Assessing and strengthening health promotion in local governments: Development and structure of the PROMOACTIVA-GL tool.

BACKGROUND

Governments play a crucial role in addressing health inequities and the social determinants of health. Local governments are uniquely positioned to influence health outcomes at the community level. Because multiple sectors contribute to local health promotion, and it is essential to have tools that provide information on their practices.

OBJECTIVE

To develop and conduct a preliminary validation of a tool designed to comprehensively assess health promotion (HP) practices within local governments.

METHODS

A four-phase process including: (1) conceptualization and item generation; (2) structure and format development; (3) content validation; and (4) comprehensibility and semantic fit testing.

RESULTS

The PromoACTIVA-GL tool comprises 28 activities grouped into seven categories that reflect the health promotion process stages: planning, situational analysis, capacity building, development of awareness/public opinion, advocacy, development of partnerships, and intervention strategies.

CONCLUSION

PromoACTIVA-GL can be used to map local governments health promotion practices and identify opportunities for improvement through a process-oriented approach. The tool facilitates the identification of strengths and areas for improvement in local government health promotion efforts.