ABSTRACT
The roots of “health promotion” conceptually derive from the early 20th-century historical schism between clinical medicine and public health. As appreciation of the multifactorial causes of healthy and unhealthy behaviors grew, the terms “culture of health” and “well-being” emerged as better expressing the complexity, comprehensiveness and more person-centric vision of the goal of health promotion. Health promotion programs are increasingly being measured by a more comprehensive framework: the “value” of investment. As health-promotion and disease-prevention programs evolved, more emphasis was placed on understanding and aligning environment, culture, policy, programs and incentives to be more integrated and to emphasize comprehensive health, well-being, personal performance and productivity. New scientific and economic evidence is emerging and being applied to systems and technologies to initiate and sustain healthy behaviors for both individuals and populations. Behavioral economics and the thoughtful alignment and application of incentives has increasingly informed the design and deployment of comprehensive health-management programs.
