Head of Specialization Program: Prof. Anat Gesser-Edelsburg

What is health promotion?

Health promotion is a multi-system process enabling both society and individuals to control and improve their health by different means. The discipline promotes healthy lifestyle, physical and mental welfare which has the potential to improve quality of life through changes at both individual societal and national levels. Improving the healthcare can be accomplished by means of empowering the individual and the community, policy changes and by collaboration between organizations in order to achieve improvements.

Health promotion is based on the following principles: Ecological perception which promotes creating healthy environment for the public, general approaches to risk and prevention of both health and disease, multidisciplinary approaches to encourage and promote health (technology, media, net working, legislation, allocation of resources, education, organizational changes, community development and personal care) and empowerment of the individual and the community. Health promotion is a social and health activity initiated by implementing health supporting policies and health supporting environments, reinforcing community activity and guiding community health services.

Aims of the teaching program

The aims of the teaching program are to provide students with the essential tools to design, operate, and evaluate health promotion programs and strategies and to contribute to the development of the field through research and training. The training includes practical experience in the community.

Research

The research projects focus on the design and evaluation of health promotion programs.

Faculty members

The faculty members come from the disciplines of public health, nutrition, social and behavioral medicine and communication.