“Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health…people cannot achieve their fullest health potential unless they are able to take control of those things which determine their health.” The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion,
developed at WHO inaugural Health Promotion Conference 1986 What is health promotion?We define health promotion as the process of planning, implementing and evaluating activities that promote health and well-being in our communities. Health promotion draws on a number of established disciplines and methodologies, including education, social science, health professions, marketing and advertising, psychology, public relations and community development. Examples of health promotion activities include disease screening, immunisation, health education and counselling. What kinds of health promotion is Partnership Health Canterbury undertaking?Partnership Health Canterbury has a three-pronged approach to Health Promotion: - Work with existing organisations to deliver programmes which are proven effective
- Boost funding for especially successful programmes
- Develop programmes to complement existing services where gaps exist
The planning, implementation and monitoring of health promotion projects is overseen by the Health Promotion Sub-Committee which includes representatives from the Cancer Society, Sport Canterbury, National Heart Foundation (Canterbury), Community and Public Health, He Oranga Pounamu, Public Health Association (Canterbury), and General Practice Groups, as well as representation from the PHO Board. After considering Ministry of Health guidelines and analysing the population of Canterbury, this committee recommended that Healthy Lifestyle would be the over-arching focus for the PHO’s initial health promotion activities. In particular, the decision was made to focus on promoting good health in two inter-connecting areas: - SmokeFree
- Increasing physical activity and improving nutrition
There are obvious benefits to promoting good health to the population. Health promotion prevents illness, can lower disease rates and limit the pressure on both primary and secondary health care services.
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