What is integrated health promotion (IHP)?

Page content: Introduction | Guiding principles for integrated health promotion | Frameworks working together

Introduction

The Ottawa Charter (1986) defines health promotion as:

"…the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realise aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasising social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy lifestyles to wellbeing.^{" 1}

In Victoria, the term ‘integrated health promotion’ refers to agencies and organisations from a wide range of sectors and communities in a catchment working in a collaborative manner using a mix of health promotion interventions and capacity building strategies to address priority health and wellbeing issues.

The Integrated Health Promotion Framework includes three key features:

1. Effective partnerships
2. A mix of interventions and common planning framework
3. A broad range of sectors

Underpinning integrated approaches to health promotion are the Victorian state guiding principles or core values. These are built from the foundations of health promotion.

For complete explanations refer to Sections 1 and 2 of the IHP Resource Kit: A practice guide for service providers.

1. Effective partnerships
An effective integrated approach requires effective partnerships. Inter and intra agency partnership and integration can be presented as a continuum where integration intensifies from networking through to formalised collaborative partnerships. Where collaboration is realised there is leverage of existing agency resources. For more information on the continuum of integration refer to Table 1 of the IHP Resource Kit: A practice guide for service providers.

2. A mix of interventions and common planning framework

The second key feature is promoting the capacity and commitment to deliver a mix of interventions. The evidence in health promotion practice tells us that to maximise health outcomes a mix of health promotion interventions, encompassing a balance of both individual and population wide health promotion interventions, is required. These interventions need to also be supported by capacity building strategies. In order to develop a systematic approach to integrated health promotion, a common planning framework has been introduced across the Primary Health Care sector to guide this practice.

3. A broad range of sectors

The third feature considered is the membership of the actual partnership. Involvement and integration across a broad range of sectors, including non-government organisations and community groups, is essential, to really address the determinants of health. Other organisations outside the “traditional” primary health sector – such as schools, housing, recreation clubs, and commercial businesses are therefore seen as key partners in the development of the integrated health promotion plan. Working with existing networks within a catchment population has been essential to build on the current knowledge and expertise.

Guiding principles for integrated health promotion

1. Address the broader determinants of health , recognising that health is influenced by more than genetics, individual lifestyles and provision of health care, and that political, social, economic and environmental factors are critical.

2. Base activities on the best available data and evidence , both with respect to why there is a need for action in a particular area and what is most likely to effect sustainable change.

3. Act to reduce social inequities and injustice , helping to ensure every individual, family and community group may benefit from living, learning and working in a health promoting environment.

4. Emphasise active consumer and community participation in processes that enable and encourage people to have a say about what influences their health and wellbeing and what would make a difference.

5. Empower individuals and communities, through information, skill development, support, advocacy and structural change strategies, to have an understanding of what promotes health, wellbeing 6 January, 2009 take control of their own lives.

6. Explicitly consider difference in gender and culture, recognising that gender and culture lie at the heart of the way in which health beliefs and behaviours are developed and transmitted.

7. Work in collaboration, understanding that while programs may be initiated by the health sector, partnerships must be actively sought across a broad range of sectors, including those organisations that may not have an explicit health focus. This focus aims to build on the capacity of a wide range of sectors to deliver quality integrated health promotion programs; and to reduce the duplication and fragmentation of health promotion effort.

Understanding the relationship between the Integrated Health Promotion Resource Kit and the Environments for Health Framework

An introduction to the Integrated health promotion resource kit - For local government (62kb, pdf)

An introduction to Environments for Health: Municipal Public Health Planning Framework - For Primary and Community health agencies (63kb, pdf)

Footnotes:

1 - World Health Organisation (1986), The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, Geneva.

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