(SOPHE) Society for Public Health Education - Health Promotion Programs

Francisco Soto Mas

Associate Professor

College of Population Health

University of New Mexico

Angela D. Mickalide

Vice President Programs and Education

American College of Preventive Medicine

Laura L Nervi

Assistant Professor

College of Population Health

University of New Mexico

Mallory C. Ohneck

Data Manager

Community Health Improvement

Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio

Nicolette W. Powe

Assistant Professor

Department of Health Professions

Youngstown State University

James H. Price

Professor Emeritus

Health Education and Public Health

College of Health Science and Human Service

University of Toledo

Keisha Tyler Robinson

Adjunct Professor

Department of Health & Department of Graduate Studies in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Youngstown State University

Stacy Robison

President and Co-Founder

CommunicateHealth, Inc.

Kathleen M. Roe

Professor Emeritus

Department of Public Health and Recreation

San José State University

Shirley Schoening Scheuler

Health Systems Coordinator

Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives, Community Health Division

Minnesota Department of Health

Cherylee A. Sherry

Healthy Systems Supervisor

Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives, Community Health Division

Minnesota Department of Health

Jiunn-Jye Sheu

Professor

School of Population Health

College of Health and Human Services

University of Toledo

Tara O. Shuler

Director of Operations and Diversity

NC Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program

David A. Sleet

Professor Emeritus

San Diego State University

TJFACT/Veritas Management Group Consultant

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Ally S. Thomas

Associate Vice President, Quality Improvement

UPMC Health Plan

Carla M. Valdez

Lecturer

Department of Health Sciences

California State University, Northridge

Allison E. Zambon

Program Manager, Office of Community Outreach

Fox Chase Cancer Center – Temple University Health System

Ann P. Zukoski

Evaluation Supervisor

Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives, Community Health Division

Minnesota Department of Health

The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is a nonprofit professional organization founded in 1950. SOPHE’s mission is to provide global leadership to the profession of health education and health promotion and to promote the health of society through advances in health education theory and research, excellence in professional preparation and practice, advocacy for public policies conducive to health, and the achievement of health equity for all. SOPHE is the only independent professional organization devoted exclusively to health education and health promotion.

SOPHE’s membership extends health education principles and practices to many settings, including schools, universities, medical and healthcare settings, workplaces, voluntary health agencies, international organizations, and federal, state, and local governments.

Contact SOPHE at 10 G Street N.W., Suite 605, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Telephone: (202) 408-9804. Website: www.sophe.org.

We are pleased to share this third edition of Health Promotion Programs: From Theory to Practice . The pandemic in 2020 shed a blinding light on critical conversations about equity and systemic injustice, which attained both new urgency and a well-deserved central role in our national conversation health and health promotion. We have all seen, in real time, how structural discrimination and obstacles to opportunity do their work in a crisis. In our communities, every burden—from rates of infection and care outcomes, to economic adversity, to the challenges of virtual learning when schools are closed—falls heaviest on those for whom true equity has always been farthest from reach. Health Promotion Programs: From Theory to Practice is being published as the pandemic recedes; however, we can’t simply assume that healing and recovery follow. It falls on all of us—individuals and communities, companies and governments—to ensure that what’s ahead is not just the end of a disease but a durable and hopeful future for all who sacrificed and endured during this unprecedented time.

Today, health promotion programs have evolved to be integral to promoting a culture of health and wellness and to healthcare across the United States and internationally. The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) recognized the need for a book to help advance the field. Escalating rates of chronic disease, soaring healthcare costs, and increasing diversity of the U.S. population, as well as aging of the current health education workforce, all call for training a new generation of health promoters. The SOPHE board of trustees, executive director, and members offer this book, which combines the theoretical and practice base of the field with step-by-step practical sections on how to develop, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs. SOPHE hopes that this book, read in its entirety or in part, will help not only students who choose to major or minor in health education, health promotion, community health, public health, or health-related fields (e.g., environmental health, physical fitness, allied health, nursing, or medicine), but also professionals already working who want to acquire the technical knowledge and skills to develop successful health promotion programs. Acquiring the competencies to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs can improve health outcomes, promote behavioral and social change, and contribute to health equity and social justice. This book offers a concise summary of the many years of research in the fields of health education and health promotion, along with the expertise of many SOPHE members working in diverse contemporary settings and programs. The book also reflects SOPHE’s mission and its commitment to professional preparation and continuing education for the purpose of improving the quantity and quality of the lives of individuals and communities.

Undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare professionals to work in public health, health education, and health promotion and wellness have been flourishing in the United States and throughout the world for more than half a century. Thousands of students graduate every year with a baccalaureate or advanced degree in health promotion and get jobs in schools, colleges, businesses, healthcare facilities and systems, community organizations, and government.

We are enormously grateful to the many SOPHE members who wrote this book. Their expertise in many fields, including health education, public health, sociology, anthropology, psychology, nursing, medicine, physical education, nutrition, allied health, and many others, have been braided into this health promotion anthology. They have shared the foundations of the field as well as their own practical experiences in health promotion planning. May this book help teach, guide, inspire, ignite, catalyze, and transform students and professionals in their quest to develop successful health promotion programs that address the health challenges of both today and tomorrow.