In the September/October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, the journal's editor in chief, Michael O'Donnel presents his, and the journal's, definition of 'health promotion 2.0: Embracing Passion, Enhancing Motivation, Recognizing Dynamic Balance, and Creating Opportunities'. This 2.0 definition (see below) is rather complex and embracing a very broad range of health aspects, but the deifinition includes a few important messages. First of all the definition 2.0 puts (even) more emphasis on environmental conditions and opportunities for health and health practices, building upon the growing body of evidence linking environmental conditions, such as availability and accessibility of healthy options, to engagement in health behavior, and to the WHO slogan 'Making the healthy choice the easy choice'. The definition certainly also links to the behavioral determinants highlighted in well-known behavioral theories such as the Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, or Protection Motivation Theory, i.e. the determinants that have been targetted most frequently in health promotion interventions that had health education as the central change strategy. For example, the definition highlights enhancement of awareness, motivation and skills as important goals for health promotion interventions. But the definition explicitely states that creation of environmental opportunities is "most important". There is much circumstancial evidence for the importance of health promoting environments, but there is still a lack of intervention studies showing that creating opportunities that make healthier choices the easiest choices indeed lead to healthier lifestyles.
The full definition of Health Promotion 2.0 proposed by O'Donnel is:
"Health promotion is the art and science of helping people discover the synergies between their core passions and optimal health, enhancing their motivation to strive for optimal health, and supporting them in chnaging their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. Optimal health is a dynamic balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intelectual health. Lifestyle changes can be facilitated through a combination of learning experiences that enhance awareness, increase motivation, and build skills and, most important, through the creation of opportunities that pen access to environments that make positive health practices the easiest choice."
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