Success factors of health promotion: Evaluation by DEMATEL and M-DEMATEL methods — A case study in a non-profit organization

Proper health knowledge and adequate motivation for health activities are key factors that influence an individual to adopt a healthy behavior. Health promotion positively influences progressive behaviors that seek to advance health potential, to continuously improve one’s lifestyle. There are many health promotion indications constantly encouraging people to eat healthier food. Based on the successful experience of a non-profit organization promoting a healthier vegetarian diet, this research identifies the operating factors that lead to the success of health promotion. The formulation and implementation of the health promotion strategy must be combined with the key success factors in order to accomplish the objectives. This study assessed seven factors, evaluated using the proposed method. The proposed Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method constructs the cause and effect model of health promotion, and places forward suggestions and strategies for improvement based on the evaluation of the results. This research compared the original DEMATEL with a Modified DEMATEL (M-DEMATEL) to identify the success factors of health promotion. According to the results of both methods, “leadership”, “communication channel” and “budget” are the most important and influential factors when promoting healthy diets. The results have shown the connection and the difference between the two methods. The main purpose of this research is not to determine which method is the best method, instead, to derive the combined effect of both methods.