Photo: Niina Saukko
In his doctoral dissertation, M.Sc. Vesa Saaristo explores how health promotion capacity building (HPCB) can be measured and developed in Finnish municipalities using a framework called "terveydenedistämisaktiivisuus (TEA)". The results show that municipal health promotion efforts can be assessed in a consistent and comparable way. Structural factors such as systematic monitoring and common practices were found to be linked to healthier environments and behaviours e. g. in school settings. The findings provide municipalities and policymakers with a practical, evidence‑informed tool for improving health and wellbeing through more systematic and comparable practices.
M. Sc. Vesa Saaristo’s doctoral dissertation titled Health Promotion Capacity Building and Its Application to Finnish Municipalities by Master of Science Vesa Saaristo will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, on Friday, 13 March 2026.
The Opponent will be Professor Emerita Päivi Rautava from the University of Turku. The Custos will be Professor Emerita Arja Rimpelä from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University.