HEALTH PROMOTION

Health Promotion



Health Promotion

Introduction

The concept of health promotion initially emerged and continues to gain strength as an approach to improving health status and health condition of people. Health promotion is a key component of the complex relationship between actions, knowledge, attitudes, behaviour, and health outcomes from the individual to the societal level. Health promotion is increasingly applicable and relevant to practice within health care and health research specialty around the world.

This paper aims at exploring the fundamental concepts of health, health promotion, and multiple health models that define the effectiveness of approach taken towards the health promotion. Separate discussions of research on health require defining the boundaries of health promotion factors and how does each factor defines the effectiveness of approach taken towards health promotion.

Definition of Health

It is necessary to determine which factors constitute the components of health. Many researchers have identified fundamental concepts which lead to universal definition development to define the concept of health. Contemporary approach towards defining health is more holistic compare to conventional definition of health which defines it as a phenomenon of presence or absence of disease (Gorin 2006, 19).

According to World Health Organization (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This definition shows a confined perspective about health and its constituent elements. It defines the health based on variety of factors that directly affect the individual's psychological, physical, social, and emotional condition (Wills 2000, 56).

Second definition for defining health is as follows:

“Health is a complex state of metabolic efficiency that represents the biological integration associated with physical, mental, and emotional stability of a person. It represents the ability to identify and realize aspirations, satisfy needs and to change and / or adapt to its environment. Health is therefore a resource for everyday life.” (Green 2010, 42)

These two definitions of health present a distinct but related constituent principle. First definition shows the fundamental principle of health related to the disease and wellness. However, second definition includes the determinants of intrinsic satisfactions that relates to the health. This relates the abilities and disabilities of a person that are both physical and emotional in nature. In general, both definition shows that health is a functional and metabolic efficiency of human beings. It represents the balance of health condition of a person i.e. free from illness, disease, injury, or pain (Hayden 2009, 58).

Definition of Health Promotion

The concept of health promotion is based on the interpretation of social and cultural health, and disease. The health promotion is the process of enabling people to gain greater control over their health. It is a dynamic and evolving concept referring to the management of health of people in the context of their daily lives. Health promotion concept promotes the attainment of the highest level of physical, mental, and social development. Tones (2001, p.23) defined health promotion as a process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their ...