Health promotion in primary care—does teamwork make a difference?

Abstract

In this paper the rhetoric and the reasons for collaboration and teamwork in health promotion in primary care are contrasted with the reality of fragmented community services, medical domination of the agenda and services provided in inverse proportion to need. An example is given from the author's own practice of the way that a team could begin to assess the needs of the practice population and set its own priorities.

Key Words:

• Health promotion
• needs assessment
• primary health care teams