Individual Responsibility for Health Promotion
Discuss About The Comparing Health Information Dissemination.
All across the world, an unsustainable burden of chronic disease has been created with disparities across race, geography, income, gender and education as a result of poor lifestyle behaviors such as physical inactivity, obesity and low diet quality. An important role is played by the government in addressing the health of the population and lifestyle behaviors, reducing chronic disease and health disparities. The government involvement areas include research, surveillance, access to health care, programming, guidelines for physical activity and diet and quality assurance. This essay discusses the statement that the government should have little or no role to play in determining people’s behavior. Promotion of health is the responsibility of the individual.
This statement is true to some extend as the government can take a number of steps for determining people’s behavior but ultimately, it is the responsibility of individuals to promote health. When promotion of healthcare is undertaken by individuals, they are supposed to be more effective as people understand and get influenced by such promotion very easily. On the other hand, when government takes steps for promoting health and guiding the behavior of individuals, such actions are not given much importance and same path is followed by individuals until a ban is executed on such products or actions. From one individual to another, slowly it the health promotion can have a wide reach and can bring healthier results for the public (1).
Moreover, the ultimate role in health promotion is of the individuals and not of the government. If an individual pledges to promote health, it can start it by introducing certain rules at work. It will assist the employer in reducing the medical costs associated with the employees and will promote healthier lives for the employees (2). Such strategies binds an individual to adopt a healthier life as it becomes a requirement for survival in the workplace or severe penalties may impose. If such responsibility is adequately met by the individuals, they have the capability of bringing a complete change in the society (3).
Moreover, certain insurance programs are introduced by the government for the promotion of healthy future of the individuals. Individuals cannot promote a program on such a large scale as undertaken by the government but they have greater influencing power than the government. For example, if the employers in the organization makes such rules that employees will be rewarded for good behaviors (such as smoking cessation and exercising) and on the other hand, they will get punished in case their behavior is a bad one (gaining excess weight, continuing to smoke, etc.) (4). The implementations of health promotion policies at the organizational can be helpful as large number of people can be targeted at a single time. They will have no other choice than to comply with each and every aspect of such policies for sustaining in the organization (5). Such working population might not get that much influenced through he steps taken by the government. Therefore, even if there is no role of government in determining behavior of the individuals, it will not have any major effects. Huge expenditures are made by the government in taking such actions; however, it can bring better results at the individual level. They can be guided by the government but the adoption of a healthier lifestyle will always remain their own choice.
Government’s Role in Health Promotion
An important role is played by the individuals in developing personal skills in context of health. After government plays their part by the formulation of public policy, now it becomes the responsibility of the individuals to act in accordance with the delivered policies such as not smoking in public areas. The government has planned, implemented and managed the infrastructure for the purpose of creating supportive environments for health in the form of infrastructures such as hospitals, community centres, parks, etc. It is the responsibility of the individuals to make better health choices by way of maintain and using the environment. This can be done by them by putting waste in the bins provided by the government, going on a walk every day, going for regular check- ups in the nearby government hospitals at low prices. The individuals are responsible for promoting the community activities that promote health and show active involvement in the various actions taken by the community. This can be done in the form of promoting fun runs, engaging in community discussions regarding health.
The role of the government is limited to the development of policies and provisions of funding towards the development of personal skills. The more important responsibility is with the individuals who look for developing their own skills in the context of health. They are enabled for taking charge of their own health such as researching the behavioral choices for their health, acting in accordance with the advice from the health practitioners, enrolling in various community programs, etc. (6).
The role of the government in the re- orientation of health services is limited up to the creation and funding of the policies around the prevention and promotion of health. They train primary sector for health promotion along with its cure and create awareness through tv advertisements. However, further it is the responsibility of the individuals to make healthy choices. They are also supposed to help others in doing the same including contribution in health promotion (7).
