Advancing a transdisciplinary representation of wellbeing for global health promotion

Based upon a foundation of knowledge established in the literature, the intent of this study was first, to substantiate distinct topics of consequence addressed in global health promotion; second, to gauge whether the respondent's perception of construct interrelationships supported the data revealed by the interdisciplinary literature review; and finally, to measure the acceptance of proposed delimiters for general topics addressed by global health promotion. The survey study queried a cohort of 422 international scholars and health professionals representing 87 individual nations. The population response to the first research question recognized six general topics as essential components of global health promotion. Over 90% shared a consensus of agreement with 5 of those components. The second research question measured the degree to which these essential components were perceived to be interrelated. Presented with component pairings, the data indicated the most compelling relationships exist between physical health and emotional health; as well as between community health and environmental health. The data for these construct pairings, as well as their reciprocal sets; indicated over 50% concurrence that a strong relationship is present between them. The substantiation indicated between components paired with spiritual health was the least robust with data primarily indicating the perceived existence of a weak or modest relationship. The summary data for this particular inquiry validated the supposition that all six constructs share some degree of relationship strength but this finding demands further investigation to determine how that relationship is defined. The third set of data revealed variant opinions regarding the interpretation and implementation of specific delimiters for the six proposed global health promotion components. The limited agreement regarding the valid characterization, universal applicability and domain acceptability of the constructs emphasizes that although health promotion research speaks to the necessity of a multi-disciplinary approach to theoretical development, the disparity of interpretation imposed upon commonly employed variables, remains. Having affirmed the acceptance of 6 essential components of global health promotion, as well as the tacit interrelationships perceived to exist among them; this study indicates further consensus regarding variable delimiters remains an indispensable factor to proposing a reliable interdisciplinary model for global health promotion.