Introduction
The world is currently experiencing a triple disease burden which constitutes aspects such as the communicable disease’ unfinished agenda, re-emerging and newly emerging disorders, and the unprecedented increase in the prevalence of non-communicable chronic illnesses. There is, thus, an increasing need to provide high standards of care through health promotion. Various aspects outside the sector of healthcare affect health; these include political, economic, and social factors (Kim & Nahar, 2018). These factors consequently determine the setting in which people work, live, grow, and age, and the approaches that aim to address people’s health needs. Therefore, to attain the best healthcare standards, Kim & Nahar (2018) underscores the need for a detailed holistic approach which extends beyond the usual curative care and involves stakeholders, health providers, and communities. Holistic healthcare approaches aim to empower people to be responsible for their health and promote public health leadership and inter-sectoral efforts intended to establish good health policies and develop effective health frameworks. The elements mentioned above capture the essence or nature of health promotion. The purpose of this research paper is to delineate the differences between health promotion and health education, identify a health promotion referral organization in the community, and provide a review of the organization’s activities in the community.
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Health Promotion and Health Education
Health promotion refers to the process of fostering an individual’s capacity to assume control over his health as a strategy to improve one’s overall health (Samara, Anderson, & Aro, 2019). Health promotion incorporates interventions at the political, social, organizational, and personal level to encourage adaptations that aim to protect or improve health. Health promotion, thus, assumes a more comprehensive health-promoting approach because it employs multi-sectoral methods in addressing health issues and involves different players. Health promotion focuses on responding to developments that have an indirect or direct bearing on health, for instance, cultural belief, environments, differences in consumption patterns, and inequalities (Chafjiri, Shirinkam, & Karimi, 2018). Health education, on the other hand, refers to a consciously developed opportunity for learning which incorporates some mode of communication designed to better health literacy by facilitating the development of life skills and improving knowledge associated with community and individual health. Health education is, therefore, not limited to data dissemination (health-related); it also promotes self-efficacy, skills, and motivation which are necessary for health improvement (Kim & Nahar, 2018). Health education enhances the dissemination of data regarding the underlying environmental, economic, and social conditions that impact health. Health education, hence, aims to provide health knowledge and information to communities and individuals and provide individuals with skills that enable them to embrace healthy behaviors voluntarily (Chafjiri, Shirinkam, & Karimi, 2018).
Health Promotion Referral Organization and its Application
One primary health promotion referral organization in the community is the American Diabetes Association, commonly abbreviated as ADA. The ADA is a nonprofit organization based in the USA whose aim is to educate the public about the disease and help individuals diagnosed with Diabetes by funding studies focused on managing, curing, and preventing Diabetes (Felicia, 2019). The organization conducts various populace health management programs designed to improve health. Some of these initiatives include Diabetes INSIDE and the Risk Test campaign. Diabetes INSIDE is a long-term strategy for the ADA which aims to translate over seventy-eight years of the institution’s advocacy and science into practice by reinforcing the country’s health care system to better populace outcomes for persons with Diabetes. The objective of Diabetes INSIDE is to stimulate, effectuate, and encourage the betterment of health in various systems of health care, public health sectors, and the multiple organizations and stakeholders dedicated to improving the outcomes of Diabetes. To achieve this goal, Diabetes INSIDE uses health services and population health research approaches, activities, and tools to better the care quality for diabetes and populace outcomes in various health care organizations. Diabetes INSIDE employs the use of populace health information analytics and science to tailor interventions towards demographics, resources, goals, and needs of health care partners and populaces they serve (Felicia, 2019). Some of these interventions include self-management (patients) education and support programs, provider professional development, multidisciplinary team coaching, and QI training for professionals (health care). Other intervention strategies include dissemination and recognition strategy and community-integrated health strategies. Felicia (2019), in her review, provides an example of the efficacy of QI data in delivering population health results following the application of Diabetes INSIDE at Parkland Health & Hospital System located in Texas. The QI project’s focus was to evaluate the introduction of insulin to individuals with unmanaged Diabetes. Some of the QI interventions used during the initiative include EHR data for tracking and identifying individuals with uncontrolled Diabetes, previsit arrangements for insulin introduction purposes, provider training and education, and shared medical appointments. After the intervention, there was a significant increase (twenty-four percent) in insulin initiation at the population level (Felicia, 2019).
During the year 2016, ADA, through a joint effort between them and the Ad Council, AMA, and CDC launched the Risk Test Campaign (Felicia, 2019). The campaign focused on promoting public awareness of the National DPP (Diabetes Prevention Program) and prediabetes to minimize the prevalence of T2D. Today, the American Diabetes Association manages the Risk Test Crusade. The program allows individuals to ascertain their prediabetes risks with th help of online tools that require around one minute to complete (Felicia, 2019). One can also conduct the assessment using paper format. The online assessment tool provides individuals with a significantly high prediabetes risk (score ≥5) with data on how to approach the issue with a physician and resources to enroll for an online or local National DPP (Felicia, 2019). People at a significantly low prediabetes risk (score <5) are typically provided with programs and information that promote healthy living, caregiver services and toolkits, invitations to regular rescreening and advocate tools. The American Diabetes Association aims to reach communities and populations that at a significantly high risk of Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes; this includes people aged between forty-five and sixty-five years and the ethnic minority populaces, for instance, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Currently, the ADA is involving members, stakeholders, partners, and supporters through different ways, for example, community-based and health care provider outreach and social media platforms to ignite this campaign (Felicia, 2019).
Conclusion
Health promotion is a crucial concept that extends beyond the provision of health care. Health promotion aims to establish supportive environments, reinforce community actions, reorient health care services, and develop personal skills. Health promotion operates through active and concrete communities by setting priorities, planning and implementing strategies, and making decisions to sustain better health. Moreover, it encourages social and personal development by providing data, health education, and promoting life skills. Health education aims to provide health knowledge and information to communities and individuals and provide individuals with skills that enable them to embrace healthy behaviours voluntarily. Health promotion referral institutions such as the ADA employs different strategies such as the Risk Test campaign to improve health.
