Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the status quo of the networking between health promotion and other programs conducted by public health centers(PHCs), and to develop concrete strategies for improving the efficiency of the health promotion programs at PHCs. Data were collected from a questionnaire survey for 246 PHCs nationwide and 96 questionnaire were returned(response rate of 39%). A focus group study was also conducted to compliment the detail of the networking system between health promotion and other programs at PHCs. The results revealed that the current networking between health promotion and other programs conducted by public health centers is not working well. Especially, the communication networking between health promotion and other programs at planning stage is poorer than the stages of implementation, performance, and evaluation. The main reasons of the poor networking have been caused by an inadequate organizational structure, inefficient information system, low level of motivation for networking among the staff of PHCs, and no concrete guidelines for networking. This study also suggested several strategies to facilitate the cooperation between health promotion and other programs.