Introduction
The concept of ‘health’ has changed tremendously overtime. In the past, nursing
practitioners termed health as the absence of disease or illness without taking in to consideration
of both social and economic determinants of health (Tones & Green, 2004). In this case,
practitioners focused on disease treatment rather than health promotion activities that enhance
the health status of an individual. During the ancient times, health was influenced by religion and
deities as religious healers prayed and made sacrifices to gods in order to heal people (Tones &
Green, 2004). The middle ages (5 th BCE) considered ill health as imbalances of bodily fluids and
‘health’ was regarded as achievable through behavioral and medicinal ways that entailed
spirituality (Laverack, 2004). The Roman Empire made scientific progress in ‘health’ by
considering the mental and emotional status of an individual. The discovery of body cells and
genes expanded the definition to incorporate genetic determinants of health while the WHO
extended the concept in 1948 to include state of mental, physical, and social well-being., and not
really the absence of disease (Tones & Green, 2004).
Health promotion has changed over time since discovery of microorganisms and genes
led to uncovering molecular chemicals that influenced the risk or likelihood of suffering from
genetically transmitted illness (Laverack, 2004). The 19 th century was marked by many
infectious diseases due to lack of proper hygiene and this initiated the need for health promotion
in the health care sector. In this case, health promotion was initiated to address the risk factors of
disease transmission. In the wake of World War II and subsequent formation of the World Health
Organization (WHO) fostered health promotion by providing resources to undertake scientific
research on the causes of major diseases and educating the public on the need to take preventive
measures of disease control (Laverack, 2004). In this case, health promotion efforts towards
eradication of common diseases and improving the health status of the world population gained
prominence. Health promotion has now evolved to include families and individuals who are at
high risk of getting a particular health condition. The current practices aim at achieving high
quality health status and eradication of diseases (Tones & Green, 2004).
Nurses should implement health promotion interventions based on evidence-based
practice since the health or ill health is determined by social, environmental, and economic
factors that surround an individual. For instance, routine disease screening and proper nutrition
will reduce the risk of ill health (Laverack, 2004). Accordingly, cultural factors influence the
patient’s perceptions of illness and health and define how individuals access and maintain health.
In this case, a need should utilize adequate patient information regarding the determinants of
health and perceptions in selecting the most appropriate interventions that will address the
unique needs of the patient (Laverack, 2004). The nurse should use evidence-based practice
since he or she is expected to identify specific needs of patient and is a case manager in a
collaborative interdisciplinary team. The nurse is expected to educate the patient and is expected
to incorporate latest patient preferences in making changes that improve the quality of health
care. In this case, changes are demonstrated by the different levels of health promotion
(Laverack, 2004).
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