-
BMJ Global Health Aug 2021
Topics: Humans; Public Health; Public Policy
PubMed: 34348934
DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006601 -
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) Jun 2005
Topics: Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Evidence-Based Medicine; Health Policy; Humans; Public Health; Public Policy
PubMed: 15947377
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1343 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2020The role of smart cities in order to improve older people's quality of life, sustainability and opportunities, accessibility, mobility, and connectivity is increasing... (Review)
Review
The role of smart cities in order to improve older people's quality of life, sustainability and opportunities, accessibility, mobility, and connectivity is increasing and acknowledged in public policy and private sector strategies in countries all over the world. Smart cities are one of the technological-driven initiatives that may help create an age-friendly city. Few research studies have analysed emerging countries in terms of their national strategies on smart or age-friendly cities. In this study, Romania which is predicted to become one of the most ageing countries in the European Union is used as a case study. Through document analysis, current initiatives at the local, regional, and national level addressing the issue of smart and age-friendly cities in Romania are investigated. In addition, a case study is presented to indicate possible ways of the smart cities initiatives to target and involve older adults. The role of different stakeholders is analysed in terms of whether initiatives are fragmentary or sustainable over time, and the importance of some key factors, such as private-public partnerships and transnational bodies. The results are discussed revealing the particularities of the smart cities initiatives in Romania in the time frame 2012-2020, which to date, have limited connection to the age-friendly cities agenda. Based on the findings, a set of recommendations are formulated to move the agenda forward.
Topics: Cities; City Planning; Environment Design; Humans; Public Policy; Quality of Life; Romania; Sustainable Development; Urban Health
PubMed: 32708488
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17145202 -
BMJ Global Health Apr 2021
Topics: Health Policy; Humans; Public Policy; Social Environment
PubMed: 33827798
DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005261 -
Cadernos de Saude Publica 2022This study aims to conduct a search of public-policy instruments seeking explicit references to subsequent adolescent pregnancy, as well as to discern what kinds of... (Review)
Review
This study aims to conduct a search of public-policy instruments seeking explicit references to subsequent adolescent pregnancy, as well as to discern what kinds of actions have been proposed as part of the international and national agendas to facilitate subsequent adolescent pregnancy prevention and care. During June 2021, we used an integrative review to search and to analyze national and international public policy instruments along with other documents related to subsequent adolescent pregnancy. We observed, for each, the presence of statements on subsequent adolescent pregnancy. The research team was then divided into triads to discuss and to classify each reference under one of the following categories: (a) a symbolic statement, that is, an intention not implying a specific action but rather presenting a vision for the future; (b) a substantive-material statement concerning an action intended to solve a problem; and (c) a procedural-material statement indicating specific actions, processes, budgets, and actors. We analyzed a total of 135 public-policy documents: 102 in Mexico and 33 internationally. Only four national and six international documents contained either symbolic or substantive-material references to the subject of interest and only one specified a procedural-material statement. The prevention and care of subsequent adolescent pregnancy are addressed only secondarily on the public agendas. Only a minimal number of actions comprise specific and standardized measures to prevent subsequent adolescent pregnancy according to the different actors involved. Designing a greater number of procedural-material policies will help to reduce morbidity and mortality in the mother-child binomial and promote a comprehensive development of this population.
Topics: Adolescent; Brazil; Female; Health Policy; Humans; Mexico; Pregnancy; Pregnancy in Adolescence; Public Policy
PubMed: 36169509
DOI: 10.1590/0102-311XEN025922 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jun 2021Water is an unpredictable and often overallocated resource in the American West, one that strains policy makers to come up with viable, and politically acceptable...
Water is an unpredictable and often overallocated resource in the American West, one that strains policy makers to come up with viable, and politically acceptable policies to mitigate water management concerns. While large federal reclamation projects once dominated western water management and provided ample water for large scale agricultural development as well as the urbanization of the West, water engineering alone is no longer sufficient or, in some cases, a politically acceptable policy option. As demand for water in the West increases with an ever-growing population, climate change is presenting a more challenging and potentially untenable, reality of even longer periods of drought and insufficient water quantity. The complexity of managing water resources under climate change conditions will require multifaceted and publicly acceptable strategies. This paper therefore examines water policy preferences of residents in four western states: Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. Using a public survey conducted in these states in 2019, we examine preferences pertaining to infrastructural, education, incentives and regulation specifically examining levels of support for varying policies based on climate change and environmental efficacy beliefs as well as geography, demographic variables, and political ideology. Results show support for all water policies surveyed, with the exception of charging higher rates for water during the hottest part of summer. The most preferred water policies pertained to tax incentives. Some variation of support exists based on gender, education, environmental values, efficacy, state residency and belief in anthropogenic climate change.
