Defining characteristics of community-based health promotion programs.

Community-based health promotion programs have flourished over the past twenty years. These programs have varied considerably in their goals and in their approaches to reaching these goals. While some flexibility is critical to program effectiveness, it is also important to determine a set of defining characteristics in order to distinguish community-based programs from other types of health promotion activities. In this article, we examine some of the defining characteristics of community-based health promotion programs, and the challenges faced by practitioners who with to engage in this type of work.