ABSTRACT
We are witnessing a number of significant political, economic and social transformations that are bringing about important changes in the conception and organisation of health and social care. The World Health Organization has for some years seen itself as addressing the ‘new social, political, economic and environmental challenges’ of the close of the century (WHO 1991). One consequence of these transformations has been the privileging of public health and the improvement or promotion of health. However, in this chapter, we argue that there has been little coherent attempt to align theoretical developments in health promotion research to shifting policy agendas.
