Guidelines - Guide to Document Health Promotion Initiatives (2008)

The Documentation Guide’s primary purpose is to create a simple, standard format to help support documentation of health promotion initiatives. Use of the Guide will expand available indications about whether and how efforts are working to create conditions that promote health and health equity. The Guide is in the form of a seven -part questionnaire, that asks for information about the health promotion effort. 

Much promising health promotion work in the Americas in not documented and the effects of such efforts are not analyzed. The aim of the Guide is to expand available information on how they are working, including efforts in parts of the world with limited resources for research. 

In addition, systematic reflection on practice can lead to the refinement of methods and new ideas for improving the initiative. Engaging community partners as participants in the documentation can contribute to better understanding of what happened, as well as enhanced efficacy or influence among those giving meaning to the effort. Establishing a clear record of what happened, and with what results, can make it more likely that others will help sustain valuable efforts. 

Answering the questions posed in the Guide might take some time and thought, but it should be time and thought well spent. Ultimately, the widespread documentation should contribute to an understanding of health promotion initiatives among funders and policy makers. Using the Guide should help organizations improve their efforts as well as gain recognition and funding. Documented examples will also serve as practical examples which can inform similar national or international initiatives.