Principles of Health Promotion

The principles that guide us as we work to achieve our mission are as follows:

1. Health and safety are essential for optimal intellectual, emotional, social, and moral development and to the academic mission of the University.
2. Health behaviors need to be addressed from both an individual and social context.
3. Best practice standards of health promotion involve theory-based, data-driven needs assessment, program development and evaluation.
4. The creation of healthy communities requires interdisciplinary partnerships involving health professionals, educators, artists, community leaders and community members working together to prevent or address critical health concerns.
5. Creating healthy communities involves an integration of advocacy, education, service, community building and research.
6. To be successful, community health initiatives must focus on key risks to health and involve a critical mass of community members whose engagement stimulates communication, trust, personal responsibility and shared interdependence.