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Nursing Matters fact sheets provide quick reference information and international perspectives from the nursing profession on current health and social issues.
ICN on Mobilising Nurses for Health Promotion
Health is a basic human right and a prerequisite for social and economic development. It is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Health promotion is an essential element in encouraging better health. This term has become a buzz word among the public and health professionals alike. But what does health promotion really mean? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health promotion as a process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health and therefore to improve their health. Health promotion encompasses strategies that allow populations to be healthy and enable them to make healthy choices. Health promotion is carried out by and with people, not on or to people. It improves the ability of individuals to take action for their health, and capacity of groups, organizes tions or communities to influence the determinants of health. The health promotion process provides support for populations to become agents of their own health by their own actions and choices. Because of the multiple determinants of health, health promotion requires collaboration between the community, health professionals and other sectors. Health promotion and health education are often used interchangeably to mean the same thing....