-
The Lancet. Public Health Mar 2020
Topics: Health Policy; Humans; Public Policy
PubMed: 32113515
DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30027-X -
American Journal of Public Health Jun 2022
Topics: Health Policy; Humans; Public Health; Public Policy
PubMed: 35679553
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2022.306841 -
Preventing Chronic Disease Jul 2013In the United States, more than 600 municipalities have smoke-free parks, and more than 100 have smoke-free beaches. Nevertheless, adoption of outdoor smoke-free...
BACKGROUND
In the United States, more than 600 municipalities have smoke-free parks, and more than 100 have smoke-free beaches. Nevertheless, adoption of outdoor smoke-free policies has been slow in certain regions. Critical to widespread adoption is the sharing of knowledge about the policy development and implementation process. In this article, we describe our experience in making City of Philadelphia recreation centers and playgrounds smoke-free.
COMMUNITY CONTEXT
Of the 10 largest US cities, Philadelphia has among the highest rates of adult and youth smoking. Our objectives for an outdoor smoke-free policy included protecting against secondhand smoke, supporting a normative message that smoking is harmful, motivating smokers to quit, and mitigating tobacco-related sanitation costs.
METHODS
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the Department of Parks and Recreation engaged civic leaders, agency staff, and community stakeholders in the following steps: 1) making the policy case, 2) vetting policy options and engaging stakeholders, and 3) implementing policy. Near-term policy impacts were assessed through available data sources.
OUTCOME
More than 220 recreation centers, playgrounds, and outdoor pools became smoke-free through a combined mayoral executive order and agency regulation. Support for the policy was high. Estimates suggest a policy reach of 3.6 million annual visitors and almost 850 acres of new smoke-free municipal property.
INTERPRETATION
Localities can successfully implement outdoor smoke-free policies with careful planning and execution. Such policies hold great potential for reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, promoting nonsmoking norms, and providing additional motivation for residents to quit smoking.
Topics: Adult; Health Promotion; Humans; Philadelphia; Play and Playthings; Public Facilities; Public Policy; Smoke-Free Policy; Smoking; Smoking Prevention
PubMed: 23845177
DOI: 10.5888/pcd10.120294 -
American Journal of Public Health Jan 2022
Topics: Built Environment; Humans; Legislation as Topic; Public Policy; Social Determinants of Health; Social Planning
PubMed: 34936427
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306595 -
Evaluation Review Jun 2024This chapter begins with an overview of recent developments that have encouraged and facilitated greater use of research syntheses, including Meta-Analysis, to guide...
This chapter begins with an overview of recent developments that have encouraged and facilitated greater use of research syntheses, including Meta-Analysis, to guide public policy and practice in education, workforce development, and social services. It discusses the role of Meta-Analysis for improving knowledge of the effectiveness of programs, policies, and practices and the applicability and generalizability of that knowledge to conditions other than those represented by the study samples and settings. The chapter concludes with recommendations for improving the potential of Meta-Analysis to accelerate knowledge development through changing how we design, conduct, and report findings of individual studies to maximize their usefulness in Meta-Analysis as well as how we produce and report Meta-Analysis findings. The paper includes references to resources supporting the recommendations.
Topics: Public Policy; Meta-Analysis as Topic
PubMed: 38308503
DOI: 10.1177/0193841X241229885 -
Neuron Sep 2019Neuroscientific findings are rarely translated into public policies that improve the health and well-being of people experiencing serious disorders. I advocate here for...
Neuroscientific findings are rarely translated into public policies that improve the health and well-being of people experiencing serious disorders. I advocate here for investment in policymaker-scientist networks dedicated to such translation for a range of diseases.
Topics: Administrative Personnel; Capacity Building; Cooperative Behavior; Criminal Law; Health Policy; Humans; Legislation, Drug; Marijuana Use; Neurosciences; Opioid Epidemic; Public Policy; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 31557460
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.08.016 -
Tobacco Control Jun 2022Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, elaborated via its implementation guidelines, can be understood as a policy instrument comprising norms,...
INTRODUCTION
Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, elaborated via its implementation guidelines, can be understood as a policy instrument comprising norms, rules and policy tools designed to shape practices of policy making and minimise tobacco industry interference.
METHODS
This qualitative research is based on in-depth interviews with officials from diverse government sectors and non-governmental organisations across countries (Ethiopia, India, Uganda) that have adopted measures to implement Article 5.3.
RESULTS
The data highlight varied perceptions and knowledge of Article 5.3 norms between health and non-health sectors. Health officials typically link its norm of a fundamental conflict between public health and industry interests to the norm of protecting public health policies from industry interference. While officials in sectors beyond health broadly endorsed this core norm, they exhibited more limited awareness of Article 5.3 and its model of governance. The results examine how rules to implement Article 5.3 have been codified, but identify the absence of policy tools necessary to operationalise rules and norms. This limitation, alongside restricted awareness beyond health departments, suggests that political commitments to implement Article 5.3 will have limited impact on practices of stakeholder consultation and policy engagement with the tobacco industry.
