The event that this reflection essay will focus on is the International Women’s Day that took place in Belmore Sports Ground. This gathering celebrated mothers’ and daughters’ roles in society by involving the local community in competitions, creative activities, life-skills workshops, and discussions. International Women’s Day in the city of Bankstown aimed to encourage local women to play an independent and active part in the life of society. I have attended the event as a spectator and a participant as I took part in many workshops and sports activities.
Description of Professions
The four professions that can significantly benefit in organizing and conducting an event similar to this one are therapeutic recreation, public health, health service management, and health promotion disciplines. Firstly, therapeutic recreation is concerned with providing care and psychosocial, spiritual, social, and physical guidance (Weiss, Tilin, & Morgan, 2014). It encourages well-rounded welfare through recreational programs among vulnerable populations (Weiss et al., 2014). Secondly, health services management is responsible for cultivating and directly facilitating the creation of empowering and health-oriented leadership (Weiss et al., 2014). Thirdly, health promotion professionals focus on improving the individual and community access to healthcare via political, economic, organizational, and educational approaches (Weiss et al., 2014). For instance, this position involves spreading awareness of health topics, engaging community, and policymaking. Fourthly, a public health professional’s role is encompassed by the populations well-being through prevention, recovery, and rehabilitation (Weiss et al., 2014). It focuses on monitoring individuals’ and groups’ health, facilitating the treatment of and minimizing the health hazards when necessary.
Observation
One of the professionals whose role was prominent throughout the event was the health service management specialist. Health service management tackled the training of the influential figures and hosts of the event. This role greatly influenced the tone of delivery of the message and its direction towards encouraging social and psychological well-being. For instance, the discussion leaders were inclusive and encouraged meaningful participation, which enforced a feeling of emotional empowerment that many local female communities lack.
Another discipline that contributed to the creation of the event was the therapeutic management position. The person responsible for that role had to ensure that the attendees developed the emotional intelligence skills necessary for societal integration and success. They conducted health-related activities that enhance an individual’s self-esteem and personal fulfillment. For example, the creation of sports activities with prizes that helped participants physically and emotionally engage in a positive environment helped boost their feeling of being loved and appreciated.
Health promotion specialists made the third significant contribution. Their role was especially prominent in life skills workshops since the specialists created and conducted interactive counseling sessions to help participants learn coping mechanisms and empowerment techniques for their integration in everyday life. Given that women are often oversexualized, assaulted, and discriminated, the health promoter tried to cope with the issue by providing wyas to address the problem and allow women to recover or avoid the trauma.
The role that was not present in the International Women’s Day is the public health position. If it had been represented, the public health representative would have addressed the prevalence of community welfare hazards such as sexism and sexual assault that women deal with every day (Brunton et al., 2017). The specialist would have implemented more specific workshops and the presence of help centers to help spread the awareness of the issues, equip women to cope with the problem, and mitigate the problem of low self-esteem and trauma.
Observation Findings
To start with the area of therapeutic recreation, the event showed that this position is essential in ensuring inclusivity during public gatherings. For instance, Potash, Burnie, Pearson, and Ramirez (2016) argue that the involvement of people with disabilities in art activities to reduce social stigma and enhance individuals’ well-being is the responsibility of therapeutic recreation specialists. García, Wolff, Welford, and Smith (2016) agree with this statement and prioritizes disability engagement in sports. These findings correlate with my observations since therapeutic recreation was used throughout the event to equalize the access to all activities and enable people with disabilities and other special consideration to participate. The surprising aspect is that therapeutic recreation can influence one’s access to healthcare in casual settings with underlying benefits for physical, social, and psychological health.
As it concerns health promotion, it amazed me that the field of health work is responsible not only for policymaking but also for ensuring change on an individual level, explicitly through the use of empowerment. To my surprise, empowerment is reflected as an essential technique in community support and health promotion in the academic literature. For example, Cyril, Smith, and Renzaho (2016) state that “empowerment, a multi-level construct comprising individual, community and organizational domains, is a fundamental value and goal in health promotion” (p. 809). Thus, the discovery of empowerment being a part of health promotion was a valuable experience.
