Critical Humanistic Health Promotion is defined as a perspective of health research and service that focuses on natural antecedents and consequences of socioeconomic disparities related to physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and existential quality of life and well-being. Historical and contemporary structures and constructions within societies present various opportunities and threats to uniformity and change for individuals and communities within those societies. Setting the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and communities within societal opportunities and threats develops an informative context that improves evaluations of human expression, repression, oppression, and suppression.
Accordingly, constructionism, critical theory, humanism, social justice, and critical structuralism inform the process of critical humanistic health promotion. Critical humanistic health promotion does not follow a traditional social or medical pathology model and, as a result, balances the weight given to medical concepts (e.g., pathogenic, morbidity, and mortality) and to well-being concepts (e.g., salutogenic and quality of life). In contrast to reductionism, critical humanistic health promotion perceives individuals holistically or systemically.