ASSIGMENT #3

Final Blog Post

                                                          Abstract

Assignment #3 summarizes the topics discussed in course 601, what I experienced and learned.  Four areas of interest are introduced in this assignment. Topic one, professionalism, encompasses both what it means to be a professional and how a professional should act in social media.  Topic two notes the definition of health and how the determinants of health impacts on it.  The third topic of discussion discusses the Social Ecological Model of health and how it may assist researches to find ways in which help others cope with/overcome a mental illness and, lastly, topic four explains the definition of chronic diseases, specifically, dementia. 

Keywords:  Professionalism, social media, definition of health, determinants of health, Social Ecological Model, chronic diseases, mental health, dementia.

​

                         My Experiences and Learning Opportunities with 601

This is a summary of my experience and learning opportunities with 601.  In week one of this course the class was asked to discuss professionalism and social media and to describe an appropriate social media presence.  When discussing professionalism, I explained myself as being a professional due to taking pride in my work, being honest and honorable, treating others fairly, and being proactive. I also feel I am a professional by the way I represent myself and organization. The class also discussed professionalism and social media and how a professional should behave on social media.  Through reflection I realized a professional should be polite, open-minded and mindful when interacting on social media.  I learned social media can be beneficial for employees but may also be of risk if a professional behaves in ways to cause others to frown upon them, and who they represent. Balestra (2018) states professionals have ruined their reputation, their employer’s reputation and have lost their employment due to inappropriate posts on social media.  Also, inappropriate use can lead to legal problems for nurses causing employment termination, malpractice claims and various disciplinary actions from nursing licensing boards and the employer (Balestra, 2018).   Through my curation of resources, reflection and discussions, with other students, I have gained insight into how I am as a professional, how I want to act to keep my reputation, and to be cautious when using social media.  I have also realised social media can be useful and an asset with sharing information and ideas.  Campbell et al. (2016) explains social media may offer benefits for health professionals such as opportunities for professional development, advertising, a forum for advocacy, networking and for information sharing. 

      Another topic of discussion in 601 was the definition of healthcare and the determinants of health.  Information learned from this unit, is being used now, and will be used in my future employment endeavours.  This topic opened my eyes to how society had viewed health in the past and how society views health in the present.  Leonardi (2018) explains the current definition of health by the World Health Organization (WHO) is no longer adequate for the challenges of the health care system today (Leonardi, 2018).  The WHO definition of health explains health as being a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (Oleribe et al., 2018).  This definition has become unfit for dealing with today’s challenges arising from the increase in the aging population and chronic illness, due to the improvement in health care keeping people alive longer.  While viewing resources on this topic I came to realize I agree, with the opinion, the WHO’s definition of health needs changing.  Leonardi (2018) explains a problem aspect of the WHO definition of health is the definition implies a life free of poverty, vices, iniquity, discrimination, violence, oppression and war.  Also, the WHO definition of health correlates well-being with health.   There are people who suffer from an illness but are still able to cope and live with a positive wellbeing.  Being a Registered Nurse I have seen many people with multiple co-morbidities, and they presented with a positive attitude towards life.  During my career in health care, the health care team looks to all areas in a patient’s life to assist the patient in helping them overcome an illness or cope with an illness.   All areas of a person’s life fall into the determinants of health and can be assessed to what may be contributing to their illness, their perception of their illness and how they take care of themselves.  For example, a person may have grown up in an area with community violence.  This person may have developed a mental health illness due to seeing violence or being a victim of violence.  Given this information, a health care plan for this person could include a program targeting counselling with other mental health services.   If the affected person lives within violence, assistance could also include helping this individual find a safe community to reside in.   The WHO (2014) explains the determinants of health affect and influence one's mental health. This subject, of 601, has reinforced the importance of using the determinants of health to help communities overcome an illness and for health professionals to know what they can to do to lower the chances of them developing an illness by what changes need to be made in a persons life. 

      In the multilevel approach to understanding health unit, I viewed various multi-level models of health care.  After comparing the models, I concluded the Social Ecological Model of health was the best model to explain the health issue of mental health.  The social Ecological Model of health looks at all factors in a person’s/community’s life to find correlations that may be contributing to a chronic illness.  I used this model to explain the causes of mental health illness in an individual.  The Social Ecological Model of health explains health as being affected by the interaction between an individual, community, physical, social and political environments (Hidayat, 2014).  To increase healthy mental health focus needs to concentrate on factors that influence choices and not just the behavioral choices of each person. The Social Ecological Model assists in identifying multiple factors that influence an individual's behavior.  Changes in behavior are more apt to be successful when multiple levels of influence are addressed together (Hidayat, 2014).  This model allows health care professionals to find what could be causing a person’s behavior, lifestyle, beliefs, and illness.  For example, an individual may have grown up in an abusive household, alcohol and substance use.  They may have followed this pattern and may have mental health issues due to the abuse they experienced, alcohol and other substance abuse and/or a mental health disorder due to it being inherited from family.   Knowing this information can assist health care professionals in diagnosis and treatment for this individual.  During my employment I would gather information on an admission of a patient with a mental health illness.  This information would be utilized by staff and clinicians to effectively treat the patient.

