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.
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19th
Annual Art and Science of Health Promotion
Conference
What Works Best in Health
Promotion
March 16 - 19, 2009
Conference Update
Keynotes Announced
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Dean Ornish, MD
The Power of Personalized Lifestyle
Changes
Sponsored by HealthMedia
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Alfie Kohn
Punished by Rewards:
Why Incentives Are Counterproductive
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Kenneth Pelletier
Searching for the Unicorn:
Clinical and Cost Outcomes of Worksite
Intervention
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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)
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Physical |
Fitness.
Nutrition. Medical self-care. Control of substance abuse. |
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Emotional |
Care for
emotional crisis. Stress Management |
| Social |
Communities.
Families. Friends |
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Intellectual |
Educational.
Achievement. Career development |
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Spiritual |
Love. Hope.
Charity. |
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Our definition of health promotion guides the editorial content
of all of our publications.v
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