Top

Journal of Public Health

Published in:

01-08-2018 | Review Article

How should we change the culture of health? A note on the margin of an outstanding debate

Author: József Vitrai

Published in: Journal of Public Health | Issue 4/2018

Abstract

Aim

In 2014, Sally Davis, England’s Chief Medical Officer, proposed a paradigm shift in public health—the 5th Wave—which should focus on the culture of health. Her paper was meant to spark a debate, but this has been largely absent until now. This article argues why the concept of the culture of health needs to be incorporated into the theory of public health and shows a possible direction for applying it in practice.

Subjects and methods

Review of theoretical approaches and knowledge synthesis.

Results

Applying the culture of the health approach to change health behavior requires taking several different strands of thought into account. Any proposed effective intervention should be based on a framework including the ‘behavioral system,’ ecosocial theory, complex systems science, and school health promotion approaches. Changing culture is impeded by its complexity, but to solve this wicked problem, the focus should likely be on health promotion in schools.

Conclusion

To make interventions more effective, it is necessary for public health professionals to have an extensive debate on the interpretations of the role of the culture of health as highlighted in this article.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/wscc/ Accessed: 05.09.2017

http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/gshi/en/ Accessed: 05.09.2017

Allensworth DD, Kolbe LJ (1987) The comprehensive school health program: exploring an expanded concept. J Sch Health 57:409–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1987.tb03183.x CrossRefPubMed

Bachrach C, Daley D (2017) Shaping a new field: three key challenges for population health science. Am J Public Health 107:251–252. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303580 CrossRefPubMed

Balku E, Tóth G, Nárai E, Zsiros E, Varsányi P, Vitrai J (2017) Methodology for identification of healthstyles for developing effective behavior change interventions. J Public Health (Bangkok). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0799-y

Busch V, De Leeuw JRJ, Zuithoff NPA, Van Yperen TA, Schrijvers AJP (2015) A controlled health promoting school study in the Netherlands. Health Promot Pract 16:592–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839914566272 CrossRefPubMed

Carey G, Malbon E, Carey N, Joyce A, Crammond B, Carey A (2015) Systems science and systems thinking for public health: a systematic review of the field. BMJ Open 5:e009002. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009002 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Chandra A, Acosta J, Carman KG, Dubowitz T, Leviton L, Martin LT, Miller C, Nelson C, Orleans T, Tait M, Trujillo M, Towe V, Yeung D, Plough AL (2016) Building a national culture of health: background, action framework, measures, and next stepsCrossRef

Davies SC, Winpenny E, Ball S, Fowler T, Rubin J, Nolte E (2014) For debate: a new wave in public health improvement. Lancet 384:1889–1895CrossRefPubMed

Eccles J (1999) The development of children ages 6 to 14. Futur Child 9:30–44. https://doi.org/10.2307/1602703 CrossRef

Finegood D, Johnston L, Steiberg M, Matteson C, Deck P (2014) Complexity, systems thinking, and health behavior change. In: Kahan S, Gielen A, Fagan P, Gree L (eds) Health behavior change in populations. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 1–550

Grillich L, Kien C, Takuya Y, Weber M, Gartlehner G (2016) Effectiveness evaluation of a health promotion programme in primary schools: a cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health 16:679. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3330-4 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Hanlon P, Carlisle S, Hannah M, Lyon A, Reilly D (2012) A perspective on the future public health: an integrative and ecological framework. Perspect Public Health 132(6):313–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912440781 CrossRefPubMed

Hendriks A-M, Jansen MW, Gubbels JS, De Vries NK, Paulussen T, Kremers SP (2013) Proposing a conceptual framework for integrated local public health policy, applied to childhood obesity—the behavior change ball. Implement Sci 8:46. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-8-46 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Keyes KM, Galea S (2016) Setting the agenda for a new discipline: population health science. Am J Public Health 106:633–634. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303101 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Krieger N (2011) Epidemiology and the people’s health. Oxford University Press, New YorkCrossRef

Langford R, Bonell CP, Jones HE, Pouliou T, Murphy SM, Waters E, Komro KA, Gibbs LF, Magnus D, Campbell R (2014) The WHO health promoting school framework for improving the health and well-being of students and their academic achievement. In: Langford R (ed) Cochrane database of systematic reviews. Wiley, Chichester, p CD008958

Luke DA, Stamatakis KA (2012) Systems science methods in public health: dynamics, networks, and agents. Annu Rev Public Health 33:357–376. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031210-101222 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

McIsaac J-L, Hernandez K, Kirk S, Curran J (2016) Interventions to support system-level implementation of health promoting schools: a scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 13:200. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020200 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Michie S, van Stralen MM, West R (2011) The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implement Sci 6:42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Michie S, Atkins L, West R (2014) The behaviour change wheel. A guide to designing interventions. Silverback Publishing, London

Morse LL, Allensworth DD (2015) Placing students at the center: the whole school, whole community, whole child model. J Sch Health 85:785–794. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12313 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Napier AD, Depledge M, Knipper M, Lovell R, Ponarin E, Sanabria E, Thomas F (2017) Culture matters: using a cultural contexts of health approach to enhance policy-making. Cultural contexts of health and well-being. Policy brief, No. 1. World Health Organization 2017

National Cancer Institute (2007) Greater than the sum: systems thinking in tobacco control. Tobacco Control Monograph No. 18. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. NIH Pub. No. 06-6085, Bethesda

Ravasz E, Barabási A-L (2003) Hierarchical organization in complex networks. Phys Rev E 67:26112. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.67.026112 CrossRef

Rocher G (1970) I. l’action sociale: Introduction á la sociologie générale. Seul, Paris

Rutter H, Savona N, Glonti K, Bibby J, Cummins S, Finegood DT, Greaves F, Harper L, Hawe P, Moore L, Petticrew M, Rehfuess E, Shiell A, Thomas J, White M (2017) The need for a complex systems model of evidence for public health. Lancet 6736:9–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31267-9 CrossRef

UNESCO (2001) UNESCO universal declaration on cultural diversity. In: website. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_%0AID=13179&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Accessed 13 Feb 2017

Wang D, Stewart D (2012) The implementation and effectiveness of school-based nutrition promotion programmes using a health-promoting schools approach: a systematic review. Public Health Nutr 16:1082–1100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980012003497 CrossRefPubMed

World Health Organization (2013) Health 2020: a European policy framework and strategy for the 21st century, pp 1–184

Title: How should we change the culture of health? A note on the margin of an outstanding debate
Author: József Vitrai
Publication date: 01-08-2018
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Journal of Public Health / Issue 4/2018
Print ISSN: 2198-1833
Electronic ISSN: 1613-2238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0878-0

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

How should we change the culture of health? A note on the margin of an outstanding debate

Abstract

Aim

Subjects and methods

Results

Conclusion

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Aim

Subjects and methods

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 4/2018

Changes in 10-year cardiovascular risk and behavioral risk factors in men in Crete, Greece, since the Seven Countries’ Study (1960–1997)

A geospatial analysis of noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden in Indian agro-climatic and political regions

Unmet healthcare needs among indigenous peoples in Canada: findings from the 2006 and 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Surveys

Factors affecting the uptake of malaria prevention strategies among pregnant women in Nigeria: evidence from 2013 Nigeria demographic and health survey

Descriptive self-reporting survey of people with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF): similarities and comparisons with previous studies

A study of electronic cigarette use among youth