Natur og Kultur som Folkehelse - NaKuHel

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
26
Promoting Health – a key to sustainable development
Johan Hallberg
Background:
Lowered subjective well being is a double load to
health, directly from the psychological/physiological
reactions of the lowered well being and indirectly
from unbeneficial behaviors related to bad
coping. The risk for behaviors adverse to health
and the social situation is higher for people with a
low socio-economic status. However, people with
high socio-economic status may have access to
more financial and other resources to handle stress
and strain but in ways more destructive viewed
out of environmental sustainability, like excessive
material consumption.
Objectives:
The report “Promoting health – a key to sustainable
development” investigates the possibility to
use health promotion as a strategy for sustainable
development – ecologically, economically and
socially.
Underlying values and principles:
Using health promotion as a strategy for sustainable
development brings a holistic approach to the
issues of public health and sustainability. It makes
the field of sustainable development accessible
to all. It delivers a common ground for planning,
policy making and communication. It helps us to
take part of and be inspired of each otherʼ’s work
for sustainability.
Knowledge base/ Evidence base:
The growing body of knowledge of the salutogenesis
and the roots of sustainable development can
be gathered into a model for thought and action,
here called “Seven landmarks for health and sustainable
development”.
These landmarks are: More body movement every
day, Greener food on the plate, Space for parenthood,
Space for human contact, Balancing the
stress, Closeness to nature and Closeness to culture.
Methods:
Litterature review.
Results and Conclusions:
The report shows how the factors that promote
health mainly are the same that promote sustainable
development. “The Seven Landmarks” can
be applied in every social, economical or political
activity. Examples of applications are: health
promoting health care systems, health promoting
schools, health promoting public planning, health
promoting workplace, health promoting leadership
and health promoting policy making.
The major conclusion is that health promotion contains
a significant potential to become a universal
and including strategy for sustainable development.
Therefore, the interests of the society are:
- a general spreading of the knowledge of health
promotion and sustainable development,
- stimulating both public and other sectors to use
health promotion as a strategy for higher effi
ciency and quality in their work,
- further studies of the salutogenesis concerning its
hidden driving forces to sustainable development
and
- developing methods or models that communicate
this knowledge.