1.
Provision of
knowledge about position of structure and functions of body organs.
2.
Provision of
awareness of position and roles of body organs
3.
Enablement of
acquisition of skills for maintenance of health hand washing, personal hygiene,
brushing of teething etc.
4.
health education
sets acceptable standards of healthy behaviour
5.
It encourages the
inculcation of values and appreciation of values for things that promote
health.
6.
It facilitates
prevention of infections.
7.
It provides
knowledge about body types and their potentials and limitations in relation to
maintenance of health.
8.
Health education
provides knowledge of the role and importance of posture to health, facilitates
the development of skills for dealing with emergency situations and sudden
illness
9.
It develops
awareness of the consequences of undesirable behaviour.
The
role of record keeping and research in the promotion and maintenance of health
Health records refer to the
documented information that pertains to health. It includes records of the
health statistics showing birth and death rates. The records will also reveal
the types of diseases that are sporadic, endemic or epidemic. It will also
reveal the ages when people die, for example. Good statistics of this nature
can show a government how many children die in infancy, a year, at school age,
and the type of illness that causes great mortality at particular stages of
life.
Health records of treatment can
inform drug distributors and manufactures which type of drug is used and the
degree of its efficiency. Statistics of this nature collected from various
clinics, hospitals etc are necessary to forecast what diseases a state or
country could expect in the future if past records are reliable. The government
uses these records to plan the medical and health services of the state.
The role of record keeping in the
promotion and maintenance of health cannot be over emphasized. This is because
it is through these records that the effectiveness of health maintenance
projects like the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) and the extent of
coverage is determined. This will help them to know the communities that need
attention more than others thereby preventing the occurrence of certain
childhood killer diseases.
In a school set –up, health records
such as hospital; records will help the school nurse to identify children who
suffer from certain congenital or hereditary diseases such as sickle cell
anaemia and heamophilia. This will help her to know the kind of attention to
give these children in order to promote their health. it will also help the
teacher to know children who have physical defects such as partial deafness or
short sightedness and so on know how best to attend to them.
The records on past epidemics will
help the community or government involved to embark on some strategies to avoid
future occurrences of such epidemics.
Such records on the population
distribution will help the government to know the type of health services to
provide for the population. For example, where the population is dominated by
infants, there will be more podiatrist hospitals or where old people dominate
there will be more old people’s homes and rehabilitation centers.
The
role of research in promotion and maintenance of health is very important. So
many researches have been carried out over the years and have great impact on
both community and personal health. Such researches include the following:
a.
The nature of
disease (pathology)
b.
Organism that
cause disease (microbiology)
c.
The way in which
disease – carry organism reach while population / groups (epidemiology)
d.
Poisons and their
sources (toxicology)
e.
The chemical
substances needed by the body maintain health (nutrition).
f.
The function of
hormones in maintaining health (endocrinology).
g.
The ways in which
heredity affects health (genetics) etc.
Through research, Johann Schole in (1939) showed that
a mold-like plant was the cause of fervus, a fungal infection of the scalp. By
knowing the cause of a disease, the curative and preventive measures become
much easier to find.
Through research Louis Pasteur laid the foundation for
the modern program of disease preventives. His studies showed that ‘diseases’
of beer and wine were produced by bacteria that led invaded the liquid and disturbed
the usual alcoholic fermentation by producing undesirable fermentations of
their own.
Basic
methods of studying the bacteria are were developed by Robert Koch. He
discovers how to kill and fix bacteria and strain them on a glass-slide for
more effective study.
From such beginnings, the science of microbiology has
developed with its many applications in industry, dairy, farming and food
preservation as well as in public health and medicine.
The discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner in 1796
has helped a great deal in the prevention of some deadly diseases like small
pox. By introducing a mild form of small-pox into the body of a healthy person,
he will have a mild attack and become immune t smallpox thereafter. Through
vaccinations, so many diseases are being prevented today, thus helping to
maintain health.
Through research the science of epidemiology was
developed. The study of the cholera epidemic of the ‘Broad Street Wall’ by Dr.
John Snow of London in 1854 may be regarded as the beginning of the science or
epidemiology. Today, epidemiology gives information on the relationships of the
various factors determining the frequency and distribution of diseases in a
human community. This information will help the government and individuals to
device means of protecting themselves against specific diseases, and the type
of health facilities to provide in order to prevent a disease epidemic such as
cholera. Epidemiology also provides information about the mode of transmission
of specific diseases. This information will help individuals to form desirable
health habits like closing their mouths while sneezing or coughing. This will
help in health promotion.
Through research, new discoveries in genetics and in
the development of new drugs to be used in the treatment of mental and
emotional health are being made and mortality rates have declined greatly and
more people are attaining higher levels of health.