[Public participation and empowerment in Health Promotion]

Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2002 May;57(2):490-7. doi: 10.1265/jjh.57.490.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

Background: A new model for Health Promotion was proposed by WHO in 1986.

Purpose and method: The purpose of this paper is to review public participation and empowerment in Health Promotion by reviewing case reports and original papers.

Results: The main results can be divided into two categories, public participation, and empowerment, The main results are as follows; 1) Health promotion involves the population as a whole in their everyday lives, rather than focusing on people who are sick or at risk for specific diseases. 2) The use of participatory and empowering approaches in the evaluation process has the potential to strengthen the public's capacity for organizational learning and improve their own health status. 3) It is possible to improve health conditions by using empowerment interventions: 1. The need to adopt an ecological approach that simultaneously addresses empowerment. 2. Policy-makers need to take a longer-term approach to empowerment interventions, including proper longitudinal studies to enhance the evidence base for such interventions. 4) Satisfaction is central to the delivery of health and human services. The most critical factor in service delivery is providing quality care and user merit. 5) In developing people-oriented health technologies, priority should be given to the availability of lay resources and to indigenously developed health practices. 6) Empowerment is the most important idea within health promotion. It is often a difficult concept for health professionals to grasp since most have been trained to consider health care providers as experts and the patient as a recipient of this expertise. 7) Health care specialists can contribute considerably to the development of a collaborative, family-oriented approach in the development of self care. The possibilities for such an undertaking depend on the establishment of working relationships at two interfaces: between the health care specialist and his/her client families. A framework for developing these relationships is proposed: involvement, collaboration, and empowerment. 8) The individual should also be given a greater opportunity to actively participate in the design and planning health care services. 9) In the Health Promotion program, it is important to provide a working and living environment in which respect for each other's humanity can be shared.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Community Participation*
  • Health Planning
  • Health Promotion*
  • Humans
  • Public Health*