Snehendu B. Kar

Empowerment of Women for Promoting Health and Quality of Life reviews the evolution of modern Public Health and Global Public Health and the role of women's empowerment for promoting global health. It critically reviews the evolution of global health since the 1990s when the UN initiated the Human Development Approach and adopted the millennial development goals through global consensuses. It analyses the paradigm shifts from disease-based prevention using the Public Health model to a new paradigm focusing on the root causes of health problems globally (e.g. inequalities, powerlessness). It reviews the philosophical, theoretical and empirical foundations of these paradigms. The second section presents our meta-analysis of 86 successful women's empowerment case-studies around the world that address threats to health and well-being of their families and communities. These movements represent four domains: human-rights, equal-rights, health, and income. Using an EMPOWER (acronym) framework designed for the meta-analysis, it answers six questions: can ordinary women organize empowerment movements that enhance the well-being of their families and communities; if so, what are their characteristics; what problems motivate them; which empowerment methods are used and do they vary by domains; who support and oppose them and how; and what are the social contexts that affect their movements. Success consists of: accomplishing the original goal/s, external recognition and/or replication by others, and subjective and objective empowerment outcomes. A summary of each case allows readers to learn directly from that movement. The final chapter critically reviews the key findings, issues and their implications for policy, actions, and research in human service professions.

This volume is based upon a review of available literature and intervention experiences selected from modern and traditional societies. It is augmented by the lessons learned through the editors' experience in teaching courses on health communication and foundation of health behavior in graduate public health programs at several leading universities in the United States and abroad over two decades. Examples and implications are also drawn from extensive involvement in diverse health and health communication projects, such as the on-going community-based public health project in South Central Los Angeles sponsored by UCLA and the Kellogg Foundation. This particular project is designed to develop health promotion communication interventions from a multicultural perspective and provides unmatched opportunities to focus on the dynamics of a multicultural community as they affect health communication interventions.