Building Better Health:

A Handbook of Behavioral Change


By: C. David Jenkins

( Book Review )


Already, noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of disability and premature mortality in the vast majority of countries of the Americas. If projections hold, chronic degenerative diseases, lifestyle-related diseases, and violence will continue to take up an increasingly greater share of death and suffering, impairing the quality of life among the peoples of the Americas.


They will also overtax health services and drive up health care costs. The good news is that many of these diseases and conditions can be prevented. At the very least, their development can be delayed or slowed, their severity mitigated. Because many of their determinants and risk factors respond to behavior change, health promotion holds the key in this battle. Throughout its 100 years of work in and for health with the countries of the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has championed the prevention of disease and the enhancement of health.


Following the “Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion” issued by the First International Conference on Health Promotion in 1986, PAHO’s health promotion efforts focused and gathered momentum. Since then, the Organization has worked with its Member States to fulfill the Charter’s health promotion tenets, pursuing efforts that have included the fostering of healthy public policies, creation of supportive environments, strengthening of community actions, and development of personal skills.


The Handbook blends proven disease prevention practices and behavioral science principles into a one-of-a-kind, hands-on manual. Its pages spell out how to think about developing effective health promotion/disease prevention programs and how to carry them out so that they yield the best possible results.


The book explores the causes of morbidity, disability, and premature mortality for each stage in the life cycle—from infancy to the elder years. The Handbook also looks at the protective and risk factors for each of the leading forms of death and disability, and recommends easily implemented, practical preventive interventions.

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