Health promotion is a rigorous process of encouraging community members to take control over their health and its determinants. The primary goal of health promotion is to improve the health of the target community. There are several steps followed in the health promotion program including developing a public policy, which aims at addressing all prerequisites of good health. These prerequisites include housing, food, security, and employment among others. Just like any other form of social program, health promotion is a program that encourages social change. This paper will discuss ways of promoting health programs for social change.
One of the biggest problems that need to be addressed in Oranto is the issue of social behavior. There are serious issues related to street drugs, and an area is now a place of drinking, snorting drugs, property damaging, and damping. The use of drugs among the youths has significantly contributed to several problems. If these issues are addressed well, the community will make progressive steps towards improving society. If the issue of drug abuse is addressed cases of harassment (both sexual and physical) will reduce, theft cases will be things of the past, and youths will embrace positive behaviors. This will promote equity, empower people, and encourage positive behaviors/ appropriate social behavior.
Mainly, factors such as the environment, income, education level, and friends all have a considerable effect on our health. The social, economic, physical environment, and different individuals’ characters and behaviors are major determinants of health in any given community or a society. In Oranto, community members are facing several health issues. The health determinants and other factors that cause health problems for people living in Oranto include drug abuse, verbal and physical abuse, littering, lack of employment, poor social behavior, and lack of cohesion/peace in the community. Drug abuse is the biggest health determinant problem that should be addressed for appropriate social behavior.
The main target group in this campaign is the youths because they are the most vulnerable group in Ontario. Youths are drug users; they harass community members and do not have formal education to enable them to acquire good jobs. A counseling and rehabilitation program can play a vital role in addressing the problems facing youths in this community.
In this initiative, several health promotion strategies can be utilized to help build a better society. One of the strategies is conducting sexual and drug education programs. There is a need to promote such an education program to all members within the neighborhood, which will help encourage good social behavior in all available social institutions like schools and churches. Another promotion program necessary in this environment is the use of individually focused interventions. Such interventions involve the use of posters that provide quality health messages.
The best setting for promoting quality health programs is social institutions. Schools, hospitals, and churches can provide a favorable environment. Such environments are conducive because they can contain many people and are perceived positively by community members.
Action-oriented resources will be resourceful in this program since they point at specific actions. The use of this action plan will enable all community members to achieve positive goals. Through such actions, community members will be able to take control of things that affect them and hence improve their living standards.