Challenges of the Unemployment Protection System and Active Policies in Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Del Pino, Eloísa

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The NorSpaR project aims to analyse the main public policy initiatives by which Norway and Spain cope with the new social and economic challenges derived from the so-called New Social Risks (NSR. Although both countries present significant differences in their institutional settings (such as Spanish EU membership, or its belonging to diverse welfare regimes types (Norway is generally included in the Nordic regime, while Spain is part of the Mediterranean one, both countries share a common interest in addressing the aforementioned challenges while maintaining social cohesion. In the last decade, governments in both countries have tried to respond to those challenges by reforming their labour markets, adapting their unemployment schemes, as well as their gender, family and long-term care policies. The analysis covered in this project includes three areas of public policy addressing NSR. First, dependency is one of the most daunting challenges for post-industrial societies experiencing population ageing and with an increasing number of frail people in need of care. This situation is forcing governments to rethink their long-term care policies. Second, family and gender public programs need to respond to the growing difficulties of families in reconciling professional and family life. Third, in the transition to a post-industrial order, and in a context of mass unemployment, social protection systems have a renewed prominence. Along with the so-called passive policies offering financial support to the unemployed, active labour market policies are geared to put people back into work. In our analysis we try to find answers to the following questions: What are the challenges that each of these policies have been trying to address in recent years? How have these policies evolved? What kinds of reforms have been implemented, and which ones have been neglected? Have the policy goals and targets of welfare programs been modified in any significant way

International trade agreements challenge tobacco and alcohol control policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeigler, Donald W

2006-11-01

This report reviews aspects of trade agreements that challenge tobacco and alcohol control policies. Trade agreements reduce barriers, increase competition, lower prices and promote consumption. Conversely, tobacco and alcohol control measures seek to reduce access and consumption, raise prices and restrict advertising and promotion in order to reduce health and social problems. However, under current and pending international agreements, negotiated by trade experts without public health input, governments and corporations may challenge these protections as constraints on trade. Advocates must recognise the inherent conflicts between free trade and public health and work to exclude alcohol and tobacco from trade agreements. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has potential to protect tobacco policies and serve as a model for alcohol control.

Communicating Geosciences with Policy-makers: a Grand Challenge for Academia

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, W. J.; Walls, M. R.; Boland, M. A.

2015-12-01

Geoscientists interested in the broader societal impacts of their research can make a meaningful contribution to policy making in our changing world. Nevertheless, policy and public decision making are the least frequently cited Broader Impacts in proposals and funded projects within NSF's Geosciences Directorate. Academic institutions can play a lead role by introducing this societal dimension of our profession to beginning students, and by enabling interdisciplinary research and promoting communication pathways for experienced career geoscientists. Within the academic environment, the public interface of the geosciences can be presented through curriculum content and creative programs. These include undergraduate minors in economics or public policy designed for scientists and engineers, and internships with policy makers. Federal research institutions and other organizations provide valuable policy-relevant experiences for students. Academic institutions have the key freedom of mission to tackle interdisciplinary research challenges at the interface of geoscience and policy. They develop long-standing relationships with research partners, including national laboratories and state geological surveys, whose work may support policy development and analysis at local, state, regional, and national levels. CSM's Payne Institute for Earth Resources awards mini-grants for teams of researchers to develop collaborative research efforts between engineering/science and policy researchers. Current work in the areas of nuclear generation and the costs of climate policy and on policy alternatives for capturing fugitive methane emissions are examples of work at the interface between the geosciences and public policy. With academic engagement, geoscientists can steward their intellectual output when non-scientists translate geoscience information and concepts into action through public policies.

Representation or reason: consulting the public on the ethics of health policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, Caroline

2008-12-01

Consulting the public about the ethical approaches underlying health policies can seem an appealing means of addressing concerns about limited public participation in development of health policy. However ambiguity surrounds questions of whether, or how consultation can really contribute to more defensible decisions about ethical aspects of policy. This paper clarifies the role and limits of public consultation on ethics, beginning by separating different senses of defensibility in decisions on ethics. Defensibility of ethical decisions could be understood either in the sense of legitimacy in virtue of reflecting the opinions of the public whose interests are affected, or in the sense of being able to withstand and respond to challenges presented in ethical debate. The question then is whether there are forms of consultation which have the potential to realise more defensible decisions in either of these senses. Problems of adequately accounting for the views of those affected by policy decisions casts doubt on the plausibility of using consultation as a means of determining the opinions of the public. Consultation can have a role by bringing new ideas and challenges to debate, although it is uncertain whether this will increase the defensibility of any decision on ethics.

Influencing public policies: Two (very good) reasons to look toward scientific knowledge in public policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnon, François; Bellefleur, Olivier

2014-07-11

The healthy public policy movement rests on the belief that a range of public policies should be at least partly informed by evidence demonstrating the positive effects of these policies on population health, health inequalities and their determinants. In order to address certain difficulties that the movement faces, knowledge produced in various scientific disciplines regarding public policies may provide some valuable guidance. In this short commentary, we examine how knowledge from the scientific disciplines investigating public policies makes it possible to address two difficulties in the development of healthy public policies: 1) adequately anticipating the effects of public policies, and 2) assessing the political viability of the policies being promoted. Since urban traffic policies are of interest to most of the other contributors to this supplement, we use examples from this field to illustrate some of our points.

Design Concepts and Design Practices in Policy-Making and Public Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Junginger, Sabine

2012-01-01

National governments around the globe are actively seeking new ways to engage in social innovation and are investing in innovation labs and innovation centers where methods and principles of design are now being explored and applied to problems of transforming and innovating the public sector (cf...... governments but they also pose new challenges for policy-makers and public administrators who are not yet familiar with design concepts, principles and methods beyond problem-solving. Despite the many linkages between and among design, designing, policy-making and policy implementation, we have yet to clarify...

Public values for energy futures: Framing, indeterminacy and policy making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, C.; Demski, C.; Parkhill, K.; Pidgeon, N.; Spence, A.

2015-01-01

In the UK there are strong policy imperatives to transition toward low carbon energy systems but how and in what ways such transitional processes might be realised remains highly uncertain. One key area of uncertainty pertains to public attitudes and acceptability. Though there is wide-ranging research relevant to public acceptability, very little work has unpacked the multiple questions concerning how policy-makers can grapple with and mitigate related uncertainties in efforts to enact energy systems change. In this paper, public acceptability is identified as an indeterminate form of uncertainty that presents particular challenges for policy making. We build on our existing research into public values for energy system change to explore how the outcomes of the project can be applied in thinking through the uncertainties associated with public acceptability. Notably, we illustrate how the public values identified through our research bring into view alternative and quite different problem and solution framings to those currently evident within UK policy. We argue that engagement with a wide range of different framings can offer a basis for better understanding and anticipating public responses to energy system change, ultimately aiding in managing the complex set of uncertainties associated with public acceptability. - Highlights: • We argue that public acceptability represents an indeterminate form of uncertainty. • This means alternative approaches to decision-making are required. • We introduce a public value set for energy system change. • We use this as a basis for interrogating current UK policy approaches to transitions. • Incorporating public values in policy can help tackle uncertainty about acceptability.

