Purpose

Purpose The (WHO,1945) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The Ottawa charter is a health promotion that is designed to improve health in individuals. The aim of this essay is to address Tobacco use and the health-related diseases it comes with such as cancer, cardiovascular and lung diseases. The five actions within the Ottawa charter are used in this essay in aiming to improve individual’s health. Studies show that adults commenced smoking in their teenager years, therefore this topic will target the adolescent group in the Cranbourne community to develop a better understanding of the smoking epidemic.

1. Building healthy public policy.Australia is leading the world in anti-smoking strategies along with having the most effective campaigns. Campaigns that effectively facilitate the Ottawa Charter have a higher impact on the consumer as they enable both smokers and non-smokers to power over tobacco and improve their overall health (Brennan et al, 2016).

Australia was the first country to implement the plain packaging of packets which included graphic health warning (GHW) imaging covering 90% of the back and 75% of the front. Research by Dunlop, (2011) found that multimedia campaigns and GHW packaging stimulated conversions, these conversions among smokers had a 33% affect on influencing quitting or considerations of quitting and motivated 18% of non-smokers to not attempt smoking. The Australian National Preventative Health Agency developed an app (My quit buddy) which assists users by not only providing them with strategies and tips on how to quit but also allowing the user to monitor their progress both how much they have saved and times they are in danger of smoking.

Engagement to connect with the adolescents of Cranbourne, can be done through attending primary schools and educating them about tobacco in the aim to improve their decision making. Advertising research based evidence on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and twitter as can also attract adolescent to want to learn more about the effect of tobacco. Websites such as quit Victoria not only allow for visualisation of the effect of smoking, they also provide further information about strategies on how to quit and further educate on how to approach relatives and friends about the idea of quitting (Quit, 2018). Providing social event such as ‘smoke-free underage music/dance event’ which show young people that they can socialise and still have fun without any peer pressure to smoke. This will result to modifying personal behaviours within individuals, as research studies show that contributing factors to smoking are behavioural, social, and environmental determinants.