Lastly, health service management played an unexpected role in preparing the event’s hosts and leaders to engage in meaningful and fruitful interactions with participants. According to Karimi et al. (2018), health service management is essential in encouraging leaders to make a positive change in a community by cultivating healthcare skills and awareness of different health necessities. Health service managers equipped leaders with emotional intelligence skills and knowledge of specific populations attending the event.
Reflection on the Chosen Career Field
Through this reflection, I have acquired additional knowledge in the field of health promotion. According to one of this semester’s readings, while access to health is a fundamental human right that many people exercise daily, some still lack the fulfillment of essential human needs (World Health Organization, 2020). Through this observation, I have learned that health promotion specialists’ role involves both political lobbying and community involvement. Simple steps such as organizing a life skills workshop during the Internal Women’s Day can promote psychological and physical health, making a difference in people’s lives (Evangelidou, 2019). While I was previously interested in the policymaking side of the role, I am now aware of and excited about different health promotion approaches, such as community involvement and help on an individual level.
Conclusion
The reflection helped me reassess health promotion, health services management, public health, and therapeutic recreation and their active roles in the community. Although studying their theoretical frameworks is helpful, observing the real-life change is empowering and educational. While theory might create a vague understanding of one’s duties and responsibilities, engaging in a conversation with actual professionals helps contextualize the findings and apply them in real-life scenarios. As for me, I realized that the health promotion discipline is broader than I expected, which fuels my interest further.
References
Brunton, G., Thomas, J., O’Mara-Eves, A., Jamal, F., Oliver, S., & Kavanagh, J. (2017). Narratives of community engagement: A systematic review-derived conceptual framework for public health interventions. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 944-950. Web.
Cyril, S., Smith, B., & Renzaho, A. (2015). Systematic review of empowerment measures in health promotion. Health Promotion International, 5(9), 809-825. Web.
Evangelidou, S. (2019). Community engagement towards the development of health promotion tools: Summary findings of Metaplan sessions in Barcelona. European Journal of Public Health, 29(4), 87-101. Web.
García, B., de Wolff, M., Welford, J., & Smith, B. (2016). Facilitating inclusivity and broadening understandings of access at football clubs: The role of disabled supporter associations. European Sport Management Quarterly, 17(2), 226-243. Web.
Karimi, L., Dadich, A., Fulop, L., Leggat, S., Eljiz, K., … Fitzgerald, J. (2018). Brilliant health service management: Challenging perceptions and changing HR practices in health services. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 57(2), 174-190. Web.
Potash, J., Burnie, M., Pearson, R., & Ramirez, W. (2016). Restoring Wisconsin art therapy association in art therapy history: Implications for professional definition and inclusivity. Art Therapy, 33(2), 99-102. Web.
Weiss, D., Tilin, F, & Morgan, M. (2014). The Interprofessional health team. Burlington, Canada: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
World Health Organization. (2020). Declaration of Alma-Ata. Web.
Gun Control Legislation Should Be Revised
The right to possess and carry weapons is enshrined in the United States as a constitutional norm. However, the very essence of this right is highly controversial. Debate on gun control comes up regularly, highlighting the topic from both a practical and a moral point of view. Given the need to combine these two concepts, it is helpful to consider this problem from the standpoint of utilitarianism. This paper aims to analyze the issue of gun control in the United States using utilitarian views.
Despite the popularity of the second amendment to the US constitution, its relevance in the modern world is highly controversial. According to history, it was introduced to address the possible need for a well-organized militia (Lawrence). However, at the moment, the United States is a much more civilized place. Therefore, it makes sense to reconsider the attitude toward the right to keep weapons by ordinary citizens.
