ABSTRACT
Health goals focus on the promotion of health and the prevention of illness. Accordingly, they specify desired health outcomes, such as a healthy blood pressure and weight, and are concerned with the respective health enhancing and disease preventing behaviours. The most prominent health-enhancing and disease preventing behaviours (see Taylor, 1991) are exercising, dieting, accident prevention as well as preventive self-examination (e.g., of breasts or testicals). Health goals may not only specify health enhancing and disease preventing behaviours, they may also be targeted at discouraging health compromising behaviours, such as alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, Type A’ behaviour, risky diets as well as dangerous sports. For people who suffer from an acute or chronic illness or are plagued by a disability (Johnston, 1996), health goals may also focus on the management of these hardships. These behaviours may range from the efficient use of health services, improving patient-practitioner interactions, coping with pain, complying with medical regimens, effective rehabilitation exercises, and specific management of disabilities.
