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LSBU academic outlines importance of health promotion in pioneering text
Professor Jane Wills has published 'Fundamentals of Health Promotion for Nurses' – an academic textbook to be incorporated across the curriculumJane Wills is Professor of Health Promotion in the School of Health and Social Care at LSBU with more than 25 years' experience within the public health and health promotion sector.
Following the success of her popular 'Foundations of Health Promotion' text now in its 4th edition and having sold 150,000 copies and translated into five languages – Professor Wills was commissioned by Wiley to write 'Fundamentals of Health Promotion for Nurses' as a concise, accessible introduction to health promotion and public health aimed at pre-registration nursing students and newly-qualified nurses.
Professor Wills explains: "Many nurses are involved in health promotion, health improvement activities and preventive work in specialised roles such as sexual health and teenage pregnancy – in addition to nurses working with disadvantaged groups and on projects to reduce health inequalities, school nurses, family support nurses and health visitors.
"One of the challenges is to embed public health and health promotion into all nursing which inspired me to write an introductory text specifically for student nurses that would be practice oriented and could be used across the curriculum."
To make the book more relevant and feature contemporary examples, Professor Wills used the expertise of her nursing colleagues in the School of Health and Social Care by encouraging them to translate their own experience into the text.
In addition, each section of the book asks the reader to identify their observations and experience of health promotion on placement.
"Editing a book seems easier but faces the same challenges of pitching a book to a publisher; getting through the peer-review process, keeping to deadlines and getting all the contributions in on time," said Jane of the process.
Jane recognises health promotion as a an essential aspect of the nurse's role and is leading a major new initiative with student nurses at LSBU titled 'making every contact count' which trains nursing staff to deliver messages about healthier living and behaviours in their interactions with members of the public wherever they provide care.
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