Core Document - International Union for Health Promotion and ...

Chapter Two
Taking the Health Promotion Pulse
Introducing the Evidence
International experts from a variety of health promotion disciplines were invited
to examine the literature and published research documentation of numerous
interventions across the world. They were not asked to conduct new research. Their
job was to analyse, critically, and within the boundaries of scientific tolerance, what
had worked and what had not.
They were then asked to tread new ground. In order to build a bridge between the
health promotion discipline and the political community, our panel of international
professors, academics and acknowledged world-leaders in health promotion practice
were then asked to formulate a series of Impact Assessments. In their view, as experts,
what health, social, economic and political impacts did the interventions under
consideration achieve? � These impacts are analysed in Chapter Three of this Part; each chapter in
the Evidence Book carries subject-specific assessments.
Traditionally, health promotion interventions have either been targeted within
defined settings (such as schools, workplaces, cities) or with identified population
groups (such as elderly people or youth). Inevitably, programmes and strategies cross
boundaries. In order to best illuminate and demonstrate the work of various
strategies, we decided to report on topics of political relevance as well as healthcare
and social relevance. Some are settings-based; others are populations-based; still
others straddle both. The report, especially the Evidence Book in Part Two, is not
designed as a comprehensive best-practice manual, but it is designed to be a rounded
analysis of health promotion effectiveness, demonstrating where and how it is
relevant to decision makers.
We therefore asked our research team to look at the major political challenges in
the New Europe: ageing, mental health, and the challenge of coping with
disenfranchised groups such as out-of-school youth. We asked others to look at major
health issues, such as heart health and the impact of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug
use. We researched areas where health promotion has gained high public profiles,
such as nutrition and safety issues. We examined two key settings where health
promotion activity has a particularly important social and economic impact – in the
workplace, and in schools. We asked for a case history on oral health, an often
neglected issue in many countries, but one where major health gains have been made.
And we asked about health promotion in the health care sector itself: what role can
doctors, nurses and other health sector practitioners play in promoting better health.
Finally, we looked at the heated issue of Equity. Put simply, the health of lower
economic and social groups is significantly poorer than higher groups, right across
Europe. With poverty comes disease. And with poor education, poor housing, poor
family stability comes violence, substance abuse, mental illness, heart disease and
increased morbidity and mortality. The evidence shows that inequity in social and
Taking the Health Promotion Pulse
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