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Historic and Future Health Promotion Contexts for Nursing |
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| Authors: | Irene S. Morgan Gene W. Marsh |
| Affiliation: | Irene S. Morgan, RNC, FNP, PhD, Kappa Omicron;, Associate Professor, California State University, Chico, School of Nursing, Chico, CA. Gene W. Marsh, RN, PhD, Alpha Kappa at Lage;, Associate Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing, Denver, CO and Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom. |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Health promotion in the United States has been narrowly defined focusing primarily on individual behaviors, risk factors, and lifestyle. This article traces the historic and conceptual roots of health promotion care in the United States and critically examines the direction nurses have taken in health promotion. Scope: Health promotion care in Western ideology emphasizes the value of individuals and the importance of personal responsibility for success or failure. Conclusions: Health promotion nursing interventions, based on the tenets of individual choice and knowledge, restrict the range of interventions. The complex nature of health promotion requires that nurses consider the economic, sociopolitical, and cultural context in which health care takes place. Recommendations are made for an expanded nursing role in health promotion, one that is consistent with nursing's underlying contextual focus and concern with environments. |
| Keywords: | health promotion/well ness health policy nursing role |