What is a Health Promoting Hospital?

A health promoting hospital recognises the importance of preventing illness and promoting health and incorporates the principles of health promotion into its work.

A health promoting hospital 'integrates health promotion into the role of staff and reorients its role in the community to improve the health of the population ... while realising that as a 'setting' it also has an organisational commitment to the health and wellbeing of patients and their families, and staff. The staff of a HPH work collaboratively with others with the aim of improving the health of patients and their families, and the wider community.' (Johnson, 1998)

The International WHO Health Promoting Hospitals Network has outlined the principles of a health promoting hospital as one that

• Facilitates the health of patients, staff and the community.
• Promotes human dignity and equity
• Is oriented towards quality improvement
• Focuses on health in its broader sense not only disease and curative treatment
• Contributes to empowerment of patients/clients
• Form partnerships with others in health care and the community
• Uses resources efficiently and effectively (WHO, 1997).

Health Promotion and Hospitals

The term health promoting hospitals may seem contradictory and some hospital staff may argue that health promotion is not their job. But the concept of a health promoting hospital goes much further than traditional health promotion. In addition, hospitals:

• as providers of expert information to patients/clients and the community, can encourage prevention, self management and foster empowerment
• as institutions with a large number of workers and service users, can reach a large section of the population (personnel, patients and relatives)
• as centres of modern medicine, research and education that accumulate much knowledge and experience, they can influence health promotion practices and programs
• as producers of large amounts of waste, they can contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution and, as large-scale consumers, they can favour healthy products and environmental safety.

Health promoting hospitals also support staff to incorporate the principles of health promotion into their every day work, making health promotion everybody's business.

Where did this idea come from?

The concept of a health promoting hospital grew from the ideas and experiences in international primary health care and health promotion. Recognising the important role of hospitals in the health sector in 1990 the World Health Organisation formed the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals.

In 1991 the Budapest Declaration on Health Promoting Hospitals. proposed a broader role for hospitals 'beyond the assurance of good quality medical care' to encompass the general living and working conditions of staff, patients and community members.

It also recognised that hospitals have a powerful but indirect influence on health through their role as major employers, major consumers of products and services and as producers of waste.

Find out more

The Vienna Recommendations on Health Promoting Hospitals

International WHO Health Promoting Hospitals Network

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