Use of evidence in WHO health promotion declarations: overview, critical analysis, and personal reflection

Abstract

Examining the use of evidence in the seven WHO statements regarding health promotion, published between 1986 and the current period, provides me with a starting point to reflect on the use of evidence in health promotion. These documents increasingly reference evidence to support the premises that health promotion is necessary and that health promotion strategies are effective. Within the context provided by the WHO health promotion documents, I attempt to reconcile the relationship between evidence and reality as conceived by the disciplines of medicine and health promotion. My training as a physician and current experience as a health promotion student points to similarities and differences between the worldviews of the two disciplines. I conclude that the concept of judicial review provides a means to critically appraise evidence that acknowledges both scientific knowledge and human experience that could be used in my future health promotion practice.

Keywords:

• health promotion
• evidence
• judicial review
• Ottawa Charter
• evidence-based medicine
• WHO

Acknowledgements

This paper was originally developed for Farah Ahmad’s Health Promotion class. I would like to thank her, as well as Catherine Maule, for their suggestions and insights on this topic.