Paper Example on Application of Information to Health

Introduction

Health information has been defined as the data that pertains to the medical history of an individual, ranging from diagnoses, outcomes, procedures, to symptoms. Records of patient information might include clinical information, notes, x-rays, lab results, and patient history. The information regarding the health of a patient provides with an overview of how the health of the patient has changed and can be used in a wider scope to predict any changes in the health of the general population, and how various interventions can improve patient health outcomes.

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Health information gives rise to concepts such as health information management. This has been defined as the practice of gathering, evaluating, and protecting both traditional and digital health information, and is crucial for ensuring the quality of patient care. Health information management reconciles information technology, science, and business under a common goal. Health Information Technology is another concept emerging from the subject of health information and reflects the framework applied in the management of health information, and in the exchange of such information in digital platforms. This concept focuses on the technical part of health information management and applies both hardware and software in storing patient information.

There are numerous behaviors that have a strong influence on the health of individuals. They include sexual practices, diet, physical activity, disease screening, alcohol abuse, and the use of tobacco. A key example of how behavior affects health can be seen in how diet and physical activity affects obesity among individuals. While cases of obesity and overweight continue to be documented across populations in the United States, the prevalence of the condition can be said to draw its influences from sociocultural variables such as socioeconomic status, education, ethnicity, and gender. Cases of obesity in children and adolescents is also on the rise, and often prevails in adulthood, promoting risks of chronic diseases in the future (Annesi et al., 2015). A key contributing factor is the notion that Americans do not engage in physical activities. Additionally, the increasing practices of eating outside the home means that individuals are consuming higher fat foods and foods with high calories.

Avoiding weight gain, in any case, diminishes the probability that conditions, for example, hypertension and diabetes will create. Since treatment of corpulence has poor long haul achievement, and shed pounds frequently is recovered, maintaining a strategic distance from weight gain is ideal. Since numerous dietary propensities are built up amid adolescence, teaching school-matured kids about nourishment has been shown to help build up good dieting propensities right off the bat throughout everyday life (Goodman, Thomas, & Burr, 2011). Weight reduction in grown-ups is useful yet hard to keep up and requires a perpetual way of life changes that consolidate great dietary propensities, diminished inactive conduct, and expanded physical action. Changes in the physical and social condition can enable individuals to keep up the fundamental long haul way of life changes both for eating regimen and for physical action (Strommer, Ingledew, & Markland, 2015). The physical movement should be dynamic in order to be useful to wellbeing. For individuals who are idle, even little increments have been related with quantifiable medical advantages. Weight reduction joined by appropriate eating patterns can improve the well-being of individuals.

Health-related interventions for health behavior acknowledge that individuals live in political, economic, and social systems that not only shape their behaviors but also determine their access to the required resources for maintaining health and well-being. The social systems and ecologic perspectives of approaching interventions allow for individuals to be placed in their primary social contexts, and observations are made on how they interact with essential factors that can influence and be influenced by the outcomes of a disease. This approach emphasizes o the roles played by the family, communities, organizations, and the overall society.

Growing evidence points out that effective individual-oriented programs geared toward health behaviors require to be approached from different perspectives in an effort to help individuals change, adapt, and uphold healthy behaviors. Developing a particular behavior over time require different strategies that will ensure that the individual establishes the behavior in the first place. Different models of behavior change have been developed in an effort to guide strategies aimed at promoting healthy behaviors and facilitate effective adaptation to coping with diseases. The models help in approaching the issue of behavior change, and in developing different interventions. Each of the models focuses on particular behavioral attributes, and each one has its own disadvantages. The fact that the models approach an intervention with particular interests means that relapse of behaviors is often eliminated (Duncan et al., 2010). It is difficult to maintain behavior changes, but these models apply in ensuring that there are no relapses. Relapses exist since the extinction of behavior does not reflect the process of unlearning. Rather, it is the process of new learning that does not replace the initial behavior.

Application of Health Information

There are numerous differences in how individuals apply health information. The differences in the application of health information across demographics can be seen in interventions such as mindfulness meditation and exercises (Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Skouteris, & Mccabe, 2013). A research done by Egli et al. (2011), found that there exist extrinsic and intrinsic motivation factors that are important when considering physical activity. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors have the ability to predict the psychological health of individuals in relation to the level of physical activity (Egli et al., 2011). Egli et al. (2011) cite Maltby and Day, who established that for college students who are physically active for six months or less, they demonstrated more extrinsic factors that are associated to reduced psychological health. Additionally, for those college students who were active for six months and above, they demonstrated more intrinsic factors that contributed significantly to their positive psychological health.

