Partners In Health Promotion Research Articles

Improving Client Experience and Charitable Food Reach and Access at Food Pantries: A Qualitative Study.

Food pantries are promising community partners in health promotion. This study explored client perspectives in food pantries to inform new approaches to improve client experience, reach, and access. We interviewed 52 adult clients who visited participating food pantries two or more times over 12 months in Cook County, Illinois in English, Spanish, or Cantonese. We analyzed transcripts using the Health Equity Implementation Framework. Participants were 69% female, 48% Black, 29% Asian, and 15% Hispanic/Latino. Participants identified availability of healthy and high-quality foods, client choice models, client-personnel interactions, multilingual services, and wait times as influential to pantry reach and access. Participants felt that client feedback opportunities and client-led community outreach could successfully engage community members who avoided food pantries due to stigma. Creating opportunities for client-centered feedback may improve client experience, reach, and access of food pantries, reduce stigma, and optimize a novel setting for community-based health promotion in diverse populations.

Social Enterprise, Population Health and Sustainable Development Goal 3: A Public Health Viewpoint.

Although there is no consensus on the definition of “social enterprises (SEs),” various scholars have agreed that SEs are “sustainable ventures that combine business principles with a passion for social impact.” Using a public health lens, this viewpoint paper attempts to discuss the potential role SEs might play in the achievement of sustainable population health and Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): “Health for all at all ages.” Through their impact on social determinants of health (the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, and age), SEs have a potential to contribute to SDGs, specifically SDG 3. They can do so by acting on and modifying the economic, social and environmental challenges communities face, to help promote health and wellbeing and improve the quality of life among children, adolescents, working adults and elderly across countries, societies and generations. Social enterprises present an opportunity to engage business as partners in health promotion – which is yet to materialize in all societies globally.

Identifying barriers, facilitators, and implementation strategies for a faith-based physical activity program

BackgroundCommunity engagement is critical to the acceleration of evidence-based interventions into community settings. Harnessing the knowledge and opinions of community leaders increases the likelihood of successful implementation, scale-up, and sustainment of evidence-based interventions. Faith in Action (Fe en Acción) is an evidence-based promotora-led physical activity program designed to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among churchgoing Latina women.MethodsWe conducted in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) at various Catholic and Protestant churches with large Latino membership in San Diego County, California to explore barriers and facilitators to implementation of Faith in Action and identify promising implementation strategies for program scale-up and dissemination. We interviewed 22 pastors and church staff and analyzed transcripts using an iterative-deductive team approach.ResultsPastors and church staff described barriers and facilitators to implementation within three domains of CFIR: characteristics of individuals (lack of self-efficacy for and knowledge of physical activity; influence on churchgoers’ behaviors), inner setting (church culture and norms, alignment with mission and values, competing priorities, lack of resources), and outer setting (need for buy-in from senior leadership). From the interviews, we identified four promising implementation strategies for the scale-up of faith-based health promotion programs: (1) health behavior change training for pastors and staff, (2) tailored messaging, (3) developing community collaborations, and (4) gaining denominational support.ConclusionsWhile churches can serve as valuable partners in health promotion, specific barriers and facilitators to implementation must be recognized and understood. Addressing these barriers through targeted implementation strategies at the adopter and organizational level can facilitate improved program implementation and lead the way for scale-up and dissemination.

IUHPE Position Statement on Health Literacy: a practical vision for a health literate world

The International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Position Statement on Health Literacy provides an overview of existing evidence and continuing debate on health literacy. Developed by the IUHPE Global Working Group on Health Literacy, including experts from around the globe, the Statement provides a basis for discussion and advocacy, by and with IUHPE, both within the health promotion community, and among stakeholders and partners in health promotion. The Statement offers a detailed introduction to the concept of health literacy, calling for global action to improve health literacy in populations. It positions health literacy as an important and modifiable social determinant of health, that plays a significant role in broadly-based strategies for health promotion. The Statement emphasises the necessity of a systems approach to health literacy, underpinned by global, national, regional and local policies. It summarises key evidence to guide practice and policy development, recognising the importance of continued investment in intervention research, in professional and consumer capacity building, and in the transfer of research findings into frontline health promotion practice. In summary, health literacy is understood as an important cross-cutting issue in health promotion throughout the lifespan, which has practical application in guiding clinical practice, public health interventions and public policy for the advancement of global health.

