Health Promotion: The Three Levels of Prevention Essay

Health Promotion:

The three levels of prevention in health promotion in nursing practice are primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The process of prevention in nursing practice is made up of preventing diseases, curing them, and restricting their progression. These three levels of prevention work towards health promotion, which is described as the combination of academic and environmental support for living conditions and actions that contribute to the well-being of an individual and the community. The main goal of health promotion is to allow people to make informed decisions about their behaviors and actions in relation to health and well-being. As previously mentioned, health promotion is achieved through primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention deals with specific protection while secondary prevention involves early diagnosis, treatment, and restricting illness and tertiary prevention focuses on restoration and rehabilitation.

Review and Comparison of Articles:

As an important aspect in nursing practice, health promotion prevention has been a topic of extensive research in the nursing field. There are various studies that have been conducted to examine this issue in light of the evolving nursing roles and responsibilities in health promotion and the use of health promotion methods in every area of nursing. Due to the widespread research on health promotion prevention, this paper reviews and compares three studies on the issue. The primary prevention article examines health promotion and ill-health prevention in light of the role of general practice (Peckham, Hann & Boyce, 2011, p.317).The article considers primary care as the foundation of public health and health promotion with regards to the role of general practitioners in promoting health and preventing disease. The secondary prevention article evaluates addressing mental health promotion in chronic disease prevention and health promotion (Perry et al., 2010, p.2337). The authors discuss how a comprehensive public health approach could be an effective way of preventing chronic disease while promoting health. The third article presents tertiary prevention for stroke by discussing the four lifestyle related risk factors that contribute to recurrence of the disease (Lawrence et al., 2009, p.471).

Since the articles focus on different aspect of prevention, they have different definitions of health promotion. In the primary prevention journal, health promotion is described as working towards good health and well-being through holistic strategies like health education, behavior change, empowerment, community development, protection, and prevention (Peckham, Hann & Boyce, 2011, p.318). Secondary prevention article describes health promotion as the process of enabling individuals to enhance control of their health and its risk factors, which in turn improves their health (Perry et al., 2010, p.2338). Health promotion in the tertiary article is described as providing information, education, and interventions geared towards provoking and supporting lifestyle change.

Purpose of Health Promotion in Nursing Practice:

Health promotion plays a crucial role….....