of J. P., it is absolutely necessary to increase the extent of his health literacy. The rise in health awareness can be achieved by introducing the patient to essential standards for self-care and crucial health resources. Namely, the patient needs basic information about the factors that may become threats to his health, such as increased blood pressure and the environment that may cause it. In addition, the information about the drastic effects of smoking will be crucial in encouraging the patient to change his current lifestyle toward a healthier one.
Patient’s Health History: Information Synthesis
As emphasized above, the available history of the patient’s health and the records of his family’s health concerns lead to the necessity to introduce additional safety measures for preventing any aggravation in his current state. Therefore, the best practices for J. P. currently would include abandoning his smoking habit and following the prescribed strategy for managing his diabetes issue. Namely, it will be necessary to pursue the improvement of the patient’s quality of life and avoid the instances of hypoglycemia as a direct result of dehydration.
In addition, given J. P.’s family history, it is crucial to avoid the development of cardiovascular issues. The threat of CVD is particularly high at this point since high blood pressure is typically associated with diabetes and, therefore, may lead to serious CVD-related concerns unless attended to respectively. However, to control J.P.’s exposure to the risk of CVD, it is necessary to educate the patient about the factors that may entail changes in his heart rate and problems with his heart. Specifically, the issue of smoking as one of the foundational factors in the development of hypertension and CVD has to be abandoned once and for all.
Health Promotion Model: Summary
The current health promotion model that must be used to adders health threats faced by J. P. is grounded in the enhancement of the patient’s health literacy through exposure to communication with nurses and the analysis of the relevant information sources, including both digital and traditional ones. To encourage the patient to change their current mindset and shift toward a healthier lifestyle, Pender’s Health Promotion Model should be utilized. The suggested health promotion model is based on the premise of altering a patient’s health behavior through a series of minor changes to their attitude and perception of health-related problems. As a result, basic health literacy can be fostered in the target population, which will be critical for addressing the needs of J. P. In the case in point.
The model offered by Pender includes several major steps, which stem from the thirteen core statements that the model provides. Specifically, the model sets four major assumptions, which include an individual’s willingness to change their behaviors toward improved ones, interactions between individuals and the environment, nurses constituting an important part of individuals’ environment, and the need for self-directed reconfiguration of the lifestyle choices (Khodaveisi, Omidi, Farokhi, & Soltanian, 2017).
The model implies that individual characteristics and experiences, namely, learned behaviors and personal factors, shape behavior-specific cognitions and affect to produce behavioral outcomes (Khodaveisi et al., 2017). As seen from the assumptions listed above, the model relies heavily on an individual’s willingness to change, which means that a nurse has to establish a proper rapport with a patient and convince them about the necessity to improve their lifestyle and general well-being.
Applying Pender’s Health Promotion Model
In the case under analysis, the application of Pender’s Health Model will require establishing a health literacy promotion strategy that will introduce J. P. to crucial insights about his current health status and the dangers to which he exposes himself regularly. Specifically, by exposing the patient to the information about the possible outcomes of failing to lead a healthy lifestyle, one will set the platform for him, to recognize the importance of an improvement in his behavior. Afterward, the importance of interacting with the environment, namely, recognizing the threats to his health and the opportunities to learn about his condition, will have to be established.
The third step will involve reinforcing the communication between J. P. and a nurse educator, who will provide the patient with an opportunity to gain basic information and skills for maintaining proper health. Specifically, the management of blood pressure and especially the process of abandoning his smoking habit need to be seen as the priority of the treatment process apart from the established diabetes issue.
The fourth and final stage of the program will imply a change in the patient’s behavior and the voluntary transition to more conscious management of personal health needs. Specifically, it will be crucial for J. P. to recognize the necessity to quit smoking as a means of minimizing the threat of CVD development and alleviating the issues caused by his current condition, namely, type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the framework for controlling the patient’s transition and the further management of nurse-patient communication and collaboration will have to be established. The latter will become more manageable with the introduction of a digital communication channel through which a nurse will be able to address the entire community and each patient separately, including J. P.
Evaluation Plan
In order to control the process of managing J. P.’s needs, one will need an assessment tool for the evaluation of the treatment outcomes. Specifically, one will need to compare the extent of the patient’s awareness of the signs and symptoms that will signal him about the need to introduce an intervention to prevent threats to his health. Likewise, the patient will have to show a change in his perception of dieting and the related habits, including his understanding of the harmful effects of smoking. A drop in the daily intake of nicotine, preferably to zero, will be seen as the ultimate goal that J. P. will have to pursue in order to implement the change accordingly.
Conclusion
Since J. P. has been exposing himself to significant harm by smoking despite his current condition, his diabetes type 1 may be aggravated by the development of CVD or even the threat of prostate cancer. Since his family records show the presence of both diseases in his family members, it is necessary to focus on the prevention of the specific conditions in J. P. For this reason, changes in the patient’s dieting and especially the promotion of a healthier lifestyle, specifically, quitting smoking, have to be seen as a necessity. The described alterations in J, P.’s current health management approach will allow reducing the risks to which the patient has been exposed and manage the health issues related to diabetes.
References
Khodaveisi, M., Omidi, A., Farokhi, S., & Soltanian, A. R. (2017). The effect of Pender’s health promotion model in improving the nutritional behavior of overweight and obese women. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery, 5(2), 165-174.
Rowe, C. A., Sirois, F. M., Toussaint, L., Kohls, N., Nöfer, E., Offenbächer, M., & Hirsch, J. K. (2019). Health beliefs, attitudes, and health-related quality of life in persons with fibromyalgia: Mediating role of treatment adherence. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 24(8), 962-977. Web.
Svavarsdóttir, M. H., Sigurðardóttir, Á. K., & Steinsbekk, A. (2016). Knowledge and skills needed for patient education for individuals with coronary heart disease: The perspective of health professionals. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 15(1), 55-63. Web.