When I first chose this course as part of my Master of Nursing journey, I did not realize the amount of work and personal growth this program would offer. My thoughts were primarily negative towards the workload and ways we needed to present our weekly topics. There are so many ways to provide researched information and create visual aids for promoting health to the target population. Much of my time each week was spent learning how to create artifacts and make them look professional, which proved highly challenging. However, I found it exciting to diversify my ePortfolio and learn new ways to promote health. This course had me dive much deeper into the foundations of Canadian health and the challenges we have faced and continue to face as a country. The coined term “health for all” sounds impressive, but the reality of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) is only now finally having more focus. The COVID-19 Pandemic has further revealed our health system’s inequalities and the impact it has had on our LGBTQ2S+, racial or ethnic minorities, children, elderly, socioeconomically disadvantaged, underinsured or those with certain medical conditions, and Indigenous people, Inuit, and Métis peoples. While many organizations put their DEIA efforts on hold, some looked at it as an opportunity to transform their organization and culture to integrate DEIA during this unfrozen state by reorganizing and integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into their mission, vision, and structural processes.

The most powerful learning moment I had in this course is owning my positionality statement and educating and supporting the next generation with the understanding that equal health is not for all until everyone is included. We all need to do our part because each small step leads to cultural change. I am proud to be Canadian!

Vaccine hesitancy continues to be on the rise, and social media is playing a role in who the public trusts for vaccine safety and guidance. Social media is a powerful medium for communication for adolescents around health information and will not hasten anytime soon. Social media contributes to vaccine hesitancy through an increase in misinformation and disinformation. If the attitude of increased hesitancy continues, it can pose a threat to the efforts already achieved to the advances to human health. Social media platforms continue to reach more people through easy access and sharing of information, and a person can share information at an alarming rate without factual evidence. There is growing damage to the credibility of vaccine safety that social media platforms portray and the time it can take to try and “undo” the damage.

Social media continues to increase vaccine hesitancy due to the misinformation and disinformation found on their platforms (Bonnevie, 2020). Similarly, the adolescent population has increased their hesitancy towards vaccines, both through misleading information they read on social media platforms and exposure to their parent’s vaccine hesitancy perspectives (Bonnevie, 2020). The World Health Organization has placed vaccine hesitancy as one of their top ten reasons for threats to global health (WHO, 2019). Social media has played a vital role in spreading fear-based information specific to vaccines such as SARS-CoV-2 to the public and has affected vaccine hesitancy (Cinelli, 2020).

I have personally seen how influencers affect my children and younger family members and caused divisive behaviours. Social media peer Influencers can have a positive effect on the adolescent population and, in turn, promote some of their decision-making. Ultimately, connecting with the influencer captures their attention and promotes interest in the topic being looked at (Lim, 2017).

I believe the key to addressing the Mis/Dis information, is to counter as quickly as we can as health care providers with the “right” information. Perhaps this means combining Influencers with Health promotion.

References

Bonnevie, E., Goldbarg, J., Gallegos-Jeffrey, A. K., Rosenberg, S. D., Wartella, E., & Smyser, J. (2020). Content Themes and Influential Voices Within Vaccine Opposition on Twitter, 2019. American Journal of Public Health, 110, S326–S330. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305901

Cinelli, M., Quattrociocchi, W., Galeazzi, A., Valensise, C. M., Brugnoli, E., Schmidt, A. L., Zola, P., Zollo, F., & Scala, A. (2020). The COVID-19 social media infodemic. Scientific reports, 10(1), 16598. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73510-5

Lim, X.J., Radzol, A.R., Cheah, J., & Wong, M.W. (2017). The Impact of Social Media Influencerson Purchase Intention and the Mediation Effect of Customer Attitude. Psychology, 7(2), 19-36. DOI: 10.14707/ajbr.170035

World Health Organization (2019). Vaccine uptake in Canadian adults: Highlights from the 2016 adult Immunizations Coverage Survey (aNICS). https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/publications/healthy-living/2016-vaccine-uptake-canadian-adults-survey.html

So far, my journey has been humbling regarding my learning in Health promotion. During the first couple of weeks, I felt overwhelmed and would contribute to the postings in almost a robotic fashion. I worried about the context of the information I was providing and forgot about how this was “actually’ contributing to my learning. I was not applying myself to the personal goal I had set out for myself and had looked forward to for years. Of course, it did not help that my professional job was also consuming my time in an unplanned manner.

Throughout this course, I have had intermittent internal struggles and revelations. I have realized in my adult years that keeping up with current trends, technology, and research is paramount to furthering my growth as a person and in my profession. I see how the relevance of using contemporary approaches to health promotion, such as blog posts and creative artifacts, can help to reach the target population. Staying current with technology and creativity, I have come to learn, is essential, even if uncomfortable.

Once I allowed myself to relax, I began learning through the words and topics brought forward by my co-learners and the readings provided by the course. Although challenging, the different perspectives lent a new lens to my learning. I felt either awakened and encouraged by what I was learning and looking forward to sharing or feeling out of my element and second-guessing whether I was prepared to continue this dream of attaining my Master of Nursing. It has been like riding a rollercoaster. I chose the topic of excessive drinking because our last son is going to university next year and I have personally seen how excessive use of substances like alcohol has affected those close to me-including myself. Stress and peer pressure can be dangerous without the support a person is accustomed to.

Some of the issues that I have encountered so far in health promotion are the approaches that are new to me, such as the technology and process of getting the ideas out to the right population in the proper manner using the right tone. Procrastination does not boast well in a master’s program and scheduling a specific time to read and write has helped me organize the week-although I am not there yet.

