The Healthy Life Center’s role as a health-promoting health service. Limitations and possibilities

Introduction: According to the WHO, a health-promoting health service should be linked to a holistic approach to improve public health. Based on this, it is interesting to explore if the Healthy Life Centers can be described as a health-promoting health service. This article seeks a deeper understanding of the Healthy Life Centers health promoting function by exploring the relationship between theory and practice, and to assess possible development areas and a new framework for understanding the service. Main part: Through an analysis of the Healthy Life Center’s services, we point out both potentials, obstacles and focus areas. The health authorities' description of the service and its purpose can be regarded as potentials, the power relation between purpose and practice, discipline and policy, and individual needs and autonomy as obstacles, and the adaptation of international standards for health-promoting health services (HPH-standards) as focus areas. Conclusion: The Healthy Life Center has a potential to become a health-promoting health service, although several factors should be addressed to facilitate change in that direction. The HPH-standards can contribute to a more uniform and expanded understanding of the service's mandate, purpose, values and activities, which are summarized in a "new" framework of the service.