PUBLIC POLICY AND TAXATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IOSIF MOLDOVAN

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The state administration process and hence also the economy coordination effort requires the promotion of robust, consistent and transparent public policy, which must be accepted by all stakeholders of economic development. Public policy is a set of measures taken by the authorities legally constituted as public power. Under normal conditions these policy aims at improving living conditions of citizens by developing grounded strategies which are applied by measures implemented to stimulate economic development in all its complexity by harmonizing the efforts of the institutional and non-institutional bodies responsible for ensuring the overall public interest. In Romania, public policies, especially fiscal ones on which we dwell, not reached in many cases the expected effects primarily because of their superficial grounding, lack of transparency, unpredictability, poor communication and secondly as an effect of ineffective management of public financial resources.

Renewable energies: public policy challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grazi, Laure; Souletie, Arthur

2016-03-01

Renewable energy sources (RES) are low-carbon energies available right within our borders, and as such can be of great value in addressing the challenges of climate change and energy security. In 2014, renewable energies accounted for 14.6% of France's gross final energy consumption. The French Energy Transition Act for Green Growth sets renewables targets of 23% and 32% as a share of gross final energy consumption by 2020 and 2030, respectively. However, renewable energies are still more costly than conventional energies. A significant share of this additional cost is borne by energy consumers, particularly in the form of energy taxation and biofuels blending obligations. Public aid is also provided to support heat production from renewable energy sources (RES-H). The two most significant aids available today are the Energy Transition Tax Credit (CITE) and the Heat Fund. Comparing the various types of renewable energies shows sharp disparities in terms of the cost of avoiding one tonne of CO 2 , which ranges from euros 59 to more than euros 500 for electricity production it follows that the cost of the energy transition is likely to vary significantly depending on which renewable energy sources are pushed to the fore. The combustion of biomass for heat production appears to offer an economically efficient way to reduce CO 2 emissions. Of the various renewable technologies available for the production of electricity (with the exception of hydropower, which was excluded from the scope of this study), onshore wind power is the least costly

Climate Change, Public Health, and Policy: A California Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganesh, Chandrakala; Smith, Jason A

2018-04-01

Anthropogenic activity will bring immediate changes and disruptions to the global climate with accompanying health implications. Although policymakers and public health advocates are beginning to acknowledge the health implications of climate change, current policy approaches are lagging behind. We proposed that 4 key policy principles are critical to successful policymaking in this arena: mainstreaming, linking mitigation and adaptation policy, applying population perspectives, and coordination. We explored California's progress in addressing the public health challenges of climate change in the San Joaquin Valley as an example. We discussed issues of mental health and climate change, and used the San Joaquin Valley of California as an example to explore policy approaches to health issues and climate change. The California experience is instructive for other jurisdictions.

Climate Change, Public Health, and Policy: A California Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason A.

2018-01-01

Anthropogenic activity will bring immediate changes and disruptions to the global climate with accompanying health implications. Although policymakers and public health advocates are beginning to acknowledge the health implications of climate change, current policy approaches are lagging behind. We proposed that 4 key policy principles are critical to successful policymaking in this arena: mainstreaming, linking mitigation and adaptation policy, applying population perspectives, and coordination. We explored California’s progress in addressing the public health challenges of climate change in the San Joaquin Valley as an example. We discussed issues of mental health and climate change, and used the San Joaquin Valley of California as an example to explore policy approaches to health issues and climate change. The California experience is instructive for other jurisdictions. PMID:29072936

Analyzing public health policy: three approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Coveney, John

2010-07-01

Policy is an important feature of public and private organizations. Within the field of health as a policy arena, public health has emerged in which policy is vital to decision making and the deployment of resources. Public health practitioners and students need to be able to analyze public health policy, yet many feel daunted by the subject's complexity. This article discusses three approaches that simplify policy analysis: Bacchi's "What's the problem?" approach examines the way that policy represents problems. Colebatch's governmentality approach provides a way of analyzing the implementation of policy. Bridgman and Davis's policy cycle allows for an appraisal of public policy development. Each approach provides an analytical framework from which to rigorously study policy. Practitioners and students of public health gain much in engaging with the politicized nature of policy, and a simple approach to policy analysis can greatly assist one's understanding and involvement in policy work.

Implementing public employment policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Flemming; Bredgaard, Thomas

disciplining of the unemployed (work first) (cf.Bredgaard & Larsen, 2005; Sol & Westerweld, 2005). It is, however, remarkable that in the research field there seems to be a division of labour so that changes in public administration and changes in the substance of employment policies are dealt with separately......Like most other areas within welfare policy, the employment and social policy areas are undergoing far-reaching changes in many countries. Partly in the shape of new forms of governance inspired by New Public Management (NPM), partly through new policies oriented towards activation and stronger....... But there is an interesting question to investigate here: whether and if so how, NPM-inspired reforms are related to changes in employment policy towards a work-first approach? Are changes in public management systems created as deliberate policy changes, or do they bring about more indirect and unintended policy changes...

Public policy and regulatory implications for the implementation of Opportunistic Cloud Computing Services for Enterprises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuada, Eric; Olesen, Henning; Henten, Anders

2012-01-01

Opportunistic Cloud Computing Services (OCCS) is a social network approach to the provisioning and management of cloud computing services for enterprises. This paper discusses how public policy and regulations will impact on OCCS implementation. We rely on documented publicly available government...... and corporate policies on the adoption of cloud computing services and deduce the impact of these policies on their adoption of opportunistic cloud computing services. We conclude that there are regulatory challenges on data protection that raises issues for cloud computing adoption in general; and the lack...... of a single globally accepted data protection standard poses some challenges for very successful implementation of OCCS for companies. However, the direction of current public and corporate policies on cloud computing make a good case for them to try out opportunistic cloud computing services....

Leprosy: International Public Health Policies and Public Health Eras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niyi Awofeso

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Public health policies continue to play important roles in national and international health reforms. However, the influence and legacies of the public health eras during which such policies are formulated remain largely underappreciated. The limited appreciation of this relationship may hinder consistent adoption of public health policies by nation-states, and encumber disinvestment from ineffective or anachronistic policies. This article reviews seven public health eras and highlights how each era has influenced international policy formulation for leprosy control—“the fertile soil for policy learning”. The author reiterates the role of health leadership and health activism in facilitating consistency in international health policy formulation and implementation for leprosy control.

Implementing Indigenous Education Policy Directives in Ontario Public Schools: Experiences, Challenges and Successful Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Milne

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The Ontario Ministry of Education has declared a commitment to Indigenous student success and has advanced a policy framework that articulates inclusion of Indigenous content in schooling curriculum (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007. What are the perceptions among educators and parents regarding the implementation of policy directives, and what is seen to encourage or limit meaningful implementation? To answer these questions, this article draws on interviews with 100 Indigenous (mainly Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Métis and non-Indigenous parents and educators from Ontario Canada. Policy directives are seen to benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Interviews also reveal challenges to implementing Indigenous curricular policy, such as unawareness and intimidation among non-Indigenous educators regarding how to teach material. Policy implications are considered.

Public health metaphors in Australian policy on asylum seekers.

