Twelfth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Health promotion relates to three principles: health policy, disease prevention, and health education. The definition of the health system indicates that it is not only medical care, but also disease prevention and health promotion with cross-sectoral cooperation for public health. The public health system is facing problems and challenges such as: demographic changes in the population, inappropriate lifestyles of citizens and increasing inequalities in health. Health policy programs are one of the most important instruments of supporting the local community by local government units. Development, implementation, and evaluation of the effects of health policy programs is the own task of local government units, which guarantees equal access to health care services for all citizens. The aim of the study is to evaluate the implementation of health programs by Polish local governments and to identify difficulties in their implementation. The research was conducted on a sample of 405 Local Government Units. The survey questionnaire was conducted throughout the country. According to own research, only less than 27.5% of offices currently implement any health policy program. On the other hand, problems with the implementation of programs are related primarily to the lack of funds in the budget (78.6%), shortages of qualified staff (49.3%) and difficulties in finding an external contractor (33.2%). The key conclusion is that the practical implementation of health promotion services in Poland has difficulties resulting from the unsatisfactory organization and coordination of these activities.

Presenters

Joanna Woźniak Holecka
Associate Professor, Department of Health Promotion School of Health Sciences in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland