Health Promotion Network Research Articles

Building Community Capacity in Leadership for Primary Health Care in Colombia.

Primary health care looks beyond clinical services to health promotion and primary prevention at the population level. In 2011, Colombia adopted a normative approach to primary health care, to advance efforts to set health priorities and transcend a curative, hospital-based system. An intervention was carried out in eight communities in Bogotá and Cundinamarca, Colombia to build community capacity to influence health. Activities included training community leaders to design and implement health improvement initiatives aimed at the most important health problems identified by their organizations. Twenty-eight leaders completed the training. They designed and implemented eight health improvement plans to address the most important health problems in their respective communities: protecting public spaces for children’s physical activities, improving family practices in child nutrition, organizing a health insurance beneficiaries’ health promotion network, organizing a service delivery network for homeless persons, connecting people with cognitive disabilities to treatment services, combatting violence against women, working against child abuse, and integrating health education into school curricula. Lessons were learned about capacity-building in primary care, approaches to strengthening intra- and interinstitutional conditions, and managing processes for community ownership. The intervention enabled development of initiatives for solving various problems by different types of organizations, highlighted participants’ understanding of their role as health agents, and promoted community participation and intersectoral action.

A Comparative Study of Health Promotion Networks: Configurations of determinants for network effectiveness

Collaborative public networks have become increasingly important as policy tools to address complex social and health problems. However, despite the broad literature on network effectiveness, there is still insufficient insight into the different determinants of whole network effectiveness, and particularly on how these determinants are related. Based on an empirical comparison of 13 mature networks, this study identified potential environment, structural, and management determinants. Moreover, configurations of the identified determinants leading to network effectiveness were generated using configurational comparative methods. We gained insights into how configurations of determinants impacted network effectiveness and found a dominance of structural and managerial determinants.

Moving Health Promotion Communities Online: A Review of the Literature

There is a need to enhance the effectiveness and reach of complex health promotion initiatives by providing opportunities for diverse health promotion practitioners and others to interact in online settings. This paper reviews the existing literature on how to take health promotion communities and networks into online settings. A scoping review of relevant bodies of literature and empirical evidence was undertaken to provide an interpretive synthesis of existing knowledge on the topic. Sixteen studies were identified between 1986 and 2007. Relatively little research has been conducted on the process of taking existing offline communities and networks into online settings. However, more research has focused on offline (i.e. not mediated via computer networks); 'virtual' (purely online with no offline interpersonal contact); and 'multiplex' communities (i.e. those that interact across both online and offline settings). Results are summarised under three themes: characteristics of communities in online and offline settings; issues in moving offline communities online, and designing online communities to match community needs. Existing health promotion initiatives can benefit from online platforms that promote community building and knowledge sharing. Online e-health promotion settings and communities can successfully integrate with existing offline settings and communities to form 'multiplex' communities (i.e. communities that operate fluently across both online and offline settings).

Goal attainment scaling as a tool to enhance quality in community-based health promotion

Goal attainment scaling (GAS) is an individual approach for measuring changes in clinical interventions. We adopted GAS as a tool for community-based health promotion to support practitioners in formulating and monitoring their intervention goals. Eleven regional health promotion networks were invited to set project-specific goals, following Kiresuk and Sherman's rules for goal setting. Follow-up interviews on goal attainment were conducted twenty-one months later. In addition, each network was interviewed on usage and applicability. In total, 35 goals were set. The expected outcomes were reached for the majority of projects. GAS has been proven to be a useful instrument for quality assurance as it helps with setting and monitoring goals and sub-goals.

