Enable, mediate, advocate.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Promotion

Background:

• The Ottawa Charter (1986) defined public health through 'enable, mediate, advocate'.
• Health promotion has evolved, becoming central to policy and increasingly understood in its complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To re-evaluate the relevance of the Ottawa Charter's core concepts.
• To discuss implications of contemporary factors like media and globalization on health promotion practice.
• To identify necessary updates for health promotion strategies.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the Ottawa Charter's core activities.
• Review of health promotion developments since 1986.
• Discussion of current challenges and future directions.

Main Results:

• The core concepts (enable, mediate, advocate) remain fundamentally sound.
• Health promotion's integration into policy is a 'mixed blessing'.
• Enabling requires attention to power dynamics and health literacy; mediating remains crucial for bridging interests.

Conclusions:

• The Ottawa Charter's core concepts need no major revision but require refreshing.
• Greater sensitivity to power relations and health literacy is essential for enabling.
• Future health promotion practice must adapt to evolving societal processes and challenges.