Science.gov (United States)

Koutroulis, Glenda

2009-02-01

To analyse the way in which a public health metaphor has been incorporated into Australian political practice to justify the exclusion or mistreatment of unwelcome non-citizens, giving particular attention to recent asylum seekers. Starting with a personal experience of working in an immigration detention centre and then drawing on media reports and published scholarship, I critique political rhetoric and policy on asylum seekers, arguing that the significance of a public health metaphor lies in its effectiveness in persuading the public that refugees and asylum seekers are a moral contaminant that threatens the nation and has to be contained. Acceptance of the metaphor sanctions humanly degrading inferences, policies and actions. Public health professionals therefore have a responsibility to challenge the political use of public health and associated metaphors. Substituting the existing metaphor for one that is more morally acceptable could help to redefine refugees and asylum seekers more positively and promote compassion in political leaders and the community.

Open science initiatives: challenges for public health promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Holzmeyer, Cheryl

2018-03-07

While academic open access, open data and open science initiatives have proliferated in recent years, facilitating new research resources for health promotion, open initiatives are not one-size-fits-all. Health research particularly illustrates how open initiatives may serve various interests and ends. Open initiatives not only foster new pathways of research access; they also discipline research in new ways, especially when associated with new regimes of research use and peer review, while participating in innovation ecosystems that often perpetuate existing systemic biases toward commercial biomedicine. Currently, many open initiatives are more oriented toward biomedical research paradigms than paradigms associated with public health promotion, such as social determinants of health research. Moreover, open initiatives too often dovetail with, rather than challenge, neoliberal policy paradigms. Such initiatives are unlikely to transform existing health research landscapes and redress health inequities. In this context, attunement to social determinants of health research and community-based local knowledge is vital to orient open initiatives toward public health promotion and health equity. Such an approach calls for discourses, norms and innovation ecosystems that contest neoliberal policy frameworks and foster upstream interventions to promote health, beyond biomedical paradigms. This analysis highlights challenges and possibilities for leveraging open initiatives on behalf of a wider range of health research stakeholders, while emphasizing public health promotion, health equity and social justice as benchmarks of transformation.

Ecological public health and climate change policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, George P

2010-01-01

The fact that health and disease are products of a complex interaction of factors has long been recognized in public health circles. More recently, the term 'ecological public health' has been used to characterize an era underpinned by the paradigm that, when it comes to health and well-being, 'everything matters'. The challenge for policy makers is one of navigating this complexity to deliver better health and greater equality in health. Recent work in Scotland has been concerned to develop a strategic approach to environment and health. This seeks to embrace complexity within that agenda and recognize a more subtle relationship between health and place but remain practical and relevant to a more traditional hazard-focused environmental health approach. The Good Places, Better Health initiative is underpinned by a new problem-framing approach using a conceptual model developed for that purpose. This requires consideration of a wider social, behavioural etc, context. The approach is also used to configure the core systems of the strategy which gather relevant intelligence, subject it to a process of evaluation and direct its outputs to a broad policy constituency extending beyond health and environment. This paper highlights that an approach, conceived and developed to deliver better health and greater equality in health through action on physical environment, also speaks to a wider public health agenda. Specifically it offers a way to help bridge a gap between paradigm and policy in public health. The author considers that with development, a systems-based approach with close attention to problem-framing/situational modelling may prove useful in orchestrating what is a necessarily complex policy response to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

A national public health programme on gambling policy development in New Zealand: insights from a process evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolandai-Matchett, Komathi; Landon, Jason; Bellringer, Maria; Abbott, Max

2018-03-06

In New Zealand, a public health programme on gambling policy development is part of a national gambling harm reduction and prevention strategy mandated by the Gambling Act 2003. Funded by the Ministry of Health, the programme directs workplace/organisational gambling policies, non-gambling fundraising policies, and local council policies on electronic gaming machines (EGMs). We carried out a process evaluation of this programme to identify practical information (e.g. advocacy approaches; challenges and ameliorating strategies) that can be used by programme planners and implementers to reinforce programme effectiveness and serve to guide similar policy-focused public health initiatives elsewhere. Evaluation criteria, based on the programme's official service specifications, guided our evaluation questions, analysis and reporting. To identify informative aspects of programme delivery, we thematically analysed over 100 six-monthly implementer progress reports (representing 3 years of programme delivery) and transcript of a focus group with public health staff. Identified output-related themes included purposeful awareness raising to build understanding about gambling harms and the need for harm-reduction policies and stakeholder relationship development. Outcome-related themes included enhanced community awareness about gambling harms, community involvement in policy development, some workplace/organisational policy development, and some influences on council EGM policies. Non-gambling fundraising policy development was not common. The programme offers an unprecedented gambling harm reduction approach. Although complex (due to its three distinct policy focus areas targeting different sectors) and challenging (due to the extensive time and resources needed to develop relationships and overcome counteractive views), the programme resulted in some policy development. Encouraging workplace/organisational policy development requires increased awareness of costs to

Stakeholder engagement in policy development: challenges and opportunities for human genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemke, Amy A; Harris-Wai, Julie N

2015-12-01

Along with rapid advances in human genomics, policies governing genomic data and clinical technologies have proliferated. Stakeholder engagement is widely lauded as an important methodology for improving clinical, scientific, and public health policy decision making. The purpose of this paper is to examine how stakeholder engagement is used to develop policies in genomics research and public health areas, as well as to identify future priorities for conducting evidence-based stakeholder engagements. We focus on exemplars in biobanking and newborn screening to illustrate a variety of current stakeholder engagement in policy-making efforts. Each setting provides an important context for examining the methods of obtaining and integrating informed stakeholder voices into the policy-making process. While many organizations have an interest in engaging stakeholders with regard to genomic policy issues, there is broad divergence with respect to the stakeholders involved, the purpose of engagements, when stakeholders are engaged during policy development, methods of engagement, and the outcomes reported. Stakeholder engagement in genomics policy development is still at a nascent stage. Several challenges of using stakeholder engagement as a tool for genomics policy development remain, and little evidence regarding how to best incorporate stakeholder feedback into policy-making processes is currently available.

Public policy alienation of public service workers : A conceptual framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.G. Tummers (Lars); V.J.J.M. Bekkers (Victor); A.J. Steijn (Bram)

2007-01-01

textabstractNowadays, many public professionals face identification problems towards public policies they have to implement; that is, they experience policy alienation. This is troublesome, as for a proper implementation a minimal level of identification with the public policy is required. We use

Public Policy and the Shaping of Disability: Incidence Growth in Educational Autism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana Lee Baker

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Autism has gained the attention of policy makers and public administrators in recent years. The surge in prevalence, in tandem with a growing social preference for community inclusion of individuals with disabilities, strains a variety of policy infrastructures. Autism and related disorders, which were first described in 1943, were originally thought to be extremely low incidence and usually coincident with mental retardation. In accordance with the disability policy paradigm of the era, public services for autism were provided predominantly in institutional settings. Since then, however, autism and related disorders have come to be understood as more common than was originally thought and more rarely associated with mental retardation. In this article, shift-share analysis is used to gain insight into how the growth in autism incidence is being differentially experienced and recorded within a single arena of policy across the United States. The challenges associated with a sudden growth in supply (that is the number of children with autism, while unique to autism in some respects, include aspects that are similar for other disabilities and in policy challenges in other arenas. Especially since the implementation of the Government Performance Results Act of 1996, there is increased pressure to create public policy infrastructures that are anchored by clearly cut categorical service delivery. If the categories themselves leave significant room for interpretation and their use actually has a shaping effect on the target population, then it is important to administration and policy evaluation to understand how the effect is playing out.

