Health promotion is a life course process which focuses on resources for health and aims at influencing and improving health as well as wellbeing and quality of life. People are seen as active and participating subjects. Initiatives are directed towards an individual, a group or the whole population and the context in which people live.
Source: WHO 1986. French text has been removed.
The Ottawa Charter (WHO 1986) defines health promotion in the following way:
Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment.
Further reading:
• The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion – principles and action means
• Milestones in Health Promotion – Statements from Global Conferences
• 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Nairobi 2009
Links:
• Learning Centre for Health Promotion and Health Promoting Work
• The Health Promotion Research Group at NHV
• Publications (Articles, books, reports and theses)
• Ongoing projects
• PhD students with supervisors from the Health Promotion Group
• The group is responsible for the following courses at NHV
• The Nordic Health Promotion Research Network
• The 6th Nordic Health Promotion Research Conference
• Salutogenesis
• Universal Design
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