Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies

Citation

Speller, V. (2006), "Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies", Health Education, Vol. 106 No. 2, pp. 169-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/he.2006.106.2.169.1

When I first dipped into this book I was immediately impressed and drawn into the debate and discussion of issues of health promotion that are presented objectively and from a variety of viewpoints. It is a scholarly and thoughtful overview of health education and health promotion, considering its different philosophical and ideological bases, as they have developed over the last three decades. It provides not only a carefully researched and referenced guide to the development of health promotion and its contributions, but a narrative that both illustrates and explains the different epistemological and political perspectives.

The seminal literature in these debates is thoroughly reviewed, not only discussing in depth traditional health promotion concerns such as health promotion planning, settings, community development and healthy public policy, but also critically considers its contribution to public health fields such as epidemiology, evaluation and the evidence base, describing both these content areas and the role health promotion has taken in either critiquing or consolidating their learning. Throughout the book these debates from the different fields are referred to, clearly signposting where they are dealt with in depth, and demonstrating how the different disciplines have interwoven in their influence on thinking and practice in health promotion.

The densely argued text is well broken up with quotations and sayings, boxes and figures. I especially liked the opening of the chapter on health promotion planning models with the quotation from Baldrick in the TV series, Blackadder – “I have a cunning plan”. Throughout these lighten the text, as well as providing summaries of key definitions and frameworks, without distracting from the flow of argument. My only criticism is there is possibly an excessive use of diagrams of flow charts – although this probably reflects their preponderance in the literature – all the directional arrows left me somewhat dizzy.

Although mention is made throughout the book of the development of UK health policy and its implications for the conceptualisation and delivery of health promotion, the text encompasses the international literature and there are frequent examples from other countries, which should make it equally relevant internationally. The depth and detail of argument means that this book will lend itself more readily to postgraduate and more experienced practitioners. But students should not be put off as different theories and perspectives are clearly explained and referenced and it is remarkably inclusive and balanced in its presentation. I have already found it an invaluable reference source myself.

This book shows that health promotion has clearly come of age. It ably demonstrates the wealth of underlying theory, knowledge and practical experience, and the careful and critical debate that has led to our understanding of effective health promotion today. However, I found the final remarks in the epilogue, albeit made somewhat hesitantly, that call for “a New Health Education” as “the distinctive voice of health promotion”, unnecessary. We need not relabel and reinvent health promotion, but be able to clearly present its tenets, its scientific basis and its contribution, which this book does excellently.