Wien Med Wochenschr. 2002 ; 152(19-20): 540-2.

[Prevention and health promotion]

Sonneck G.

Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Universität Wien. gernot.sonneck@univie.ac.at

Health as well as illness is not a state but a dynamic process. It depends among others on internal and external resources and possibilities which are given or not. Health behavior means the contribution of the individual to foster and develop their health. This includes all measures and behavior which contribute to early prevention or detection of illness. Traditional medicine engages in the investigation of causes and processes of disease and has not yet investigated prevention or health promoting behavior in the same way. This can also be seen in the concept of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, which is disease oriented. Health promotion however--as stated in the Ottawa Charta in 1986 is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health.