Implementation

Page content: Integrated health promotion in action | Health promotion interventions | Capacity building

Integrated health promotion in action

The Ottawa Charter, provides the broad action areas for health promotion. This section considers in greater depth aspects of solution generation and capacity building. Integrated health promotion service delivery can be organised from one or more different angles, depending on the key priorities identified and the problem definition, including:

• health or disease priorities, for example, mental health, heart disease, diabetes, oral health
• lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and nutrition, tobacco use, safe sex
• population groups, for example, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, same-sex attracted youth, adolescents, older people living alone
• settings, for example, health promoting schools, health promoting workplaces, health promoting hospitals.

The key requirement for quality practice is how programs are planned, delivered and evaluated. By definition, quality practice is:

• enabling - it is done by, with and for people, not on them; it encourages participation
• involves the population in the context of their everyday lives, rather than focusing just on the obvious lifestyle risk factors of specific diseases
• directed to improving people’s control over the determinants of their health
• a process - it leads to something, it is a means to an end.

  top of page

Health promotion interventions

To guide planning for solution generation five categories of health promotion interventions have been developed including:

• screening, individual risk factor assessment and immunisation
• social marketing and health information
• health education and skill development
• community action (for social and environmental change)
• settings and supportive environments
  (each of these interventions to be linked to relevant section of resource kit on PHKB)

A key requirement of quality integrated health promotion program delivery is the implementation of a mix of health promotion interventions (encompassing a balance of both individual and population-wide interventions) that contribute to achieving the goal and objectives stated for that integrated health promotion priority. These interventions are also supported by identified capacity building strategies. Figure 1 shows the relationships between the health promotion intervention categories (solution generation) and ensuring the capacity of the system for health improvement (capacity building). This figure also illustrates how these interventions relate (on a continuum) to an individual and to the whole population.

Health promotion interventions and capacity building strategies Individual focus Population focus Screening, individual risk assessment immunisation Health education and skill development Social marketing Health information Community action Settings and supportive environments Ensuring the capacity to deliver quality programs through capacity building strategies including: Organisational Development Workforce Development Resources

top of page

Capacity Building

When implementing an integrated health promotion program, it is important to create optimal conditions for success. Capacity building involves the development of sustainable skills, organisational structures, resources and commitment to health improvement in health and other sectors, to prolong and multiply health gains many times over.¹ It can occur both within a specific program and as part of broad agency and system development.
The diagram below highlights the pathways and the key action areas to build capacity to promote health and wellbeing.

Building Capacity to Promote Health

Implementing strategies from each of the key action areas should build the combined ability of the agency or partnership to:

1. Deliver appropriate program responses to particular priority health issues, including the establishment of minimum requirements in structures and skills (strengthening agency/system infrastructure).
2. Continue to deliver, transfer and/or adapt a particular program through a network of agencies, or to sustain the benefits achieved (program maintenance and sustainability).
3. Strengthen the generic problem-solving capability of organisations and communities to be able to develop innovative solutions, learning through experience and applying these lessons.²

For the complete definitions of the Health Promotion interventions and capacity building download Section 5 of the IHP Resource Kit: A practice guide for service providers.

Footnotes:

1. Health Promotion Strategies Unit (1999), A framework for building capacity to improve health, NSW Health, Sydney.
2. Hawe, P., Noort, M., King, L. and Jordens, C. (1997), ‘Multiplying health gains: the critical role of capacity-building within health promotion programs’, Health Policy, vol. 39, pp. 29–42. as quoted in Health Promotion Strategies Unit (1999), A framework for building capacity to improve health, NSW Health, Sydney.

   top of page