Roles and functions of sport and recreation officers on physical activity and sport exercise promotion in Thailand

Sport and Recreation Officers play an important role in the dissemination of information about physical activity, sport, and exercise to communities. They also take responsibility to explore, and provide appropriate health promotional activity for people in the area by mainly considering on social context. In the recent years, Sport and Recreation Officers have created numerous numbers of physical activity and exercise in the whole country. Unfortunately, there is no clearly study describing the roles and responsibilities of these personnel in the health promotion procedure. Thus, this study aims to assess the performance of Sport and Recreation Officers focusing on 1) what does the role of these officers in the physical activity, sport, and exercise promotion, and 2) how do they get involved with the health promotion partners and networks. The data are from the project of exercise and sport promotion at provincial level with the sponsorship of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. Data were collected from officers, health clubs, and health organizations working in 5 provinces of all Thailand regions. Dataset presents the meaningful information of social networks, and role of individual health partners in health activity at community level. The results from the Social Networks Analysis (SNA) showed that Sport and Recreation Officers are the key person as a leader in promoting physical activity and exercise in the community. Furthermore, they are the center of the health workers network that are responsible for coordinating the work ties and maintaining the relationship among organizations related to the physical activity, sport and exercise promotion. Also, when considering a socio-diagram from SNA, it pointed out that these personnel are also indispensable of the activity management system in terms of staffing, budgeting, equipment and information. Without these personnel, there is no continuity and connectivity of the social network of health partners. It is therefore suggested that to provide effective health promotion activities at the community level, it should assign a liaison role to Sports and Recreation Officers. They would directly coordinate and transmit any of health policy and activity to their partners, networks, and people in the community thoroughly.

Monitoramento em Promoção de Saúde: uma experiência de capacitação de adultos em um Estado do Nordeste brasileiro

Este artigo tem como objetivo descrever e refletir, sistematicamente, sobre a experiência de implantação de processos de monitoramento do Programa Ação Saúde (PAS) como uma experiência de tradução, contextualizada na interface entre a atenção básica do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e comunidades com características urbano-rurais. O PAS constituiu-se como uma proposta pedagógica baseada em competências e utilizou a metodologia da problematização. Os processos do PAS são tomados sob a ótica das operações de tradução, tais como: problematização, mobilização, enredamento e alinhamento. O monitoramento desses processos coloca em destaque os dilemas da mensuração, acompanhamento e reflexão compartilhada de seus efeitos tangíveis e intangíveis. A implementação do sistema de monitoramento intermediada por uma instituição pública acadêmica buscou contribuir para modelos de parcerias público-privadas em políticas de desenvolvimento social. Dentre as conexões promissoras estabelecidas no PAS, foi enfatizada a identificação da agenda pública no setor saúde como rota a ser fortalecida e potencializada, bem como ações de advocacy em torno da escolha de temáticas e prioridades locais. Concluiu-se que a configuração da rede de promoção de saúde foi influenciada por contextos geopolíticos diferenciados dos municípios, em especial para a sustentabilidade e implementação dos projetos locais e o estímulo a uma cultura local em Monitoramento e Avaliação - M&A.

Occupational health and safety network in Thai medical schools: new paradigm of strengthening practice for health care workers

BackgroundOccupational health and safety network in Thai medical schools (OHNMS) deal with occupational injury prevention and occupational health and safety (OHS) promotion network for health care workers (HCWs). It is...

Parental perceptions of the roles of home and school in health education for elementary school children in Finland

A variety of legislation, initiatives and organizations exist to support, encourage and even oblige schools to collaborate more effectively with parents or guardians. However, there is minimal understanding of the experiences and opinions of parents and school staff about their roles, especially in relation to children's health education. This study examined how parents of 10-11-year-old children perceive the roles of both home and school in educating children about health. A questionnaire, based partly on the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education, was administered to 348 parents; the response rate was 53%. Factor analysis was used to define sum variables, which were then used as dependent variables in an analysis of variance examining the effects of children's gender and health; parents' education, gender, work status and year of birth; and school location (urban/rural). The results suggested that parents considered that either health education was mainly their responsibility, or it was a mutual responsibility with the school. Parents living in rural areas and the youngest group of parents were more likely to consider that health education should be shared with schools than were parents living in cities, or older parents. To expand awareness about the role of home and school in children's health education and to develop further health promotion within the whole school community, it is important to gather parents' views regarding health issues. This study was conducted as part of a broader program in the health promotion network of the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE).

