Title: Major areas of concern of health promotion
Course: Level 3 - Health Education and Promotion > Section: Basic concept of health promotion

Health promotion best enhances health through integrated action at different levels on factors influencing health, economic, environmental, social and personal. Given these basic principles, an almost unlimited list of issues for health promotion could be generated: food policy, housing, smoking, coping skills, social networks. The working group required to frame the general subjects for health promotion in the following areas:

1. The focus of Health Promotion Is a Better Access to Health
Health promotion aims at reducing inequalities in health and to increase opportunities to improve health. This involves changing public and commercial policies to make them conducive to health and involves reorienting health services to the maintenance and development of health in the population, regardless of current health status.
HEWs in a kebele will be able to serve all community members equally and provide service according to their need. Healthcare in need-based service that wealthy and poor people should access according to their necessity. E.g. if the community cleans their environment and lives in protected environment every member of that community will get its benefit.

2. Health Improvement Needs Development of a Conducive Environment
The improvement of health depends on upon the development of an environment conducive to health, especially in household and workplace conditions. Since this environment is dynamic, health promotion involves assessment and monitoring of these changeable conditions, cultural and economic state and trends. E.g. HEWs as health promoters should alert to change in their weather condition. After the rainy session, malaria outbreak is expected as a result of large stagnant water in the environment for mosquito bride.

3. Health Promotion Involves the Strengthening of Social Networks and Social Support
This is based on the recognition of the importance of social forces and social relationships as determinants of values and behaviour relevant to health. Social support is significant resources for coping with health problems and maintaining health.

4. Health Promotion Fosters a Healthy Lifestyle
Individuals are the major determiners their health status, even if the environmental condition influences them dramatically. Lifestyle, the predominant way of life in society is central to health promotion, since it fosters personal behavior patterns that are either beneficial or harmful to health. The promotion of lifestyles conducive to health involves taking balanced diet, working regular exercise, quitting cigarette smoking, safe sexual practice and the likes.Promoting positive health behaviour and appropriate coping strategies is a key aim in health promotion. As a HEW you have large responsibility in fostering healthy lifestyle.

5. Health Promotion is Based on a Strong Health Education
Providing health education increases people's informed decision-making skills. It is necessary and core components of health promotion, which aims at increasing knowledge and disseminatinginformation related to health. This should include the public's perceptions and experiences of health and how it might be sought; knowledge from epidemiology, social and other sciences on the patterns of health and disease and factors affecting them; and descriptions of the "total" environment in which health and health choices are shaped. The mass media and new information technologies are particularly important in disseminating health message. HEWs should use any available recourse to send health message to their community.