Prevention and health policy: a view from the social sciences.

A theoretical framework is outlined which identifies four major problem areas which must be dealt with in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of social policy. Certain issues relevant to policy concerning health promotion and disease prevention are discussed within this framework. The first problem area, adaptation, is concerned primarily with resources; the second area, goal attainment, deals with organizational issues; the third, integration, is concerned with motivations; the fourth, pattern maintenance, concentrates on questions of values. Policymaking is seen as an attempt by governing bodies to resolve problems in all these areas, and the success of any policy may be judged by the extent to which major issues in each area are dealt with equitably and reasonably.