What is central to health promotion strategies is that they encompass values that foster empowerment and community development, increase the learning capacity of individuals, and inevitably modernize health systems. Fundamental values such as these permit health promotion processes to continue to be adaptive and sustainable throughout the changing health environment. Health promotion reaches social, economic and personal development spheres. Enabling occurs when there is a supportive environment and access to information about life skills in such a way that individuals are able to make healthy choices. Enabling is achieved when people achieve a state where they feel that they have the capacity to influence their lives or better their living conditions.
Health promotion is inclusive.
It considers the individual's and the community's health needs in the context of their environments, and permits them to increase their personal capacities by examining how the determinants of health directly impact health behaviours. A traditional approach to health care focuses on the health of individuals, on particular diseases, and on responding to illness through direct patient care. A population health approach addresses a range of factors that contribute to health, and their complex interactions, both in the population as a whole and in specific subgroups. The incorporation of a population health approach into the risk management decision-making process allows Health Canada to consider and respond to risk using a broader perspective, and to do so in a consistent and comprehensive manner. Taking a broader approach can help ensure that the risks that are most important from a population health perspective are identified, that effective risk management strategies are developed and that resources are allocated appropriately.