THE SCOTTISH GREEN PAPER - BEYOND A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY

The Green Paper Working together for a healthier Scotland is a landmar k in the drive to improve health, with a vital emphasis on reducing in equalities. It paves the way for a considered approach to building a h ealth promoting society, with a critical reappraisal of the traditiona l pre-eminence of disease and behavioural topics. Its three action lev els - life circumstances, lifestyle topics and health topics - provide a framework for putting an end to unhelpful quarrels over approaches to health promotion and for doing what is best done at each of the thr ee levels. Against the background of the Green Paper, this paper seeks to facilitate a common understanding among all concerned as a basis f or the necessary united effort to promote health, calls for a wider re cognition of the full scope of health - including well-being, and iden tifies implications and opportunities in the areas of research and evi dence-based action.