Towards healthy public policy: experiences in Finland 1972-1987

This article is an account of the attempts made in Finland in the last 15 years to broaden the traditional perspectives in health policy, both by intersectoral action to promote health and by a reorientation of the health service system. Any public policy can only be understood in a historical and societal context. Therefore, a brief introduction to the political, economic, social and cultural background is necessary. A systematic framework for goal-setting in public policy-making was worked out in Finland in the early 1970s. Since then the general thinking in health policy has been dominated by an analytical approach of goals and means, exploring options for effective action that would be politically feasible. The article aims at describing and analysing the experiences gained thus far with both successful and unsuccessful policies. In a broad overview it is impossible to be comprehensive or analytically profound; instead a number of examples illustrate what has worked, what has not, and why, in the process of developing healthy public policies. Some of the examples might be specific to conditions in Finland, but the framework for thinking and policy analysis—as well as several experiences of action, constraints and challenges—will probably be of some general interest for people working towards healthier public policies.