Currently, the world faces a shift to an older population. For the first time in the history, now most people can expect to live into their 60s and beyond. Within this trend of people living longer, many grow very old; 80, 90 and 100 years. Today, 125 million people are 80 years or older; the proportion of ≥80 years increases the most. Age is not an illness, still most chronically ill are older people. Consequently, all countries in the world face major challenges to ensure that their health and social systems are ready to make the most of this demographic shift. Globally, finding new and effective ways to improve people's health is crucial. Thus, in the years to come, health promotive initiatives will become ever more important. Accordingly, learning how to reorient the health care sector in a health promotion direction is highly needed. The salutogenic approach seems useful for such a reorientation. Salutogenesis is a resource-oriented theoretical approach which focuses on the origin of health along with people's abilities and capacities for well-functioning and well-being. Salutogenesis is an area of knowledge and learning, a way of relating to others, and a way of working in a health-promoting manner. From the salutogenic point of view, health is a movement on a continuum between ease and dis-ease. In this approach, no one is categorized as healthy or diseased; we are all somewhere between the imaginary poles of total wellness and total illness. This chapter, as well as this book, comprehend the salutogenic health theory as a model of health and a life orientation, representing a vital theoretical basis for the health promotion field. Accordingly, this chapter presents some important points in the development of the health promotion field, followed by the core principles and strategies of health promotion and the promising potential of the salutogenic health theory.
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