Table 1 The seven steps of the HPL’s operational approach and examples of activities

1) Identify a targeted issue and a team

PHDM promoters introduce the HPL to the management and participants at a CSSS site. Management, having agreed to participate, has chosen a team interested in the HPL and selected a theme or targeted issue to work on.

2) Specify the operational approach

PHDM promoters and facilitators introduce participants to each step of the operational approach. Participants learn how the HPL came about and are informed of the issue they will work on, and of the CSSS and PHDM support available to implement the HPL. Each team fine-tunes the operational approach according to its needs. Teams usually strike a committee to plan and facilitate HPL meetings.

3a) ^a Acquire basic concepts of public health and provide opportunities for reflection

Participants acquire key concepts of public health and reflect on how these apply to their practice. Core training mechanisms include collective reading, reflection, and discussion of materials selected by PHDM promoters or participants.

3b) ^a Transfer new knowledge and ensure sustainability of the program

Team members discuss the professional development program and transfer the knowledge they have gained to other publics. Another objective in this step is to obtain buy-in and support for adoption and replication of the model from other staff in their division and upper levels of decision-making at the CSSS. To pursue these objectives, participants might learn how to write articles and make public presentations about their work on the HPL.

4) Study the problem (theme or targeted issue)

The team gains in-depth knowledge on the targeted issue assigned to them. Participants collect, analyze, and interpret data to develop a clearer picture of the issue. Activities include theoretical discussions about key concepts related to the issue, presentations by experts in the subject area, and practical exposure to clients’ needs through field visits in their territories.

5) Identify options for action

Participants discuss potential health promotion interventions to target the issue and decide collectively what strategies and actions to develop. Consulting the available literature and experts in the field are examples of activities for this step.

6) Develop partnerships

The team sets up a partnership with community stakeholders to be involved in the health promotion intervention. Activities may include weighing the advantages of collaborative action versus sectorialized action, identifying existing partners working in the territory, and creating new networks.

7) Implement a new health promotion action or improve a current intervention

Participants collectively plan the implementation of the intervention (or the improvement of a current intervention) to address the targeted issue. To do so, they may develop a logic model for the new intervention, develop intervention instruments, outline the material and human resources needed, set up an intersectoral coordination committee with partners, etc.