Integrative medicine as a change agent of hospital staff: From hospital orderlies to partners in health promotion

IntroductionHospitalized individuals often experience intense feelings of anxiety. Medical staff can reduce patient distress by employing appropriate communication techniques that establish rapport and emphasize positive affirmations. Orderlies transport patients throughout the hospital to consultations and various procedures that are often the source of intense patient apprehension. Under such circumstances, the human encounter offers an opportunity to relieve anxiety. Yet the orderly staff receive no training to facilitate patients’ emotional comfort. MethodsThe present article describes educational workshops in complementary medicine, which were conducted to provide hospital orderlies with appropriate tools to reduce patient’s anxiety, primarily through verbal communication. ResultsFollowing the workshop, orderlies reported a change in their language and attitude towards patients, as confirmed by post-training interviews with the nursing staff. The orderlies’ perceived role of merely transporting patients to and fro was transformed into a more profound meaning of engaging actively in patient comfort and care. ConclusionThis positive experience encourages the researchers to identify and appropriately educate additional sectors in the hospital, such as nurses’ aides, secretaries and other auxiliary staff whom patients encounter daily, to serve as partners in health promotion.

Leading Their Flocks to Health? Clergy Health and the Role of Clergy in Faith-Based Health Promotion Interventions

Faith-based organizations are a frequent partner in health promotion due to their large and expansive reach across multiple demographics of the United States. These faith-based organizations are led by clergy members who have a strong influence over their institutions and who shape the physical and social environments of their institutions for health-related matters. The purpose of this review was to examine current issues associated with the health, behaviors, and well-being of clergy, highlight the literature on the role clergy play in delivering effective health promotion interventions, and present recommendations for improving clergy health and the involvement of clergy in faith-based initiatives.

Gezond en wel participeren

Healthy participation in society. The value of social work in health promotion An important condition for health and well-being is an active role in society. Most people feel much better and actually have a better health when they participate in (voluntary) work, sports, clubs, et cetera. This is the case for healthy people but probably even more so for less able people. Therefore the focus in health promotion is moving from the individual to the (social) environment. Especially social support systems get a lot of attention. Surprisingly, social work professionals are not a natural partner in health promotion. While their focus and competences lie with building, supporting and maintaining social support systems. In this article we show how social work can play it’s part in modern health promotion.

Notes of a traveller

Notes of a traveller

Position of the American Dietetic Association, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education: Comprehensive School Nutrition Services

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), School Nutrition Association (SNA), and Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) that comprehensive, integrated nutrition services in schools, kindergarten through grade 12, are an essential component of coordinated school health programs and will improve the nutritional status, health, and academic performance of our nation’s children. Local school wellness policies may strengthen comprehensive nutrition services by encouraging multidisciplinary wellness teams, composed of school and community members, to work together in identifying local school needs, developing feasible strategies to address priority areas, and integrating comprehensive nutrition services with a coordinated school health program. This joint position paper affirms schools as an important partner in health promotion. To maximize the impact of school wellness policies on strengthening comprehensive, integrated nutrition services in schools nationwide, ADA, SNA, and SNE recommend specific strategies in the following key areas: nutrition education and promotion, food and nutrition programs available on the school campus, school-home-community partnerships, and nutrition-related health services.

Education in a genomic world.

If a transformation in medicine occurs in the wake of the Human Genome Project, its likely focus will be prevention, a logical extension of the lessons of variation and individuality inherent in molecular genetics. The transformation of medicine will require a transformation in genetics education as well, focusing on the development of genetic literacy that allows patient and provider to collaborate as partners in health promotion and disease prevention. The components of genetic literacy include new views of genetics and of disease, and attention to the nature of science, the principles of technology, and ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic medicine.

A patient-centered paradigm: a model for chiropractic education and research.

Within the chiropractic profession there is concern over both the appropriate paradigm for educating the student and the appropriate research model for investigating health care and promotion. The purpose of this study was to identify, interpret, and describe a paradigm for chiropractic education and research. Chiropractic first principles and existing health care paradigms were identified and integrated with the characteristics of chiropractic practice described in sociological studies of the chiropractic profession. A patient-centered paradigm emerged, incorporating the principles of vitalism, holism, humanism, conservatism, naturalism, and rationalism. Characteristics of a patient-centered paradigm that were identified were then subjected to an eight-member consensus panel with representatives drawn from chiropractic education, research, and sociology. The characteristics of a patient-centered paradigm agreed upon include self-healing, recognition of the patient as a unified whole, respect for the patient's values, beliefs, and dignity, involvement of the patient as a partner in health promotion, and a natural and conservative approach to evidence based care. Patient-centered research must reach beyond the randomized controlled trial, involving designs where clinicians apply their own patient-centered therapy in a "real world" assessment. A pluralism of methods, including both qualitative and quantitative studies, needs to be designed and implemented. Patient-centered research is a process that is pragmatic, realistic, and grounded in the day-to-day experiences of both patients and chiropractors. A patient-centered paradigm offers a useful model to critically study what benefits patients and to prepare chiropractic students to practice in the patient's interest.