Conceptual frameworks provide decision makers a structured way to understand complex issues that guides research, analysis, and problem solving. When I organize ideas or make connections between variables, I struggle if the framework feels too abstract or theoretical instead of practical. My goal in MHST/NURS 632 is to enhance my ability to bridge the gap between abstract concepts and practical application. Moreover, I find that there’s a significant amount of jargon or specialized terminology used in health promotion conceptual frameworks that adds another layer of complexity to navigate. Healthcare is particularly challenging due to the interconnected relationships of various levels of influence and multifaceted interplay of factors that impact adoption of health behaviours. Effective health promotion efforts require not only an understanding of the framework but also a significant amount of knowledge of underlying theories and concepts to draw on to understand individual characteristics, social environments, and policy interventions. Flexibility of frameworks and the ability to tailor them to specific contexts is needed whilst aiming to avoid ambiguity and misalignment in its application.
My introduction to health promotion in MHST/NURS 631 involved applying conceptual frameworks to improve the quality of life in patients with epilepsy and their caregivers by reducing seizure frequency and severity through self-management. Some of the key questions I’ve been aiming to answer when assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion actions for epilepsy management include:
Assessment:
1) What is the prevalence and incidence of epilepsy in British Columbia (B.C.)?
2) What are the risk factors associated with epilepsy (e.g., genetics, head injuries, infections)?
3 What level of public awareness/knowledge about epilepsy is there in B.C.?
4) What are the impacts of cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors on epilepsy management?
5) Which resources and healthcare infrastructure exist in B.C. for epilepsy management?
Planning:
1) What are the objectives of health promotion actions in epilepsy management?
2) What strategies or interventions will achieve these objectives?
3) What cultural considerations are needed to tailor the health promotion project?
4) What resources (including funding and staff) are required to implement the health promotion project?
5) What is the engagement strategy for key stakeholders (including healthcare providers, patients, families, community leaders, and advocacy groups)?
Implementation:
1) How will the target audience be reached?
2) How will the education be delivered?
3) How will accessibility concerns be addressed?
4) How will de-stigmatization of epilepsy be emphasized?
5) How will progress be monitored and project adjustments be made?
Evaluation:
1) What are the measurable indicators of the health promotion project's success?
2) How will data be collected, analyzed, and used for future improvements?
3) What are the feedback mechanisms?
4) How will the health promotion project be sustained, scaled, or modified based on evaluation findings?
5) How will key learnings from this health promotion project be shared at a broader scale (e.g., to epilepsy community or healthcare providers).
During MHST/NURS 631, I added to my ePortfolio and leveraged technology to present content, messages, and communication through multimedia content. A strength of learning about health promotion through my peers’ ePortfolios was the visual appeal of blog posts and simplified health information instead of reading dense theoretical texts or scholarly articles. The platform I use has an analytics feature that provides data on user engagement (e.g., number of views) which gives some insights into communication strategies. Using ePortfolio analytics can help me get a sense of which content is appealing to my audience and inform adjustments to health promotion messages. Most importantly, the accessibility of an ePortfolio is a key advantage as it makes information readily accessible to a wide audience. I’ve been using my ePortfolio as a way to facilitate the dissemination of my health promotion messages and share my learning throughout my Masters journey. It has been a valuable tool in health promotion efforts and keeps me organized (e.g., file share with scholarly articles categorized). I look forward to synthesizing more information and presenting it on my ePortfolio.
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