Promoting health and evaluating change.
Health promotion is a term that includes a range of approaches aimed at maintaining and promoting the population's health. In its broadest sense health promotion includes: health protection legislation and enforcement; healthy public policy; mass media communications; community development in health; health education; and preventive health services. The use of these approaches has been associated with improved health in Australia, but evaluating the effectiveness of health promotion is not easy. Multi-faceted approaches are most effective, but are difficult to evaluate using experimental or quasi-experimental designs. In addition, health promotion has yet to meet the challenge of measuring progress towards improving health and well-being, as distinct from reductions in disease and in behavioural risk factors for disease. This paper discusses health promotion, its strategies and impacts, and some issues involved in its evaluation.
Garrard
J
J
National Centre for Health Program Evaluation.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D015444:Exercise; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology