Health promotion--a further field to conquer

We examine some of the interpretations of health promotion. A brief review of the effectiveness of some health promotion programmes in the community and at the worksite in the United States is also presented in view of the similarity of its disease pattern with Singapore. We recommend the following strategies for the practice of health promotion in Singapore: formulation of clearly defined goals; intersectoral collaboration and community participation. Tanahill's model based on the overlapping spheres of health education, disease prevention and health protection is useful in identifying key groups and their roles in health promotion. Green's PROCEED-PRECEDE planning framework which identifies the various behavioural and environmental factors affecting health can help in deriving a highly focused subset of factors as targets for intervention. Research in health promotion should focus on compliance studies on healthy lifestyle regimens, and qualitative and quantitative evaluative studies on process and outcomes of different interventions.