[Health Impact Assessments (HIA): an intersectoral process for action on the social, economic and environmental determinants of health]. / L'evaluation d'impact sur la sante (EIS): une demarche intersectorielle pour l'action sur les determinants sociaux, economiques et environnementaux de la sante.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practice that has grown in popularity worldwide, since the end of the 1990s. Originally used in the framework of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), HIA has become enriched through the addition of knowledge and principles based on the social determinants of health and the tackling of health inequalities, and has been brought to bear on the policy-planning process at all levels of government. HIA has three overlapping objectives: to assess the potential effects of a policy on health, to encourage citizen and stakeholder participation in the impact analysis process, and to inform the decision-making process. This article briefly defines HIA; defines its standardized process in successive steps, which allows users to give structure to their actions and to establish the steps to be followed (detection, framing, analysis, recommendations and evaluation); and offers three examples of HIA in three different situations: the Geneva canton of Switzerland; Rennes, France; and in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. Together, these illustrations show that HIA is a promising strategy to influence local decisions and to integrate health into projects and policies at the local and regional levels.

Toward international collaboration on credentialing in health promotion and health education: the Galway Consensus Conference.

The interest in competencies, standards, and quality assurance in the professional preparation of public health professionals whose work involves health promotion and health education dates back several decades. In Australia, Europe, and North America, where the interest in credentialing has gained momentum, there have been rapidly evolving efforts to codify competencies and standards of practice as well as the processes by which quality and accountability can be ensured in academic professional preparation programs. The Galway Consensus Conference was conceived as a first step in an effort to explore the development of an international consensus regarding the core competencies of health education specialists and professionals in health promotion and the commonalities and differences in establishing uniform standards for the accreditation of academic professional preparation programs around the world. This article describes the purposes, objectives, and process of the Galway Consensus Conference and the background to the meeting that was convened.

Domains of core competency, standards, and quality assurance for building global capacity in health promotion: the galway consensus conference statement.

This paper reports the outcome of the Galway Consensus Conference, an effort undertaken as a first step toward international collaboration on credentialing in health promotion and health education. Twenty-nine leading authorities in health promotion, health education, and public health convened a 2-day meeting in Galway, Ireland, during which the available evidence on credentialing in health promotion was reviewed and discussed. Conference participants reached agreement on core values and principles, a common definition, and eight domains of core competency required to engage in effective health promotion practice. The domains of competency are catalyzing change, leadership, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, advocacy, and partnerships. The long-term aim of this work is to stimulate a global dialogue that will lead to the development and widespread adoption of standards and quality assurance systems in all countries to strengthen capacity in health promotion, a critical element in achieving goals for the improvement of global population health.

The Galway Consensus Conference: international collaboration on the development of core competencies for health promotion and health education.

Developing a competent health promotion workforce is a key component of capacity building for the future and is critical to delivering on the vision, values and commitments of global health promotion. This paper reports on an international consensus meeting to identify core competencies, jointly organized by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), with participation from international leaders in the field, that took place at the National University of Ireland, Galway, in June 2008. The purpose of the meeting is outlined and the outcomes in terms of strengthening global exchange, collaboration and common approaches to capacity building and workforce development are discussed. The Consensus Statement, based on the proceedings of the meeting, outlines core values and principles, a common definition and eight domains of core competency that are required to engage in effective health promotion practice. The core domains of competency agreed to at the meeting are: catalysing change, leadership, assessment, planning, impementation, evaluation, advocacy and partnerships. A summary of the Consensus Statement is presented and further dialogue and discussion are invited in order to continue the process of building international consensus with regard to health promotion core competencies.

New horizons for social development.

This commentary follows up on a field visit made by the authors to a community development programme in Cairo supported by a local non-governmental organization called New Horizon Association for Social Development (NHASD). The people who comprise NHASD are dedicated to improving the conditions and quality of life of the most marginalized and underdeveloped communities. The paper describes the overall approach that community members, social workers and leaders use to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and the skills, resources and services they build using a rights-based and participatory community development approach. It also addresses ideas for IUHPE concrete action, which came from discussions stimulated by the visit, to support such community initiatives out of isolation. It ranges from complimentary membership of the NHASD to the organization of a specific health promotion network of extremely socio-economically vulnerable communities in urban areas worldwide, connected to the IUHPE Group on Settings-based Health Promotion, as well as sessions at the forthcoming IUHPE 20th World Conference on Health Promotion on the theme "Health, Equity and Sustainable Development".

Enhancing the effectiveness of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education to move health promotion forward.

The success in recent years of many IUHPE initiatives provides cause for celebration, but also reminds us of the challenges that lie ahead. The Global Programme for Health Promotion Effectiveness provides a blueprint for how the IUHPE can effectively participate in, and lead, global networks for health. Health promotion research is well organized and productive in most of the Northern hemisphere, but important wells of health promotion knowledge in the Southern hemisphere are not widely-enough disseminated. The IUHPE needs to help liberate knowledge producers everywhere from unnecessary structures, and find innovative ways to illuminate knowledge for all to see. We have developed and proven the effectiveness of a range of technologies such as settings-based health promotion. However, the vast majority of communities are untouched, and the IUHPE needs to be a leader in finding ways to better disseminate effective health promotion practice. The IUHPE is a vigorous and effective advocate for health promotion training, practice and research. Now we need to expand our advocacy for equity in health, building on our effective work on social clauses in trade agreements and on tobacco control.

Enhancing the effectiveness of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education to move health promotion forward

El éxito de muchas iniciativas llevadas a cabo por la UIPES en los últimos años nos brinda un motivo de celabración, pero nos recuerda asimismo los retos que quedan por delante. El Programa Mundial para la Efectividad de la Promoción de la Salud ofrece un ejemplo de cómo puede la UIPES participar activamente en las redes mundiales en favor de la salud y liderarlas. La investigación en materia de promoción de la salud está bien organizada y es productiva en casi todos los paises del hemisferio Norte, pero existen importantes depósitos de conocimiento en el Sur que apenas se han divulgado. La UIPES necesita ayudar a liberar de estructuras innecesarias a todos aquellos que generan conocimientos y hallar nuevas formas de iluminar dichos conocimientos para que todos puedan verlos. Hemos desarrollado y demostrado la efectividad de un conjunto de técnicas, de las cuales un buen exponente es la promoción de la salud basada en los entornos. No obstante, no han llegado a la gran mayoria de las comunidades y la UIPES tiene que ser pionera en encontrar formas de divulgar mejor las prácticas efectivas de la promoción de la salud. La UIPEs es un firme y eficaz defensor de la formación, de las prácticas y de la investigación en el ámbito de la promoción de la salud. Ahora tenemos que ampliar nuestra labor de defensa a la equidad en el ámbito de la salud apoyándonos en nuestro trabajo efectivo sobre las cláusulas sociales de los acuerdos comerciales y en el control del tabaco.(AU)

Research and practice for equity in health: actions of the international union for health promotion and education.

The published health promotion knowledge base is biased in favor of information produced in just a few English-speaking countries. This is an impediment to health promotion's global development, which would be fostered by better access to information from the broadest possible range of sources. Responding, the International Union for Health Promotion and Education has expanded the scope of its flagship journal, Promotion and Education, publishing material in French and Spanish, in addition to English, and intending to broaden its scope even more. The International Union for Health Promotion and Education has also established an equity project in the health promotion publishing arena, together with other health promotion journals, to assist would-be authors for whom language is a barrier. A third International Union for Health Promotion and Education initiative is the Global Essential Readings in Health Promotion book project, whose editorial team includes experts from every continent, to ensure that the book includes material from every quarter of the globe.