President of IUHPE
2000-2006
Professor Maurice Mittelmark

A changing of the guard at the IUHPE
A changing of the guard at the IUHPE
President of IUHPE 2007-2010
Doctor David McQueen
European Vice-President of IUHPE/EURO 2007–2010
Executive Director Mika Pyykkö
European Vice-President of IUHPE/EURO 2000-2006
Professor John Kenneth Davies

1. You were the President of IUHPE for six years. Did it change your opinions about health promotion and if so, how?


I became more aware of the diversity in the way health promotion is approached in various parts of the world, and especially of the split between American health promotion and 'Ottawa Charter' health promotion. In many parts of the developing world, the term health promotion really refers to the US model, in which health education is the main tool and change at the level of the individual is the main goal.

I have learned that it will take patience and time to move many countries to the Ottawa Charter model, because in many places, all things related to health are dominated by the medical establishment. The Ottawa model requires a balanced approach involving medical and socio-political elements.

2. How did IUHPE develop during your Presidency and what things became of great importance? Which things you tried to influence the most? Do you think you had the opportunity to influence the development enough?

I had enormous support from the Board of Trustees and the Paris staff during my six years as President, and most of the advances I had hoped to accomplish have become a reality. The highlights for me include the adoption of an equity membership fee scale, development of longer range thinking regarding conferences, via the establishment of a Vice Presidency for Conferences, and the develop of a professional development portfolio via a new Vice Presidency for capacity building.

I wished also for the IUHPE to begin charting health promotion's future a bit more independently of WHO (World Health Organization), and we are on the right path, with the launching this year of our project Shaping the Future of Health Promotion.

On the management side my first priority was to raise staff salaries to respectable levels, and generate a modest financial reserve, and we have come near to accomplishing that.

Regarding membership, I wished to capture more of the talent and energy of our members, and we have started to do that by the establishment of Working Groups on various subjects, including Joined up Settings for Health Promotion, Salutogenesis, and German and French language groups. On the publishing side, I wished to professionalise our production processes, and we have done that for the website and the journal P&E.

I was also able to establish the Health Promotion Journals Equity Project and forge relations with Health Promotion International and Health Education Research, leading to their becoming Official Research Journals of the IUHPE.

3. What do you think is your most important accomplishment in IUHPE?

That is for others to say, but my greatest satisfaction was the adoption of the equity membership fee scale.

4. What did the Presidency of IUHPE mean to you?

It was extraordinarily important for my own professional and emotional development. I took my duties quite seriously and each day provided learning experiences that make me a better professor. That is important because the greatest part of my identity is connected to my being a professor. I know that my efforts were appreciated, and I have learned that, at my age at least, there is no satisfaction like the satisfaction of having the approval of one's peers. It is immodest to say so, but my guess is that my peers think I was a good President.

5. What kind of advice would you like to give to your follower Dr David McQueen?

Absolutely none. He was part and parcel of the core team all during my Presidency, and there is nothing I could tell him that he does not already know. I am deeply grateful that we have a leader of his stature and capability; that bodes very well indeed, for our beloved Union!

6. How do you see the position and the possibilities of NGO's in health promotion? In which things would you recommend them to concentrate on in the future?

Let me stay focussed on the IUHPE.

We have a good, solid approach to health promotion, but we need to improve in at least these four areas: First, we need to become more accountable for the degree to which we accomplish our mission, which is to improve equity in health. That means we need to do effectiveness research on our own activities.

Second, we need to broaden our intellectual base, reaching out to community psychology, history, the arts, and other parts of academia, whose perspective and methods could help keep us vital.

Third, we need to link up with other parts of the sustainable human development community, such at the environmental movement, the women's and children's and workers' right movements, and with the peace and ecology movements. We have much to learn from them, and we possibly also have something to teach.

Fourth, we are FAR too few in number. The most frustrating fact we have to face is that our membership is small, numbering only several thousand, and there are too many parts of the world where one does not find the IUHPE at all. We have got to grow, and the trick is to do so while maintaining quality. In responding to an earlier question I said most of the advances I had hoped for had become a reality. My one crashing failure was to increase the size and scope of our membership and operations.

7. Now you are the global Vice President for Communications in IUHPE. How much do you think it is possible to promote people’s health by the means of communication?

There was a period when public health came to rely too much on communication and individuals' behaviour change, and the Ottawa model of health promotion was a positive response to that. I still think the best definition of health promotion is Keith Tones' formula 'health promotion = health education x healthy public policy', and communication is a vital tool which is needed for effectiveness in both arenas on the right side of the equation.

8. Could you please tell us, how do you promote your own health and of those near you?

In my own habits I try to follow the principle of the Golden Mean, and try not to become too obsessed, but just use good sense, most of the time, in my personal choices.

The most health promoting aspect of my life is the incredibly high level of autonomy I enjoy. As a professor of health promotion at a Norwegian university, I am exposed to the intellectual and emotional currents of health promotion and the contributing disciplines, and I have total freedom to choose how I move in the social and professional world I am part of. Mine is a life of high demand, high control, high reward and high gratification, so of course I am thriving!

When I think hard about the welfare of others, it is almost always my master's and doctoral students I am thinking of. As a graduate student, I had an academic advisor who always thought about himself first, second and third, and I have always been determined to reject his model. Helping my students, and my younger colleagues, to develop the highest possible level of critical autonomy is my greatest ambition.

I have learned that one intervention, above all, is vital – all my students and young colleagues have talent, and my task is to shine a light on that talent, so others see it, and so they see it themselves. They become the better for it, and their betterment gives meaning to my life. And, I must say I do appreciate the opportunity to respond to your questions, as they have made me pause and reflect in a way I seldom do.