Strategies of health promotion

The fundamental conditions and resources for health are peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable eco-system, sustainable resources, social justice and equity. Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic prerequisites strategies.

Advocate

Good health is a major resource for social, economic and personal development and important dimension of quality of life. Political, economic, social cultural, environmental, behavioral and biological factors can all favor health or be harmful to it. Health promotion action aims at making these conditions favorable through advocacy for health.

It refers to communication strategies focusing on policy makers, community leaders and opinion leaders to gain commitment and support. It is a request for a higher-level commitment, involvement and participation in fulfilling a set program agenda. (You will learn about advocacy in session 14 of this module.)

Enable

Health promotion focuses on achieving equity in health. Health promotion action aims at reducing differences in current health status and ensuring equal opportunities and resources to enable all people to achieve their fullest health potential. This includes a secure foundation in a supportive environment, access to information, life skills and opportunities for making healthy choices. People cannot achieve their fullest health potential unless they are able to take control of those things which determine their health. This must apply equally to women and men.

Mediate

The prerequisites and prospects for health cannot be ensured by the health sector alone. More importantly, health promotion demands coordinated action by all concerned: by governments, by health and other social and economic sectors, by non-governmental and voluntary organizations, by local authorities, by industry and by the media. People in all walks of life are involved as individuals, families and communities. HEWs, local leaders and social groups have a major responsibility to mediate between differing interests in society for the pursuit of health.

Health promotion strategies and programs should be adapted to the local needs and possibilities of individual and groups to take into account differing social, cultural and economic systems.