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1、Chapter7PositivePsychologyandPublicHealthDoraGuðrúnGuðmundsdóttirPublichealthhasbeendefinedas“Thescienceandartofpreventingdisease,prolonginglifeandpromotinghealththroughtheorganisedeffortsofsociety.”(Acheson,1988).Withinthefieldofpublichealth,healthpromotionisanareawhichfocusesmoreonhealththandi
2、seases.Theideologyofmentalhealthpro-motionisinmanywayscomparabletotheoneofpositivepsychology.Furthermorethedevelopmentofhealthpromotion,particularlymentalhealthpromotionwithinthefieldofpublichealth,hasalotincommonwiththedevelopmentofpositivepsychology.Theaimofthischapteristohighlightthesimilari
3、tiesbetweentheide-ologyofmentalhealthpromotionandpositivepsychology,whichbothemphasizethepositiveaspectsofhealthandhumanbeings.Aspecialfocuswillbeonpositivementalhealthandhowitcanbemeasured.Attheendofthechapterareflectionwillbemadeonhowthefieldofmentalhealthpromotionandpositivepsychologycansuppo
4、rteachotherandleadtosocialchange.Inretrospect,onecansaythattheconsequencesofWorldWarIIplayanimpor-tant,althoughdifferent,roleforbothpublichealthandpositivepsychology.Afterthewar,theneedforaglobalcommunityhighlightinghumanrightswasstrongandintheareaofpublichealth,theWorldHealthOrganisation(WHO)
5、wasfoundedtomeetthatneedin1948.TheconstitutionofWHOcontainedanewdefinitionofhealth,withastrongemphasisonpositivehealth:Healthisastateofcompletephysical,mentalandsocialwell-beingandnotmerelytheabsenceofdiseaseorinfirmity(WHO,1948).Itisinterestingtoconsiderthefactthatmorethanahalfcenturyagohealthw
6、asdefinedinthisway.Itisnoteworthythatthisdefinitionincludestheclearstatementthathealthisnotmerelytheabsenceofdisease.Thisdeclarationbroadenedthedefinitionofhealthfromstrictlyamedicalconcepttowardsthesubjectivewell-beingofthepopulation.Despitethisemphasisonpositivewell-being,healthisstillseenasadi
7、chotomybetweenhealthanddiseaseandhealthcaresystemsaroundtheworldseemtohavehadtheirmainfocusondiseasesfordecades.D.G.Guðmundsdóttir(B)PublicHealthInstituteofIceland,Reykjavík,Icelande-mail:dora@publichealth.isR.Biswas-Diener(ed.),Positiv
