International Health Promotion Activities
of the Consortium

Individual members of the Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research work with academics, organizations and agencies, and communities and governments in many ways. Countries that some of the Centres link to are as follows:

When the Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research engages in collaborative projects internationally, the preference is to work on shared problems through mutual problem-solving, consultation, and helping to bridge barriers between southern and northern research partners related to the following framework:

1. Dissemination We share our health promotion research, theory, methods or concepts with others, often at their request - for example through hosting and attending international conferences and symposia
2. Consultation We are approached by others for assistance in solving their health promotion research and education issues - for example the development of a PhD program for health promotion in West Africa or an exchange program with a school of nursing in Japan, or the evaluation of health promotion projects in Estonia
3. Mutual problem-solving We work with another country to solve a health promotion problem affecting both of us - for example joint research on smoking cessation between University of Waterloo, Stanford University and Australia; or training and curriculum development between Mozambique and University of Saskatchewan
4. Brokerage We act as referral agents and linkages between Canada and other countries - for example creating an annotated bibliography on health promotion for WHO or maintaining an international network of health promotion researchers

Through the Consortium, joint projects involving several members in international settings are developed based on the following principles:

1. Consistent with the definition of health promotion, the CCHPR acknowledges the strengths of its international partners and strives towards the greatest possible degree of mutuality and equality in its international relations and projects.
2. The Consortium engages in partnerships which provide opportunities for two-way mutual learning. Our international relationships respect and support the priorities of all partners.
3. Following the Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion (1986), the Consortium strives to conduct research and training activities internationally which build healthy public policy, create supportive environments, strengthen community action, develop personal skills, and reorient health services while respecting local values and conditions.
4. The CCHPR recognizes that health resides within a context of human and social development, which reflects wider social, political and economic influences. In this context, health promotion is approached in an integrated manner with attention to all the determinants of health.
5. Those who enjoy the advantages of health have a responsibility to recognize the inequities that underlie the unfavourable distribution of health. The CCHPR strives to recognize the interdependence of nations and the role Canada plays in creating these inequities. As an international partner, the CCHPR will do its part to raise awareness in Canada about what can be done to address these inequities in relation to its international projects.
6. In selecting its international projects, the CCHPR strives to work with organizations and governments that aim to improve the health of all of their citizens, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, gender or politics.
7. The CCHPR strives to ensure that its sources of funding support do not cause harm (e.g. tobacco companies, infant formula companies).
8. Members of the CCHPR work together in mutually supportive ways and share their learnings from international health training and research initiatives.

      

Last updated: December 4, 1999