Advancing discourse on health promotion: beyond mainstream thinking

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Health Promotion
• Public Health

Background:

• Nursing's goal of 'health for all' requires a clear focus on health promotion.
• Existing terminology for health promotion and related behaviors is often ambiguous and inconsistently applied.
• Diverse meanings and uses of terms like 'health promotion behavior' and 'disease prevention behavior' create confusion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically analyze and clarify the distinctions between key health-related behaviors, including health promotion, health protection, and disease prevention.
• To identify expert consensus and disagreement on the definitions and scope of these behaviors.
• To inform nursing practice and interventions by establishing a clearer understanding of health promotion behavior.

Main Methods:

• A critical analysis process was employed.
• A survey was administered to five multidisciplinary experts in health promotion.
• The survey targeted the distinction between health promotion, health promotion behavior, health protection behavior, disease prevention behavior, preventive health behavior, health behavior, and healthy lifestyle.

Main Results:

• Descriptors for health promotion were derived from a multidimensional conception of well-being.
• Experts agreed on descriptors for health promotion.
• Disagreement among experts was noted concerning the definitions of health protection and health behavior.

Conclusions:

• A multidimensional conception of well-being is central to understanding health promotion.
• Ambiguity persists regarding health protection and health behavior, requiring further clarification.
• Nursing interventions should be informed by reflective discourse on health promotion behavior to align with the goal of health for all.