Embracing Salutogenesis in Public Health

The conventional approach to health has long been anchored in the reductionist biomedical model, which primarily focuses on diagnosing and treating diseases. The need for a paradigm change towards a holistic viewpoint that defines health as a dynamic condition of well-being is becoming increasingly apparent as the intricacies of human health continue to surface. This is where salutogenesis comes into play—a framework that shifts the focus from pathology to health promotion, from risk factors to health assets. Aaron Antonovsky introduced the idea of salutogenesis in the late 1970s. (1,2) Around the same time, the biopsychosocial model was first conceptualised by George Engel, suggesting that it is not simply the biological factors but also the psychosocial aspects that render a sense of wholeness to the medical understanding of health conditions.