Health Promotion Glossary of Terms 2021

This glossary was published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021. The initial edition of the glossary was published in 1986 and aimed to “help clarify the meaning and relationship between many [health-related] terms that were not commonly used.” It also formed a part of the groundwork for the first WHO International Conference on Health Promotion which was conducted in Ottawa, Canada, in 1986. The 2021 edition of the glossary differs from the earlier versions through omission of certain terms as well as modification and addition of terms to accommodate evolving concepts and changing experiences. The document supplements concise definitions of the terms with short explanatory notes. In most cases, they are sourced from freely accessible WHO documents. The glossary is divided into two sections. The first section comprises of 12 ‘core terms’ that are especially crucial in discussions of health promotion. The next section titled ‘health promotion glossary’ contains an extended list of 47 terms which are widely used in relation to health promotion...