The Two Solitudes of Educational Policy and the Challenge of Development

Science.gov (United States)

Murgatroyd, Stephen; Sahlberg, Pasi

2016-01-01

Policy makers are challenged to improve educational outcomes, manage scarce resources and secure public acceptance of their initiatives to provide quality, relevant and effective education. In making decisions they are pulled between competing ideologies about the process and purposes of schooling. This paper explores these ideologies and suggests…

Public Procurement of Innovation Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rolfstam, Max; Petersen, Ole Helby

2014-01-01

Until recently, Danish policy interest in public procurement has mainly been driven by efficiency and cost-effectiveness concerns. Public-procurement policies have in general focused on the utilisation of economies of scale as a Means of achieving lower prices on goods and services. Attempts...... to develop mandatory procurement systems have also been gradually developing, while the focus on innovation has been relatively modest in Danish procurement policies until recently. This picture is currently changing, as several initiatives emphasising public procurement as a means of stimulating innovation...... have been launched. Whether this gradual change of focus in Danish procurement policies will make a deep and lasting impact on the role of public procurement as a driver for innovationis, however, yet an open question....

Practice of Participatory Governance in Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Алена Сергеевна Перезолова

2018-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the idea of participatory democracy. The article provides case study of pilot projects aimed to engage citizens for public participation in different forms, such as: participatory budgeting, participatory modeling, public consultations and other participatory practices. The concept of public participation implied in most common methods of consultation as local meetings, public hearings, creation of working groups, public dialogue commissions, workshops, discussion forums on Web sites, contests of ideas and projects, crowdfunding projects, cooperation citizens initiatives and more consumerist type as polls and focus groups. The ability to work together becomes a resource for growth of civic consciousness, where citizens become active actors, who able to participate in public policy, resource mobilization, independent projects for realization and formation of social capital. The challenge for participatory democracy is maturity degree of civil society and examined examples of participatory practices are pilot projects that aimed formation of civic consciousness.

Challenging 'girls only' publicly funded human papillomavirus vaccination programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Victoria G; Gustafson, Diana L

2017-01-01

This analysis examines the 'girls only' policy for publicly funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programmes. Current funding policy in most Canadian provinces covers 'girls only' with the goal of reducing mortality and morbidity rates of HPV-related cervical cancer. Recent studies indicate increasing rates of other HPV-related cancers among cisgender men and women. The HPV vaccine is proving effective against some of these cancers. Statistics on HPV vaccine uptake among individuals with different gender expressions are scarce. Critics argue that a 'girls only' HPV vaccine policy is inequitable. We add to this critique by reflecting on the gender binary embedded in such policies and produced through epidemiological studies that attend differentially to females, reinforcing exclusionary practices that leave out those who form their gender identities across the spectrum. We then draw on deontological (duties-based) and utilitarian (utility-based) frameworks to show that these gendered policies are also unethical. These challenges to the assumptions underlying 'girls only' immunization programmes have implications for nurses and the healthcare system. If we are to advance equitable and ethical health outcomes, we entreat nurses as a collective to mobilize the public to lobby federal, provincial and territorial governments to fund more inclusive HPV vaccination policies. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Challenges and reforms in Long-Term Care policy in Spain - See more at: http://www.gigapp.org/index.php/component/jresearch/?view=publication&task=show&id=1808#sthash.QjsbaT7Q.dpuf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moreno-Fuentes, Francisco Javier

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The NorSpaR project aims to analyse the main public policy initiatives by which Norway and Spain cope with the new social and economic challenges derived from the so-called New Social Risks (NSR. Although both countries present significant differences in their institutional settings (such as Spanish EU membership, or its belonging to diverse welfare regimes types (Norway is generally included in the Nordic regime, while Spain is part of the Mediterranean one, both countries share a common interest in addressing the aforementioned challenges while maintaining social cohesion. In the last decade, governments in both countries have tried to respond to those challenges by reforming their labour markets, adapting their unemployment schemes, as well as their gender, family and long-term care policies. The analysis covered in this project includes three areas of public policy addressing NSR. First, dependency is one of the most daunting challenges for post-industrial societies experiencing population ageing and with an increasing number of frail people in need of care. This situation is forcing governments to rethink their long-term care policies. Second, family and gender public programs need to respond to the growing difficulties of families in reconciling professional and family life. Third, in the transition to a post-industrial order, and in a context of mass unemployment, social protection systems have a renewed prominence. Along with the so-called passive policies offering financial support to the unemployed, active labour market policies are geared to put people back into work. In our analysis we try to find answers to the following questions: What are the challenges that each of these policies have been trying to address in recent years? How have these policies evolved? What kinds of reforms have been implemented, and which ones have been neglected? Have the policy goals and targets of welfare programs been modified in any significant way

The right to health, health systems development and public health policy challenges in Chad.

Science.gov (United States)

Azétsop, Jacquineau; Ochieng, Michael

2015-02-15

There is increasing consensus that the right to health can provide ethical, policy and practical groundings for health systems development. The goals of the right to health are congruent with those of health systems development, which are about strengthening health promotion organizations and actions so as to improve public health. The poor shape and performance of health systems in Chad question the extent of realization of the right to health. Due to its comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, the right to health has the potential of being an organizational and a normative backbone for public health policy and practice. It can then be understood and studied as an integral component of health systems development. This paper uses a secondary data analysis of existing documents by the Ministry of Public Health, Institut National de la Statistique, des Etudes Economiques et Démographiques (INSEED), the Ministry of Economy and Agence Française de Cooperation to analyze critically the shape and performance of health systems in Chad based on key concepts and components of the right to health contained in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and on General Comment 14. The non-realization of the right to health, even in a consistently progressive manner, raises concerns about the political commitment of state officials to public health, about the justice of social institutions in ensuring social well-being and about individual and public values that shape decision-making processes. Social justice, democratic rule, transparency, accountability and subsidiarity are important groundings for ensuring community participation in public affairs and for monitoring the performance of public institutions. The normative ideals of health systems development are essentially democratic in nature and are rooted in human rights and in ethical principles of human dignity, equality, non-discrimination and social justice. These ideals are grounded

5 CFR 294.201 - Public information policy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Office. (b) The Assistant Director for Public Affairs carries out the public information policy of the... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Public information policy. 294.201... AVAILABILITY OF OFFICIAL INFORMATION The Public Information Function § 294.201 Public information policy. (a...

