Reflective Journal
Week 1
After the first week of this class, I understood that health is not necessarily the absence of a disease; rather, it is the well-being of a person in terms of their physical, social, and mental state (Gottwald & Goodman-Brown, 2012). This is an important lesson learned since I can assess the health status of a person using these three aspects and come up with a conclusion of their health status. Moreover, the improvements taking place in the healthcare institutions are a major effort for promoting health. For instance, I have witnessed massive integration of technology in the healthcare institutions, a move that has boosted health care services in developing countries (Boelsen-Robinson, Backholer, & Peeters, 2015).
Additionally, a crucial element discussed during the first week was the existing number of frameworks which target the provision of effective ways of facilitating health promotion. I learned that the goal of frameworks such as Health Promotion Continuum, Ottawa Charter, and Mandala of health (Mcqueen & De Salazar, 2011) is to increase the public control over the factors that affects their health status. I feel that the use of the right framework and theory helps assess the health status of a person and provide an effective remedy that will promote their control over the factors that affect their health status.
Week 2
I feel that week 2 was among the most important week as it offered a great experience to relate gender and provision of quality care. I learnt that one’s gender dictates their actions and powers, which became clear to me in explaining why there exists a striking gender difference and more gender stereotypes in the workplaces. In health, I learned that gender does not necessarily refer to one being a male or a female, but rather it is a multidimensional and a multifaceted construct (Dulini Anuvinda Fernando, 2012). This explains why a number of genders have sprouted in the current generation as explained in our class that today’s gender involves the sense of self, which is not the same as the sexual orientation. I now understand why some people opt to group themselves under transgender rather than the traditional male and female genders. As practitioners, such concepts, as highlighted in week 2 are crucial in helping us ensure that we do not discriminate others based on gender and have key concepts on common gender stereotypes that may hinder provision of quality care.
Week 3
Week 3’s learning was important in justifying why protection in healthcare provision is important. I learned that any attempt to control and prevent a disease is health protection as well as preparing and responding to different emergencies in the field. The week was important as I discovered a number of programs and branches used to facilitate health protection across the world (Gottwald & Goodman-Brown, 2012).
As such, I learned that HEMB is an influential body in preventing and responding to the risks and emergencies such as communicable diseases, accidents, and natural diseases. As such, I now understand why the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa caught the attention of the entire world (Simkhada, 2015). Moreover, this learning was useful in revealing the importance of health protection. For the professional purposes, I relate these discoveries with the need for in-depth research in healthcare as it attempts to address the unaddressed issues that can lead to an outbreak of natural diseases.
Week 4
This class was of great importance for my academic and professional growth. In week 4, I learned the distinction between an Asylum seeker and a refugee. Based on readings provided in this week, an asylum seeker refers to a person who has requested for protection through application and waiting for the approval while a refugee is a person whose protection has been approved (McAdam, 2013). In this case, I learned that that Syria was the leading country with the highest number of refugees following the Civil War that started in 2011 (Greenhalgh & Watt, 2015). I relate this fact with the increased number of Syrian camps in Za’atariin Jordan.
Additionally, I learned that most of the refugees use sea transport as their appropriate means of accessing their hosting country. As a result, island countries tend to face difficulties of accommodating more refugees as I later learned. This lesson disclosed that Australia is one of the islands tend that host a huge number of refugees and asylum seekers, an occurrence that brings a lot of controversial ideas from Australian government and citizens.
Bibliography
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Boelsen-Robinson, T., Backholer, K. and Peeters, A. 2015. Digital marketing of unhealthy foods to Australian children and adolescents. Health Promot. Int., 31(3), pp.523-533. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dav008
Dulini Anuvinda Fernando, W. 2012. A social constructionist perspective of gender stereotyping at work. Gender in Mgmt: Int J, 27(7), pp.463-481. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17542411211273450
Gottwald, M., and Goodman-Brown, J. 2012. A guide to practical health promotion. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Open University Press.
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Simkhada, P., 2015. Need and importance of health protection training. Nepal Journal of Epistemology, 5(1), pp. 441-443. http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v5i1.12373
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