Individuals can fulfill a number of roles and different levels of responsibility in the context of health promotion. The health promotion starts at the individual level by fulfilling the responsibility of promoting one’s own health. For this, firstly, they need to become educated regarding health, specifically the protective and risk behaviors. Furthermore, the individual is also responsible for the protection of health of the individuals around them. This includes the promotion of health at school, to peers and family. For example, children should be assisted by the parents in making healthier choices and in having a healthy environment. Another example constitutes of a peers who are encouraged by a teenager for participating in physical activities along with assisting them in the avoidance of alcohol use and smoking (8). In other words, in case of promotion of health, an individual is responsible for the actions of people around them in an active manner. Moreover, there is variation in the role of an individual on the basis of their position in the society. For example, there is a different role of a child from that of a parent, but both of them can play an active role in health promotion. Similarly, a healthcare practitioner has a larger role in health promotion as they are considered to be the sources of authoritative knowledge and are therefore responsible for their respective clients and for the promotion of health to the wider community and not only those existing in their immediate environment.
Individuals Influencing Others and Society
Those who are regarded as the role model in the society such as elite athletes are capable of easily promoting health in the society. When people watch their role models promoting something, they easily get influenced by it. However, there is no such influence and impact of the acts of government on the minds of people. Furthermore, celebrity health specialists ore celebrity chefs are in a privileged position for promoting health among the individuals. Individuals are now in a better position to promote health with the help of technology as it offers a number of methods for doing so. It can be done by individuals by writing a blog with information related to health (9). The use of social media can also be made for sharing health related information and own research can be performed into health regarding the issues that are relevant to them (10). Such actions can management wider health promotion and encourage individuals to take their role and responsibility for the promotion of health (11). This helps in concluding that there is no importance of the role of government in determining the behavior of people. Individuals have the capability of widely promoting health along with influencing the health of a number of people (12).
However, it is also argued that the role of government should not be minimized or eliminated in determining people’s behavior. This is due to the fact that individuals do not always behave in the interest of their own and community. Some of the behaviors are completely undesirable and need to be prevented. As far as public health is concerned, certain practices are undertaken by the individuals such as tobacco use which severely affects their health. Lack of physical activity and poor diet are some of the reasons that cause obesity in individuals (13). Public health initiatives undertaken by the government include efforts for promoting open and free information for the purpose of facilitating informed decision making, protecting individuals from being harmed by groups and other individuals and facilitating societal action for promoting and protecting health. Such initiatives of the government empowers people by providing free and open information for making informed choices and reducing the probability that hidden information or misinformation will endanger health. The approach used by the individuals in health promotion does not have a large reach. However, the government can extend its operations related to health promotion on a wider scale which is not possible at an individual level (14).
Role of Role Models, Celebrity Health Specialists, and Technology in Health Promotion
The disclosure of factual information and prevention from the dissemination of misleading or inaccurate information is not an easy task at the level of an individual. Laws are required for undertaking health promotion practices and extending its reach so that everyone can understand what options should be chosen by them for keeping their health protected. Government can undertake practices such as requiring calorie labelling in restaurants which have the capability of encouraging various companies to offer and people to select more healthy food options. Such transparency required by the laws is often valued by the people irrespective of the health effects (15).
The information provided by the government is considered to be more authentic than the information provided by the individuals. However, such wider power lies only with the government. The power of such information is visible from the fact that a large number of people have been encouraged to quit smoking as the result of graphic warnings on the packages of tobacco and advertising related to anti-tobacco. Clear information is conveyed by the pack warnings regarding the health effects of tobacco usage thereby creating a visceral and visual counter to the misleading and often aggressive information spread by the tobacco companies, which have been found guilty of purposely misleading public regarding the health effects of tobacco (16).
Another role of government in determining the behavior of the individuals included protecting them from the preventable harm that is caused by groups or other individuals. Others may get affected as a result of the right of the individual to engage in specific conduct. It is the responsibility of the government to take into consideration the protection of individuals from the unhealthy environments, whether the health risk sources are natural or the creation of organizations or people (17).
Therefore, it is argued that for certain issues, government may be the only entity which has the capability of promoting the greater good of people by reconciling economic and social interests. Applying a limit on the promotion of alcohol and tobacco assists individuals by minimizing its consumption and provides advantages to the companies by way of increasing the productivity of workforce and reducing the overall healthcare costs. The employees and shareholders of the alcohol and tobacco companies are benefitted as a result of increased use of such products, but it also increases the economic, medical, and social costs for the society along with illness and deaths caused due the usage of these products. It is the responsibility of the government to act in response to such factors and to take steps for health promotion (18).
