Welcome from the Organising Committee

Hässelby Castle is a special Nordic conference venue in the midst of Stockholm. The aim of the Conference is to provide a unique opportunity for an intensive review and summing-up of health promotion research efforts that have been established throughout the Nordic region.

At the 1^st Nordic Health Promotion Research (HPR) Conference in Bergen, in 1996, there were about 120 participants. This time we have limited the number of participants to 150, and invited in particular Master Students and research fellows of Public Health to present their theses. The majority of participants come from Sweden.

In Bergen a wish was also expressed to involve as many interested researchers as possible in the planning procedures for the 2^nd conference using Internet. In the planning phase therefore, web pages for continuous information were created about the conference found at http://www.primnet.se/public/html/nhprin/index.htm. During the conference days we will have a parallel conference on the Internet, with possibilities for all of you to learn how to use Internet to write down your opinions on the contributions or other important Health Promotion issues. For you as a participant, it will be a special educational experience, with possibilities to discuss on the Internet, under guidance, to take home, and then continue the conference discussions afterwards. This will also provide possibilities for those not participating in the conference but interested in the issues discussed to contribute at the web-pages discussion forum.

It has been 20 years since the World Health Organisation’s Member States made an ambitious commitment to a global strategy for Health for All, and the principles of primary health care through the Declaration of Alma-Ata. It has been 12 years since the First International Conference on Health Promotion was held in Ottawa, Canada. That conference resulted in proclamation of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, which has been a source of guidance and inspiration for health promotion since then. Subsequent international conferences and meetings have further clarified the relevance and meaning of key strategies in health promotion, including healthy public policy (Adelaide, Australia, 1988), supportive environments for health (Sundsvall, Sweden, 1991), and building healthy alliances (Jakarta 1997).

In the Jakarta Declarations it is stated that : "Health is a basic human right and is essential for social and economic development. Increasingly, health promotion is being recognised as an essential element of health development. It is a process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. Health promotion, through investment and action, has a marked impact on the determinants of health so as to create the greatest health gain for people, to contribute significantly to the reduction of inequities in health, to further human rights, and to build social capital. The ultimate goal is to increase health expectancy, and to narrow the gap in health expectancy between countries and groups".

Research and case studies from around the world, including the abstracts delivered to this conference, provide convincing evidence that health promotion is effective. Health promotion strategies can develop and change lifestyles, and have an impact on the social, economic and environmental conditions that determine health. Health promotion is a practical approach to achieving greater equity in health.

The five strategies, presented as our major themes and streams set out in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion are essential for success:

	build healthy public policy
	create supportive environments
	strengthen community action
	develop personal skills
	reorient health services

At present, in terms of research traditions, two current distinct community-oriented health promotion practices are discussed, sometimes representing more biomedical and disease prevention orientation and sometimes more phenomenological and socially critical socio-environmental orientation. In the first instance, community becomes a venue for health behaviour programmes. In the second instance, community becomes a locus for organising efforts to shift broader public and private socio-economic policies and practices. These contrasting perspectives on theory, practise and research of health promotion are reflected in the themes and streams of the conference, and will also be reflected on by the key note speakers.

Slightly changed from the Ottawa Charter, Health Promotion could be defined as: "the process of enabling [individuals and communities] to increase control over [the determinants of health] and [thereby] improve their health." In particular, it embodies the key underlying concept or "cardinal principle" of health promotion, namely "empowerment." That is, it suggests that health promotion is fundamentally about ensuring that individuals and communities are able to assume the power that they are entitled to. Thus, it is suggested that the primary criterion for determining whether or not a particular initiative should be considered to be health promoting ought to be the extent to which health promotion activities involve the process of enabling or empowering individuals or communities. Therefore, the absence of empowering activities should be a signal that an intervention does not fall within the rubric of health promotion. Attempts to encourage public participation are critical to the process of empowerment. Other criteria that help to distinguish between a health promotion approach and some other approach include taking a broad view of health, an emphasis on equity or social justice and intersectional collaboration.

These efforts are challenging for us as researchers and need linkages between disciplines, and we are very pleased that researchers from so many disciplines are represented at the conference.

We hope that you all will listen and talk to each other. The content of the conference is constituted not only by the presentations, but just as much by the discussion and interactions of the participants

The conference is financially supported by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Vårdalstiftelsen, Stockholm County Council, Västernorrland County Council, and Dell Computer Company in Sweden.

Please enjoy your stay at the Hässelby Castle in Stockholm. We wish you a stimulating conference!

For the organising committee

Bo J A Haglund
Professor and President of the Conference