Wellness education programs are structured programs that assist individuals in making voluntary decisions about how they might improve their health and productivity. The majority of these shows are concerned with major issues that affect diverse parts of the community. This study proposes a plan for wellness education with the goal of bridging various gaps in healthcare service delivery. This literature also includes the numerous factors that must be considered when establishing this wellness program.
Obesity is one of the major issues that most New York City citizens face (Madison, Schmidt & Volpp, 2013). Most people develop this health problem at a young age and proceed with it as the years pass. While the government creates awareness to the general public, some sectors of the economy have been on the spot for the failure to advance measures that would stop this illness. Obesity is mainly attributed to the intake of unhealthy food stuff. Different organizations within New York City have come up with various means of sensitizing the public on obesity issues including the use of campaigns. This program would be designed to create awareness regarding this health issue thereby providing the knowledge on how to bridge the gap in healthcare delivery.
Program Design
The wellness education program would be designed in that it targets individuals of all teenage and adult ages. The purpose of engaging teenagers and adults is that they are capable of comprehending the concepts that would be gathered through this program and would be in a better position of advancing the course of the program that is to reduce the prevalence of obesity incidences to zero. Timing is a crucial aspect of any program. Therefore, the program would take place over a weekend to ensure maximum attendance.
Cultural Considerations
New York City is a cosmopolitan region comprising of individuals of different races, religions, and beliefs (Rundle et al., 2009). Consequently, some issues of culture must be handled cautiously. The program aims at edifying the public about obesity. Therefore, much of the discussion would be about healthy feeding and lifestyle. Different religions have diverse rules regarding how to feed. It would be appropriate to approach the individuals of the cultures that dominate this city and consult them before defining the major aspects that would be discussed in the program. Secondly, most New Yorkers do not uphold traditional values as this city is technologically advanced (Rundle et al., 2009). Therefore, limited consultation would be done regarding traditional medicines and holistic health.
Linguistic Considerations
The primary language that would be utilized in this program is English. Almost all the residents of this city are acquainted with the English language and might not experience difficulties. Therefore, no interpreters or translators would be required.
Educational Considerations
The most appropriate approach to be taken by this wellness education program would be to set up a seminar and invite interested parties who are between ages 16 and 60. This age group comprises of persons that are aware of their individual health and would gather fruitful information from the program. Various health professionals would be invited to provide their individual views on the subject and answer crucial questions that would be asked by the audience. Fliers would be the most suitable means of advertising the program. A group of advertisers will also utilize the various social media platforms to notify the public of the wellness education program and to provide highlights of the topics that would be discussed in the seminar.
This wellness program would have several benefits. The New York population would be acquainted with a wealth of knowledge regarding obesity which is a leading public health issue in the City (Madison et al., 2013). This population would also be provided with the rare opportunity of meeting professionals in the field of population health, physical health, and food and Dietetics. All the attendees would be provided with pamphlets containing information regarding obesity. Therefore, the population will be equipped with knowledge that would assist them in quelling this public health issue. The key incentive that would ensure participation is the promise to free diabetes screening. This population will rush to secure slots for the wellness education seminar knowing that they would get both cleaning and advisory services.
Ethical Legal and Economic Considerations
According to Ten Have et al. (2013), it is of uttermost relevance to be knowledgeable of the cons in programs whose primary goal is to prevent obesity and overweight such as the reinforcement of health inequalities, stigmatization, and the blame enforced on the victims. These authors provided the various ethical frameworks through which organizers of programs that tackle the issues of overweight and obesity can learn the ethicality of such programs. Therefore, it is mandatory that all wellness education programs focusing on this health subject are evaluated to ascertain whether or not they meet the ethicality test. This wellness program would be designed in that the population having this health disorder will be appreciated and there would be no stigmatization. All the speakers will be professionals who are guided by the various codes of ethics that would ensure that the population heeds to their demands and adopts a healthy lifestyle.
The United States has several legislations regarding healthcare and health promotion (Ogden, Carrol, Kit, & Flegal, 2014). The principal aim of these laws is to enhance the affordability of healthcare and its availability. This wellness program would focus on these laws to avoid any unpleasant confrontations with the relevant healthcare governing authorities. New York City benefits from numerous legislations regarding this malign health issue. However, according to the report released by the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2014, New York City does not benefit from all the “50-State Legislation on Childhood Obesity Policy Options Enacted in 2013.” These legislations touched on insurance cover for obesity, school wellness, task forces studies, school nutrition, and the joint shared use agreements policy options ("Childhood Obesity Legislation - 2013 Update of Policy Options", 2014). Therefore, most of the laws that would be advocated for would be the affordable healthcare act that aims at the reduction of the costs of the services offered by the healthcare institutions and the Obamacare. However, the New York’s Department of Health has also acted speedily to ensure that it enacts the Obesity Prevention Programs and Activities to cater for communities and schools. The potential economic impact of the health promotion and clinical prevention of this health disparity is that the cost of creating awareness campaigns is hefty. However, the success of these campaigns would be evaluated by the reduction in the cases of this health disparity.
Conclusion
In summary, this successfully paper presents a wellness education proposal whose aim is to bridge the various gaps in healthcare service delivery. The identified health disparity is obesity. While several health laws have been established in the US, NYC has its individual laws that govern the programs and activities aimed at creating Obesity awareness. This wellness education program design puts in consideration the ethics, laws, cultures, literacy levels, and the financial strengths of the population.
References
Childhood Obesity Legislation - 2013 Update of Policy Options. (2014). Ncsl.org. Retrieved 17 May 2017, from http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/childhood-obesity-legislation-2013.aspx
Madison, K., Schmidt, H., & Volpp, K. G. (2013). Smoking, obesity, health insurance, and health incentives in the Affordable Care Act. Jama, 310(2), 143-144.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Jama, 311(8), 806-814.
Rundle, A., Neckerman, K. M., Freeman, L., Lovasi, G. S., Purciel, M., Quinn, J., ... & Weiss, C. (2009). Neighborhood food environment and walkability predict obesity in New York City. Environmental health perspectives, 117(3), 442.
Ten Have, M., Van Der Heide, A., Mackenbach, J. P., & De Beaufort, I. D. (2013). An ethical framework for the prevention of overweight and obesity: a tool for thinking through a programme’s ethical aspects. The European Journal of Public Health, 23(2), 299-305.