Public Policies of Solar Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouvier, Yves; Pehlivanian, Sophie; Teissier, Pierre; Chauvin-Michel, Marion; Forget, Marie; Raymond, Roland; Hyun Jin Yu, Julie; Popiolek, Nathalie; Guthleben, Denis

2013-01-01

This dossier about the Public Policies of Solar Energy brings together the presentations given in June 2013 at a colloquium organised by the Savoie university of Chambery (France): Introduction (Yves Bouvier, Sophie Pehlivanian); Passive solar energy in the shade of the French energy policy, 1945-1986 (Pierre Teissier); Solar architectures and energy policies in France: from oil crisis to solar crisis (Marion Chauvin-Michel); Sun in media, between promotion and contestation (Sophie Pehlivanian); Public policies of solar energy and territorial jurisdictions: the example of village photovoltaic power plants (Marie Forget); Energy social system and ordinary creative movement (Roland Raymond); The Historical Evolution of South Korea's Solar PV Policies since the 1970's (Julie Hyun Jin Yu, Nathalie Popiolek); Research on solar energy from yesterday to the present day: an historical project (Denis Guthleben); Photovoltaic power: public policies and economical consequences. The French choices in the international context - 1973-2013 (Alain Ricaud)

Policy, Profession and Public Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kann-Christensen, Nanna; Balling, Gitte

Policy, Profession and Public Management: Conflict or Coherence? By Gitte Balling, Assistant Professor, PhD. Email gb@iva.dk Nanna Kann-Christensen, Associate Professor, PhD. Email: nkc@iva.dk Royal School of Library and Information Science Birketinget 6 DK-2300 Copenhagen S T +45 32 58 60 66...... Introduction The aim of this paper is to contribute to the establishment of a theoretically based understanding of the role that cultural policy plays in the way literature promotion is practiced in Danish public libraries. More specifically we aim at refining a model that integrates different issues which...... interconnected concerns that relates to literature promotion. Besides cultural policy we regard the logics of New Public Management (NPM) and professional logics in the field of public libraries. Cultural policy along with the identification of underlying logics present among politicians, government officials...

Public Policies Analysis and the Prince System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behxhet Brajshori

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Public Policies present governmental sectorial policies and according to several scholars those are defined based on "what does the Government do". In fact, those are mandatory state's principles for the Government that aims the implementation of the strategy, objectives and Government's goals in the function of its promises' fulfilment towards the electors and all of the country's citizens. Public Policies Analysis has to do with the monitoring of government's agenda which directly can influence on a specific community. The idea of public policies analysis in linked with the need that the Government through statistical data has to prove what is being worked. Public Policies Analysis evolves in terms of design, implementation and public policies' effects. One of the methods for predicting the probability that a specifi c public policy will be implemented or not, is the Prince System. The Prince System, actually, presents a technique for assessing the relative support or opposition to a particular policy from individuals, groups or organizations.

Game theory and public policy

CERN Document Server

McCain, Roger A

2015-01-01

This book provides a critical, selective review of concepts from game theory and their applications in public policy, and further suggests some modifications for some of the models (chiefly in cooperative game theory) to improve their applicability to economics and public policy.

PolicyNet Publication System

Data.gov (United States)

Social Security Administration — The PolicyNet Publication System project will merge the Oracle-based Policy Repository (POMS) and the SQL-Server CAMP system (MSOM) into a new system with an Oracle...

Shelter from the Storm: Roles, responsibilities, and challenges in United States housing policy governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Willison, Charley

2017-11-01

Housing is a critical social determinant of health. Housing policy not only affects health by improving housing quality, affordability, and insecurity; housing policy affects health upstream through the politics that shape housing policy design, implementation, and management. These politics, or governance strategies, determine the successes or failures of housing policy programs. This paper is an overview of challenges in housing policy governance in the United States. I examine the important relationship between housing and health, and emphasize why studying housing policy governance matters. I then present three cases of housing governance challenges in the United States, from each pathway by which housing affects health - housing quality, affordability, and insecurity. Each case corresponds to an arm of the TAPIC framework for evaluating governance (Krieger and Higgins) [1], to assess mechanisms of housing governance in each case. While housing governance has come a long way over the past century, political decentralization and the expansion of the submerged state have increased the number of political actors and policy conflict in many areas. This creates inherent challenges for improving accountability, transparency, and policy capacity. In many instances, too, reduced government accountability and transparency increases the risk of harm to the public and lessens governmental integrity. Copyright © 2017 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A distant light scientists and public policy

CERN Document Server

2000-01-01

A collection of essays by a Nobel Prize Laureate on a wide range of critical issues facing the world, and the role of scientists in solving these problems. Kendall has been closely involved with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a group that began as an informal assocation at MIT in 1969 to protest US involvement in Vietnam and is today an organization with an annual budget exceeding $6 million, with 100,000 supporters worldwide. UCD is today a voice of authority in US government science policy, particularly with regard to environment issues, most recently the worldwide initiatives on global warming. Together, these essays represent both the sucessses and failures of science to impact public policy, the challenges facing scientists, and offers practical guidelines for involvement in science policy. The essays are roughly chronological, organized by subject with introductions, beginning with the controversies on nuclear power safety and Three Mile Island,then followed by sections on national security issues, ...

Supporting the diffusion of healthy public policy in Canada: the Prevention Policies Directory.

Science.gov (United States)

Politis, Christopher E; Halligan, Michelle H; Keen, Deb; Kerner, Jon F

2014-01-01

Healthy public policy plays an essential role in a comprehensive public health approach to preventing cancer and chronic disease. Public policies spread through the 'policy diffusion' process, enabling governments to learn from another's enacted policy solutions. The Prevention Policies Directory (the Directory), an online database of municipal, provincial/territorial, and federal cancer and chronic disease prevention policies from across Canada, was developed to facilitate the diffusion of healthy public policies and support the work of prevention researchers, practitioners, and policy specialists. This information technology solution was implemented, through a participatory engagement approach, as a communication channel or policy knowledge transfer tool. It also addressed the intrinsic shortcomings of environmental scanning for policy surveillance and monitoring. A combination of quantitative web metrics and qualitative anecdotal evidence have illustrated that the Directory is becoming an important tool for healthy public policy surveillance and policy diffusion in Canada.

Developing a public health policy-research nexus: an evaluation of Nurse Practitioner models in aged care.

Science.gov (United States)

Prosser, Brenton; Clark, Shannon; Davey, Rachel; Parker, Rhian

2013-10-01

A frustration often expressed by researchers and policy-makers in public health is an apparent mismatch between respective priorities and expectations for research. Academics bemoan an oversimplification of their work, a reticence for independent critique and the constant pressure to pursue evaluation funding. Meanwhile, policy-makers look for research reports written in plain language with clear application, which are attuned to current policy settings and produced quickly. In a context where there are calls in western nations for evidence based policy with stronger links to academic research, such a mismatch can present significant challenges to policy program evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to present one attempt to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the paper describes the development of a conceptual framework for a large-scale, multifaceted evaluation of an Australian Government health initiative to expand Nurse Practitioner models of practice in aged care service delivery. In doing so, the paper provides a brief review of key points for the facilitation of a strong research-policy nexus in public health evaluations, as well as describes how this particular evaluation embodies these key points. As such, the paper presents an evaluation approach which may be adopted and adapted by others undertaking public health policy program evaluations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategies to strengthen public health inputs to water policy in response to climate change: an Australian perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Goater, Sarah; Cook, Angus; Hogan, Anthony; Mengersen, Kerrie; Hieatt, Arron; Weinstein, Philip

2011-03-01

Under current climate change projections, the capacity to provide safe drinking water to Australian communities will be challenged. Part of this challenge is the lack of an adaptive governance strategy that transcends jurisdictional boundaries to support integrated policy making, regulation, or infrastructural adaptation. Consequently, some water-related health hazards may not be adequately captured or forecast under existing water resource management policies to ensure safe water supplies. Given the high degree of spatial and temporal variability in climate conditions experienced by Australian communities, new strategies for national health planning and prioritization for safe water supplies are warranted. The challenges facing public health in Australia will be to develop flexible and robust governance strategies that strengthen public health input to existing water policy, regulation, and surveillance infrastructure through proactive risk planning, adopting new technologies, and intersectoral collaborations. The proposed approach could assist policy makers avert or minimize risk to communities arising from changes in climate and water provisions both in Australia and in the wider Asia Pacific region.