Age

The research highlighted the key differences between the use of health information on interventions for individuals based on their age, sex, and ethnicity. The study differentiated motivation between individuals younger than 20 years, and individuals aged or older than 20 years. The two demographic groups showed great differences in three respects: avoidance of ill health, health pressures, and affiliation. The study found that for individuals below the age of 20 years, general health issues such as ill-health avoidance and health pressures acted as key motivators. Individuals with more than 20 years were motivated by affiliation. It can be deduced that individuals below 20 years use physical activity to stay engaged, given the class workloads.

Sex

There are significant differences between demographics and motivation for physical activity with respect to sex. Male and females have different motivators that encourage them to participate in physical activity (Goodman, Thomas, & Burr, 2011). While males are motivated by intrinsic factors, their female counterparts tend to be motivated by more extrinsic factors. Often, health professionals have considered that intrinsic factors contribute positively to physical activity adherence. However, emphasis should be placed on the different exercise goals that ensure that the intrinsic factors promote adherence to exercise. It is, therefore, recommended that health professionals understand the differences between sexes in their efforts to promote physical activity when dealing with males and females (Reel, Lee, & Bellows, 2015). This means that they should apply extrinsic factors when dealing with females, and then eventually introduce intrinsic motivators with the passage of time. This would be also a different approach taken by health professionals when dealing with males.

Race and Ethnicity

In addition to the issues of age and gender, race is another contributing factor motivating individuals towards physical activity. There are numerous differences between racial classes. For starters, white people tend to be motivated to exercise by the need to manage stress. Additionally, their physical activity behavior can be determined by factors such as enjoyment, weight management, and revitalization. On the other hand, black individuals and other races tend to be motivated towards physical activity by nimbleness, ill-health avoidance, and health pressures. The racial differences in the perception of physical activity can be attributed to the fact that there exist differences in how physical exercise is stressed between the two communities. Additionally, the differences can stem from disparities in socioeconomic statuses. According to Parra-Medina et al. (2011), compared to white women, black women are at increased risks of mortality and morbidity from chronic diseases due to their lower socioeconomic status. Interventions that are incorporated into primary care settings can go a long way to address such disparities since they focus on ensuring wider and comprehensive care services to the vulnerable and underserved populations.

Different populations apply health information differently. These differences are seen in the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that motivate individuals in adopting health interventions such as mindfulness meditation and physical activity (Ullrich-French et al., 2017). Mindfulness meditation has been known to reduce cases of increased anxiety and depression and can serve to improve the well-being of individuals with disorders pertaining to social anxiety (Zwan et al., 2015). The results from this intervention are comparable. Tango dance and meditation can reduce depression in individuals with stress disorders, depression, and anxiety (Zwan et al., 2015). However, tango dance alone can significantly reduce the issues of stress.

Conclusion

Differences in how individuals view and apply health information are viewed based on their age, race, and gender. It is apparent that individuals aged below 20 years, general health issues such as ill-health avoidance and health pressures acted as key motivators. Individuals with more than 20 years were motivated by affiliation. It can also be concluded that While males are motivated by intrinsic factors, their female counterparts tend to be motivated by more extrinsic factors. It is recommended that health professionals should consider the intrinsic factors that contribute positively to physical activity adherence. Additionally, white people tend to be motivated to exercise by the need to manage stress and their physical activity behavior can be determined by factors such as enjoyment, weight management, and revitalization. Contrary, black people and tend to be motivated towards physical activity by nimbleness, ill-health avoidance, and health pressures.

References

Annesi, J. J., Howton, A., Johnson, P. H., & Porter, K. J. (2015). Pilot Testing a Cognitive-Behavioral Protocol on Psychosocial Predictors of Exercise, Nutrition, Weight, and Body Satisfaction Changes in a College-Level Health-Related Fitness Course. Journal of American College Health,63(4), 268-278. doi:10.1080/07448481.2015.1015030

Duncan, L. R., Hall, C. R., Wilson, P. M., &...