Background and objective:
Nurses have an important role to play as health promoters (Donaghy et al., 2022), however the concept of health promotion is not always well understood. In nursing practice, it is sometimes reduced to prevention, pitting health against disease, or focusing on individual determinants of health without considering socio-environmental determinants, or sometimes focusing on a health education approach where the professional already knows what is good for others. The objective of the presentation will be to illustrate a health promotion training course for public health professionals (PHPs) using a participative approach, considering the determinants of health as a whole and identifying opportunities for health promotion practice through community immersion.
Methods:
Creation of a teaching method during an undergraduate degree of Science in Nursing at HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, by a socio-constructivist approach that aims to do a community assessment with a population concerned by a health challenge. This 12 day-course over 3 weeks seeks to enhance group empowerment and participation of stakeholders based on a salutogenic approach.
Results:
In this course, students are divided into groups of 4-5 and are invited to carry out a health promotion project, with a population/community. This project-based approach enables the development of their health promotion posture , which is based on the principles of empowerment, health determinants perspective and community participation, with a view to transferring it to more conventional fields of practice (hospital, home care, ...). To encourage their success, a partnership is established with actors in extra-hospital settings (schools, neighbourhoods, communities).
Conclusion:
The presented course on health promotion gives the opportunity to improve community engagement and to improve partnerships between actors in the health system.
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