First of all, to assess this issue from utilitarianism, it is necessary to determine the fundamental definitions of pleasure and pain in human life, which constitute the first principle of the concept. Within the framework of this theory, any action is considered from the point of view of usefulness, how much happiness or pain it brings to a person. In the context of gun control laws, happiness is the public good of the American people, their safety, and the benefit that these rights bring to society. Accordingly, the harm caused by the presence of such laws acts as “pain”. Moreover, following the fourth principle of utilitarianism, the damage done and the benefits brought can be assessed, for example, using statistics on the proliferation of weapons and their impact on crime.
Practice shows that the propagation of weapons does much more harm. The right to bear arms is not as fundamental as the right to access food and shelter (Lawrence). Still, gun lobby groups are fiercely defending the second amendment. At the same time, the presence of a wide circulation of weapons leads to a noticeable increase in the number of various shootings that cripple and take people’s lives. Thus, as a benefit in this context, the abstract constitutional right of people to have weapons for theoretical self-defense can be considered. On the other hand, the actual statistics of victims of people who legally acquired their guns, after which they staged mass executions, acts as harm and “pain”. Given the scale of the tragedies and negativity, from the point of view of utilitarian concepts, the right to own a gun does not justify itself as a helpful phenomenon.
For a more detailed consideration, the algorithm developed by Jeremy Bentham can be applied. This list of seven points allows for assessing the degree of pleasure that a particular action will bring. The intensity and duration of pleasure are highly questionable and most likely maximum when buying a new gun, after which the pleasure subsides. In addition, there is no certainty that happiness will come at all since the concept of security is extremely vague. Fortunately, the hypothetical situation of self-defense may never happen, and most people who buy a weapon never use it for its intended purpose. From the perspective of fecundity and purity, the action for which the gun is purchased is unlikely to be accompanied by pleasure and is likely to bring more negativity. Finally, in the context of extent, the purchase of a weapon will directly affect only one person. However, at the same time, many people around them are at risk if weapons suddenly fall into the wrong hands or are misused.
Thus, it can be concluded that having a law like the second amendment to the constitution does not make sense and bring a lot of harm. Following Mill’s claims, such legislation does not consider the benefits for all people and does not take into account that such a view can have far-reaching consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the legislation on arms control. Given the number of unfortunate incidents, changes must be made to ensure the good, i.e., safety, of all US citizens.
Reference
Lawrence, Desmonda. “Gun Control and the Ethics of Constitutional Rights.” The Prindle Post, 2019. Web.
Nostra Aetate: Catholic Position On World Religions
God created all human beings in His image, which means that all human beings are a reflection of His will. This is perhaps the most important thesis that reflects Western Christianity’s absolute position on alternative religions. The critical document that canonized the Pope’s view is the Vatican Declaration, also called Nostra Aetate.
The fundamental material offered for the study is full of meanings and sub-themes, but its most crucial thesis can be defined as the Catholic Church’s desire to establish favorable relations with all world religions. If one discusses this thesis more specifically, one should focus on the document’s discussion of the historically complex relationship between Christianity and the Jews (NA, 4). Despite this controversy, however, the Pope urges both sides to reconcile. An ambiguous relationship is also discussed for Muslim philosophy and Christianity. Again, the Pope acknowledges an attempt to reconcile the two religions through an open expression of friendliness on the part of Catholicism (NA, 3). With regard to Buddhism as the fourth world religion, however, no particular phrases are put forward, but it is summarized that Christianity recognizes the sanctity of this religion (NA, 1). Moreover, Nostra Aetate discusses the commonality of the ultimate goals of the two movements, namely, the search for answers to questions “…deeply stir the hearts of men” (NA, 1).
In general, this important idea stems from the second central thesis of the entire work. The Pope points to the common origin of all men and the belief in something divine that can govern all life (NA, 1). Even apart from the detailed discussion, this allows us to identify a clear position on non-Christian cultures, namely, recognizing them as partners. Finally, a third important thesis is a conclusion that Christians should “…maintain good fellowship among the nations…” (NA, 5). This helps define the Vatican’s view of any episodes of discrimination and lack of respect for people (created in the image of God) on the basis of race, ideology, or faith.
Reference
NA. (1965). Vatican.