Public Health Services- Present Organisation and Challenges for the Future

Abstract

In European society very important changes have occurred in recent decades. They brought different health problems. Different interventions were developed in order to preserve health in the society. Health promotion has proved to be one of the most important tools in this field. Implementation of health promotion is not possible without radical changes in approach to and method of work. As this is the case of intervention in several social subsystems, the project method is considered the most adequate tool for implementation of health promotion in organisations. Institutes of Public Health have, due to their role in the society of today, developed various kind of knowledge and skills to facilitate the implementation of project work. They are closely connected with several social subsystems so they stand a real chance of undertaking the role of project co-ordinators in health promotion. The benefits, gained by the institutes of public health through taking part in health promotion projects, will not only be those reflected in broader social community and other organisations. The new working methods will, above all, find their most rapid and positive expression in the very same institutes i.e. in the process of performing their regular professional tasks.