PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - S J Gillam TI - Provision of health promotion clinics in relation to population need: another example of the inverse care law? DP - 1992 Feb 01 TA - British Journal of General Practice PG - 54--56 VI - 42 IP - 355 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/42/355/54.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/42/355/54.full SO - Br J Gen Pract1992 Feb 01; 42 AB - The new contract encourages health promotion in general practice. The aim of this study was to explore the pattern of provision of health promotion clinics across one family health services authority and to relate this to possible indicators of health need in the practice population. Single-handed practices were less likely to be running health promotion clinics. The proportion of practices running clinics increased with increasing numbers of partners. Practices located in wards where the standardized mortality ratio was greater than 100, and practices receiving deprivation payments were less likely to be offering health promotion clinics. This was explained by the presence of most single-handed practitioners in deprived, historically unhealthy wards. If effective, health promotion clinics will have tended to benefit populations in Bedfordshire at lower risk of ill-health. Other shortcomings of the clinic-based health promotion model are discussed.