title: Tensions between the conduct of randomised controlled trials in health promotion research and the role of autonomy in human health and well being.
abstract: The goal of developing increasingly effective interventions to change health-related behaviours, which is an inevitable result of the use of the scientific method, conflicts with respect for the autonomy and dignity of the individual. This paper recommends a new direction for the field of health promotion based on building people's capacity to exercise autonomy, in the ethically relevant meaning of the term, and thereby promote a more comprehensive understanding of the goals of the field, a state of health that includes the irreducible ethical dimension signified by human dignity.
authors.affiliation: 306 Arnold House, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Email.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Buchanan
mesh_terms: D006293:Health Promotion / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics*; D012107:Research Design