Evaluation der Förderinitiative „Aktionsbündnisse Gesunde Lebensstile und Lebenswelten“ – Instrumentarium und erste Ergebnisse zur Planungsqualität

In line with the National Action Plan "IN FORM" the German Federal Ministry of Health funds the establishment of 11 regional community health promotion networks (alliances). To meet quality development standards, an external evaluation project has been established in addition to the alliances' internal evaluation. Scientific monitoring focuses on alliance-spanning investigation of quality of planning, structures and processes and uses different methods and instruments (e.g., guided interviews, analytical framework, Goal Attainment Scaling). Regional networks also receive support for their efforts to quality development. Up to now concluding analysis can be done on aspects of planning quality based on findings of the analytical framework developed within the project. 5 selected results presented in the article reveal a heterogeneous picture: on one hand the standard on which the alliances' rationales on demands justifying the project's strategy are written at is very encouraging. The situation is similar with the descriptions of the work planning and statements concerning the sustainability at which the implemented activities are aimed. On the other hand, in explaination criteria like consideration of target group's needs or definition of goals the possibilities are not exhausted yet considering the state of the debate. Hence in similar future projects there is a clear necessity of assistance in approaching these aspects, provided preferably in an early stage of the planning phase.

Revisión documental de experiencias de actividad comunitaria en atención primaria de salud

Objective Describe the community activities (CA) published or registered in health promotion networks in which Primary Health Care (PHC) has taken part. Design Descriptive study, by documental review of experiences. Data source: articles, activities in exchange networks, presentations and funded projects. Selected experiences The AC included were those where PHC and the local community were involved in its inception, development and/or evaluation, but not solitary actions with no continuity. Data extraction The following variables were collected: Source and year of the document; region; municipality; name and number of health centres involved; target population; objectives; involvement of the community, the health and the non-health sectors; theoretical perspective and evaluation methods. Results A total of 472 activities were found that met criteria, involving 300 health centres in most of the autonomous regions. Of those, 71.8% were registered in networks, and 19.3% were registered in articles. The most frequent target populations were: the general population (22.2%), youth (18.2%) and parents (10.2%). More than half (58.2%) had one or more of the following objectives: to empower the community to choose healthy behaviours; transmit health information to the population, or encourage self-care. In 33.3% of the activities there were no other sectors involved besides Primary Care. Of the remainder, non-health sectors participated in 53.8%, civic bodies in 26.9%, and government administration in 24.2%. Conclusions Most of the CA are documented in networks and their presence is uneven by region. The involvement of sectors other than PHC in the activities identified is low.

Understanding the structure of community collaboration: the case of one Canadian health promotion network

In 2004, over 6.8 million Canadians were considered overweight, with an additional 2.4 million labeled clinically obese. Due to these escalating levels of obesity in Canada, physical activity is being championed by politicians, physicians, educators and community members as a means to address this health crisis. In doing so, many organizations are being called upon to provide essential physical activity services and programs to combat rising obesity rates. Yet, strategies for achieving these organizations' mandates, which invariably involve stretching already scarce resources, are difficult to implement and sustain. One strategy for improving the health and physical activity levels of people in communities has been the creation of inter-organizational networks of service providers. Yet, little is known about whether networks are effective in addressing policy issues in non-clinical health settings. The purpose of this investigation was 2-fold; to use whole network analysis to determine the structure of one health promotion network in Canada, and to identify the types of ties shared by actors in the health network. Findings revealed a network wherein information sharing constituted the basis for collaboration, whereas efforts related to sharing resources, marketing and/or fundraising endeavors were less evident.

MindMatters – a programme for the promotion of mental health in primary and secondary schools

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to present a German adaptation of the Australian programme MindMatters for school mental health promotion in secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachAs well as other methods, the external evaluation consisted of a questionnaire‐based pre‐post‐design (at one year interval of measurement; n=633 teachers and 4,019 students).FindingsTeachers felt more positive about their schools, and felt under less pressure. The concepts of students, teachers and parents about working and living in schools became more similar (including an increase of parents' and students' suggestions for improving school‐life). Students felt that the level of promotion of social competence and the clarity of behaviour codes had improved, although the reported increase was small. There was some evidence that participation in MindMatters decreased student learning and motivation.Research limitations/implicationsOn the whole, the recorded effects, however, were minimal (probably due to the lapse between the times of data collection and politically influenced, structural changes in schools that slowed down the implementation of MindMatters). Future research should focus on a long‐term evaluation of MindMatters.Practical limitationsSince the effect of the programme was influenced by the participation in school specific teacher training and the affiliation to school health promotion networks the reported results stress the importance of teacher training for “MindMatters‐schools”.Originality/valueThe article illustrates that MindMatters would appear to promote some aspects of mental health in schools under specific circumstances.

