Navigating Health Promotion Frameworks to Enhance Transitional Care and Equity in Healthcare: A Reflection

Now that MHST 631 is coming to an end, my thoughts are pretty positive, with a dose of “ Who knew health promotion entailed so many frameworks and variables.” Balancing this course with other competing priorities was challenging, but it also made the learning feel very real and immediately applicable with my current work setting

One of my most moving discoveries was just how many different frameworks can meaningfully guide practice. Moving between the Ottawa Charter, the Population Health Promotion Model, the social-ecological models, and Intervention Mapping helped me see that health promotion is  the mainstay of the work I already do in virtual care, discharge calls, and ALC/transition planning. The logic model and priority-setting work around ALC beds, for example, gave me a clearer roadmap for translating big system problems into concrete, measurable change.

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My most powerful learning moment came through the positionality and reflexivity activities. Working in a female-dominated profession and managing programs that disproportionately affect older adults, IENs, and other equity-deserving groups, forced me to confront both my privilege and my blind spots. Connecting this to the social determinants, and systemic racism helped me question how our policies, onboarding, and discharge processes might unintentionally reproduce inequities.

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Another important thread at the end of the semester was the community and patient engagement. Working through PFAC examples, strengths-based approaches, and evaluation planning reinforced how important the work I am currently involved in is in health care.

Overall, this course has given me  various , tools, and confidence to better bridge theory and practice in my roles with transitional care and other programs including IEN and virtual care.