ABSTRACT
Health promotion is a hybrid activity. The broad aims of health promotion are not easily distinguished from other health care goals. However, in the UK health promotion is identified in the main as a specialised form of provision oriented towards the primary and secondary prevention of specific conditions such as coronary heart disease and cancers. The recently published Government strategy for health promotion, The Health of the Nation (Department of Health, 1992a), has prioritised and legitimised this approach. These characteristics influence the organisational framework for the delivery of health promotion within the NHS. Whether this takes place in health promotion departments or within primary health care, Government targets are increasingly important.
