RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

The process of developing goals in a cross-sectional public health program

Lena Kanstrom, PhD(1,2), Bo J A Haglund PhD(2), Per Tillgren PhD(2)

1, Department of Community Health, The Western Stockholm Medical Services District, Stockholm,
2, The Institute for Public Health Saleaces, The Department for Social Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden

A cross-sectional public health program has been in effect in the Western Stockholm Medical Services District (WSMSD) since 1994, The district is made up of approximately 200 000 inhabitants. Regional politicians gave WSMSD priority to develop school health promotion projects, injury prevention projects, and projects aimed at decreasing the incidence of psychosocial illness. The program focuses on supporting those,, environments where various sectors of the community convene. The program's intention is to initiate, support and stimulate health promotion activities in conjunction with various community organizations. A model to frame and generate district specific goals based on general goals was developed.

Aim: To acquire information about the various participants' and collaborative partners' priorities at each level, as well as the possible use of the goal development process in heath promotion at the local public health level.

Background: Goals developed m a co-operative health promotion project must take into consideration the democratic principles the co-operation is based on, The goal development process is a process generating understanding, clarification and the ability to identify other co-operative partners. Those affected must also be included in the project and develop goals for the health promotion activities that affect them.

Goal development at a local level should combine co-operating organisations' interests into one or more., common goals. As many different levels of decision making are involved, this task is challenging. The various participants have different reasons for participating and different expectations from the project (e.g,, decreased disease incidence, increased production, increased sales, process evaluation, ensuring intervention reaches those most requiring it). Furthermore, these goals may be shaped by the various participants' financial capabilities and their ability to furnish reasons for assisting with the activities,

The model describes how to integrate each level (national, regional, medical services districts, city communities, collaborative partners) into the goal development process or local health promotion projects. The model describes how to transform and adjust the general WHO and HFA objectives into specific detailed local goals. The model illustrates the important of obtaining background information and the project's potential for realisation (community analysis, community diagnosis/public health report) prior to developing project objectives.

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