Public health and public administration: shared interests, but no shared action

In recent years, public health has become focused on issues of social inequality and social disadvantage. In doing so, the discipline has crossed over into areas traditionally of interest to public policy and public... [ view full abstract ]

In recent years, public health has become focused on issues of social inequality and social disadvantage. In doing so, the discipline has crossed over into areas traditionally of interest to public policy and public administration scholars. This includes a focus on wicked-problems and cross-boundary working across different parts of government and between sectors. Indeed, public health has gone so far as to secure international commitment to specific joined-up government initiatives for promoting health. Known as ‘Health in All Policies’, this joined-up government intervention is backed by the World Health Organisation and sees the establishment of central working committees within local, state and national governments to promote health across portfolios.

This paper considers two issues that emerge from the convergence of these two fields of study in interests. Firstly, why has public health largely failed to engage with public administration despite growing shared interests between the fields? And, secondly, what opportunities do developments in public health offer public administration research? In exploring these two issues, this paper develops the notion of disciplinary entrepreneurs to encourage cross-boundary working between scholarly fields.