Table 4 Synergy 4 – Strengthening health promotion and health protection
Intervention | Intervention features and empirical examples |
|---|---|
A. Health promotion through education | 1. Counselling and educational materials can be targeted at prevention and management of particular conditions such as infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and cancer: |
2. Integration efforts can concentrate on personal risk behaviors related to health, including cigarette smoking, substance abuse, risky sexual activity, poor diet, and physical inactivity: | |
3. This intervention provides opportunities for the PC sector to contribute to health promotion and education campaigns led by PH and local health authorities: | |
4. Information about environmental issues, such as hazardous wastes, lead poisoning, and fluoridation, is provided in some materials; other materials can provide patients with a list of available health resources. | |
B. Advocate for health related laws/regulations, and for disadvantaged groups | 1. Collaboration efforts target a broad range of community issues such as alcohol and tobacco control, vehicular injury, water fluoridation, cycling and walking infrastructure, gun control, as well as a number of health equity issues including income adequacy, affordable housing, and early childhood education supports etc. |
2. PC and PH professionals involved in these forms of public policy advocacy can draw upon various non-clinical tools/resources such as scientific/technical expertise, lobbying and public relations skills, and influence with policymakers and the public in order to influence regulations that promote conditions more conducive to safety and well-being of populations | |
C. Launch “Healthy Communities” Initiatives | 1. Initiatives can be targeted at particular health problems or needs specific to groups within the community |
2. PC-PH Initiatives can also be developed on a larger, community-wide scale through multiple projects designed to promote health of local populations | |
3. These projects go beyond categorical health promotion activities by developing a broad-based process to tackle multiple community health issues, and evaluative mechanisms to determine outcomes and benefits of institutional investments in community health status improvement |