Health Promotion of Alice’s Family

This case study looks at a family that has a health issue, obesity. At first, Alice is confused for a grandmother due to her excess weight. She and her son have eating habits that are not healthy, since their diet is mostly comprised of fatty foods. This excess fat in their food results to health complications such as the one they are currently in. Alice lacks knowledge about nutrition and doesn’t know how to cook healthy meals. There is a lack of physical activity resulting in a sedentary lifestyle. Due to her obese statue Alice is worried that her husband might not like her as much since she had added weight during his deployment. This scares her and results to her getting stressed. Stress is another health issue that Alice faces. She is also not getting out her house due to depression and seems discouraged when trying to change her lifestyle. To top it all, she is surprisingly pregnant. She gets information from four doctors that her health and that of the unborn baby are at risk due to her current statue. She gets scared of the information and wants to get advice on what to do so that she prevents her current condition from affecting the baby. She says that she wants to do right by her, the baby and Travis.

In order for Alice to prevent or improve health, she needs to learn how to cook foods that are healthy and follow a nutritious diet for her and Travis. She will greatly benefit to attend a nutrition class. The health concern about her baby and herself would be prevented since she will be in a better shape. She also needs to eat fruits and avoid foods that contain a lot of fats. Encourage both to exercise, for example walking and playing outdoors. With the right diet and exercise Alice will improve on her body stature and gain self confidence which will in turn reduce the stress and depression she undergoes. Alice appears to be lonely as well, encouraging her to get involved on her community can help her make friends and become more positive towards changing her lifestyle. She has lack of knowledgeregarding obesity and scares her to think about it. A referral to a professional dietician that can guide her and provide a more calmly environment can benefit her tremendously to overcome the fear and anxiety regarding her lack of knowledge about obesity. If Alice applies these strategies, she can adopt a healthy lifestyle for her and Travis.

Primary Prevention promotes health and prevents the development of disease processes or injury. (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, & LeMone,2015). One of the strategies to benefit Alice and Travis is to educate them about healthy diet and the importance of regular physical activity. Safety also plays an important role by educating both about the use of seat belts to prevent injury. Secondly, educating Alice about relaxation techniques to promote a way to cope with her stress factors. Secondary prevention focuses on screening for early detection of disease. Educate Alice about the importance to take her son for healthcare screening so that she may be able to monitor how he is growing and to ensure that he is healthy as well as her since she is pregnant. Secondly, she and her son needs to have their body mass indexes check regularly to ascertain that they are improving their health. Other recommendations include screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, and family counseling. Tertiary prevention begins after an illness is diagnosed with interventions to reduce disease and disability. Alice states that when her son is sad she gives him his favorite foods which are comprised of fats, these foods work for a poor health, therefore, in order to improve her son’s health, she needs to change this lifestyle. Alice can start by preparing nutritious meals by incorporating vegetables, fruits, and fiber. Secondly, since she is pregnant she needs to ensure that adheres to her prenatal medication and take them faithfully. This will improve on the survival chances of her unborn child. (Sebire,2001). By providing Alice with education about the important role of improvement of quality of life versus illness, she will be able to modify her unhealthy behaviors and create something better for her son’s future.

Health Promotion Model developed by Nola Pender looks at nursing and the predicaments that rise from it. According to the model, nurses are expected to provide education that relates to the provision of health care. Secondly, they need to educate on the strategies that are best for the enhancement of exercises that keep the clients fit, help in the improvement of their diet and how to manage stressful situations. This model can help this family in gaining more education on how to help in improvement of their health. (Khodaveisi, Omidi, Farokhi, & Soltanian, 2017)

The set goals of Healthy People 2020 are for people to attain healthy long lives that do not have defects such as injury, disabilities or premature deaths. Secondly, to achieve health of all people by eliminating disparities and attaining equity for everyone. Thirdly, this group aims at a healthy society therefore they create environments that are socially and physically good for everyone. And lastly, they want to promote and develop quality of life for everyone in all the stages of life. (“Healthy People 2020”). In order to assist Alice’s family by implementing Healthy People 2020 goals, she needs to be encouraged to make this change for her and Travis by eating healthy and exercising. He still a child, in which obesity can be prevent it before it escalates to bigger health issues such as chronic illnesses, disability, and injury. A second goal can be influenced by creating a social and physical environment such as attending to recreational centers and walking around city parks to promote physical activity and socialization. Third goal is to achieve healthy equity and decrease disparities by assisting Alice to increase her health literacy, providing her with magazines, videos, and websites where she can engage to learn about healthier lifestyles. Another way to help to her to decrease disparities would be to guide her to find another physician that she can trust about her medical care. Fourth goal promotes healthy behaviors across all ages, which can benefit both Alice and Travis by encouraging them to see the positive aspects of having quality of life.

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