Introduction
Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses in America today (Thalacker, 2011). As such, it is important to implement interventions that will allow for the prevention of this disease. In this regard, this paper discusses the use of the Health Belief Model as a framework for developing health educational programs that aim to promote healthier behaviors among the population, particularly in relation to hypertension. This will be in consonance with the objectives of the Healthy People 2020 program, which advocates for the use of an ecological and determinants approach in the promotion of health and the prevention of diseases (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, n.d.).
Purpose of the Research Study
In the article Hypertension and the Hmong Community: Using The Health Belief Model for Health Promotion, the author Kimberly Murphy Thalacker (2011) aims to show that the Health Belief Model can be used as a framework for the development of an effective health educational program, which in turn aims to promote health behavioral changes among Hmong Americans, particularly with regards to the prevention of hypertension.
Thalacker (2011) shows that the use of the Health Belief Model can help promote health behavioral changes among the Hmong Americans who are very attached to their traditional beliefs regarding health and healthcare and who resist the Western concepts of healthcare.
This will aid the objectives of the Healthy People 2020 program, which advocates that the most effective interventions for promoting good health and health behaviors are those that are able to address the determinants of health (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion). In the case of the Hmong Americans, the determinants of health that need to be addressed include their social environment, their ethnicity, their socioeconomic status, and their lack of education, all of which influence their health behaviors.
In turn, by promoting positive health behaviors among the Hmong Americans, such initiatives can contribute to the achievement of the Healthy People 2020 program’s overarching goals, which include the attainment of high quality and longer lives, which are free of injury, disability, preventable disease, and premature death; the achievement of health equity, elimination of disparities, and improvement of all groups’ health status; the creation of physical and social environments that promote good health for everyone; and the promotion of healthy behaviors, healthy development, and the quality of life for people of all ages (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, n.d).
Description of the Study
The study focuses on the Hmong Americans, which are a minority group from Laos (Thalacker, 2011). They are considered to have the highest poverty rate among the Asian populations in the US and they have also been found to have high incidences of hypertension, sleep disorder symptoms, and being overweight (Thalacker, 2011). They also believe in shamans and in the use of herbal medicine Moreover, they believe that illnesses are caused by spirits and that they can be cured of such illnesses through spiritual healing. As well, they do not believe in the value of managing their disease and in obtaining healthcare.
However, only with knowledge about disease prevention will individuals be motivated to modify their lifestyles (Thalacker, 2011); thus, putting an emphasis on the importance of health education in altering health behaviors.
In this regard, Thalacker (2011) conducts a systematic review of the literature in order to show that the Health Belief Model can be employed to address the factors that hinder people from adapting preventive health behaviors. These factors include the perceived susceptibility to disease; the perceived severity of disease; the perceived benefits of specific behaviors in decreasing the severity of a disease; and the perceived barriers (e.g. pain and cost) in the prevention of a disease (Thalacker, 2011). Moreover, the model aims to modify factors such as social influences, the demographics, and the cues to action, such as guidance from other people (Thalacker, 2011). It is important for these factors to be addressed as individuals are likely to change their behaviors only if they believe that they are vulnerable or susceptible to disease, that the disease will be severe, and that they can reduce the disease’s severity as well as their susceptibility to the disease through certain behaviors (Thalacker, 2011).
Intervention of the Study
With the use of the Health Belief Model, Thalacker (2011) proposed the development of a community-based educational and management program that addressed the people’s misconceptions about hypertension and the ways by which it can be treated. She asserted that by educating the Hmong Americans, they can be made aware of their risk of hypertension and the severity of the disease, as well of the various ways they can prevent it, which can in turn motivate them to comply with treatment recommendations and make lifestyle changes (Thalacker, 2011). She also recommended that barriers be addressed before introducing a health program where such barriers include the availability of community programs, the accessibility to healthcare, and the costs of healthcare services (Thalacker, 2011). She further asserted that it would be necessary to obtain the support of the group’s male leaders, given the patriarchal nature of their culture (Thalacker, 2011).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the use of the Health Belief Model in the development and implementation of health educational programs will be relevant to the Healthy People 2020 program outcomes for hypertension in that this model will enable healthcare professionals to reach out to and effect change in the many diverse groups in America. Since the USA is a melting pot of various cultures and ethnicities, each of which has their own beliefs, where such beliefs influence their health behaviors, it is only through interventions that tap into these beliefs can health behavior changes be instigated. More than any medical treatment, health behavior changes provide for a longer term solution to health problems. However, only by educating and empowering people will they be motivated to behave in a healthier fashion.
Discussion
Although Thalacker (2011) did not provide actual evidence of the effectiveness of the Health Belief model in the development of health educational programs by way of experimental or quantitative results, she was still able to provide sufficient support – through empirical evidence from previous studies -- for the validity of her proposition with regards to the effectiveness of using the Health Belief Model in altering the health behaviors of the Hmong Americans. She was able to show that the Hmong Americans’ health behaviors were influenced by their cultural beliefs and that these beliefs can be altered by educating them about healthcare and disease management.
Application to Nursing Practice
Nurses play an important role in advocating for health behaviors. Since they work most closely with the patients, they are often the healthcare professionals that patients trust the most and with whom they develop a close relationship. In this regard, nurses are in a position to influence the parent’s health behaviors by educating them on healthcare and disease management and by encouraging them to modify their lifestyle and health behaviors.
With an understanding of the Health behavior Model, nurses will become more capable of understanding and predicting patients’ health behaviors and of determining how they can positively influence such behaviors.
Summary
This paper discussed the research conducted by Thalacker (2011), which findings she described in the article Hypertension and the Hmong Community: Using The Health Belief Model for Health Promotion. The use of the Health Belief Model in the development of health educational programs was then discussed, particularly with regards to educating the Hmong Americans about the prevention of hypertension. The paper described how such initiatives could contribute to the goals of the Healthy People 2020 program. More specifically, the paper showed how the Health Belief Model could be used to help eliminate the determinants of health, which influenced people’s health behaviors. Finally, the paper discussed how the Health Belief Model and Thalacker’s (2011) findings can be applied in nursing practice.
References
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy people 2020 framework.
Retrieved from http:// www.healthypeople.gov.
Thalacker, K. M. (2011, July 5). Hypertension and the Hmong community: Using
the health belief model for health promotion. Health Promotion Practice, 12(4), 538-543.
doi: 10.1177/1524839909353735.
References
