The Connection between Health Promotion, Prevention, and Psychosocial Health: An Innovative Action Model

The promotion of psychosocial health among individuals, groups, and society is becoming an increasingly important task and research topic in the field of public health. Psychosocial health is a complex interaction between the psyche of an individual and the social environment in which that individual lives. Promoting psychosocial health is often challenging and complex for health care professionals. Therefore, an important question of public health significance is: how can we address and improve the psychosocial health of individuals, groups, as well as society in general?

An interdisciplinary team of specialists at the Department of Health Professions at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland, focused on the connection between health promotion, prevention, and psychosocial health. This team newly defined these topics in relation to how they could be synergistically combined to promote psychosocial health. Additionally, they presented an action model to graphically depict their connection.

The proposed action model is based upon already well-established concepts, models, frameworks in health promotion, and prevention practice. In a further step, they have depicted them in a way that clearly integrates and combines their core concepts for their practical application in promoting psychosocial health. As these topics are overlapping, their clear illustration is important in promoting their systematic and planned usage.

This new and innovative approach encourages the systematic usage of health promotion and prevention for the promotion of psychosocial health. The next step would be the implementation and evaluation of this action model, especially the measurement of the outcome (psychosocial health). The integrative and intentional use of health promotion and prevention is an innovative approach for the promotion of psychosocial health in public health practice.