Health Promotion and Maintenance
What this domain tests
Health promotion questions ask you to match a teaching or screening intervention to a person's age, risk profile, and readiness to change. Know the levels of prevention: primary (immunization, safety counseling, folic acid before conception), secondary (screening such as mammography, colonoscopy, Pap testing, blood pressure checks), and tertiary (rehabilitation, support groups, disease self-management after diagnosis).
Concepts to master
- Developmental stages: well-child visit schedules, adolescent risk behaviors, prenatal care, and older-adult fall and polypharmacy screening.
- Screening intervals for average-risk adults (for example, colorectal cancer screening beginning at age 45 and cervical cancer screening starting at 21).
- Behavior-change models: the transtheoretical model (precontemplation through maintenance) and motivational interviewing - meet the client where they are rather than lecturing.
- Health literacy: teach-back, plain language, and avoiding jargon.
Traps
Questions often ask for the first or best action. When a client is not ready to change, the correct answer is usually to explore ambivalence, not to hand out a pamphlet or list risks. Watch for "average risk" versus "high risk" - family history or prior abnormal results shift screening earlier or more often. Do not confuse a screening test with a diagnostic test.
Rule of thumb
Ask: Is this preventing disease before it starts (primary), finding it early (secondary), or limiting disability after diagnosis (tertiary)? Then ask whether the client is willing and able to act now.
Worked example: A 52-year-old average-risk client has never had colon cancer screening. The nurse's best action is to discuss screening options (colonoscopy or stool-based testing) and support informed choice - not to schedule a diagnostic test or assume the client will refuse.