Health promotion: from concepts to strategies

Just 20 years ago, health promotion was a little understood aspect of healthcare. Although still secondary to disease treatment, especially in hospitals, it now has gained a great deal of support. A number of charters, frameworks and reports have been put forth in the last several years which have tried to establish that social conditions and personal actions are also important in determining health, not only physicians and sophisticated medical equipment. Community leadership, consisting of collective discussion, decision making and action is the key. Two successful groups illustrate how social action can produce beneficial results, and how professionals and agencies can help communities put health promotion into operation.