            Another unit in this course addressed chronic diseases.  Bottom of FormPublic Health of Ontario (2018) define chronic diseases as the leading cause of death and disability in Ontario.  Various chronic diseases include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, dementia, mental illness and addictions. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) defines chronic disease as being long in duration and slow progression. WHO statistics shows in Canada in 2016 the total population of Canadian was 36, 290, 000 with 226, 000 having a chronic disease.  This number accounted for 88% of all deaths from a chronic disease.  Dementia is chronic disease affecting persons of age 65 years and older.  The Government of Canada states 419, 000 of adults over the age of 65 years have dementia, almost two thirds being women. This number does not include those under the age of 65 years with an early onset of dementia. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care reports in 2016 654, 000 people in Canada had dementia with an increase in yearly of 25, 000 people.   They report it is estimated there are 56, 000 individuals with dementia in long-term care.  Through the curation of material on this topic I have learned, dementia, is a disorder that causes gradual and worsening memory loss and mental skills, is not a normal aging process, those with a first degree relative with dementia have a high chance of developing it and woman are at a higher risk of developing it.  Large amounts of alcohol use, smoking and chronic hypertension have been linked to dementia.  I witness patients/residents suffer from dementia at early stages with memory loss to late stages of dementia where they do not remember their loved ones, need much assistance with activities of daily living, and suffer from mental health symptoms of insomnia, depression, anxiety, delusions, suspicion and hallucinations.  Dementia is challenging for the resident/patient and their family.  The information I have learned on this subject I can bring to my place of employment to educate staff, resident’s and their families. 

                                                        References

Balestra, M.L. (2018). Social media missteps could put your nursing license at risk.                    American Nurse Today,13(3), 20-22.

Brydsten, A., Hammarstrom, A., & Sebastian, M.S. (2018). Health inequalities between

     employed and unemployed in northern Sweden: A decomposition analysis of social

     determinants for mental health. Intermediate Journal for Equity in Health, 1-11.

Campbell, S., Chong, S., Ewan, V.,Toombs, E., Tzalaziditis, R., & Maranzan, A.K.

      (2016).   Social Medipolicy for graduate students challenges and opportunities for

       professional psychology training programs. Canadian Psychology, 57(3), 202-210.

Compton, M.T., Shims, R.S. (2015). The social determinants of mental health. Clinical

      Synthesis, 13(4), 419-25.

Figueredo, D.S., Heidemann, I.T.S.B., Fernandes, G.C.M., Arawka,  A.M., Souza de                    Oliveiro L., & Magagnin, A.B. (2019). Health promotion to social determinants:                  Possibility for equity. Journal of Nursing, 13(4), 943-51. 

Flury, C. (2017). Social Media as leadership tool for nurse executives. Nursing

       Economics, 35(5), 272-275.

Gagnon, K., & Sabus, C. (2015). Professionalism in a digital age:Opportuities and 

        considerations fousing media in health care.  PhysicalTherapy, 95(3), 406-414.

Government of Canada. (2018). Social determinants of health of inequalities. Retrieved               from

      https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-

health/what-determines-health.html

Hidayat, M. T. (2014).  Socio-ecological model of mental health problem; interactions

        between the social, biological, economics & environmental determinants. School of

        Public Health Faculty of Medicine.

Leonardi, F. (201). The definition of health: Towards new perspectives. International                   Journal of Health Services, 48 (4), 735-748.

Oleribe, O. O., Ukwedeh, O., Burstow, N. J., Gomaa, A. I., Sonderup, M. W., Cook, N.,              Waked, I., Spearman, W., & Taylor-Robinson. (2018). Health: Redefined. PanAfrican          Medical Journal, 30, 292-294.

Schmitt, T., Sims-Giddens, S., & BoothR. (2012). Social media use in nursing

        education.  Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3), 1-17.

Schoeder, K., Malone, S.K., McCabe, E., & Lipman, T. (2018). Addressing the social

       determinants of health: A call to action for school nurses. The Journal of School

Nursing, 34(3), 182-91.

World Health Organization. (2014). The determinants of health and mental health. Retrieved from        https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/12828/9789241506809_eng.pd;jsessio         nid=13BCE2D

Public Health of Ontario. (2018). Chronic diseases and conditions. Retrieved from            https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/diseases-and-conditions/chronic-diseases-and-        conditions