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A Brief History and Analysis of Health Promotion

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Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion

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Abstract

This entry provides a broad overview of the history of health promotion. The term health promotion has been defined in a variety of different ways (cf., Bloom, 1996; Kemm & Close, 1995; Nutbeam, 1998). We use the definition given by Green and Krueter (1999): “Any planned combination of educational, political, regulatory, community and organizational supports for actions and conditions of living that contribute to the health of individuals, groups, or communities” (p. 14). One appealing feature of this definition is its breadth. It encompasses health education and includes a wide range of human endeavors that are united by their common intention of improving health. Choosing such a broad definition of health promotion allows us to emphasize the diverse forms that efforts to promote health have taken through history, and to argue that health promotion, as it is currently practiced, is a product not only of scientific knowledge but also of contemporary social systems and institutions.

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Authors
  1. Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer
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  2. Paula B. Repetto
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  3. Marc A. Zimmerman
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  4. James G. Kelly
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Thomas P. Gullotta Martin Bloom Jonathan Kotch Craig Blakely Lynne Bond Gerald Adams Colette Browne Waldo Klein Jessica Ramos

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Bingenheimer, J.B., Repetto, P.B., Zimmerman, M.A., Kelly, J.G. (2003). A Brief History and Analysis of Health Promotion. In: Gullotta, T.P., et al. Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0195-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0195-4_3

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