Integrating social theory into public health practice

The innovative practice that resulted from the Ottawa Charter challenges public health knowledge about programming and evaluation. Specifically, there is a need to formulate program theory that embraces social determinants of health and local actors' mobilization for social change. Likewise, it is imperative to develop a theory of evaluation that fosters reflexive understanding of public health programs engaged in social change. We believe advances in contemporary social theory that are founded on a critique of modernity and that articulate a coherent theory of practice should be considered when addressing these critical challenges.