Applying the Ottawa Charter to inform health promotion programme design

Abstract

There is evidence of a correlation between adoption of the Ottawa Charter's framework of five action areas and health promotion programme effectiveness, but the Charter's framework has not been as fully implemented as hoped, nor is generally used by formal programme design models. In response, we aimed to translate the Charter's framework into a method to inform programme design. Our resulting design process uses detailed definitions of the Charter's action areas and evidence of predicted effectiveness to prompt greater consideration and use of the Charter's framework. We piloted the process by applying it to the design of four programmes of the Healthy Children's Initiative in New South Wales, Australia; refined the criteria via consensus; and made consensus decisions on the extent to which programme designs reflected the Charter's framework. The design process has broad potential applicability to health promotion programmes; facilitating greater use of the Ottawa Charter framework, which evidence indicates can increase programme effectiveness.

A Proposal for Public Health Information System-Based Health Promotion Services

“…The meaning of health refers to a good physical state where one is able to participate in social activities, rather than feeling inconvenient in daily life or experiencing negative effects to life expectancy, due to chronic diseases or accidents [18]. The concept of health promotion was defined by the Ottawa Charter of WHO in 1986 as the process of cultivating humans' ability to strengthen their control of health and to improve their health level [19].…”

Implementation and impact of a dental preventive intervention conducted within a health promotion program on health inequalities: A retrospective study

“…That study highlighted the need for new strategies aimed at improving children's oral and general health and at reducing inequalities. An alternative approach to traditional healthcare was thus chosen in collaboration with NC local populations and government, based on the principles of Oral Health Promotion (OHP) [8] with the development of-1-health education in schools in order to promote the adoption of health promoting behaviours [9], 2-preventive interventions, such as the implementation of tooth brushing at school, for the child population, 3-a reorientation of dental services towards more effective and preventive interventions. The OHP program ("Mes dents, Ma santé") was developed in connection with other health programs related to the prevention of other chronic diseases such as rheumatic heart disease or obesity.…”

“…Moreover, it was not possible to make a comparison with a control group as all 6-yr-old children are concerned by the program in NC. Since the Ottawa declaration [8], there has been an expansion PLOS ONE of health promotion programs but there is still a need for an evidence-based evaluation of their impact. Randomized Clinical Trials are needed but also other types of studies such as pragmatic studies conducted in real life contexts.…”

Are we there yet? Use of the Ottawa Charter action areas in the perspective of European health promotion professionals

“…The action area "Creating supportive environments" acknowledges the interconnectedness between people and their environment and that people, communities, and the environment need to be cared for and protected with unified, mutual action (WHO 2009;Ottawa Conference Report 1986b). Strengthening community action puts a focus on engaging community resources and strengthening competencies, collaboration, and participation (WHO 2009;Ottawa Conference Report 1986c;Fry and Zask 2016). Developing personal skills is often referred to as health education and health literacy (Fry and Zask 2016).…”

“…Strengthening community action puts a focus on engaging community resources and strengthening competencies, collaboration, and participation (WHO 2009;Ottawa Conference Report 1986c;Fry and Zask 2016). Developing personal skills is often referred to as health education and health literacy (Fry and Zask 2016). The supplementations of health information and skill development are ways health promoters can care for the personal and social growth of individuals and provide options to foster greater choice and control within environments and towards maintenance of health and wellbeing (WHO 2009;Ottawa Conference Report 1986d;Fry and Zask, 2016).…”