About this chapter

This chapter provides an overview of the range of health promotion strategies most commonly used when working with individuals, groups and communities. These strategies aim to increase people's control over their health and the issues which impact upon it.

This chapter includes:

• some of the theory for health promotion practice
• a description of the most commonly used health promotion strategies
• practical guidelines based on the knowledge and experience of health staff
• case studies and examples of health promotion in action

Community development theory and practice are fundamental to a health promotion way of working. You will notice this theme running through other chapters in this book.

		Find a step by step guide developed by THS staff on how to approach and work with communities in the section 'Working with Communities
		See also the chapters 'Education for Health', 'Sharing Health Information' and 'Planning and Evaluating a Health Promotion Project'

What is 'health'

There are several definitions of health (see 'Glossary'). The one we quote here comes from the World Health Organization Constitution written in 1948.

The health of an individual needs to be considered in the context of the family, group and community environment. Individual and community health are also affected by what is happening in the wider community such as changes in public policies and legislation, and technical developments (also see 'Introduction' and the section on 'Changing the Wider Environment'). Health promotion strategies can be broad, focusing on changing the environment around the individual. They can also be specific, focusing on the individual and the groups to which the person belongs.