From public health research to health promotion policy: On the 10 major contradictions

Abstract

The rise of evidence-based medicine has given impetus to calls for more research evidence to be incorporated into health policy. The difficulty in effecting this research transfer has often been attributed to the different "worlds" of researchers and policy-makers. There are other contradictions, however, that must be addressed in attempting to bridge public health research and health promotion policy. These include such issues as: what forms of evidence are required, what types of research are usually funded, the limited scope and duration of health promotion programs, how health policies are formulated, contemporary public sector management reforms, and so on. These contradictions need to be recognized and managed if closer links are to be formed between public health research and health promotion policy. © Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, 2004.