Health Promotion International

Youth is a crucial period for smoking preventive interventions. School-based interventions targeting the policy level and the sociocultural processes of smoking show promising effects in reducing smoking uptake and prevalence. This study presents findings from the qualitative process evaluation of a smoking preventive intervention, Focus, in the vocational school (VET) setting. Specifically, the study focused on contextual factors affecting the implementation of smoke-free school hours (SFSH). Participant observations and focus groups were conducted in four VETs during the implementation period October-December 2018...

When analyzing the data for Ontario, Canada, HIV rates continue to be highest among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM). Since HIV diagnosis is a key component of HIV care, self-testing has provided options for allowing this population to access care, resulting in a significant number of first-time testers. Between 1 April 2021 and 31 January 2022, 882 gbMSM participants ordered an HIV self-test through GetaKit. Of these, 270 participants reported that they had never undergone HIV testing previously...

As we head into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increasing need to consider the long-term mental health outcomes of health care workers (HCWs) who have experienced overwhelming work pressure, economic and social deprivation, burnout, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This scoping umbrella review summarizes the mental health outcomes of published evidence syntheses on HCWs worldwide. We analyzed 39 evidence syntheses representing the findings from 1297 primary studies. We found several persistent fears and concerns (job-related fears, fear of stigmatization, worries about the pandemic, and infection-related fears) that shaped HCW experiences in delivering health care...

There is renewed international effort to improve the health and well-being of migrants. For African migrants, theoretical frameworks designed to account for and guide interventions to address the underlying mechanisms that interact to influence health and well-being remain largely underdeveloped. The aim of this study was to address this gap by providing a unique socio-ecological framework with specific entry points for targeted health promotion action aimed at improving the health and well-being of African migrants living in Aotearoa New Zealand...

Culturally-responsive health promotion initiatives are important to the creation of health equity for Indigenous and minority populations and these initiatives are complex and time-intensive to establish. The knowledge and resources of cultural experts are often pivotal in programs, yet there is minimal research on effective collaborations. The KāHOLO Project demonstrated strong success in the management of uncontrolled hypertension in the high-risk Indigenous population through a 6-month program based on the Hawaiian cultural dance of hula...

Few tools and mechanisms exist to assist the reorientation of health services, especially in the Indigenous Australian health context; where improving health status and life expectancy is a priority. We developed a health promotion systems assessment tool (HPSAT) to provide health services with the information and support they need to drive health system change. Tool development occurred using a participatory, iterative approach that included a literature review, expert input by Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders and annual group workshops in four Indigenous Australian primary health care (PHC) services...

Despite the potential health benefits of workplace health promotion for employees in sheltered workplaces, participation is often limited. The aim of this study was (i) to understand this limited participation, and (ii) to find opportunities for adapting workplace health promotion, such that it better meets the needs of the target population. A responsive process evaluation of an extensive multi-component workplace health promotion program targeting lifestyle behaviors, financial behaviors, literacy and citizenship, was performed in a large, sheltered workplace in the Netherlands (>3500 employees)...

The nursing home (NH) population is characterized by a high symptom burden resulting from chronic illnesses and functional impairments that cannot be cured. Most long-term NH residents are in the last phase of life and in need of palliative care. Hence, health and wellbeing are important aims of salutogenic NH care, which includes more than the treatment of residents' diseases and symptoms. Research shows that cognitively intact long-term NH residents with a high score on sense of coherence (SOC) experience better wellbeing...

This systematic review provides an overview of existing multidimensional health scores, including an assessment of their holistic value (coverage of all determinants and dimensions of health), and a systematic comparison of their properties. The review is based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Literature searches were conducted in English (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences) and German databases (BISp-Surf, BIBNET). All scores that considered health multidimensional on an individual level were included...

This article reports on findings that indicate how First Nations musical activities function as cultural determinants of health. Drawing on early findings from a 3-year Australian Research Council funded project titled The Remedy Project: First Nations Music as a Determinant of Health, we detail Australian and Ni Vanuatu First Nations musicians' reported outcomes of musical activity using a First Nations cultural determinants of health framework. The broader findings indicate that our respondents see musical activity as actively shaping all known domains of cultural health determinants, and some surrounding political and social determinants...

