Knowledge Development For Health Promotion

This report summarizes the key features of the Health Promotion Framework; examines the elements of knowledge development; reviews Health and Welfare Canada's key dissemination and research activities to date; and considers what future steps may be taken to advance the process of knowledge development. It also provides highlights and summaries of 24 literature reviews and research reports.

While research teams are producing relevant and valid knowledge for health promotion, there is not yet a structured manual and distinct field of health promotion research. This timely "state-of-the-art" handbook contributes to structuring the field of health promotion research. This collection presents introductory-level methodological solutions to the major epistemological, methodological, and ethical challenges facing health promotion research. It brings together experts from different "research traditions" that coexist in the field. The handbook covers the existing knowledge production and sharing practices to delineate the "discipline" and its agenda for future research. Ultimately, it contributes to creating a global community of health promotion researchers. This volume concerns research practices relevant to the production and sharing of knowledge about health promotion practices. It is organized as follows: Part I presents some paradigms and approaches to knowledge production relevant to health promotion research. Parts II to V describe research designs and methods that specifically address health promotion research. Part VI includes an overview of the challenges facing health promotion research and suggests ways forward. Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research, Vol. 3: Doing Health Promotion Research is a highly relevant reference tool for researchers and graduate students in health promotion, public health, education, and socio-health sciences; practitioners in health, medical, and social sectors; policy-makers; and health research administrators.

Building Health Promotion Capacity explores the professional practice of health promotion and, in particular, how individuals and organizations can become more effective in undertaking and supporting such practice. The book is based on the experiences of the Building Health Promotion Capacity Project (1998-2003), a continuing education and applied research venture affiliated with the Saskatchewan Heart Health Program. The project studied the process of capacity development in relation to practitioners and regional health districts in Saskatchewan. For health promotion practitioners across Canada and beyond, this book provides a coherent framework for effective professional practice. Leaders in health sector organizations will develop a firmer grasp of how to support health promotion practice and how to recruit and retain individual practitioners with a high level of capacity. Policy makers will improve their knowledge of environments that support the health promotion capacity of individuals and organizations. Scholars will learn about the nature of health promotion capacity and about a methodology for its study.

This book's central focus is to provide academics, students, policy-makers, and practitioners with a unique insight into a wide variety of perspectives on settings-based health promotion. It offers clarity amidst different interpretations and ideological understandings of what applying a settings-based approach means. Emphasis is given to a salutogenic focus, exploring how the creation of wellbeing and fostering of potential in settings to best enable individuals and populations to flourish implies that the setting itself must be the entry point for health promotion. Building on this, the text explores how the settings approach to health promotion strives for changes in the structure and ethos of the setting – detailing how changes and developments in people's health and health behavior are easier to achieve if health promoters focus on settings rather than solely on individuals. The book comprises 15 chapters organized in three sections: In Part I, Evolution, Foundations and Key Principles of the Settings-Based Approach, the first four chapters present the determinants, theoretical basis, and generic commonalities that are consistent over various settings initiatives and formulate the grounds for the settings-based health promotion approach. In Part II, Applying the Settings-Based Approach to Key Settings, Chapters 5-13 introduce the key settings initiatives – both traditional and non-traditional (new and contemporary) – with their developments and specific features. In Part III, Gaia – The Ultimate Setting for Health Promotion, the last two chapters consider the settings approach in the context of future challenges and explore possible directions for further development. Handbook of Settings-Based Health Promotion has novel information and perspectives on the topic that provide readers with up-to-date specialist knowledge and application of global developments to develop and enhance a common understanding and generate new thinking in relation to contemporary settings. This timely tome will engage the academic community in the fields of health promotion and public health including students, teaching staff, and researchers. Additionally, it is a useful resource for policy-makers and practitioners in these fields.

Our health system resembles a repair service which treats illness and suffering. But in many cases it would seem much simpler to avoid health problems. Why do we wait until the illnesses have developed? Young and expectant families are particularly interested in maintaining the health of their children and their whole family. Since prevention must begin long before the emergence of illness, there can be no better time to start than the beginning of life. This book presents a range of contributions that not only encourage theoretical reflection about the topics discussed but also provide practical suggestions.

Developing a ‘healthy school’ has been a key aim for many schools across the globe, yet achieving successful implementation and sustaining the positive benefits has proven to be challenging. In this much-needed text, the contributors draw upon their wide range of international expertise and experience to demonstrate how guidelines can best be implemented by building upon scientific knowledge of ‘implementation theory’, as well as empirically-based practice from health-promoting school initiatives. The Implementation of Health Promoting Schools articulates an evidence base for implementation that is centred on eight theorised implementation components, each of which is designed to help practitioners to utilise theory-based guidelines within the school as an organisational setting. This approach differs from more traditional implementation guidelines for pre-packaged programs, which are often only focused on providing guidance to an individual teacher in a classroom. Needs for further research to confirm and add to the identified components are also addressed. With contributions from leading experts around the world, this book is structured around three main sections: Part One: addresses the theory base for implementation of health promoting schools Part Two: provides examples through case studies Part Three: identifies directions for future developments. Authoritative, research-based and supported by examples from concrete practices in schools and governmental bodies at local and national level, this text provides guidance that is vital for future advancement of the field, and is essential reading for teachers, educational professionals and policy makers. It will also appeal to researchers, academics and undergraduate and postgraduate students studying whole school health practice and research.