Challenges to the Aarhus Convention: Public Participation in the Energy Planning Process in the United Kingdom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raphael Heffron

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines the tension between the democratic right of public participation on specific environmental issues, guaranteed by European Law, and the degree to which it is being challenged in the UK as a consequence of recent approaches to energy infrastructure planning. Recent trends in UK government policy frameworks seem both to threaten effective public participation and challenge EU planning strategy, in particular those outlined in the Aarhus convention. The research outlined in this study involves an assessment of the changing context of planning and energy policy, in addition to recent changes in legislation formulation in the UK. The research findings, derived from an extensive interview process of elite stakeholders engaged in policy and legislation formulation in the UK and the EU provide a new categorisation system of stakeholders in energy policy that can be utilised in future research. The article concludes with a second order analysis of the interviewee data and provides solutions to increase public participation in the planning of energy infrastructure that emerge from the different perspectives.

Reflections on the challenges and possibilities of journal publication in science education

Science.gov (United States)

Milne, Catherine; Siry, Christina; Mueller, Michael

2015-12-01

In this editorial we reflect on the intersections between the review and publishing policies of Cultural Studies of Science Education (CSSE) and the challenges and possibilities in global science education publishing. In particular we discuss the tensions associated with open or closed review policies, the hegemony of English as a language of publication, and reflect on some of the common challenges experienced by editors and authors from different contexts. We draw on the paper set in this issue consisting of five papers focused on publishing in various contexts, and elaborate several central questions for the field of science education and the dissemination of knowledges.

Institutional policy learning and public consultation: the Canadian xenotransplantation experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Mavis; Einsiedel, Edna

2011-09-01

Attempts to evaluate public consultations, participatory technology assessment, and deliberative democracy have typically considered impacts on either policy or participants. The determination of impacts on policy institutions has been limited due to the challenges of tracing effects through the policy process, or penetrating bureaucratic walls. This paper presents findings from a retrospective study exploring the institutional lessons learned from a 2001 Canadian national public consultation on xenotransplantation. The consultation was conducted through an arm's-length process and involved the use of citizen juries in six regional sites. We conducted in-depth interviews of regulatory and policy actors who were engaged in early policy discussions and the consultation process. We reviewed evaluations of this process, both internal and external, which gave us richer insights into what institutional actors saw as the impacts of this consultative experience on their policy environment. Participants in our research identified a broader shift toward openness in policy culture which they linked specifically to the innovative consultation process employed for xenotransplantation. We argue that beyond input into policy decisions, a consultation may have an impact in terms of its contribution to overall shifts in institutional culture (related to institutional learning), such as an "opening" of technological decision processes to a broader range of actors, knowledge, and values. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public Demand and Climate Change Policy Making in OECD Countries – From Dynamics of the Demand to Policy Responsiveness

OpenAIRE

Bianca Oehl

2015-01-01

Climate change is one of today’s major political challenges. The Kyoto Protocol assigned national emission reduction goals for the developed countries however national governments in these countries have implemented policies varying widely in range and ambition over time and across countries to meet their goals. Can this variation in policy making be explained by dierences in the typically taken for granted – but empirically often neglected – influence of public demand for climate protection?...

Seeing through the public health smoke-screen in drug policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Csete, Joanne; Wolfe, Daniel

2017-05-01

In deliberations on drug policy in United Nations fora, a consensus has emerged that drug use and drug dependence should be treated primarily as public health concerns rather than as crimes. But what some member states mean by "public health approach" merits scrutiny. Some governments that espouse treating people who use drugs as "patients, not criminals" still subject them to prison-like detention in the name of drug-dependence treatment or otherwise do not take measures to provide scientifically sound treatment and humane social support to those who need them. Even drug treatment courts, which the U.S. and other countries hold up as examples of a public health approach to drug dependence, can serve rather to tighten the hold of the criminal justice sector on concerns that should be addressed in the health sector. The political popularity of demonisation of drugs and visibly repressive approaches is an obvious challenge to leadership for truly health-oriented drug control. This commentary offers some thoughts for judging whether a public health approach is worthy of the name and cautions drug policy reformers not to rely on facile commitments to health approaches that are largely rhetorical or that mask policies and activities not in keeping with good public health practise. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring technology diffusion in emerging markets – the role of public policy for wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friebe, Christian A.; Flotow, Paschen von; Täube, Florian A.

2014-01-01

This study challenges the implicit assumption of homogeneity in national institutional contexts made in past studies of (renewable) energy policy. We propose that institutional differences matter by focusing on several technology-specific and generic policy factors that can foster technology diffusion through private sector activity. More specifically, we explore perceptions of early adopters in emerging economy contexts using wind park project developers as an example. By applying a parsimonious method for our questionnaire as well as qualitative data we make several contributions: Methodologically, we introduce Maximum Difference Scaling to the energy policy domain. Empirically, we identify several public influences on private investment, and assess their relative importance. This leads to new insights challenging findings from industrialized economies; we identified additional institutional barriers to diffusion, hence, the requirement of a combination of technology-specific and generic policy measures. - Highlights: • Explorative qualitative and quantitative study of project developers in emerging markets. • Identifies influencing factors for technology diffusion regarding wind farms. • Predictable public authorities and well-implemented public processes attract intern. project developers. • Feed-in-Tariffs and grid access guarantees are particularly appealing

Impact of Advocacy Initiatives on Nurses' Motivation to Sustain Momentum in Public Policy Advocacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Melissa R S

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to elicit insight from the public policy leaders of 2 regional professional nursing organizations on key qualities of their current advocacy initiatives that motivate nurses to sustain momentum in public policy advocacy beyond a single episode. The goal is to inform quality improvement in the development of future advocacy initiatives to increase sustained engagement of nurses. Social cognitive theory was used as the rationale for this qualitative, descriptive study. A purposive convenience sample of executive leadership and board committee members from 2 regional professional nursing organizations were recruited to complete an initial Web-based electronic survey, followed by separate semistructured interview focus groups. One organization was composed primarily of advanced practice registered nurses, and the other group composed of diverse, multispecialty nursing members with varied educational levels. Nine themes emerged, categorized as facilitators or challenges to the positive impact of advocacy initiatives on nurses' motivation. Highlighting and marketing facilitators to the positive impact of advocacy initiatives on nurses' motivation to sustain momentum in public policy advocacy, while designing and testing new initiatives that address the challenges, may increase the number of nurses who sustain engagement in the policy advocacy process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Political frictions and public policy outcomes

OpenAIRE

Grechyna, Daryna

2016-01-01

We study the role of political frictions in public policy outcomes. We propose a simple model of fiscal policy that combines a lack of commitment by the government, political turnover, and another political friction that can be interpreted either as political polarization or as public rent-seeking. We show that political turnover increases public debt levels, while political polarization or public rent-seeking leads to higher public spending. We evaluate the importance of different political ...

New scenes and houses for literature - a challenge for cultural and public library policy?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Niels D.

