Calgary Health Region
Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
Centre for Health Promotion
Further graduate studies
Health Canada
Health Nexus Santé (previously the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse)
Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario
Hospitals, including: Hospital for Sick Children, UHN (Toronto General), St. Michael’s
Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development
Universities, including: Toronto, McMaster, Ryerson
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit
Portuguese Canadian National Congress
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
Public health departments, including: Toronto, Durham, Peel
Canadian Mental Health Association (Ontario Region)
Schizophrenia Society of Canada
Secretaria Municipal de Saude de Fortaleza, Brazil
Self-employed/consulting
Street Health
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Women’s College Research Institute
 

Objectives and principles expected of a health promotion practitioner

This (draft) set of health promotion competencies are derived from a larger initiative to identify competences related public health practice (see http://hpo.squarespace.com/hpo-resources/ )

1. Demonstrate knowledge necessary for conducting health promotion that includes:
   1. Applying a determinants of health framework to the analysis of health issues.
   2. Applying theory to health promotion planning and implementation
   3. Applying health promotion principles in the context of the roles and responsibilities of public health organizations
   4. Describing the range of interventions available to address public health issues
2. Conduct a community needs/situational assessment for a specific issue that includes:
   1. Identifying behavioural, social, environmental and organizational factors that promote or compromise health
   2. Identifying relevant and appropriate data and information sources
   3. Identifying community assets and resources
   4. Partner with communities to validate collected quantitative and qualitative data
   5. Integrating information from available sources to identify priorities for action
3. Plan appropriate health promotion programs that includes:
   1. Identifying, retrieving and critically appraising the relevant literature
   2. Conducting an environmental scan of best practices
   3. Developing a component plan to implement programs including goals, objectives and implementation steps
   4. Developing a program budget
   5. Monitoring and evaluating implementation of interventions
4. Contribute to policy development that includes:
   1. Describing the health, economic, administrative, legal, social and political implications of policy options
   2. Providing strategic policy advice on health promotion issues
   3. Writing clear and concise policy statements for complex issues.
5. Facilitate community mobilization and build community capacity around shared health priorities that includes:
   1. Engaging in a dialogue with communities based on trust and mutual respect
   2. Identifying and strengthening local community capacities to take action on health issues
   3. Advocating for and with individuals and communities that will improve their health and well-being
6. Engage in partnership and collaboration that includes:
   1. Establishing and maintaining linkages with community leaders and other key health promotion stakeholders (e.g., schools, businesses, churches, community associations, labour unions, etc.)
   2. Utilizing leadership, team building, negotiation and conflict resolution skills to build community partnerships
   3. Building coalitions and stimulating intersectoral collaboration on health issues
7. Communicate effectively with community members and other professionals that includes:
   1. Providing health status, demographic, statistical, programmatic, and scientific information tailored to professional and lay audiences
   2. Applying social marketing and other communication principles to the development, implementation and evaluation of health communication campaigns
   3. Using the media, advanced technologies, and community networks to receive and communicate information
   4. Interacting with, and adapting policies and programming that respond to the diversity in population characteristics
8. Organize, implement and manage health promotion interventions that includes:
   1. Training and coordinating program volunteers
   2. Describing scope of work in the context of organization’s mission and functions
   3. Contributing to team and organizational learning
9. Conduct program evaluation and research, including:
   1. To use a participatory approach to evaluation and research
   2. To use appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods
   3. To build new knowledge based in health promotion practice
   4. To evaluate HP programs in the field
10. Demonstrate strong academic skills, including:
    1. To communicate effectively (orally and in witting)
    2. To possess a variety of research and evaluation skills/methods in the collection and analysis of data
    3. To be informed consumers of research, by taking a critical appraisal approach to research evidence, argumentation, etc.
    4. To demonstrate creativity and innovation in health promotion practice