Health promotion - Dr. David Seedhouse

Incisively written, this new edition of a popular guide first published in 1996 slices through the rhetoric of health promotion. Its penetrating analysis quickly reveals health promotion’s conceptual roots, providing an enlightening map of their web of theory and practice.

David Seedhouse proves that health promotion, a discipline intended to improve the health of a population, is prejudiced—every plan and every project stems first from human values—and argues that only by acknowledging this will a mature discipline emerge. To help speed progress the author proposes a positive, practical theory of health promotion destined to inspire anyone who wishes to create better health.

This new edition includes three new chapters on conventional health promotion, radical health promotion and foundational health promotion, mental health promotion and examples of the use of foundational health promotion. The new edition will also add five new teaching exercises, incorporate and update the guide for teachers and lecturers and add a new topical case study. This book is laced with entertaining dialogues and readers are encouraged to explore ten carefully presented exercises.

Educational, accessible, and intelligent, Health Promotion: Philosophy, Prejudice and Practice is a seminal work which heralds the beginning of the end of health promotion’s long adolescence. It is nothing less than essential reading for all practitioners and students of health promotion.

Reviews for Total Health Promotion:

"From one of the world’s leading health philosophers, this beautifully written and highly accessible book will challenge not only those involved in the complex area of health promotion but anyone working in mental health care.

Probably because David Seedhouse is not a health practitioner, the text is free from the traditional metaphors associated with professional literature. Instead it leads the reader on an exploration of Seedhouse’s interpretation of psychiatry and his potentially revolutionary health promotion tool – the rational field.

Despite the depth of the material and introduction of new ideas, this is an easy book to read. It is an absolute must for those seeking a clearer understanding of their role in mental health care – its teaching or research.

Martin Ward RMN, Dip Nurse, MPhil, Cert Ed, Nursing Standard