La formación de recursos humanos y el desarrollo de competencias para la capacitación en promoción de la salud en América Latina

The subject of health promotion professional training has raised a lot of interest in academic spheres, in professional organizations and in the health services sector at global and regional levels. Some of the topics that have stimulated regional dialogue and actions have been the following: developing curriculum and professional competencies for health promotion and health education academic programs; defining competencies and know-how in order to reorient health promotion capacity building initiatives for public health personnel; strengthening and increasing the academic and professional health promotion networks in Latin America; and organizing meetings and academic events and publications around the subject. During the academic years 2006-8, the Inter-American Coalition of Universities and Training Centers for Health Education and Health Promotion Personnel (www.ciueps.org) has been studying the different foci, competencies and characteristics of health promotion and health education professional training programs in the Latin American region. As part of this study, they have observed differences in curriculum foci between undergraduate, postgraduate and other levels of academic training and certifications. The Coalition as well as other Latin American entities has reiterated the challenges in the field of health promotion of professional training in the region. These include: maintaining an active forum to constantly refine professional competencies;expanding offerings at the different levels of health promotion training; developing courses on health-promotion-related disciplines; increasing the networks and academic exchanges between institutions in Latin America; encouraging the development of international courses on health promotion; increasing the production of theory and concepts on health promotion, health education and related practices in the Latin American context; improving dissemination of experiences in publications, at conferences and in electronic exchange forums.

New horizons for social development

This commentary follows up on a field visit made by the authors to a community development programme in Cairo supported by a local non-governmental organization called New Horizon Association for Social Development (NHASD). The people who comprise NHASD are dedicated to improving the conditions and quality of life of the most marginalized and underdeveloped communities. The paper describes the overall approach that community members, social workers and leaders use to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and the skills, resources and services they build using a rights-based and participatory community development approach. It also addresses ideas for IUHPE concrete action, which came from discussions stimulated by the visit, to support such community initiatives out of isolation. It ranges from complimentary membership of the NHASD to the organization of a specific health promotion network of extremely socio-economically vulnerable communities in urban areas worldwide, connected to the IUHPE Group on Settings-based Health Promotion, as well as sessions at the forthcoming IUHPE 20th World Conference on Health Promotion on the theme "Health, Equity and Sustainable Development".

The way forward: experiences of health promotion development in Thailand

A landmark in health promotion in Thailand came in 2001 with the launching of the Universal Health Coverage Scheme at the cost of approximately USD 2 billion a year. Another important event was the establishment of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) as a health promotion funding mechanism that draws upon a 2 percent surcharge levied on alcohol and tobacco excise tax, approximately USD 50-60 million a year. The most significant institutional development is the promulgation of the National Health Act in 2007. The Act embraces the principle of human rights and key principles of the Ottawa Charter in 2005. It is a result of five years of extensive public dialogues on important health issues that enhanced public awareness and nation wide networking on health promotion. ThaiHealth regards itself as a catalyst for health promotion. The organisation collaborates with all sectors of the society, from the national to the grassroots level, and is the most notable organisation for health promotion in Thailand. ThaiHealth funds programs on health risks/issues such as alcohol, tobacco, accidents, exercise, as well as area or setting based programs, for example, school, work place, community, and programs that target specific population groups such as the youth, the elderly, Muslim community. The open grants program invites proposals from all kinds of organizations/groups interested in launching health promotion initiatives. The endeavour has started to bear fruit. Smoking and alcohol consumption rates have dropped and more people have become health conscious and do more exercise. However, much remains to be done as some population groups especially the youth have become susceptible to various kinds of health risks. This remarkable start must be sustained and reinforced by the continuation and expansion of knowledge generation and dissemination, relentless policy advocacy and creative public campaign, with a strong health promotion network as the most critical success factor.

