Health promotion in the Americas: Divergent and common ground

Abstract

Practitioners and theorists in health promotion have tried to identify the conceptual basis and principles of practice that distinguish the health promotion field (McQueen, 2007a). Interchangeable use of the terms health promotion, social medicine, public health, collective health, disease prevention, and health protection suggests little distinction. Yet health promotion has distinct historical roots. Across the Americas, diverse political forces have shaped health promotion practice from North to South. Attempts to identify a universal set of principles of health promotion practice are confounded by the divergent sociocultural contexts in which health promotion occurs. In this chapter we explore some of these historical developments in health promotion across the Americas to see where shared ground exists and where differences emerge. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.