World Health Day 2020 is About Supporting Nurses and Midwives
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the foremost group dedicated to global health. Every year on April 7th they take a day to pay special attention to a specific “health theme” which they want to be acknowledged by the general public over the next year. This year, amidst a very challenging period for the global healthcare system, the theme is “Support Nurses and Midwives.” These front-line healthcare workers put themselves in danger every day to provide essential services, and there’s no better time to thank them.
What exactly does support mean? It starts small with simple gestures of gratitude to healthcare workers. But there are more concrete steps you can take to demonstrate your support for nurses and midwives too. This World Health Day, the WHO is providing a list of steps you can take to actively show support to some of the selfless people, that are critical to keeping us healthy.
Here’s what you need to know about World Health Day 2020:
The Goals and Calls to Action of World Health Day 2020
It’s one thing to simply recognize nurses and midwives, but for the WHO, this year’s World Health Day is an opportunity to actually drive action to improve the quality of work, life and consequently the care provided by nurses and midwives. The overarching goals are threefold: First, the WHO wants this World Health Day to catalyze a surge in public support for nurses and midwives. Additionally, WHO wants to elevate the profile of these two groups of healthcare workers and build support and investment for them.
Accomplishing these goals will require the backing of three different segments, the General Public, Policy Makers and other Healthcare Workers.
General Public: The WHO is calling on the general public this World Health Day to actively show support for nurses and midwives by thanking them for their work. Whether you’re visiting or staying in a hospital or simply know someone who is a nurse or midwife, take time to offer them your gratitude. You can also call on local leaders to make greater investments into these essential healthcare workers to support them in their roles.
Policy Makers: While gratitude from the general public is always appreciated, true and lasting change starts at the policy level. The WHO is calling on policy makers to make investments into education and employment, anticipating that universal health coverage will one day be a reality everywhere. They also ask that policy makers pay more attention to what nurses and midwives have to say -- they are after all the experts within their field. Lastly, policy makers are asked to be more proactive and effective with data collection so they can best make changes where changes are needed most.
Other Healthcare Workers: While all healthcare workers are important, this World Health Day is specifically about recognizing nurses and midwives. For other healthcare workers employed alongside nurses and midwives, showing respect for their roles by listening to and engaging them in decision-making, while exploring their ideas is a great way to demonstrate recognition.
What You Can Do
If you’d like to participate in the spirit of World Health Day 2020, there’s a number of actions you can take. While being out and about these days may not be all that possible (or advisable) there are still a couple of ways to support nurses, midwives and other health workers.
One way to show your support for nurses in particular, is considering your own physical health. As we get older, the odds of requiring healthcare services increase. With nurses and other healthcare professionals already spread thin, taking good care of our health is important to ease their burden. One of the best ways to do this is by eating nutritious meals that nurture your physical well-being. Heart to Home Meals helps make food that encourages health more accessible than ever for seniors.
Have you ever received care from a nurse whom you want to thank? Now is a great time to send them a letter or email thanking them for their good work. Perhaps a family member recently gave birth with the help of a midwife -- a little communication sharing your gratitude will give them a boost they rightfully deserve.
On World Health Day we’ll take some time to especially recognize the nurses and midwives who provide such an important service in our healthcare systems around the world. By encouraging people to focus on their own physical health and showing your gratitude with letters, you can demonstrate your support this World Health Day.
This time is a great opportunity to consider how we take care of ourselves so we don’t need to contribute more work to healthcare workers. By eating nutritiously, we can take an important first step to our health.
Want to learn more about how convenient eating nutritiously can be? Visit our website today to see all our meals www.hearttohomemeals.ca
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