Part 1:
Health promotion and disease prevention are based on the idea that optimal health should be promoted and disease should be prevented wherever possible. The focus on preventing disease often leads to tension between encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their own health, on the one hand, and making them feel as if they are somehow responsible for causing their health condition, on the other hand.
To prepare for this Discussion, review the section “Assumptions of Health Promotion” (pp. 9-10) presented in your course text, and the methods utilized in planning a health promotion program. Consider the assumptions of health promotion on which these methods are based, paying particular attention to assumption #8.
Start the Discussion by describing the challenges that program planners face when trying to promote the idea of personal responsibility with regard to health behavior while also trying to avoid placing the blame on individuals for their health status. Is it possible to do both? Explain why or why not.
Book
McKenzie, J. F., Neiger, B. L., & Thackeray, R. (2017). Planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs: A primer (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson.