A recent literature review indicated that the settings-based approach, as it is applied to sports clubs, is poorly understood and not well implemented. The current study builds on the health promoting sports clubs (HPSC) theoretical model as a basis for a settings-based approach in the sports setting and proposes a logic model to develop and evaluate HPSC in practice. The logic model was established through qualitative, iterative methods in the form of six meetings with eight experts in the field. Qualitative thematic coding was conducted on notes taken and contributions during and between meetings...

Mass participation sports event (MPSE)s have been identified as a potential referral pathway for engaging inactive patients in regular physical activity. This study aimed to review evidence of physical activity behaviour and associated health-related outcomes of engaging in MPSEs among the general population. A systematic review was performed of quantitative studies that examined the relationship between MPSEs and physical activity behaviour or secondary outcomes (e.g. physical activity motivation or confidence, physical or mental health) or any intervention to maintain physical activity following MPSEs...

This article considers ways in which a nursing home can come to serve as a hub for community health promotion. Inspired by the term 'boundary crossing' (Akkerman and Bakker. Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Rev Educ Res 2011;81:132-69), we suggest the notion of 'boundary work' to illustrate how a nursing home arranges community activities and includes a wide range of participants. In health research, a 'hub' refers to a space in which activities and expertise are 'bound together' over time. The concept of the hub indicates that health organizations have the power to become centres for health promotion by initiating new collaborations and opening up initiatives in two-way processes with the local community...

Medical Advice for Sick-reported Students (MASS) is an intervention that aims to reduce medical absenteeism and prevent dropout among students. The current study reports on a process evaluation of the implementation of MASS at a vocational school in the Netherlands. The evaluation included the implementation process, fidelity, context, and participant satisfaction. The study had a qualitative case study design. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, including a child and youth healthcare physician, MASS coordinators, career advisors, mentors, and students with concerning sickness absence...

Asset-based approaches are becoming more common within public health interventions; however, due to variations in terminology, it can be difficult to identify asset-based approaches. The study aimed to develop and test a framework that could distinguish between asset-based and deficit-based community studies, whilst acknowledging there is a continuum of approaches. Literature about asset-based and deficit-based approaches were reviewed and a framework was developed based on the Theory of Change model. A scoring system was developed for each of the five elements in the framework based on this model...

Around the world, children are being exposed to intensive marketing for gambling products. This normalizes perceptions that gambling is essentially a harmless form of entertainment, despite mounting evidence of the harms it causes. Young people and their parents are supportive of strategies to protect children from being exposed to gambling marketing. Yet existing regulatory efforts are inconsistent and inadequate, and have not protected children from exposure to the many forms of marketing now being developed and exploited by the gambling industry...

Insufficient physical activity among children is a critical issue and health promoting initiatives are required to reverse this trend. In response to the current situation, a school-based intervention aiming to increase physical activity with the aid of active school transportation (AST) was implemented in one municipality in northern Sweden. By adopting the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior, we aimed to analyse beliefs among parents whose children were or were not involved in the AST intervention...

We quantitatively analysed the relationship of health literacy with both anxiety about the COVID-19 outbreak and free-text qualitative data. A questionnaire was mailed to 5450 citizens aged 16-89 years in four prefectures between late April and May 2020. It gauged the level of anxiety about COVID-19, assessed health literacy (HL) on both critical and communicative HL subscales, and invited free-text responses. We compared anxiety levels in three groups of both HL subscales. Text-mining analyses were also conducted among the three HL groups...

Health education encompasses building health knowledge, but also training skills such as critical thinking, that guide individuals' ability to access, understand and use health information to take care of their own health (WHO, 1998). This study aimed to document expert discussions on the content of an ideal health education curriculum for higher music education (HME) students in the UK, integrating critical thinking. Four interdisciplinary workshops were conducted, where 67 experts in relevant fields discussed the content of four lists created based on literature reviews (cognitive biases, logical fallacies, critical appraisal tools and health topics)...

Despite the importance of health literacy for health promotion, Nepalese undergraduate students are largely unaware of its importance. The present study assessed the health literacy levels of undergraduate health sciences students and explored various sociodemographic, clinical and health information-related factors associated with health literacy at Pokhara University in the Kaski district of western Nepal. A cross-sectional web-based observational study was conducted among 406 undergraduate students university students from five faculties at the School of Health and Allied Sciences affiliated with Pokhara University...