01786nas a2200217   4500000000100000008004100001260003400042653005700076653002800133653001500161100001400176700001600190700001500206700001700221700001200238245004500250300001400295490000700309520123800316022001401554       2021                            d  bOxford University Press (OUP)10aPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health10aHealth (social science)10aPhilosophy1 aFolker AP1 aLauridsen S1 aAndersen M1 aKongsholm NC1 aVarga S00aPractice-guided public health philosophy  a1775-17820 v363 a<p>Summary</p>

<p>Although highly relevant, philosophical theory and philosophical competences are rarely integrated in empirical public health research. We suggest a variant of applied philosophy that is valuable for the development and improvement of public health research. We call it practice-guided public health philosophy because: (i) research questions derive from public health challenges, i.e. real-life concerns that relate to the prevention of disease or the promotion of health and well-being, (ii) the ultimate test of success lies within an empirical framework aiming to improve public health practices and (iii) philosophers collaborate very closely with different kinds of empirical researchers in the different stages of the research process. Using examples from current public health projects at the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark, we outline three paradigmatic cases of practice-guided public health philosophy: (i) by using philosophy as an idea generator of empirical research, (ii) by using philosophy as a frame of reference for interpreting ethnographic data and (iii) by using philosophy as an explanatory resource for discussing survey and register data.</p>
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