title: The natural helping role of nurses in promoting healthy behaviors in communities.
abstract: Nurses are often sought out informally by others in their social networks for education and health care information. They play an important role in promoting healthy behaviors in their community by acting as health educators and change agents outside a formal professional role. This article presents a theoretical framework for a natural helping model of behavioral and social change for promoting healthy communities that considers the influence of naturally existing sources of social and community support. The article discusses a natural helper program for breast cancer education and control that uses nurses in an informal helping role in their communities.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tessaro
mesh_terms: D003152:Community Health Nursing; D019058:Community Networks; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D012944:Social Support