Muddling through the middle ground: theoretical concerns in intersectoral collaboration and health promotion

This paper considers the conceptual basis of intersectoral collaboration(ISC) in health promotion. It summarises concepts and perspectiveswithin literature loosely labelled as ‘interorganisationalrelations’. These are applied to health promotion, specificallythe development of healthy public policy at local level. Whilethe importance of collaboration and working together at practitionerlevel is acknowledged, the main emphasis is on strategic levelcollaboration and policy coordination. The aim is to consolidateunderstanding of the concept, its features and its ‘determinants’.Ways in which collaboration might be fostered are considered.