Delivering the Science and the Art of Health Promotion

Robert F. Allen
Symbol of HOPE
Award

From the Editor
Editor's Notes Jan/Feb 2009

What is the Therapeutic Dose for Health Promotion?

In medicine, the "therapeutic dose" is defined as the amount of medication or other form of treatment necessary to achieve the desired health effect. Therapeutic doses are determined by a combination of expert opinion and empirical research. Once the empirical dose is established, it becomes standardized and widely accepted. If you have a bacterial skin rash, your doctor will prescribe a course of antibiotics and instruct you to take a specific amount on a specific schedule. If you do not take the full course of medicine, the rash may not go away. When you take your prescription to a drugstore, they give you the full prescription. If your insurance covers medication, the insurance company pays for the full course of medicine. Neither you nor your insurance company argues about how much medicine should be provided...that's the doctor's decision. Health promotion does not work this way for two reasons. v read more

19th Annual Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference
What Works Best in Health Promotion
March 16 - 19, 2009

Conference Update
Keynotes Announced

Dean Ornish, MD The Power of Personalized Lifestyle Changes Sponsored by HealthMedia	Alfie Kohn Punished by Rewards:  Why Incentives Are Counterproductive	Kenneth Pelletier Searching for the Unicorn: Clinical and Cost Outcomes of Worksite Intervention

Definition of Health Promotion

"Health promotion is the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health.  Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health.  Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior and create environments that support good health practices.  Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest impact in producing lasting change".  (American Journal of Health Promotion, 1989,3,3,5)

Physical Fitness.  Nutrition.  Medical self-care.  Control of substance abuse. Emotional Care for emotional crisis.  Stress Management Social Communities.  Families.  Friends Intellectual Educational.  Achievement.  Career development Spiritual Love.  Hope.  Charity.

Our definition of health promotion guides the editorial content of all of our publications.v read more

American Journal of Health Promotion |  248-682-0707