2012-01-01

The paper focuses on the emergence of new initiatives and undertakings in the field of promotion and use of literature in comparison with the possibilities and practices of the traditional public library institutions and of public cultural policy. First a description of a dual development...... of the public library and of UNESCO’s agenda City of literature makes a setting; then three parts mention different scenes and initiatives: small scenes for performance of literature, festivals of literature as a mode, and – more detailed – the various types of houses of literature - with primarily Danish...... questions of subsiding and relations to libraries and civil society....

Public Policies – Embodiments of Democratization Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorina Ţicu

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Public policies are the most practical part of the triad polity-politics-policy. Public policies are related to the practical areas of planning, implementation and evaluation of the governmental activities. From this perspective, to talk about a perfect public policy (or which aspires to perfection means to speak about an efficient institutional system of a state as a sign of its degree of democratization. This article aims to explore “the cuisine” of democratic systems taking into account the applied perspective of public policy functionality, a type of functionality which is determined by a particular decision, by a kind of rationality or motivation of the actors involved or by a type of an organizational culture. Thus, the study of democracies involves an analytical approach developed at a micro level (the types of parties, institutional designs, election systems, public policies becoming indices of democratization for every state system.

Integrating natural and social sciences to inspire public confidence in radioactive waste policy case study - Committee on radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usher, Sam

2007-01-01

Integrating Natural and Social Sciences to Inspire Public Confidence in Radioactive Waste Policy Case Study: Committee on Radioactive Waste Management Implementing effective long-term radioactive waste management policy is challenging, and both UK and international experience is littered with policy and programme failures. Policy must not only be underpinned by sound science and technical rationale, it must also inspire the confidence of the public and other stakeholders. However, in today's modern society, communities will not simply accept the word of scientists for setting policy based purely on technical grounds. This is particularly so in areas where there are significant social and ethical issues, such as radioactive waste disposal. To develop and implement effective policy, governments, waste owners and implementing bodies must develop processes which effectively integrate both complex technical and scientific issues, with equally challenging social and ethical concerns. These integrating processes must marry often intricate technical issues with broad public and stakeholder engagement programmes, in programmes which can expect the highest levels of public scrutiny, and must invariably be delivered within challenging time and budget constraints. This paper considers a model for how such integrating processes can be delivered. The paper reviews, as a case study, how such challenges were overcome by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), which, in July 2006, made recommendations to the UK government for the establishment of a long-term radioactive waste policy. Its recommendations were underpinned by sound science, but also engendered public confidence through undertaking the largest and most significant deliberative public and stakeholder engagement programme on a complex policy issue in the UK. Effective decision-making was enabled through the integration of both proven and bespoke methodologies, including Multi-criteria Decision Analysis and

Climate, Companies, and Public Policy: How Transparent Is the Private Sector in Reporting Climate Policy Influence?

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, G. T.; Carlson, C.

2014-12-01

To enact effective policies to address climate change, decision makers need both scientific and political support. One major barrier to U.S. climate policy enactment has been the opposition of private sector actors to proposed policies and to climate science itself. Increasingly, the public and investors are holding companies accountable for their actions around climate change—including political activies, affiliations with trade groups, and involvement with climate science. However, this accountability is inhibited by the prominent role that trade associations have played in climate policy debates in recent years. The opaque nature of such groups is problematic, as it inhibits the public from understanding who is obstructing progress on addressing climate change, and in some cases, impedes the public's climate literacy. Voluntary climate reporting can yield some information on companies' climate engagement and demonstrates the need for greater transparency in corporate political activities around climate change. We analyze CDP climate reporting data from 1,824 companies to assess the degree to which corporate actors disclosed their political influence on climate policies through their trade associations. Results demonstrate the limitations of voluntary reporting and the extent to which companies utilize their trade associations to influence climate change policy debates without being held accountable for these positions. Notably, many companies failed to acknowledge their board seat on trade groups with significant climate policy engagement. Of those that did acknowledge their board membership, some claimed not to agree with their trade associations' positions on climate change. These results raise questions about who trade groups are representing when they challenge the science or obstruct policies to address climate change. Recommendations for overcoming this barrier to informed decision making to address climate change will be discussed.

The Oregon Public Health Policy Institute: Building Competencies for Public Health Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Jangho; Bernell, Stephanie; Tynan, Michael; Alvarado, Carla Sarai; Eversole, Tom; Mosbaek, Craig; Beathard, Candice

2015-01-01

The Oregon Public Health Policy Institute (PHPI) was designed to enhance public health policy competencies among state and local health department staff. The Oregon Health Authority funded the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University to develop the PHPI curriculum in 2012 and offer it to participants from 4 state public health programs and 5 local health departments in 2013. The curriculum interspersed short instructional sessions on policy development, implementation, and evaluation with longer hands-on team exercises in which participants applied these skills to policy topics their teams had selected. Panel discussions provided insights from legislators and senior Oregon health experts. Participants reported statistically significant increases in public health policy competencies and high satisfaction with PHPI overall. PMID:26066925

Policy formulation of public acceptance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasai, Akihiro

1978-01-01

Since 1970, the new policy formulation for public acceptance of the new consideration on the location of electric power generation has been set and applied. The planning and the enforcement being conducted by local public organizations for the local economic build-up with plant location and also the adjustement of the requirements for fishery are two main specific characters in this new policy. The background of this new public acceptance policy, the history and the actual problems about the compensation for the location of power generation plants are reviewed. One new proposal, being recommended by the Policy and Science Laboratory to MITI in 1977 is explained. This is based on the method of promoting the location of power generation plants by public participation placing the redevelopment of regional societies as its basis. The problems concerning the industrial structures in farm villages, fishing villages and the areas of commerce and industry should be systematized, and explained from the viewpoint of outside impact, the characteristics of local areas and the location problems in this new proposal. Finally, the location process and its effectiveness should be put in order. (Nakai, Y.)

National innovation policy and public science in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Lyn

2017-12-01

In this paper, I have positioned myself with Kean Birch and explored some of the political-economic actors/actants of policy suites implicated in the biotechnologies and bioeconomy. In particular, I have considered Australia's recent National Innovation and Science Agenda and allied documents and entities (that is, Innovation and Science Australia, the National Science Statement and the 2016 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap) as one of the National Innovation Strategies in place now in OECD countries and beyond. In overview, these policy suites utilise the same high knowledge creation/low translation and commericalisation arguments as elsewhere to press for particular ideologically based `improvements' to public science. Mapping the terrain of these entities has revealed the innovation, biotechnology and bioeconomy policy space to be inordinately complex and challenging to navigate. Reviewing Australia's position enables the type of comparative work that contributes to a closer understanding of the largely neoliberal global economic imperatives shaping contemporaneity. Moreover, while these policy suites attempt to constitute and circulate particular visions of science education, their complex nature mitigates against science teachers/educators grappling with their implications.

Public humanization policies: integrative literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Márcia Adriana Dias Meirelles; Lustosa, Abdon Moreira; Dutra, Fernando; Barros, Eveline de Oliveira; Batista, Jaqueline Brito Vidal; Duarte, Marcella Costa Souto

2015-10-01

The study aimed to investigate the scientific literature on Public Humanization Policies, available in online periodicals, from 2009 to 2012, in the health field. This is an integrative literature review conducted in the Virtual Health Library databases: Latin-America and Caribbean Health Sciences (Lilacs) and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and Portal Capes. Data were collected in July 2013. To this end, the following Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) were used: "Humanization of Care," "Public Policies," "National Humanization Policy". The sample consisted of 27 articles about the investigated theme. From the publications selected for the research, three categories emerged according to their respective approaches: National Human-ization Policy: history and processes involved in its implementation; National Humanization Policy: health professionals contribution; Humanization and in the care process. The study showed that the National Humanization Policy is an important benchmark in the development of health practices. For this reason, there is a pressing multiplication of related reflections on ways to promote human-ization in health services.