This program has humbled my approach to what I thought I knew and has opened the reality of what I have yet to learn. I want to become the best nurse educator/mentor to offer mentorship to the next generation of nurses with the most current knowledge and forums. Technology is the new norm, and I am now open to pushing myself on unfamiliar grounds. I want to learn better ways to blog and reach the intended populations for the discussed topics.

MHST/NURS 631: Health Promotion

Preventing Excessive Alcohol Use

What do you know about this health promotion topic to date?

Here in Canada, we have low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines to help a person who chooses to drink decide when, where, why and how to drink (CCSA, 2018). There was a time, not so long ago, when we asked individuals about drinking habits regarding quantity consumed, and most would deny the actual amount due to feeling judged. These guidelines are helping to normalize discussing alcohol and bring awareness to thinking about personal choices. The pandemic has proven to increase alcohol consumption for Canadians aged 18-54 by 21-25% due to staying at home during Covid-19 (Ottawa, 2020). The reasons for increased consumption are lack of a regular schedule, boredom, and stress (Ottawa, 2020). Now that the pandemic has shifted, and most are returning to regular schedules, I see a need for increased health promotion on this topic. Promoting health needs to be unique and adaptable because every person and situation changes the status quo. The implemented process needs to be re-assessed and monitored as to whether it is sustainable, effective, and fair for all involved. Health promotion should allow people to feel empowered while taking charge and improving their health.

What are my own personal learning goals?

            My learning goals are to gain knowledge on the background efforts to implement health promotion around this topic. I want to learn how to reach populations that may not see their choices as problematic to their health. There is so much unchartered territory that I have yet to unmask, and I look forward to uncovering ways to promote this challenging topic, which is socially normalized.

What am I most excited to learn?

            I am most excited to learn about ways to empower and educate people to help them make the changes that will offer them their best healthy life while promoting positive ways to improve their lifestyle consistently. This doesn’t necessarily mean stopping with alcohol altogether but stopping and thinking before making a choice.

Does anything make me nervous?

            I have never been a person to engage with social media platforms which are the way of the current societal norms, and technology is not my forte. Putting my thoughts in a forum for all to see prompts feelings of fear and vulnerability. I am uncomfortable talking about my personal feelings. Still, I also believe that the only way to make a difference and promote change is to keep speaking out about healthier choices while discussing the more uncomfortable areas of alcohol consumption. While researching this topic, I must look at my own life and those closest to me.

Looking ahead, what will be challenging as I pursue my chosen health promotion topic/project? 

            Although the health topic and effects of the consumption of alcohol are similar, experiences and perspectives will differ for each person. Socially drinking continues to be acceptable and normalized. I can think of countless occasions where drinking was used as a reason to get together and spend time. Social media make light of alcohol and have cute posts that most people react with “likes” and laughs. This will be both challenging and interesting.       

What do I most want to learn more about, and why?

            I want to learn how to promote this health topic while encompassing the diversity of our populations. What is acceptable to one person may not be to another. I would also like to learn how to effectively and professionally deliver the information.

References

MHST/NURS 631: Health Promotion

After 30+ years, is the Ottawa Charter still relevant?

The Ottawa Charter still has relevance over 30 years later and is still used as a template for health promotion worldwide with its five key strategies: build healthy public policy, create supportive environments, strengthen community action, develop personal skills and reorient Health Services (Thompson et al., 2018). Although still relevant and vital, I feel that we need to update the charter by somehow incorporating guidance such as the coin model systems of inequality (Nixon, 2019).

Working within a First Nations community as a Public Health Nurse has shown me a lack of resources and support when comparing the social determinants of health to the rest of our population in Ontario. The Social Determinants of Health “refer to a specific group of social and economic factors within the broader determinants of health” (Government of Canada, 2020). There is a real need for equality when considering optimal health for all. I find actions speak louder than words; therefore, ‘social Justice’ is central to my nursing vocation. My rationale for advocacy would be strongly linked to the gaps in social inequality of our more vulnerable populations. Health equity is a human right and should not differ between Countries or within (Lee, 2020). I believe that “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition” (Meier, 2017). This is how I would love to see the world. To facilitate equality of health for all, multiple sectors would need to take action to improve the health and well-being of the population, not only the health care sectors. Nursing theorists have helped to advance the nursing profession, and in turn, the world is acknowledging our profession’s profound complexities and contributions. The Canadian Nurses Association (2020) believes that eliminating systemic racism, inequity, and oppression demands a pan-Canadian response. They have noted that we cannot identify gaps in care and health outcomes due to Canada’s absence of race and ethnicity health-related data.

References

Canadian Nurses Association (2020, June 11). CNA News Room: Anti-Black racism is a public health emergency in Canada. https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/blogs/cn-content/2020/06/11/anti-black-racism-is-a-public-health-emergency-in

Government of Canada (2022, June 14). Social determinants of health and health inequalities.https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html

Lee, H., Kim, D., Lee, S., & Fawcett, J. (2020). The concepts of health inequality, disparities and equity in the era of population health. Applied Nursing Research, 56, 151367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151367

Meier B. M. (2017). Human Rights in the World Health Organization: Views of the Director- General Candidates. Health and human rights, 19(1), 293–298.

Nixon, S. A. (2019). The coin model of privilege and critical allyship: Implications for health. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-13. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12889-019-7884-9.pdf

Thompson, S. R., Watson, M. C., & Tilford, S. (2018). The Ottawa Charter 30 years on: Still an important standard for health promotion. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 56(2), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2017.1415765

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