Prevention and promotion of health in the community

The research and training activities of the teaching and research laboratory for community health prevention and promotion (LER PPSC) are based on an approach that considers the interactions between individual, social, environmental and organisational factors that influence the health and well-being of populations.

The laboratory’s research draws in particular on health promotion approaches. These aim to understand and strengthen the resources that enable individuals and communities to maintain or improve their health.

At the same time, particular attention is paid to identifying all the determinants of health and to developing interventions tailored to healthcare contexts, social realities and health challenges. To this end, the LER draws, amongst other things, on the model developed by Bauer et al. (see diagram below), which integrates salutogenesis and pathogenesis to explore the development and maintenance of health.

Our research generates knowledge that is useful to communities in the broadest sense: individuals, patients, young people, families, carers, healthcare professionals, institutions, schools, community organisations, strategic health bodies, etc.

What we do:

• Identify emerging issues (young people’s mental health, caregiver burnout, staff shortages, misinformation and challenges related to AI, climate and health)

• Explore the realities and lived experiences of specific groups (healthcare professionals, students, carers and vulnerable people)

• Highlight health inequalities (access to healthcare, availability of information, working conditions, adverse environments and limited resources)

• Produce new population-level data (e.g. SCOHPICA and ValPSY, EnvironMental)

• Developing solutions based on real needs (digital tools, educational interventions, prevention programmes and policy recommendations)