Healthy Lifestyle: Strengthening the Effectiveness of Lifestyle Approaches to Improve Health

prepared by Renee Lyons, Ph.D.and Lynn Langille, M.A. for Public Health Agency of Canada On Behalf of The Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre Dalhousie University and The Canadian Consortium of Health Promotion Research Centres April, 2000

Table of Contents

PDF version (119 kb)

• Acknowledgments 
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Is "Healthy Lifestyle" a Useful Concept?
  • What Constitutes a Healthy Lifestyle? 
  • Reconstructing "Healthy Lifestyle": Individuals in Relation to Their Communities 
  • "Healthy Lifestyle" Reconstructed 
  • Key Points: Components of a Healthy Lifestyle 
• What are the Determinants of Lifestyle Choice?
  • Perspectives on Lifestyle Choice 
  • Determinants of Lifestyle Choice 
  • Key Points: Lifestyle Choice 
• What Approaches Have Been Used to Foster Healthy Lifestyles And Are They Effective?
  • What Strategies are Effective in Fostering Healthy Lifestyles? 
  • A Note on Social Marketing 
  • A Note on Behavior Change Models 
  • Approaches Used to Change the Environment 
  • A Note on Exacerbating the Social Gradient 
  • Key Points: Fostering Healthy Lifestyles 
• How Can Social and Community Processes Foster Healthy Lifestyles?
  • Community Level Interventions 
  • Key Points: Social and Community Processes to Foster Healthy Lifestyles 
• Summary and Conclusions
  • A Determinants Approach to "Health Lifestyle" 
  • What Needs to Be Done? 
  • The Last Word 
• References

Disclaimer: The analysis and conclusions in this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors, and do not represent the views of Health Canada.