A wide range of international contributions draw on theoretical and empirical sources to explore whether alternatives exist to both conceptualise and conduct research into what people do and don t do, in relation to their health and experiences of illness. * Presents a collection of international contributions that complement, as well as critique, dominant conceptualisations of health behaviour * Includes a wide range of both theoretical perspectives and empirical cases * Reasserts the unique contribution social sciences can make to health research * Challenges assumptions about the usefulness of the concept of health behaviour * A timely publication given the rise of chronic and lifestyle diseases and the resulting changes in global health agendas