CHALLENGES IN PERSONAL AND PUBLIC-HEALTH PROMOTION - THE PRIMARY-CARE PHYSICIAN PERSPECTIVE

I develop an analytical framework for understanding the effectiveness of health promotion in primary care, applying the health belief and social learning models to health activities. Although the importance of prevention is widely recognized, strategies to implement preventive health care are not always obvious. I examine attitudes of both patients and physicians toward prevention activities, along with strategies for increasing health promotion. Physicians are often caught up in screening high-risk populations based on the health belief model, when they should instead focus on health prevention activities for the entire population. Primary care physicians should practice preventive medicine by providing recommendations for preventive measures to patients in the workplace, in schools, and in community centers and by making prevention a part of every patient visit.