IDM terminology

The alphabetical list that follows defines key terms as they are used in the IDM approach to best practices in health promotion.

action and evaluation plan

¨      details on how to achieve a set of specific objectives, including who does which activities/tasks/processes, when, and taking into account resources and challenges

analysis

¨      identification of the factors involved in a given issue, and their respective roles and relationships, with respect to the issue, for the purposes of clarification and understanding

best practices in health promotion

¨      “those sets of processes and activities that are consistent with health promotion values/goals/ethics, theories/beliefs, evidence, and understanding of the environment, and that are most likely to achieve health promotion goals in a given situation.” (Kahan and Goodstadt, 2001)

capacities

¨      the potential to acquire, develop and apply understanding and skills

challenges

¨      circumstances that have the potential to hinder the achievement of a specific objective; these can range from the tangible (e.g., inadequate funding, low quality equipment, inappropriate physical space) to the intangible (e.g., inadequate skills, inappropriate understanding, low commitment levels), and can exist at any level (e.g. organizational, regional, national, international)

current

¨      what is happening now

determinants of health

¨      “those factors which contribute to the health of populations or individuals in those populations” (Health Canada, 1997)

¨      the determinants of health work synergistically and operate on individual, community and societal levels; they include income (i.e. individual income and the degree of income equity in a society), status, education, power/control, social cohesion/support, nature of social, political and economic environments, and individual health-related behaviour and resilience

document

¨      make note or keep track of

domain

¨      a cluster of factors relating to underpinnings, understanding of the environment, or practice, each of which significantly affects best practices in health promotion (see also subdomain)

effectiveness

¨      the achievement of health promotion goals

¨      the pre-requisite for effectiveness is: practice that is consistent with health promotion values/goals, theories/beliefs, evidence, and understanding of the environment

environment

¨      the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround us, including: people; social, political, and economic systems and structures; psychological and physical conditions

¨      environments exist at a number of levels/layers, including, for example, our immediate work teams, our organizational context, and provincial, national, and international influences (see also health-related environment and organization/work-related environment)

ethical principles

¨      guidelines for appropriate values-based conduct

evaluation

¨      a set of research questions and methods geared to reviewing processes, activities and strategies for the purpose of improving them in order to achieve better results (see also research)

evidence

¨      information that is used in making decisions (from Butcher 1999)

goals

¨      what we strive to achieve; the concrete manifestation of values

health

¨      “the extent to which an individual or group is able, on the one hand, to realize aspirations and to satisfy needs and, on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment” (WHO European Region, 1984)

health environment

¨      the structures, systems and conditions at a number of levels (e.g., organizational, community, regional, national, and international) that affect our health directly or indirectly

health-related issues

¨      situations or conditions related to health which require action; factors which contribute to or detract from health, requiring either maintenance/enhancement or reduction/prevention

health promotion

¨      “the process of enabling people and communities to increase control over factors that influence their health, and thereby to improve their health” (adapted from Ottawa Charter Of Health Promotion, 1986)

health promotion criteria and guiding principles

¨      standards or recommended ways for taking action from a health promotion perspective; can be used to assess or guide action

healthy public policy

¨      “Healthy public policy is characterized by an explicit concern for health and equity in all areas of policy and by an accountability for health impact” (WHO, Adelaide Conference on Healthy Public Policy, 1988)

ideal

¨      standard of excellence; the ultimate aim or object for which we are striving

implementation

¨      carrying out identified actions/tasks/processes

indicator

¨      something that tells us (that is, indicates) whether we have achieved an objective or answered a question

objectives

¨      what we need to accomplish in order to achieve a more general goal; objectives are generally designed to be observable or measurable

organization/work environment

¨      the structures, systems and conditions at all levels (e.g., group/organizational, community, regional, national, and international) that directly or indirectly affect our work and/or our work-related group or organization

organization/work-related issues

¨      situations or conditions related to the organization and/or work which require action; factors that facilitate or interfere with the effectiveness of practice, requiring either maintenance/enhancement or reduction/prevention

outcomes

¨      intended or unintended results (short- or long-term) of activities/strategies/processes

picture of ideal situation

¨      concrete details of what our situation would look like if it were consistent with our health promotion criteria and guiding principles

practice

¨      one of the domains of the Interactive Domain Model; its subdomains include our response to health-related issues, organization/work-related issues, and research/evaluation

¨      includes both activities and processes involved in conducting our work; sets of practice activities/processes make up “strategies”

research

¨      sets of activities designed to answer selected questions (see also evaluation)

resources

¨      include tangibles such as funding, equipment, and physical space, and people, and intangibles such as time, skills, understanding, and attitudes

response

¨      activities, strategies, and related processes used in practice to address an issue

revise

¨      make changes

subdomain

¨      one of several factors clustering together with other factors to form a domain

¨      subdomains included in the domain of underpinnings: values/goals/ethics, theories/concepts/beliefs, evidence

¨      subdomains included in the domain of understanding of the environment: vision, and analysis, of (a) health-related issues, and (b) organization/work-related issues

¨      subdomains included in the domain of practice: responses to (a) health-related issues, and (b) organization/work related issues, and research and evaluation

theories/concepts

¨      theories/concepts explain how and why things happen, and predict how things might happen (these can be simple or complex, formal or informal)

underlying beliefs and assumptions

¨      determine our approach to life and guide us in our decision choices; they do not necessarily refer to external/objective evidence

underpinnings

¨      one of the domains of the Interactive Domain Model; its subdomains include values/goals/ethics, theories/concepts/underlying beliefs, and evidence

understanding of the environment

¨      one of the domains of the Interactive Domain Model; its subdomains include vision, and analysis, of health-related issues, and of organization/work-related issues

values

¨      what is most important to us

vision

¨      a picture or image of how we would like things to be