Futures studies of health promotion governance in Iranian health system: A protocol for a multi-phasic study

Background: After more than three decades of releasing the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the Health promotion paradigm (HPP) has not yet been properly interpreted and applied in many developing countries. This issue may be due to several reasons like superficial understanding of the health promotion concepts, dominance of biomedical paradigm in the health systems, lack of evidence- based measures, inadequate infrastructures, and limited capacity in health promotion. In this regard, Iranian health system also faces whit several challenges. We aim to perform a futures study on health promotion governance in the Iranian health system with the hope to depict believable futures in the system and the probability of their realization, and to design a desirable future based on the current trends in the health promotion indices in the country. Methods:This study will be conducted in three phases: (۱) applying a literature review and descriptive analysis, the core indices/indicators that best describe the governance of health promotion paradigm in the health system will be selected. (۲) (A) extrapolation of the core indices/indicators identified in the previous phase, and (B) a community survey to both investigate the status of those core indices/indicators that were identified with no available data in the first step, and assess the future of these indices/indicators and their drivers from the perspective of key informants. (۳) The effective drivers of the core indices/indicators will be ranked based on their importance and uncertainty. The initial experts will be asked to provide the scenario frameworks for the drivers aiming to obtain a range of different situations for the future of health promotion indices/indicators.Discussion: This protocol may be potentially informative for researchers who are interested in designing and/or conducting futures studies in the field of health promotion. Moreover, it could bring about a golden opportunity for health professionals to comprehend how health promotion paradigm can be the dominant approach in health systems.

Keywords:

Health Promotion , Futures Studies , Foresighting , Health System , Ottawa Charter , Paradigm , Governance , Empowerment , Health Public Policy , Supportive Environments