According to Edelman, Mandle, and Kudzma (2014), health promotion refers to the process of enabling individuals have or increase control over their health. This involves the consideration of social and environmental interventions that encourage healthy behavior and practices. Health care practitioners are required to uphold various values and encourage their adoption among patients to promote healthy living. However, these values may conflict with those held by patients, leading to an impasse between healthcare professionals and their patients.
In such instances, it is advised by Edelman et al. (2014), that practitioners need to first understand the values held by patients before proposing the adoption of their health promotion values. This allows them to understand the underlying causes that influence their stances. Edelman et al. (2014), indicates that various forces are responsible for the differences in values, such as culture, identity, and social contexts. Therefore, health practitioners are required to understand that values are culture-bound (Edelman et al., 2014). This will allow him/her understand how traditions, culture, and practices affect the diverse society we presently live in. this appreciation will allow the individual approach clients in respect to culture-awareness, hence allowing him/her approach the client in a sensitive manner considering the unique perspectives held by different individuals.
Additionally, health practitioners can clarify their values in consideration of their clients’. Value clarification is an approach that allows one to identify and understand the importance of their values (Edelman et al., 2014). Since values are subject to change, the initial understanding of an individual’s values helps the practitioner understand the client’s position and their susceptibility to change. Once this is done, the practitioner should also keep in mind his/her values while taking into consideration the need to respect the client’s wishes and decisions. Therefore, the practitioner can be able to examine the conflict and present the evidence in support of health promotion interventions.
Reference
Edelman, C., Mandle, C. L., & Kudzma, E. C. (2014). Health promotion throughout the life span (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
