CAPACITY BUILDING |
Mapping national capacity to engage in health promotion: Overview of issues and approaches
1 Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Norway 2 Australian Centre for Health Promotion, The University of Sydney, Australia 3 Healthy Cities Research Center, Yonsei University, Wonju Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea 4 Under-Secretariat for Prevention and Health Promotion, Secretariat of Health, Mexico 5 Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Norway 6 Health Promotion Consultant, Culemborg, The Netherlands 7 Consultant in International Health Promotion and Public Health, Cambridge, England 8 Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Address for correspondence: Maurice B. Mittelmark, Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Christiesgt. 13, N-5015 Bergen, Norway. E-mail: maurice.mittelmark{at}iuh.uib.no
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Abstract |
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This paper reviews approaches to the mapping of resources needed to engage in health promotion at the country level. There is not a single way, or a best way to make a capacity map, since it should speak to the needs of its users as they define their needs. Health promotion capacity mapping is therefore approached in various ways. At the national level, the objective is usually to learn the extent to which essential policies, institutions, programmes and practices are in place to guide recommendations about what remedial measures are desirable. In Europe, capacity mapping has been undertaken at the national level by the WHO for a decade. A complimentary capacity mapping approach, HP-Source.net, has been undertaken since 2000 by a consortium of European organizations including the EC, WHO, International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Health Development Agency (of England) and various European university research centres. The European approach emphasizes the need for multi-methods and the principle of triangulation. In North America, Canadian approaches have included large- and small-scale international collaborations to map capacity for sustainable development. US efforts include state-level mapping of capacity to prevent chronic diseases and reduce risk factor levels. In Australia, two decades of mapping national health promotion capacity began with systems needed by the health sector to design and deliver effective, efficient health promotion, and has now expanded to include community-level capacity and policy review. In Korea and Japan, capacity mapping is newly developing in collaboration with European efforts, illustrating the usefulness of international health promotion networks. Mapping capacity for health promotion is a practical and vital aspect of developing capacity for health promotion. The new context for health promotion contains both old and new challenges, but also new opportunities. A large scale, highly collaborative approach to capacity mapping is possible today due to developments in communication technology and the spread of international networks of health promoters. However, in capacity mapping, local variation will always be important, to fit variation in local contexts.
Key words: capacity mapping; strategic development; workforce planning; health promotion infrastructure
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