Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO), the “process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.”
Health promotion and behavior change are important concepts in public health and medicine. Health promotion refers to the process of enabling individuals and communities to improve their health and well-being. It involves advocating for health, providing information and education, and creating supportive environments to promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles.
Behavior change, on the other hand, focuses on modifying individual behaviors to improve health outcomes. It recognizes that many health-related problems are caused by unhealthy behaviors such as tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and risky sexual behaviors. By promoting behavior change, individuals can adopt healthier habits and reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases and other health problems.
Behavior change, in the context of public health, refers to efforts put in place to change people’s personal habits and attitudes, to prevent disease. Behavior change in public health can take place at several levels and is known as social and behavior change (SBC). More and more, efforts focus on the prevention of disease to save healthcare care costs. This is particularly important in low and middle-income countries, where supply-side health interventions have come under increased scrutiny because of the cost.
It’s important to note that behavior change is a complex process and not everyone will respond to interventions in the same way. Effective health promotion and behavior change require a comprehensive approach that considers individual, social, and environmental factors. Additionally, it’s crucial to address any underlying social determinants of health, such as poverty, education, and access to healthcare, which can impact behavior change efforts.
The 3-4-50 concept outlines that there are 3 behaviors (poor diet, little to no physical activity, and smoking), that lead to four diseases (heart disease/stroke, diabetes, cancer, pulmonary disease), that account for 50% of deaths worldwide. This is why so much emphasis in public health interventions has been on changing behaviors or intervening early on to decrease the negative impacts that come with these behaviors. With successful intervention, there is the possibility of decreasing healthcare costs by a drastic amount, as well as general costs to society (morbidity and mortality). A good public health intervention is not only defined by the results they create, but also by the number of levels it hits on the socioecological model(individual, interpersonal, community, and/or environment). The challenge that public health interventions face is generalizability: what may work in one community may not work in others.
Health conditions and infections are associated with risky behaviors. Tobacco use, alcoholism, multiple sex partners, substance use, reckless driving, obesity, or unprotected sexual intercourse are some examples. Human beings have, in principle, control over their conduct. Behavior modification can contribute to the success of self-control, and health-enhancing behaviors. Risky behaviors can be eliminated including physical exercise, weight control, preventive nutrition, dental hygiene, condom use, or accident prevention. Health behavior change refers to the motivational, volitional, and action-based processes of abandoning such health-compromising behaviors in favor of adopting and maintaining health-enhancing behaviors. The addiction that is associated with risky behavior may have a genetic component.