Health Promotion

Health promotion is a process, set of policies, or actions aimed to give people more control over their health and the factors affecting their health. Furthermore, health promotion also seeks to encourage people to make healthy decisions. Health promotion can be done in many locations such as schools, workplaces, community centres, or healthcare facilities. There are a wide range of health promotion activities. Some activities are made to have a direct impact such as through education and economic regulations. Sexual education in high schools is an example of health promotion education. Taxing cigarettes and alcohol are examples of economic regulations that promote better health (by discouraging unhealthy habits). There are also policies that promote health through indirect effects. For example, a ban on smoking indoors decreases the impact of second-hand smoke. Another example is the encouragement of people to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags when grocery shopping. This promotes environmental health which in turn translates to our health in the long run. These various examples show different approaches that can be taken such as an individual approach, a socio-environmental approach, a harm-minimization approach, or even a zero tolerance approach.