Success Stories
Using the Circle of Health© to promote physical activity in migrants
Kelly Obertreis, a student of the Hochschule Furtwangen University is writing her Bachelor Thesis in the field of health science focusing on migrants in Germany and how to improve their health by making physical activity more attractive. One of her goals is to determine key issues and needs of women who have recently settled in Germany.
Project Planning for Holistic Health - Special Olympics
In 2017, Special Olympics PEI was approaching a major project for better health conditions and service for people with intellectual disabilities across Prince Edward Island. Their planning and implementation needed to include a vision for holistic health.
Exploring Health Promotion Approaches
It is necessary for academics to analyze the health promotion aproaches in a country comprehensively, considering the most relevant factors and their linkages. In her thesis, Stefanie Harsch (University of Education, Freiburg, Germany) explored health promotion in a South-Asian country, but she was struggling. She sound that most of the commonly used models in health promotion only focus on a selective part of the picture, rather than providing examples of how to bring all the piece of the puzzle (including values) together.
Study, Evaluate and Motivate!
At the Federal University of Goiás in Goiânia, Brazil, Jacqueline Lima sought a framework that would help Master’s nursing students evaluate health promotion.
Strengthening Health Promotion in Serbia
Following civil war in the former Yugoslavia, the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) engaged with Balkan countries in a project called Strengthening Balkans Civil Society’s Voice for Public Health through Public Health Associations. The Public Health Association of Serbia was formed to engage national stakeholders in the “new public health”. Resources and capacity development were required for this work.
Walk with it, talk with it, learn from it, (share it)!
It can often be challenging to develop projects for diverse student populations with various reading levels and learning styles. At Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, a particular challenge was creating curriculum for first year students in the Community Worker program to teach the holistic nature of health promotion.
Partnering for Healthy Public Policy
The Healthy Communities Partnership of Hastings & Prince Edward is a network of local agencies, municipalities, and residents that are committed to working together to create settings that make healthy living part of our everyday lives, in our everyday settings. As lead agency for the partnership, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health faced the challenge of developing collaborative partnerships to address municipal policy issues related to healthy eating and active living.
Intersectoral Action for Health (AIPS)
Brazil, a country of 186 million inhabitants, is characterized by large disparities in health and well-being between rich and poor. Health promotion strategies are viewed as essential to address the conditions of poverty, requiring intersectoral action and introduction of practical tools to engage stakeholders in planning and delivery of programs.
Planning a Regional Health & Safety Institute
In 1993, a needs assessment identified that Atlantic Canada was the only region in Canada without a summer training program for community health promoters; it also recognized that there were similar needs for training amongst those working in crime prevention through social development. Vision, funding, a shared planning framework, and commitment from health and justice sectors were essential.
Trappers' Running Club: Impact on Community Health
The Trappers’ Running Club (TRC) is a 100% voluntary effort in Happy Valley Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador which began in 2008. Each year the TRC organizes a marathon and provides clinics to engage new running enthusiasts; currently targeting two new groups – youth and high risk. As a successful recipient of a Provincial Wellness Grant for the past three years, it is required to have an evaluation conducted by an external evaluator using the Circle of Health©. However, members were not sure where to begin.
Bringing About Change
Until 1997, when the Circle of Health© was introduced to Eastern Health, much of the health promotion focus in the region was on Health Education. To achieve improved health outcomes, management felt it was necessary to look more holistically at the determinants that affect health and to explore additional health promotion strategies as advocated by the Ottawa Charter.
Introducing the Circle of Health© to Undergraduate and Graduate Classes
Assigning a project for students is a challenge – especially one that requires them to think critically and in an integrative manner about health with consideration of culture, environment, economic status plus life style ‘choices’, health behaviours, and traditional medical interventions. Research pointed to the Circle of Health© as an excellent tool for learning analysis and integrative problem solving of contemporary health challenges.
Making Health Move!
Reports on the well-being of Newfoundland residents showed that the health of rural Newfoundlanders was below national standards. In response, the Eastern Regional Wellness Coalition wanted to promote wellness and improve the health and well-being in their region through improved partnership and coordination; addressing, in particular, the physical health of older adults.