Genevieve,

This is a very interesting debate and we can easily go on an on. Having just graduated from the MHSc program in Health Promotion and working in the Public Health Policy and Planning Division of a Public Health Department here in Ontario, I have the following thoughts:

First, depending on how you define health promotion, it can be practiced by practically anyone. Here at our health department, HP has been viewed mostly as lifestyle, behavioral change, health education, social marketing, and health communication.  To me, this is the narrower focus of HP.

At our particular unit, which focuses on Environmental Protection, majority of our work falls in the areas of applied research, policy development and advocacy of which I would also consider as part of the HP picture. What I have found lacking to some extend is the integration of the social science perspective when it comes to translating these research and policies into action, to go beyond the development and dissemination of educational resources (i.e., the need to also examine the individual and societal values through some HP/social science research).  To me, this is extremely important if we are to address the determinants of health as outlined in the Ottawa Charter and many other HP documents such as the Sundsvall Statement and the Adelaide Recommendations on Healthy Public Policy. This will take time, but it is my hope that I will be able to see that happen, particularly in addressing environmental concerns which are rooted in major social issues. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is still a lot of work to be done in this area but we are working on it!

In short, I do not believe that HP is a specialized profession, it is a set of values, concepts, approaches/strategies and a set of skills that can be easily transferred to addressing all  "health" issues from disease prevention to social justice/equity...etc.   This is not to say that public health is not doing these, but they just might not considered as HP activities... it's all about how you define HP.


******************************************************
Lorraine Fung
Health Promotion Consultant
Health Promotion & Environmental Protection
Toronto Public Health
277 Victoria Street, 7th Floor
Toronto, ON M5B 1W2
Phone (416) 392-1560 x8-7172
Fax (416) 392-7418
Email: [log in to unmask]

>>> Genevieve Jones <[log in to unmask]> 08/24/00 05:46pm >>>
Last week, there was a discussion on the listserv about health promotion
education. I am a Canadian, in the process of completing my MSc in Health
Promotion from University of Alberta, and I am currently working in health
promotion in England. The debate here surrounding education for health
promoters has certainly heated up, but is fueled by a much different fire:
there is a trend here towards having Public Health Specialists versus Health
Promotion Specialists. Having compared job descriptions, they are exactly
the same, yet Public Health Specialists are being paid significantly more
for their job. The feeling seems to be that Health Promotion is quite passe,
and that one must become a specialist in Public Health in order to remain
competitive. That said, "health promotion" as I would define it
(determinants of health, Ottawa Charter, etc) is being practiced by both
Health Promotion Specialists and Public Health Specialists.

My question is: what is the current state-of-affairs of the debate between
Public Health and Health Promotion in Canada?

Genevieve Jones