CONCLUSION
Conceptualising Article 5.3 as a policy instrument helps to explain how its rules and policy tools interact with each other and with broader governance processes. This framework has the potential to enhance understanding of Article 5.3 and help identify opportunities and constraints in its implementation.
Topics: Government; Health Policy; Humans; Policy Making; Public Policy; Nicotiana; Tobacco Industry
PubMed: 35393367
DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057159 -
Cadernos de Saude Publica Jul 2019The current status of policies on illicit drugs has implications for Collective Health that need to be discussed in depth. This essay aims to explore, in light of the...
The current status of policies on illicit drugs has implications for Collective Health that need to be discussed in depth. This essay aims to explore, in light of the best evidence, the public health impact of drug policies focused on the criminalization of growing, selling, and consuming psychoactive substances. Brazil provides the context for the main analysis. The principal points addressed in this work include drugs as a social issue and the definition of the prohibitionist paradigm, evidence of the unhealthy relationship between this paradigm and the population's health, the issue of a model of care for users of psychoactive substances focused on therapeutic communities, and future paths to be explored to overcome the prohibition of illicit drugs as the principal approach to the issue. Among the main problematic elements in the repressive approach in the Brazilian context, the study highlights violence and homicides, the health impacts of incarceration and blocked access to the health system, and potential new therapies derived from currently banned psychoactive substances. As proposals for future policy changes, the study highlights decriminalization of the use, possession, and small-scale sale of drugs; the reduction of the violence and discrimination associated with policing; focus on harm reduction policies; approach to gender-related specificities; and inclusion of social variables as metrics for successful treatment of problematic drug use. In conclusion, it is relevant that the social issue and drug policy have become the object of more studies in the field of Collective Health.
Topics: Brazil; Drug Users; Drug and Narcotic Control; Health Services Accessibility; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Illicit Drugs; Prisoners; Public Health Administration; Public Policy; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 31365702
DOI: 10.1590/0102-311X00242618 -
Health Economics, Policy, and Law Oct 2021How do experts judge the legitimacy of technical policy processes, and do their ideas change as these processes are opened to other stakeholders and the public? This...
How do experts judge the legitimacy of technical policy processes, and do their ideas change as these processes are opened to other stakeholders and the public? This research examines the adoption of public and patient involvement in pharmaceutical assessment in Canada. It finds tensions between scientific legitimacy that prioritizes rigor and objectivity, and democratic legitimacy that values inclusion and a broader range of evidence. In response to policy change, experts incorporate new ideas about democratic inputs and processes, while maintaining scientific policy goals. The research responds to calls for more precise measurement of ideas and ideational change and more evaluation of public and patient involvement in health policy. It helps us understand the significance of, and limits to, ideational change among experts in health policy domains that are highly technical and publicly salient. Understanding the way democratic and scientific legitimacy are negotiated in policy decisions has a wide applicability in health, but is particularly relevant during a global pandemic when evidence is being generated rapidly, decisions must be made quickly, and these decisions have a significant, immediate effect on the lives of all citizens.
Topics: Canada; Health Policy; Humans; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Public Policy
PubMed: 33557999
DOI: 10.1017/S1744133121000013 -
Canadian Journal of Public Health =... Jun 2019We argue that public health matters more today than ever because it is uniquely positioned as a meeting point or fulcrum between health care and social welfare policy...
We argue that public health matters more today than ever because it is uniquely positioned as a meeting point or fulcrum between health care and social welfare policy perspectives on the social determinants of health. It combines a grounding in the sciences of biomedicine and epidemiology with the moral imperatives of social advocacy. Health cannot be delivered through health care policy alone and neither can social welfare policy ensure the well-being of all citizens on its own. Social policy is at a disadvantage because it does not engender universal consent the way health policy can. While the way that illness should be addressed is debated, it should be addressed to be not contested, as is social welfare for vulnerable populations. The convergence of health and social policy to address the social determinants of health means public health advocacy must explicitly leverage biomedicine to provide materialist and substantive arguments and social welfare to provide the normative and moral arguments. We conclude that a new model of public health advocacy or social lobbying is necessary to effectively raise concerns that health care-focused thinking will not, but with potential heft that social welfare, historically, has not been able to command.
Topics: Canada; Health Policy; Humans; Public Health; Public Policy; Social Determinants of Health; Social Welfare; Vulnerable Populations
PubMed: 30617990
DOI: 10.17269/s41997-018-0171-1