Health promotion programs are designed to enhance the overall health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. These initiatives can be tailored to meet the particular needs of a certain population, such as promoting child and family nutrition in South Los Angeles or providing education and prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Other examples of health promotion programs may include company-sponsored smoking cessation training, visits to a nutritionist for information on healthy cooking, discounts on fitness center memberships, or free cholesterol testing. When promotional campaigns educate and motivate people about why they need to increase their activity levels, it may be easier for them to exercise regularly or to incorporate active lifestyles into their daily schedules.
This awareness-raising is usually done through community health promotion programs, which are often executed by community health workers with experience and in-depth knowledge about health and fitness. Breastfeeding promotion programs provide education and information about breastfeeding during prenatal and postnatal care and offer counseling from health care providers or trained volunteers, as well as support groups for breastfeeding parents. These programs often establish policies and supports for breastfeeding in clinical settings, such as hospitals and maternity centers, as well as in community settings, such as workplaces and day care centers. Breastfeeding promotion programs can also provide information and education to doctors, nurses, midwives, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, and breastfeeding consultants.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has identified social determinants of health as economic, social, cultural and political conditions that affect the state of health. Community health workers (CHW), also known as Health Promoters in Latino communities, are reliable and knowledgeable paraprofessionals who help their communities achieve health and well-being. Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for community health workers has increased. The advantages of health promotion programs are numerous. They can help reduce the risk of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer by encouraging people to increase their physical activity levels.
They can also help improve access to healthy foods in areas where full-service supermarkets are rare. Additionally, they can provide education about breastfeeding which can help reduce infant mortality rates. Finally, they can help address social determinants of health by providing reliable information about economic, social, cultural and political conditions that affect the state of health.
