HEALTH AGENCY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH
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HEALTH AGENCY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH
FIRST PART
INTRODUCTION
1.1THE ROLE OF HEALTH AGENCIES IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Institutions of higher education are viewed by Hydeno (1992) as factories that produce ideas for the present and future use of individuals who are fortunate enough to have attended one of these institutions.
It has been deemed optimal by agencies to teach students about the various facets of health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health consists of three components. They can be defined individually. However, it should not be assumed that health can be observed.
Each of these components, in addition to the spiritual well-being, is dependent on the others for its correct functioning. If one component is altered, the other parts respond immediately. (Hydeno 1992). He stated that through the school, the teacher, the home, and the community, the health agencies in institutions of higher education have assisted individuals in determining their health status.
1.2 THE FUNCTION OF THE SCHOOL
He determined that the school has been designed to instill and inculcate these health-related learning experiences in its students. To impart a variety of experiences for the purpose of enhancing health-related attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours. To educate students on the significance of health and to act intelligently in accordance with this understanding.
The school has been made aware that the school age is the crucial and formative age of the child, an age when it is easier to cultivate habits than in later years.
Realizing too the magnitude of the effect of poor health on the pupils’ learning output, and realising moreover that the child tends to spend the majority of his life in school, it is imperative that both the school and the teacher accept full responsibility for the health of the pupils.
Udoh (1991) argued that the health agency in an educational institution comprises the school officer, whose primary responsibilities are:
1. He is responsible for devising and supervising the comprehensive school health programme.
2. He coordinates the school health programme with other community health agencies, including family physicians and the local medical society.
3. Provides instructors with interpretations of students’ medical, dental, and psychological tests.
4. He ensures that students requiring medical attention in institutions without school doctors are referred to general hospital physicians.
5. He ensures that students recommended for special programs, particularly those with restricted physical education activities, receive adequate attention and that their programmes are implemented as prescribed by a family or school physician.
6. He examines pupils returning to school after an illness or injury and determines whether participation in extracurricular activities poses any health risks.
7. He obtains publicity for the school’s health programme and ensures that all staff members are informed of the available services.
8. It is his responsibility to inspect the sanitary conditions of the school.
9. He organises in-service training, workshops, and seminars for teachers, particularly auxiliary health educators. He went on to describe the composition of the school health team and their primary responsibilities as follows.
The effectiveness of school health teams determines the success of school health agencies. It is the responsibility of the school administration to locate and recruit qualified personnel for the programme.
The health committee provides leadership and direction for the school’s health education programme and collaborates with the community health council through a duly – appointed representative.
The school physician serves as the institution’s medical advisor. Due to their strategic position, physical educators observe children’s health behaviour and provide advice.
The physical educators also instruct students on a variety of health-related topics. In the absence of a medical practitioner, the school nurse provides essential school health care to sick students and transports them to the nearest hospital for treatment.
When food is provided by the school, the nutritionist ensures that the students consume a balanced and nutritious diet. The key to the success of the school health programme is the well-coordinated teamwork of those responsible for its implementation.
He asserted that a health agency is of utmost significance at our educational institution. With the assistance of agencies, the school recognises the importance of health inspection and examination, training students in basic health skills, and maintaining a healthy school environment.
(1) THE IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH RECORDS:
Health records for students are crucial. The utilisation of charts, diagrams, and histograms would be deemed essential. Regular recording of the age, weight, and height of students is essential for observing their growth patterns.
Charts depicting each student’s growth and/or development should be displayed on a health bulletin board, and the teacher should make a concerted effort to do so. Pupils typically derive enjoyment and knowledge from observing and interpreting their own growth curves or patterns.
A prompt report by the teacher to the parents about any aberrant growth pattern in their children would typically be rewarded professionally. In addition to this benefit, such health records would provide a useful foundation for the accurate prediction of the students’ potential academic performance, thereby facilitating the instructors’ pedagogical and remedial approaches. Health records assist in compiling care histories for students, which are extremely beneficial for diagnosing future health risks.
(II) THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR HEALTH INSPECTIONS AND EXAMS:
Daily routine health inspections have such enormous detective and diagnostic value that the school schedule must be adjusted to facilitate a few minutes for daily health inspections. The routine is most useful for guiding students to develop healthy behaviours.
Before beginning the day’s work or lessons, it is crucial that the instructors inspect the students in single file in the morning. With the assistance of health agencies, students are required to maintain a healthy appearance and adhere to health regulations. They have assisted in establishing.
A type of routine inspection, comparable to a routine medical examination, that must be organised by the school.
There is the standard medical and dental exam for schoolchildren. Likewise, routine X-rays may be necessary to eradicate or prevent certain infectious diseases.
(III)THE NEED TO INSTRUCT STUDENTS IN SIMPLE HEALTH SKILLS:
Utilizing the formative and creative potentials that typically dominate this stage of students’ development, students would respond positively to training in simple health skills. By encouraging the formation of organisations such as the Red Cross, scouting, etc., future citizens may be exposed to simple first aid techniques. The health skills acquired through this process have far-reaching effects on the future citizens of the society.
(IV)HEALTHFUL SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
Health school living or environment is defined as “providing at school physical, emotional, and social conditions that are beneficial to the health and safety of teachers and students.
” The school and the teacher must recognise their essential role among the agencies that must initiate an immediate and enduring improvement in our society. Students should be encouraged to organise volunteer clean-up organisations.
Students in the upper grades can organise the voluntary construction of public incinerators. By doing so, the teacher and school are guiding the students towards acquiring a public health mindset.
Physical education is a means of assuring the physical health of students, which is indisputable in educational practise; however, no educational practise is as essential as physical education instruction. (Udoh 1992).
