A new section for Global Health Promotion journal: doing research in health promotion
Résumé
The question of the body of knowledge to use to base health promotion policies and practices has been raised from the outset. Over time and with the vast increase in the scientific knowledge base available, this question has taken a radically different turn. Indeed, while it has long been about relying on scarce and disparate research findings, it is no longer the case today. Long described as a multidisciplinary enterprise (1) and eclectic from methods’ point of view (2), health promotion research is gradually constituting itself as a distinct field, a space in which researchers share an identity, frameworks of thinking and of knowledge production, and an explicit ethical framework (3).
It is with the goal of formalizing the constitution of a distinct field for health promotion research and of mobilizing the researchers who participate in it that we have launched the publication project of a Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research (4). In order to concretely base our structuring of the field on the practices implemented in projects led by researchers who identify themselves in this field, we have widely circulated a call for contributions. This call was a success that greatly exceeded our expectations. Having received more than 80 chapters from all continents, we have opted to develop and publish a three-volume handbook.