Celebrating 60 years of the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education

Abstract

The year 2022 is a momentous anniversary for the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education (IJHPE). It was sixty years ago that the management committee of the Institute of Health Education, the former name of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education (IHPE), agreed to fund an authoritative publication to publicise the theoretical and research basis of the new subject of Health Education. In 1960 only a few people working in healthcare believed that many of our common health issues were related to individual patterns of behaviour. Drug therapy was not the answer to maintaining health. Life-style was just as important. However, educating people about how to improve their health was not popular with either the political or medical establishments. It was often considered a waste of resources. For example, in the 1970s the British Medical Association still had ashtrays in the majority of their meeting rooms so members could smoke. Of course, this was no different from most organisations. Controlling smoking and alcohol consumption were definitely not welcomed by many commercial companies who could rely on political support from many politicians to dilute and discredit any health advice which might reduce profits. In addition, the science supporting the effectiveness of many health education initiatives was poorly developed. Indeed, the evaluation of health education was basic and grandiose claims for effectiveness were ill conceived and of little scientific merit. Nevertheless, as the 20 century moved on more evidence was published on the need for governments to develop and expand health promotion in order to deal with intractable health issues. The IJHPE was at the forefront of publishing scientific papers that supported the need for well-designed research. Academics highlighted the importance of targeted educational programmes to improve health and reduce the prevalence of high risk personal behaviours. Frank St D Rowntree the founding editor of the Journal and his main academic advisor Professor Leo Baric certainly focussed on delivering ground-breaking research papers from a wide range of disciplines which would improve the scientific rigour of the intervention planned by health education professionals. Any reader who had to deal with changing smoking behaviour in the 1970s and 80s would not have believed how attitudes to smoking in public places have changed. It was always a battle to try and make it simpler for people to quit smoking because of political pressure to protect the tobacco companies. When Dr David Player, the Director of the Scottish Health Education Group, funded a smoke-free room in a popular public house in the centre of Glasgow, he was roundly condemned by the local media for being a ‘Do Gooder’ and ruining the drinking experience of Glaswegian drinkers. It was so pleasing to see his vision finally become the norm. In 1994, the journal changed to an A4 format which was a popular size for publications in the 1990s. The Institute continued to support the Journal, but it was clear that in order to stay INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PROMOTION AND EDUCATION 2022, VOL. 60, NO. 6, 313–315 https://doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2022.2146865