1.3 THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
It is a well-known fact that a teacher is a person who imparts moral value, academic instruction, and development in the physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual realms to a student in any institution of higher education. Examples are powerful, and “examples are better than precept,” as the saying goes.
Quite frequently, it is stated, “Those who preach the gospel must always live by the gospel.” These two axioms must emphasise and point to the fact that the teacher must possess and practise good wealth attitudes and habits in order to show and demonstrate example to his pupils one of the most fundamental ability that is frequently demonstrated by school pupils, in the power of imitation.
Pupils are easily harmed or destroyed by imitating every bad habit or practise; consequently, instructors who fail to capitalise on this opportunity by demonstrating good health habits are missing out. Negative and very damaging to a teacher’s personality and responsibilities to his students, their parents, and society are habits such as dirty and slovenly attire, unkempt hair and facial hair, poor table manners, poor toilet habits, unkempt fingernails, and careless spitting in front of his students.
He argued, however, that it is the responsibility of the school, via the superintendent, the teacher, and the health agencies to:
1. Understand the health needs and interests of each individual for the development of their optimal health.
2. Prevent birth defects and provide ongoing health assessments for each child.
3. Provides specialised health services for the disabled and, if applicable, their offspring.
4. Increase the child’s health consciousness and decrease the incidence of communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
5. Each child’s self-esteem and social adjustment are reliant on the formation and application of destiny-related health factors.
6. Develop healthy personal habits and health-promoting attitudes.
7. Provide emergency measures, a hygienic school environment, and sanitary practises and conditions.
He stated up front that the objectives of the school health programme cannot be attained unless the various organs that comprise the health team function effectively and efficiently.
1.4 THE IMPORTANCE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY
Hosstrup (1989) stated that the parental and health agency roles in promoting school health cannot be overstated. In the household, the parent bears the primary responsibility for a child’s health. Typically, the mother is the first teacher, and the child learns all fundamental health habits at home before beginning school.
Through either mass media or adult education, parents should be taught the importance of their children’s health. There are numerous healthy behaviours that parents should know and instill in their children, including:-
1. Sanitation of the home and its surroundings includes access to potable water; if the main source of water is a well or a spring, the water must be boiled before consumption. Additionally, proper disposal of human waste refuses and garbage is essential, and the habit of dumping trash in the yard or street is undesirable. Existing environmental sanitation conditions should be used if desired.
2. To take the necessary precautions to prevent domestic accidents.
(a) Do not place medication within reach of minors.
(b) Prevent minors from entering the kitchen.
(c) Do not use malfunctioning electrical appliances.
d) Do not improvise; instead, repair items that can be repaired and keep sharp knives away from young children.
3. To ensure the most hygienic lodging conditions possible and to prevent overcrowding.
4. To maintain the surrounding area free of rodents and insects.
5. To wear attire appropriate for the prevailing climate.
6. To eat a well-balanced diet to ensure optimal working capacity, proper weight control, and to meet dietary requirements that will enable the body to fight off disease and prevent malnutrition-related illness.
7. To instruct children to cleanse their hands after defecating and prior to handling food.
8. To bathe frequently and clean one’s teeth in the morning and before bedtime.
9. To utilise the completeness of modern health care services and to seek routine medical examinations and supervision as indicated by age and development.
10. To ensure that infants receive immunisations in accordance with health authority recommendations.
11. Parents should know how to budget and how to prioritise items such as food, apparel, and footwear. House etc.
12. To prevent nail punctures, parents must guarantee that their children wear shoes to school.
He added that it should be emphasised that parents at home should be able to learn more about their role in the health promotion of children, with the expectation that their efforts will lead to an improvement in the health promotion of children and the propagation of their lives and those of the children to a greater extent than in any previous era.
Prevention is superior and less expensive than treatment; therefore, parents should collaborate to construct a strong and healthy nation.
It is a known fact that the majority of Nigerians live in a variety of dwellings, ranging from house – boast to free house and from inadequately constructed huts or sheds to mansions. While some prefer the solitude of a desert hut or mountain shed, others prefer city apartments.
There are advocates for both rural suburbia and urban lifestyle within the community. What you can afford to spend you should spend, for the good home pays dividends far beyond its value in shelter. The enjoyment of community living, the pleasure of gracious entertainment, and sheer physical comfort are just a few examples.
1. For comfort: – a decent home must provide comfort and protection. Cross ventilation is required for comfort during dry seasons and when the temperature is high. Unpleasant odours must be prevented, and the community must achieve a high level of personal cleanliness.
2. Appropriate lighting: – Every occupied room, including the bathroom, should have at least one window that provides the maximum possible illumination, preferably without glare or shadow.
Direct sunlight is physically and psychologically stimulating and an exceptional source of vitamin D. In a home with children, space is as much a matter of comfort as it is of health.
3. For mental health: -Rooms should be shared only by people of the same sex for sleeping, and young children should be separated from their parents by the age of four. -Toilets, bathrooms, and bedrooms should be directly life provides those social contracts expected in the home and the community; without them, people cannot be mentally healthy.
4. Cleanliness and Orderliness: – The mentally healthy and well-adjusted person can tolerate extremes of cleanliness and tidiness for brief periods and can tolerate disorder and disarray when necessary. cleanliness demands water in plenty at the right places, much of it under proper pressure. what so supplied makes the home a different world than where water must be carried.
5. Control of communicable diseases:- communicable and infectious diseases play a major role in Nigerian life. The type of home, people live in, their size, design, and quality have a great deal to do with the amount of illness caused by communicable diseases. It is crucial that homes be constructed in a way that provides better protection than merely constructing a house of poor quality and with inferior materials.
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