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From 1974 to 2024: How has health promotion impacted our lives?
Since Canada's Lalande Report proposed the concept of health promotion in 1974, health promotion has become an important pillar of global public health. Over time, however, the concept is no longer limited to changes in individual health behaviors but also encompasses broader social and environmental interventions. This evolution leads us to rethink the definition and acquisition of health in today's fast-paced life.
The core of health promotion is to give people greater control over their health and its determinants.
The 1974 Lalande Report first stated that health promotion should include informing, influencing and assisting individuals and organizations to accept more responsibility and be more active in matters affecting mental and physical health. In addition, the 1979 American Health Plan's "Healthy People Report" further pointed out that health promotion requires the development of community and individual measures to help people establish a lifestyle that can maintain and enhance health.
Until 1986, the World Health Organization emphasized at the Ottawa Conference that health promotion is not only the responsibility of the health department, but requires the joint efforts of the entire society. This shows that the scope of health promotion covers political, economic, social, cultural and environmental factors.
Health promotion aims to achieve health equality for all, which requires coordinated actions from all aspects, including governments, social institutions, etc.
After entering the 21st century, health promotion has been integrated into many public policies and has also challenged social inequality. For example, the concept of "health in all policies" emerged, which means that all policies should consider their impact on health, emphasizing the interaction between policy and public health.
Evaluating the effectiveness of health promotion is also crucial. Research in recent years has proven that good health promotion strategies can effectively reduce smoking rates, increase physical activity levels, and improve dietary habits. These changes not only help improve an individual's health, but also reduce overall medical costs and improve quality of life.
Evaluating the effectiveness of health promotion measures requires combining quantitative and qualitative data to fully understand their impact.
However, health promotion also faces challenges, especially when it comes to assessing its long-term impact. Many health benefits may not appear until many years after an intervention, making it difficult to track and confirm the cause of specific health improvements. In addition, the multiple determinants of health in today's society also make it difficult to specifically quantify the results of health promotion.
With the advancement of technology, digital health intervention is becoming an important part of health promotion strategies. In sub-Saharan Africa, mobile health (mHealth) programs have shown success in increasing vaccination rates. This technology enables health education and preventive care to be delivered to vulnerable groups in a timely manner.
In the forty years from 1974 to 2024, the methods and focus of health promotion gradually changed. How will it shape our lives in the future? In different areas of society, from schools to workplaces to communities, the concept of health promotion is becoming more and more popular. This makes it even more important for us to reflect on how to continue to promote healthy development in our daily lives and how to integrate this concept into society more broadly.
Can we comprehensively improve health concepts and practices and promote more equitable health status in our future lives?
