A Comparative Study on the European Pilot Hospitals in the Health Promoting Hospitals Project

Increasing numbers of chronic patients who need permanent support and staff members who are exposed to daily psychological stress highlight the need for hospitals which consider health promotion programs as a key service. Health Promotion Program was introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990 and has ever since been implemented by many countries throughout the world. This study aimed to compare health promotion programs in pilot hospital of the WHO. In this applied comparative study, data was collected through reviewing digital and printed publications as well as the reports provided by the WHO about the European pilot health promoting hospitals. The study sample included 20 European pilot hospitals in the WHO's Health Promoting Hospitals program between 1993-7. Finally, the collected data was tabulated, described, and compared. Health promotion programs have been implemented in 4 main categories of promotion among patients, staff members, hospital, and community. An overall number of 149 subprojects have also been identified. All studied hospitals were members of the Health Promoting Hospitals Network. Moreover, all hospitals except the one in Prague and took part in the pilot projects of the WHO. Moreover, 31% of the hospitals collaborated with other institutions. While 78% of the hospitals had more than 10 subprojects, patient health promotion subproject was the most common. All hospitals informed other centers about their plans. Indicators for health promotion programs assessment were considered in 75% of the studied hospitals. All hospitals had defined a project structure for implementation of health promotion programs. The WHO has defined a series of necessary measures, such as implementing health promotion programs, participating in the Health Promoting Hospitals Network, and establishing evaluation indices for health promotion programs, for the hospitals which would eventually lead to improvement of health among patients, staff, hospitals, and community.