Health and Health Promotion: an Approximation to Its Historical and Social Development

Abstract

The health-disease concept can be consideredfrom different theoretical perspectives. This paperpresents an overview of the principal focuses thathave been developed around it, with the intentionof identifying its scope. The objective is to clarifythe conceptual perspectives of both, health andhealth promotion, as historical facts, circumscribedand affected by a social reality, and therefore,builders of not only a knowledge but also of aninstitutional practice that determines the differentmovements from which the communities directthe understanding and management of their health.These statements do not imply that persons andcollectives, like historical and active beings, do notexercise in an autonomous way its own convictionsand decisions regarding their lives.

Keywords

• Health
• health promotio
• heatlth education