The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure

BackgroundKnowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes.MethodsOrganizational surveys were conducted with representatives from AHLN organizations as of February 2004 (n = 54). Organizational attribute and inter-organizational data on various network dimensions were collected. Organizations were classified into traditional and non-traditional categories. We examined the partnership network dimension. In- and out-degree centrality scores on partnership ties were calculated for each organization and tested against organizational perceptions of available financial support.ResultsNon-traditional organizations are more likely to view financial support as more readily available for their HEALTR programs and activities than traditional organizations (1.57, 95% CI: .34, 2.79). After controlling for organizational characteristics, organizations that have been frequently identified by other organizations as valuable partners in the AHLN network were found significantly more likely to perceive a higher sense of funding availability (In-degree partnership value) (.03, 95% CI: .01, .05).ConclusionOrganizational perceptions of a supportive environment are framed not only by organizational characteristics but also by an organization's position in an inter-organizational network. Network contexts can influence the way that organizations perceive their environment and potentially the actions that organizations may take in light of such perceptions. By developing evidence-based understandings on the influence of network contexts, the AHLN can better target the particularities of its specific health promotion network.

Mapping national capacity to engage in health promotion: Overview of issues and approaches

This paper reviews approaches to the mapping of resources needed to engage in health promotion at the country level. There is not a single way, or a best way to make a capacity map, since it should speak to the needs of its users as they define their needs. Health promotion capacity mapping is therefore approached in various ways. At the national level, the objective is usually to learn the extent to which essential policies, institutions, programmes and practices are in place to guide recommendations about what remedial measures are desirable. In Europe, capacity mapping has been undertaken at the national level by the WHO for a decade. A complimentary capacity mapping approach, HP-Source.net, has been undertaken since 2000 by a consortium of European organizations including the EC, WHO, International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Health Development Agency (of England) and various European university research centres. The European approach emphasizes the need for multi-methods and the principle of triangulation. In North America, Canadian approaches have included large- and small-scale international collaborations to map capacity for sustainable development. US efforts include state-level mapping of capacity to prevent chronic diseases and reduce risk factor levels. In Australia, two decades of mapping national health promotion capacity began with systems needed by the health sector to design and deliver effective, efficient health promotion, and has now expanded to include community-level capacity and policy review. In Korea and Japan, capacity mapping is newly developing in collaboration with European efforts, illustrating the usefulness of international health promotion networks. Mapping capacity for health promotion is a practical and vital aspect of developing capacity for health promotion. The new context for health promotion contains both old and new challenges, but also new opportunities. A large scale, highly collaborative approach to capacity mapping is possible today due to developments in communication technology and the spread of international networks of health promoters. However, in capacity mapping, local variation will always be important, to fit variation in local contexts.

Health Education and Promotion Network

Health Education and Promotion Network

Establishing an Internet-Based Tobacco-Control Network for Czech Health Professionals

This article describes the background, implementation, and evaluation of an Internet-based health promotion network in the Czech Republic. The network was intended to build the indigenous capacity of Czech health professionals in the use of the Internet for tobacco control to organize and coordinate public health campaigns, heighten public awareness, and catalyze policy change. Multiple methods of evaluation included three needs assessment surveys, three training workshop evaluations, an Internet survey of participating member organizations, and quarterly reports from the project partners. The evaluation showed that an Internet-based network was established with 40 health professionals from 30 organizations. A grassroots heart disease prevention and tobacco-control advocacy group was formed. Network participants utilized and continue to utilize the Internet to communicate, research, coordinate outreach, and advocate tobacco-control issues.

Promotion and Prevention in Child, Adolescent and Young People Mental Health: The Greek Experience of Participation in the Mental Health Network Programme of the European Commission

In 1997 the European Commission established the Mental Health Promotion Network to seek out, disseminate and promote best practice in mental health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders. The Network has commissioned a number of projects including two projects addressing the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Anticipated results included the establishment of criteria to identify good practice, development of a European database of good practice and widespread dissemination of good practice that could be implemented throughout the Community. The paper discusses the involvement and experiences of the staff employed in one organisation, from Greece, who have participated in the work Network, and highlights some of the difficulties faced and lessons learnt from participation in a multi-national project.