ABSTRACT
In the early 1970s, public health units were introduced to 32 Quebec hospitals. One of the reasons for introducing public health to hospitals was the beneficial influence this new structure, called "Département de santé communautaire" (DSC), was expected to have on the development of health promotion and prevention activities in the hospital. This study compared 19 DSC hospitals with 19 non-DSC hospitals that were matched for mission, size and location. The data came from a larger survey which had been conducted by the Canadian Hospital Association in Canadian hospitals in 1985. According to our results, DSC hospitals differed from their non-DSC counterparts mainly on dimensions related to their public health mandate (e.g. community programs, advocacy). They did not differ greatly on dimensions related to other health promotion and prevention activities within the hospital (e.g. inpatient and outpatient care, employees). These results suggest that while hospitals have not created organizational obstacles to the achievement of public health activities by DSCs, DSCs did not have the expected impact on hospitals.
Subject(s)
Community Health Services/standards , Health Promotion/organization & administration , Hospitals, Public , Canada , Community Health Services/organization & administration , Humans , Organizational Culture , Organizational Objectives , Program Evaluation , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Following a brief background of Canadian health promotion policy efforts, the Canadian health care system, and a discussion of the reasons for increased interest in the area, two health promotion and health care facility initiatives undertaken by the Canadian Hospital Association are presented. The first describes the findings of a 1986 survey of Canadian hospitals (n = 732) in terms of the level of commitment to health promotion, the future priority of health promotion for four target groups, the types of programs and activities, and the perceived obstacles to implementing health promotion. The results suggest that although health promotion is considered an important role for hospitals, most health promotion activities in Canadian hospitals can be classified as ad hoc. The second initiative presents the summary of a focus group meeting which was established to further the organized involvement of health care facilities in health promotion. Findings are described as follows: a shared vision of health and health promotion; the role of health care facilities in health promotion; and the implementation of health promotion in health institutions. These efforts culminated in the striking of a national working group by Health and Welfare Canada to develop a document which will serve as a framework for health promotion in health care facilities.
