Abstract
A telephone survey of randomly-sampled churches, labor unions, supermarkets and restaurants was conducted in San Diego, California to determine the level of health promotion activities offered for members and customers. Nearly two-thirds of the churches offered health promotion programs, the bulk of which were single educational sessions. A similar proportion of labor unions reported programs, and most of them consisted of the distribution of materials and single-session group meetings. About one-third of the supermarkets reported activities, with most of these being the distribution of brochures. Similarly, about one-third of restaurants reported programs, which primarily consisted of the enforcement of nosmoking regulations. Very few organizations evaluated programs or desired assistance from health professionals. It was concluded that while secular health promotion programs are common and are available to many people, their quality and effectiveness are unknown. These findings present a challenge for public health professionals and agencies.
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A previous version of this paper was presented at the California Consensus Conference on Health Promotion in Santa Monica, May, 1987. John Elder is Associate Professor of Public Health at San Diego State University. James Sallis is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. Nadia Hammond is Project Director for, and Susan Peplinski is a nutritionist with Project Salsa at San Diego State University. Joni Mayer is Assistant Professor of Public Health at San Diego State University.
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Elder, J.P., Sallis, J.F., Mayer, J.A. et al. Community-based health promotion: A survey of churches, labor unions, supermarkets, and restaurants. J Community Health 14, 159–168 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324365
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324365