Topics: Climate Change; Environmental Policy; Oregon; Public Policy; Washington; Water
PubMed: 34208930
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18137000 -
Annual Review of Public Health Mar 2017Large-scale public policy changes are often recommended to improve public health. Despite varying widely-from tobacco taxes to poverty-relief programs-such policies... (Review)
Review
Large-scale public policy changes are often recommended to improve public health. Despite varying widely-from tobacco taxes to poverty-relief programs-such policies present a common dilemma to public health researchers: how to evaluate their health effects when randomized controlled trials are not possible. Here, we review the state of knowledge and experience of public health researchers who rigorously evaluate the health consequences of large-scale public policy changes. We organize our discussion by detailing approaches to address three common challenges of conducting policy evaluations: distinguishing a policy effect from time trends in health outcomes or preexisting differences between policy-affected and -unaffected communities (using difference-in-differences approaches); constructing a comparison population when a policy affects a population for whom a well-matched comparator is not immediately available (using propensity score or synthetic control approaches); and addressing unobserved confounders by utilizing quasi-random variations in policy exposure (using regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, or near-far matching approaches).
Topics: Health Policy; Humans; Public Health; Public Policy
PubMed: 28384086
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044208 -
International Journal of Health Policy... 2023Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people a year. The products and services of unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) such as tobacco, alcohol,...
BACKGROUND
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people a year. The products and services of unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods and beverages and gambling are responsible for much of this health burden. While effective public health policies are available to address this, UCIs have consistently sought to stop governments and global organisations adopting such policies through what is known as corporate political activity (CPA). We aimed to contribute to the study of CPA and development of effective counter-measures by formulating a model and evidence-informed taxonomies of UCI political activity.
METHODS
We used five complementary methods: critical interpretive synthesis of the conceptual CPA literature; brief interviews; expert co-author knowledge; stakeholder workshops; testing against the literature.
RESULTS
We found 11 original conceptualisations of CPA; four had been used by other researchers and reported in 24 additional review papers. Combining an interpretive synthesis of all these papers and feedback from users, we developed two taxonomies - one on framing strategies and one on action strategies. The former identified three frames (policy actors, problem, and solutions) and the latter six strategies (access and influence policy-making, use the law, manufacture support for industry, shape evidence to manufacture doubt, displace, and usurp public health, manage reputations to industry's advantage). We also offer an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of UCI strategies and a model that situates industry CPA in the wider social, political, and economic context.
CONCLUSION
Our work confirms the similarity of CPA across UCIs and demonstrates its extensive and multi-faceted nature, the disproportionate power of corporations in policy spaces and the unacceptable conflicts of interest that characterise their engagement with policy-making. We suggest that industry CPA is recognised as a corruption of democracy, not an element of participatory democracy. Our taxonomies and model provide a starting point for developing effective solutions.
Topics: Humans; Politics; Public Policy; Commerce; Policy Making; Health Policy
PubMed: 37579378
DOI: 10.34172/ijhpm.2023.7292 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2021Natural disasters can generate millions of tons of debris and waste, which has an impact on the environment and poses direct risks to the health of the population, hence...
Natural disasters can generate millions of tons of debris and waste, which has an impact on the environment and poses direct risks to the health of the population, hence the need to analyze public policy and its consequences following the 2016 earthquake in Ecuador. Several in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals active in public service during the post-earthquake management period, together with fieldwork analysis of debris management and the institutional strategies for its recycling and reuse in three of the most affected cities: Pedernales, Portoviejo, and Manta. The environmental impact was examined, including its taxonomy of inconsistencies within public administration, alongside the processes of decentralization and shared decision-making. Similarly, the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR), public policy, and sustainability were analyzed at both the national and local level for their wider implications and ramifications. The study highlighted the gaps in the management of such a crisis, exposing a lack of ethics and the shortcomings of social (ir-)responsibility in the distorted processes of public welfare in the country, aspects that should rather work in concert to achieve full sustainable development.
Topics: Earthquakes; Ecuador; Humans; Public Policy; Social Responsibility; Sustainable Development
PubMed: 33801770
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18073494 -
International Journal of Health Policy... 2023A range of conceptual models for understanding the policy process have been applied to the health policy process, largely in particular sub areas or policy domains such...
A range of conceptual models for understanding the policy process have been applied to the health policy process, largely in particular sub areas or policy domains such as public health. However, these contributions appear to offer different rationales and present different frameworks for understanding the policy process. This Editorial critically examines articles that explore the health policy process with models from wider public policy and from health policy. It can be seen that very few of the wider models have been applied in studies of the health policy process. Conversely, some models feature in studies of the health policy process, but not in the wider policy process literature, which suggests that literature on the health policy process is semi-detached from the wider policy process literature. There seem to be two very different future research directions: focusing on 'home grown' models, or taking greater account of the wider policy process literature. Does 'one size fit all' or is it 'horses for courses'?
Topics: Health Policy; Models, Theoretical; Public Policy
PubMed: 37579456
DOI: 10.34172/ijhpm.2022.7580