The smoke free laws demonstrate the increasing acceptance of the actions that protect individuals from the conduct of others. Laws cannot be introduced by individuals for binding others for not undertaking certain practices. The introduction of such laws are often found to be controversial, with rivals foretelling reduced profits for hospitality industry and criticizing contravention of personal freedoms. However, such laws gain acceptance when people start recognizing the health benefits arising out of it (19).
Furthermore, individuals can only create awareness at their level regarding the factors causing hazardous effects on the health. However, the government is capable of taking action by eliminating the hazardous elements from being used that cause harmful effects on the health. For example, actions have been taken by the government for the purpose of preventing harm caused by others through the elimination of artificial trans fats from the food supplies which in turn protects the individuals from the contributor to cardiovascular disease (20). The ignition interlock devices necessitated by the government in the vehicles protects the public from the convicted truck drivers.
The role of government in determining people’s behavior is important as government is capable of taking population- wide action for such protection and promotion. For the protection of public health, the actions of government are more effective and efficient means than the actions of individuals. Floridization of water, immunization mandates, micronutrient fortification of flour and iodization of salt are all the examples of this type of actions which can only be taken by government and not by individuals (21). All these actions created controversies at the initial stages but now they have been widely accepted because they help in saving money and reducing disability, illness and death.
These actions have the capability of serving entire community and cannot be feasibly implemented by the individuals on their own. The public health actions that are most controversial consider the regulation of behavior of individuals in a way which can improve their own health. The Government is always interested in a healthier population which is the reason behind the provision of knowledge to the individuals so that they can make right decisions and does not cause harm to their health. There have been some controversial issues such as taxing, limiting portion sizes and decreasing access to sugar- sweetened beverages. Similarly, laws related to the use of helmet on motorcycles and seatbelt in cars demonstrate the balancing acts performed by the government between individual rights and health benefits have and related financial costs for the purpose of enforcement (22). However, such enforcements reduce societal costs, prevent deaths and traffic injuries.
The public health actions taken by the government have a number of potential benefits including health care, economic and productivity gains along with certain intrinsic benefits of healthier and longer lives. It is the responsibility of the government to protect the individuals through the dissemination of accurate information and implementation of effective public health actions. The failure of the government in the protection and improvement of the health of people result in the sufferings of the society. Promotion and marketing by the government at a large scale results in the acknowledgement of a number of individuals (23). However, the overall economic development resulting due to these actions are often ignored by not giving due importance to the role of government. However, it the responsibility of the government to make the implementation of effective health measures that results in increasing the information available to the general public. This assists individuals in making right decisions, promoting health, protecting people from harm and creating an environment which supports healthy behaviors. The individuals and whole society is benefitted from the public health actions by resulting in financial, health and productivity gains.
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are conflicting views on the topic that “the government should have little or no role in determining the behavior of people. Promotion of health is the responsibility of the individual”. Some argue that promotion of health undertaken by individuals is supposed to be more effective as people understand and get influenced by such promotion very easily. This is due to the fact that ultimate role in health promotion is of the individuals and not of the government. Government can guide individuals but the adoption of a healthier lifestyle will always remain their own choice. Government’s role is limited to the development of policies and provisions of funding towards the development of personal skills. More important responsibility is with the individuals who look for developing their own skills in the context of health. They can easily promote health at school, to peers and family (24).
However, it is also true that role of government should not be minimized or eliminated in determining people’s behavior. This is because that the behavior of the individuals is not always in the interest of their own and community. Government can undertake promotion of health at a large scale by disseminating information to make informed decision making, formulating laws and plans, which is not possible at the individual level. More authenticity is assumed in the information provided by the government than the information provided by the individuals. Governments also have the ability of protecting the individuals from preventable harm resulting in benefits for the individuals and entire society.
Therefore, individuals and government have their own role in the promotion of health and both are equally important. None of the role can considered to be less important as both complement each other. Promotion of health can take place effectively only when both government and individuals will seriously perform their roles. Therefore, it cannot be said that ‘the government should have little or no role to play in determining people’s behavior. Promotion of health is a responsibility of the individual.’
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