Running Head: HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN FLORIDA 1
HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN FLORIDA 2
Health Education Programs in Florida
There are various health programs in Florida which are aimed at promoting health in the local population. For this discussion, I will discuss the Tobacco Free Florida program and how the media plays an important part in promoting awareness among the citizens. Tobacco use is known to cause different types of cancer which eventually leads to death. In fact, according to various research institutions in Florida, tobacco use in the leading cause of cancer-related deaths (Eifert et al., 2017). Due to this impact, there are various laws which have been enacted to counter the use of tobacco-related products in the states, but media plays a vital part in spreading this information to the people.
One of the public health issues which need to be highlighted in the public health policy is the compensation of the victims of tobacco-related health complications and deaths by the tobacco producing companies. This will help in reducing the company’s production and hence lower the amount of tobacco use in the state. I think there should be a policy to prohibit advertisement and promotion of tobacco-related products, and this will help in reducing the number of people getting access or being persuaded to start using tobacco products.
Media plays and can play a very important part in promoting health education programs, for instance, social media can be used to educate especially the youth on the impact and results of using tobacco-related products (Heath, et, al 2016). Photos and other resultant causes of tobacco can be spread using social media to reach many young people who are venerable to joining the use of tobacco-related products. Through this was, social media will be promoting awareness among the people and thus reduce the number of people affected by tobacco-related diseases.
References
Eifert, E. K., Hall, M. E., Gropper, S. S., & Kondor, M. (2017). Health Promotion and Institutions of Higher Education: One University’s Experience. American Journal of Health Education, 48(4), 219-221.
Heath, J., Hollen, P. J., Bialous, S. A., Coyne, B., & Sarna, L. (2016). Few US schools of nursing on campuses with smoke-free policies: A Call for Action. Nursing Outlook, 64(3), 271-278.