"This comprehensive publication balances theory with practical examples and suggestions for the student, the professional and the policy-maker who are interested in promoting the health of populations? The inclusion of commentary with the essays is a brilliant innovation that encourages the reader to think critically about the topic" -- CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Settings for Health Promotion is the first full-length in-depth treatment of settings as a focal point for planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion. The concept of ?setting? is fundamental to theory and practice in health promotion. Settings also frame the context within which health is influenced, so that the setting itself becomes a target of intervention.

Internationally renowned authors from the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand describe the state of the art in the theory and practice of health promotion as they analyze programs for their efficiency within specific settings. Following each chapter, two professionals comment upon the program from differing perspectives. Case studies provide practical applications throughout the book. Settings for Health Promotion is important reading for practitioners in public health, nursing, and allied health fields as well as anyone interested in health promotion.

Policy-makers, professionals of all kinds and the general public increasingly recognise social and economic factors as important determinants of health. Because health promotion approaches address these factors, they can play an increasingly valuable role in protecting and improving health. At the same time, funding sources increasingly demand evidence that initiatives give value for money. Health promotion initiatives need effective evaluation to realise their potential: both to prove their value as investments and to increase their effectiveness in achieving their aims. To help meet this need, the WHO European Working Group on Health Promotion Evaluation examined the current range of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods to provide guidance to policy-makers and practitioners. This book is the result. It comprises an extensive compilation and discussion of the theory, methodologies and practice of evaluating health promotion initiatives in Europe and the Americas. The book takes three perspectives in examining the issues. It includes a retrospective examination of the evolution of health promotion evaluation. This provides the context for assessing and understanding the current state of evaluations of initiatives addressing settings, polices and systems works for promoting health. Finally the chapter authors and the Working Group as a whole make many recommendations for improvement that provide a look into the future. This book shows how a health promotion approach offers a comprehensive framework for planning and implementing interventions that can effectively address today's major health-related problems. The authors describe how good evaluations assist initiatives in achieving their goals, provide a wealth of guidance on how to undertake them and call for greater investment in the evaluation of health promotion. The authors hope that their work will stimulate policy-makers and practitioners to invest in and undertake good evaluation for good health promotion. This is their commitment; they hope that readers share it.

"This comprehensive publication balances theory with practical examples and suggestions for the student, the professional and the policy-maker who are interested in promoting the health of populations? The inclusion of commentary with the essays is a brilliant innovation that encourages the reader to think critically about the topic" -- CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Settings for Health Promotion is the first full-length in-depth treatment of settings as a focal point for planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion. The concept of ?setting? is fundamental to theory and practice in health promotion. Settings also frame the context within which health is influenced, so that the setting itself becomes a target of intervention.

Internationally renowned authors from the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand describe the state of the art in the theory and practice of health promotion as they analyze programs for their efficiency within specific settings. Following each chapter, two professionals comment upon the program from differing perspectives. Case studies provide practical applications throughout the book. Settings for Health Promotion is important reading for practitioners in public health, nursing, and allied health fields as well as anyone interested in health promotion.