The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes, beliefs, and values related to the ecological approach among health education and health promotion workers. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The sam ple consisted of 157 health education/promotion workers involved in Canadian regional public health organisations. The response rate was 79 per cent. Respondents tended to know the ecological approach, perceived it as effective, and acknowledged a need for interventions aimed at modifying people's environment. However, many respondents perceived that they had insufficient competencies to operationalise the ecological approach. A sizeable proportion of respondents seemed to hold values inconsistent with the ecological approach. Compared to doctors/dentists, nurses expressed a higher satisfaction with interventions targeting individuals. In general, respondents' cognitive profile was favourable to the ecological approach. It is hypothesised that the particular patterns of response obtained for some scales might be related to the respondents' previous training.
WHO Europe.Health Promotion. A discussion Document on the Concepts and Principles. Copenhagen: WHO, 1984.
2.
Who, Health and Welfare Canada, Canadian Public Health Association. Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Copenhagen: WHO1986.
3.
MacDonald G.Bunton R.Health promotion: discipline or disciplines? In: Bunton R, MacDonald G (eds), Health Promotion: Disciplines and Diversity. London: Routledge, 1992, 6-19.
4.
Draper P.A public health approach. In: Draper P (Ed). Health through Public Policy: the Greening of Public Health. London: Green Print, 1991, 7-25.
5.
Evans RGIntroduction. In: Evans RG.Barer ML, Marmor TR (Eds), Why are Some People Healthy and Others Not?. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994 , 3 26.
6.
Kickbush I.Health promotion: a global perspective. Canadian Journal of Public Health1986: 77: 321-6.
7.
Ashton J.Seymour H.The New Public Health. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1988.
8.
Green LWRichard L.Potvin L.Ecological foundations of health promotion. American Journal of Health Promotion1996: 10: 27081.
9.
Stokols D.Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: toward a social ecology of health promotion. American Psychologist1992: 47: 6-22.
10.
McLeroy KR, Bibeau D., Steckler A.Glanz K.An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly1988: 15: 351-77.
11.
Bronfenbrenner U.The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press, 1979.
12.
Seidman E.Back to the future, community psychology: unfolding a theory of social intervention . American Journal of Community Psychology1988: 16: 3-24.
13.
Simons-Morton DG, Simons-Morton BG, Parcel GSBunker JFInfluencing personal and environmental conditions for community health: a multilevel intervention model. Family and Community Health1988: 11: 25-35.
14.
Richard L., Potvin L.Kishchuk N., Prlic H., Green LWAssessment of the integration of the ecological approach in health promotion programs. American Journal of Health Promotion1996: 10: 318-28.
15.
Stokols D.Translating social ecological theory into guidelines for community health promotion. American Journal of Health Promotion1996: 10: 282-98.
16.
McLeroy KR, Steckler AB, Simons-Morton B.Goodman RB, Gottlieb N., Burdine JMSocial science theory in health education: time for a new model? Health Education Research: Theory and Practice1993: 8: 305-12.
17.
Minkler M.Challenges for health promotion in the 1990s: social inequities, empowerment. negative consequences, and the common good. American Journal of Health Promotion1994: 8: 404-13.
18.
Stokols D., Pelletier KRFielding JEThe ecology of work and health: research and policy directions for the promotion of employee health. Health Education Quarterly1996: 23: 137-58.
19.
freudenberg N.Eng E., Flay B.Parcel G.Rogers T.Wallerstein N.Strengthening individual and community capacity to prevent disease and promote health: in search of relevant theories and principles. Health Education Quarterly1995 : 22: 290-306.
20.
Rogers EMDiffusions of Innovations. New York: The Free Press, 1983.
21.
Davis HR, Salasin SEThe utilization of evaluation. In: Struening E, Guttentag M (Eds), Handbook of Evaluation Research (vol. 1). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1975.
22.
Johnson KWKnowledge utilization and planned change: an empirical assessment of the A VICTORY model. Knowledge in Society: the International Journal of Knowledge Transfer1989: 2: 57-79.
23.
Gingiss PL, Gottlieb NHBrink SGMeasuring cognitive characteristics associated with adoption and implementation of health innovations in schools. American Journal of Health Promotion1994: 8: 294-301.
24.
Green LWWho will qualify to fill positions in health promotion? Canadian Journal of Public Health1995: 86: 7.
25.
Nunnally JCPsychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
26.
Stewart MJNurses' preparedness for health promotion through linkage with mutual-aid self-help groups. Canadian Journal of Public Health1989: 80: 100-114.
27.
Green LWKreuter MWHealth Promotion Planning an Educational and Environmental Approach. Mountain View. CA: Mayfield Publishing, 1991.
28.
Green LWRaeburn JMHealth promotion: What is it? What will it become? Health Promotion1988: 3: 151-9.
29.
Delaney FGNursing and health promotion, conceptual concerns. Journal of Advanced Nursing1994: 20: 828-35.
30.
Steckler A. , Allegrante JP, Altman DA et al. Health education intervention strategies: recommendations for future research. Health Education Quarterly1995: 22: 307-28.
31.
MacKinlay JBThe promotion of health through planned sociopolitical change: challenges for research and policy. Social Science and Medicine1993: 36: 10917.
32.
Jeffery RWRisk behaviors and health: contrasting individual and population perspectives . American Psychologist1989: 44: 1194-1202.
33.
Williams CAPopulation-focused practice: the basis of specialization in public health nursing. In: Stanhope M, Lancaster J (Eds), Community Health Nursing. Process and Practice for Promoting Helath. St-Louis: Mosby, 1988, 292-303.
34.
Gott M.O'Brien M.Attitudes and beliefs in health promotion. Nursing Standard1990: 5: 3032.
35.
Halbert TLUnderwood JEChambers LWPloeg J.Johnson NA, Isaacs SMPoputation-based health promotion: a new agenda for public health nurses. Canadian Journal of Public Health1993: 84: 2435.
36.
Raphael D.Steinmet/ B.Assessing the knowledge and skill needs of community-based health promoters . Health Promotion International1995: 10: 305-15.
37.
Clark NMMcLeroy KRCreating capacity: establishing a health education research agenda. Health Education Quarterly1995: 22: 21072.
38.
Spjotvoll E.Stoline MRAn extension of the T-method of multiple comparison to include the cases with unequal sample sizes. Journal of the American Statistical Association1973: 68: 975-8.
