Health Promotion in Clinical Settings

There is undisputed evidence linking health outcomes on individual lifestyles and
behaviors (Martinez et al., 2017). There is also strong evidence linking various cultural,
social, economic, and environmental factors on various health outcomes (Martinez et al.,
2017). As a healthcare professional, I have had an opportunity of promoting health in clinical
settings in different ways. My most recent experience was when I encountered a patient, a 45-
year-old African American man, who smoked heavily, engaged in little physical activity, and
mostly ate junk food. I knew that the patient’s lifestyle put him at a high risk of developing
various lifestyle diseases, such as lung cancer, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, and stroke.
Therefore, in consultation with the patient, I came up with a personalized plan that would
help him make changes to his lifestyle and behavior.

When preparing the plan, I quickly realized that there were various social and
economic factors that would hinder the plan’s implementation and, therefore, the ability of
the patient to change his lifestyle and behavior. For instance, I had recommended that the
man starts daily jogs in the morning before going to work. However, he lived in a densely
populated and poor neighborhood where there was little space for jogging. The area was also
crime-ridden and people had fear of jogging in the morning because of fear of encountering
criminals. The problem is line with studies that have found that housing and neighborhoods
are key social determinants of health (Bernazzani, 2016).

Apart from social factors, economic factors were also a hindrance to the plan’s
implementation. Studies have found that individuals from low-income families have poor
health outcomes because of inability to purchase prescribed medications (Lazar & Davenport,
2018). The patient, a construction worker with four kids to provide for, could not afford the

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healthy, organic foods that I had recommended that he includes in his diet. The patient could
also not afford the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) medications that I had prescribed to
help him stop his smoking addiction.

My experience with patient led me to understand how significant social and economic
factors impact health outcomes. Had the patient lived in an environment that is conducive for
early-morning jogging and had financial resources to afford heathier foods and medications
to help with his nicotine addiction, he would have had better health outcomes.

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References

Bernazzani, S. (2016). The importance of considering the social determinants of health. The
American Journal of Managed Care.

Lazar, M., & Davenport, L. (2018). Barriers to health care access for low-income families: a
review of literature. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 35(1), 28-37.

Martinez, C., Bacigalupe, G., Cortada, J. M., Grandes, G., Sanchez, A., Pombo, H., & Bully,
P. (2017). The implementation of health promotion in primary and community care: a
qualitative analysis of the ‘Prescribe Vida Saludable’strategy. BMC family
practice, 18(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-017-0584-6.