Digital Environment and Social Media as Settings for Health Promotion

The digital world has reshaped the traditional definition of health-promoting settings, as increasingly online resources are offering opportunities, across the life span, for people to work, learn, play, establish relationships (“love”), and essentially live a great proportion of their lives. As in other settings, it is critical that the digital environment is viewed as a health-promoting setting. Digital health literacy is a key skill enabling individuals, families, communities, and societies to maximize the health-promoting benefits the digital world offers, while seeking to mitigate the potential physical, mental, and social risks. Use of the Internet, social media, and Avatars are the case examples described and analyzed for their potential health-promoting contribution, including cultural responsiveness. In addition, health-promoting media, whether online or offline, may easily be joined with another appropriate health-promoting setting, their enhancing a systems approach to healthy settings. Finally, future research on innovation and health-promoting settings is proposed.