A model linking health promotion, health education and patient education is presented. Claims to health education being distinguishable from patient education on the basis of setting and working with well, as opposed to sick, individuals are disputed. Many health education encounters create the role of proto-patient for the individual receiving care. A further distinction is made between patient education and clinical health promotion on the basis of the focus of care as seen by the professional. The linking elements in the model are those of the patient role and relationships adopted, another distinction is seen in the area of the focus of the encounter. Traditional patient education focuses on the disease process whereas clinical health promotion emphasises the place of illness in the person's life and looks to influence non-medical factors that impinge on the disease.