The family physician and health promotion: do-gooding or really doing well?

Conventional health promotion efforts, whether attempted by the individual physician or by community-wide health charities, suffer from a lack of creativity, timeliness, and an awareness of the principles of effective advertising. The difference between do-gooding and really doing well lies in carefully identifying the promoters of adverse health behavior (such as cigaret advertisers), studying their success, and-on an individual and community-wide basis-counteracting their influence by investing time and money in individualized, positive health strategies.