Principled promotion of health: Implementing five guiding health promotion principles for research-based prevention and management of diabetes

Background: Based on widespread critique of the moralizing paradigm that has long characterized much of the work conducted within the field of health promotion, Steno Health Promotion Research has developed a comprehensive health promotion approach consisting of five principles that constitute the framework for a new intervention paradigm. The five principles are: (1) A broad and positive health concept; (2) Participation and involvement; (3) Action and action competence; (4) A settings perspective and (5) Equity in health. Objectives: To describe a comprehensive health promotion approach consisting of five principles; to present research and development projects based on this set of principles; and to discuss experiences and results from implementing the health promotion principles in healthcare practices. Results and conclusion: The principle approach enables consolidation of hitherto disparate approaches into a single comprehensive approach. The principles have turned out to be productive and effective “management tools” that have led to new discoveries, but also helped to identify limitations.