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About the Health Promotion Department

The goal of the Health Promotion Department for the Saskatoon Health Region is to have the social environments and conditions for all people to thrive. 

There is now clear evidence that the health of a population is largely determined by factors beyond health care and individual behaviour. People are much more likely to be healthy if they live in communities where:

• healthy choices are supported and easy to make

• natural and built environments promote health
• there are strong social support networks
• there are supportive conditions to create income adequacy for all

Further information can be found on the Health Promotion Links and Resources page.

These factors are further described as Social Determinants of Health, which form the focus of the Health Promotion Department’s work.

What we do

Department Plan (PDF)

Logic Model (PDF)

Definitions

Health is a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity.

Health exists when people have the resilience, capacity and support to achieve a state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Health Promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health and the determinants of their health.

Population Health

The health of a population as measured by health status indicators and as influenced by social, economic, and physical environments, personal health practices, individual capacity and coping skills, human biology, early childhood development, and health services.

Social Determinants of Health are societal factors that determine the health of a population. They include:

• income and social status
• social support networks
• education and literacy
• employment and working conditions
• physical and social environments
• healthy child development
• gender roles and culture

Health Equity is the condition where everyone could attain their full health potential and are not disadvantaged due to their social position or other socially determined circumstances. 

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Income Equity - Supportive conditions and systems that create income adequacy and reduce disparity. Income Equity empowers people to participate fully in the social and economic activities of society.

Social Cohesion – The ongoing process of developing the socioeconomic and political conditions that create a community where individuals and groups feel valued and can participate fully in life. Social cohesion supports fairness, diversity, trust, a sense of belong and connectedness amongst groups.

Food Security - Food is obtained in a dignified, safe, accessible and culturally acceptable manner, which maximizes healthy food choices.  Food is produced, processed and distributed in way that supports the environment, community self-reliance, local and regional economic development.

Further definitions can be found in the World Health Organization’s Health Promotion Glossary

http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/hp_glossary_en.pdf

An addition of new terms (PDF) to the glossary is also available.