Health Promotion by Social Cognitive Means nursing essay

Health Promotion by Social Cognitive Means

The article, Health promotion by social cognitive means’ by Albert Bandura is hugely pertinent in the current environment of growing population, increasing pattern of pluralistic society and the escalating cost of healthcare deliverables. Health promotion paradigms are evaluated on the basis of social cognitive theory.
Introduction
Bandura strongly asserts that disease based models of healthcare is being replaced by health and well-being model that relies on individual’s beliefs in the social perspectives of the disease. The external factors like environmental pollution, fast food, smoking, sedentary lifestyle etc. hugely contribute to the diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, cancer etc. Thus, quality of life is significantly influenced by lifestyle choices and habits developed over a period. This implies that if people make effort to change habits, they would be better equipped to prevent diseases and maintain good health. Bandura says that health promotion must start with goals and not means because it broadens the scope of interventional techniques and strategies that go beyond the realms of medicine. The biomedical interventions are just one of the many ways to improve overall health and well-being of the individuals. The escalating cost of healthcare delivery and the long waiting list tend to delay the treatment that worsens the conditions of the patients. Life expectancy has increased and delay in the treatment of minor illness often turns into chronic ones. As such the psycho social factors become crucial elements that determine the choices that individuals may undertake to maintain quality of life…………………………………..