Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical mental and social wellbeing, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the e...nvironment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource fo everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy lifestyles to wellbeing.
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Guide to national implementation of the Shanghai Declaration describes policy orientations and approaches that can unlock the transformative potential of health promotion for sustainable development. This guide was developed to support country level implementation of the commitments and recommendati...ons in the Shanghai Declaration.
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There are many calls for improved integration between
primary care and public health, but also sizeable obstacles to achieving
this, such as differences in the ways the two sectors are organised and
financed, as well as differences in education, culture and approach.
This article, based on a new... Observatory policy brief, describes the
types of interventions that come into consideration, the principles
that should be followed, and the factors that can facilitate successful
collaboration. While there is no universal template that can be followed
by all countries, improved integration promises to yield substantial
benefits to patients and wider populations.
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Primary health care, as outlined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata and again 40 years later in the 2018 WHO/UNICEF document A vision for primary health care in the 21st century: towards universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, is a whole-of-government and whole-of-society a...pproach to health that combines the following three components: multisectoral policy and action; empowered people and communities; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services.(1) Primary health care-oriented health systems are health systems organized and operated so as to make the right to the highest attainable level of health the main goal, while maximizing equity and solidarity. They are composed of a core set of structural and functional elements that support achieving universal coverage and access to services that are acceptable to the population and that are equity enhancing. The term “primary care” refers to a key process in the health system that supports first-contact, accessible, continued, comprehensive and coordinated patient-focused care.
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Nurses have four fundamental responsibilities: to promote health, to prevent illness, to restore health and to alleviate suffering. The need for nursing is universal. Inherent in nursing is a respect for human rights, including cultural rights, the right to life and choice, to dignity and to be trea...ted with respect. Nursing care is respectful of and unrestricted by considerations of age, colour, creed, culture,disability or illness, gender, sexual orientation, nationality,politics, race or social status.Nurses render health services to the individual, the family and the community and coordinate their services with those of related groups.
The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses has four principal elements that outline the standards of ethical conduct.
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Modern healthcare has given rise to extremely complex and multifaceted ethical dilemmas. All too often physicians are unprepared to manage these competently. This publication is specifically structured to reinforce and strengthen the ethical mindset and prac...tice of physicians and provide tools to find ethical solutions to these dilemmas. It is not a list of “rights and wrongs” but an attempt to sensitise the conscience of the physician, which is the basis for all sound and ethical decision-making. To this end, you will find several case studies in the book, which are intended to foster individual ethical reflection as well as discussion within team settings.
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Nurses at present are facing various personal, interpersonal, professional, institutional and socio cultural challenges in their professional performance. Dealing with these issues may not be always clear. The lack of one correct approach in addressing different conte...xtual issues may lead to ethical dilemmas. Responding to this complex issues demand nurses to acquire comprehensive ethical knowledge and skills in various decision making process. Although teaching materials have a pivotal role to play in helping nurses in this endeavor, comprehensive books inclusive of all the topics in the curriculum is scarce in Ethiopia. Therefore, this lecture note is prepared to overcome the acute shortage of reference materials reflecting the national context and be used as a teaching material for nurses at various levels. The lecture note is divided in to five units. Unit one of this lecture note deals with the history of nursing, unit two about philosophy of nursing, unit three health and illness, unit four Ethico-legal aspects to nursing, and unit five communication and interpersonal relationships in nursing,
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The Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) is a health systems improvement programme designed to support the work of primary care health workers in underserved communities (like doctors, nurses, midwives, health officers, community health practitioners), strengthen the health services in which they w...ork and thereby achieve the best possible patient outcomes
You can register for free and get the PACK Global Adult Guide for free
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This document outlines why and how nurses and midwives are important, not only for individual health optimization but also to achieve the thematic priorities of For the Future. More specifically, it provides case studies to showcase the amazing work that nurses and midwives across the Region are doi...ng to improve health. The document also provides future policy directions to strengthen the scope and leadership of the nursing and midwifery workforce, alongside actions to accelerate investment in their education, skills and employment.
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Key findings from a February 2021 survey from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC)
Healthcare 2020, 8(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8010026
The current article is an integrative and analytical literature review on the concept and meaning of empathy in health and social care professionals. Empathy, i.e., the ability to understand the perso...nal experience of the patient without bonding with them, constitutes an important communication skill for a health professional, one that includes three dimensions: the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. It has been proven that health professionals with high levels of empathy operate more efficiently as to the fulfillment of their role in eliciting therapeutic change.The empathetic professional comprehends the needs of the health care users, as the latter feel safe to express the thoughts and problems that concern them. Although the importance of empathy is undeniable, a significantly high percentage of health professionals seem to find it difficult to adopt a model of empathetic communication in their everyday practice. Some of the factors that negatively influence the development of empathy are the high number of patients that professionals have to manage, the lack of adequate time, the focus on therapy within the existing academic culture, but also the lack of education in empathy. Developing empathetic skills should not only be the underlying objective in the teaching process of health and social care undergraduate students, but also the subject of the lifelong and continuous education of professionals
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The State of the world’s nursing 2020 report provides the latest, most up-to-date evidence on and policy options for the global nursing workforce.
Ghana's attempt to regulate health care waste management started in 2002 with the development of guidelines on health care waste manage-ment by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2006, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) also developed the Health Care Waste Management Policy and Guidelines as ...a single document.
Although awareness on Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) has improved in recent years, there is the need for a systematic approach to improve on effective segregation, safe collection, and storage, as well as ultimate treatment before disposal.
This guideline seeks to ensure that HCW is managed effectively in compliance with existing International Conventions that Ghana is a signatory to, national laws and regulations, and others to be passed in future.
Recommendations for better management of HCW in the nation's health care facilities have been presented in this document. Also, standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been developed to provide
guidance to various levels of the health facilities.
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Community health workers (CHWs) play a vital role in health service delivery, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. During any outbreak CHWs are relied on to help control the spread. However, they are often the last in line to receive necessary health products and protective eq...uipment, which affects their ability to safely serve their communities.
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Person-centred evidence based practice (EBP)- Clinical Pocket Reference - for students, nurses and other healthcare professionals
All personnel performing SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) need to understand how to safely perform testing, ensure quality testing and interpret results. This course is developed to provide theoretical knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 Ag-RDT testing. The learning package consists of 10 modu...les, which include recorded presentations and videos.
Availble in different languages
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