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Health Promotion, Ethical Aspects

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Encyclopedia of Public Health

Synonyms

Health improvement; Health enhancement

Definition

Health promotion, as one of the main goals of public health practice , is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. In order to reach this goal, public health initiatives at times come into conflict with other ethical principles (e. g. individual autonomy, social justice), therefore public health promoters have to deal with ethical dilemmas at various levels.

Basic Characteristics

Health promotion is significantly playing a more important role in health care in general, and public health practice in particular. Health promotion, as one of the main aims of modern public health practice, initially only focused on the lifestyle changes that might impact on the prevention of such things as cancer, chronic degenerative diseases and metabolic disorders ; then it evolved and broadened its viewpoint to improving the physical and mental health and...

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References

  1. 10 Statements on the Future of Public Health in Europe. EUPHA report 2004–1. Available at: www.eupha.org. Accessed Apr 2007

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Di Mattia, P. (2008). Health Promotion, Ethical Aspects . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_1453

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_1453

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5613-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5614-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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