Policy alienation of public professionals: the effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.G. Tummers (Lars)

2008-01-01

textabstractNowadays, many public professionals face identification problems towards public policies they have to implement; that is, they experience policy alienation. We conceptualize policy alienation, starting from the sociological concept of alienation and showing how this can be used in the

Public Policy and Foucaultian Critique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karlsen, Mads Peter; Villadsen, Kaspar

2012-01-01

This article suggests that certain intertwinements can be discerned between contemporary public policies and post-structural thinking, emblematically represented by Foucault and scholars drawing upon his work. The article demonstrates that the post-structural perspective on power, while recognising...... its strengths and efficacy, confines observers to a particular form of analytical critique, which sets specific limits for what can be observed and debated. The position of Nikolas Rose is discussed with a specific attention to his diagnosis of the adoption of ‘community’ as a governmental category...... and his understanding of the relationship between power and critique. A significant challenge for this form of critique is the recent embracing of concepts of ‘diversity’ and ‘pluralism’, both in welfare reforms and service arrangements. Another difficulty is posed by how to engage with the material...

Social Stigma Toward Persons With Prescription Opioid Use Disorder: Associations With Public Support for Punitive and Public Health-Oriented Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy-Hendricks, Alene; Barry, Colleen L; Gollust, Sarah E; Ensminger, Margaret E; Chisolm, Margaret S; McGinty, Emma E

2017-05-01

Prescription opioid use disorder and overdose have emerged as significant public health challenges in the past 15 years. Little is known about public attitudes toward individuals who have developed a prescription opioid use disorder and whether these attitudes affect support for policy interventions. This study examined social stigma toward individuals with prescription opioid use disorder and tested whether stigma was associated with support for various policy interventions. A nationally representative Web-based survey was conducted from January 31 to February 28, 2014. The 1,071 respondents reported on their beliefs about and attitudes toward persons affected by prescription opioid use disorder and rated their support for various policy interventions. Ordered logistic regression models estimated the association between stigma and public support for punitive and public health-oriented policies. Most respondents viewed this disorder as affecting all groups-racial and ethnic, income, and geographic area of residence groups-fairly equally, despite epidemiological data demonstrating that certain populations have been disproportionately burdened. Respondents expressed high levels of stigma toward individuals with prescription opioid use disorder. Levels of stigma were generally similar among those with and without experience with prescription opioid use disorder, either one's own or that of a relative or close friend. Higher levels of stigma were associated with greater support for punitive policies and lower support for public health-oriented policies. Reframing the issue to emphasize the structural factors contributing to prescription opioid use disorder and the barriers to accessing evidence-based treatment might improve support for policies that benefit affected individuals.

Fact-Challenged Policy. Policy Memorandum #182

Science.gov (United States)

Rothstein, Richard

2011-01-01

This paper is a response on the topic of school reform efforts being promoted by Bill Gates and other prominent education policy advocates. Last week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates published an op-ed in the Washington Post, "How Teacher Development could Revolutionize our Schools," proposing that American public schools should do a…

In the Name of Effective Consumer Protection and Public Policy!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Marie Jull

2016-01-01

I. The CJEU has established that under certain circumstances national courts have an obligation, ex officio, to apply specific consumer protection provisions. This article presents a model derived from the argumentation for this obligation in CJEU case law. The model consists of four steps...... that include the specific ideas behind consumer protection provisions as well as the interaction between the principle of effectiveness and principle of equivalence. It is found that the principle of effectiveness is stretched very long and is often not set aside by the “rule of reason”. It is also found...... that the CJEU is open to the idea of regarding consumer protection provisions as (EU) public policy rules which seems to challenge the traditional principle of equivalence. Based on the findings, the author elaborates on the concept of an European public policy doctrine....

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC CRISIS - CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrisor Mihai - Bogdan

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Public spending is a key component for both public finances and government financial policy. In this situation, government expenditures are made in direct relation with the results of governance with economic and financial crises and global social welfare of the nation. From this perspective, our article aims to highlight the correlation between public expenditure and budgetary financial and economic crisis and, also, state government responses, anticipating their impact on medium and long term. Also, in the context of the crisis and the concomitent lack of public revenue, we identify the pillars on which to base the budget reduction in public expenditure. The implications of the economic crisis in Romania are analyzed along with proposed measures to be followed by the Government through budgetary fiscal strategy. In relation to the purpose and objectives of the research, documentation was made both in terms of bibliographic resources and the plan of legislative documents and quantitative reporting. We believe that the issue of increasing allocative efficiency of resources is vital to counter the current crisis, but also to maximize the positive effects of public interventions in general and from another state, we consider that state and, consequently, public expenditure budget which should be used to replace the market, can not be regarded as some suggest to be founded and we suggest a line for developed countries. This work was supported by the grant “Post-doctoral studies in Economics: program for continuous forming of elite researchers – SPODE”, contract POSDRU/89/1.5/S/61755, project financed by the European Social Fund, by the Operational Sectorial Program Development of Human Resources 2007-2013.

Paradigms of public policies for licit and illicit drugs in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Gigliotti, Analice; Ribeiro, Marcelo; Tapia Aguilera, Amarílis; Rezende, Elton; Ogata Perrenoud, Luciane

2014-01-01

Brazil is a country of continental dimensions that, over the last 3 decades, has been making increased efforts to develop effective public policies for controlling the use of both licit and illicit psychoactive substances. In the case of licit drugs, Brazil was a pioneer in following the guidance of the World Health Organization for tobacco control and has witnessed surprising results relating to reduction of smoking prevalence and correlated morbidity and mortality. Today, Brazil has a national structure for organizing, applying, and monitoring laws relating to tobacco. However, in the field of illicit drugs, with crack consumption as a paradigm, the situation is the opposite: its use has been increasing year by year and is being consumed at increasingly young ages and by all social classes. Thus, it is becoming an enormous challenge for public policies relating to prevention and treatment. In this context, the aim of this article is to present a review of the epidemiological data relating to tobacco and crack use in Brazil, with an analysis on the impact of public policies for controlling consumption over recent years. Despite the efforts made over the last 3 decades, Brazil still has a long way to go in order to construct a consistent and effective national drugs policy.

Achieving walkable city in Indonesia: Policy and responsive design through public participation

Science.gov (United States)

Tanan, Natalia; Darmoyono, Laksmi

2017-11-01

This paper discusses approaches to policy and planning of pedestrian facility that facilitate walking in cities in Indonesia. It applies quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze walkability in some cities. The new perspective in policy and planning are focusing on improving non-motorized mobility; it encourages walking and put the provision of the pedestrian facility as an integral part of built environmental planning and development. The policy perceives pedestrian facility in broad, not only about physical development, but also benefit to socioeconomic activity and environmental quality. It is expected that the implementation of policies and walkability concept could upgrade the pedestrian facility, as a walkable city delivers green atmosphere of the urban environment. A design competition of pedestrian facility was held to test the policy and accommodate input from the public. Public participation through competition also enriches the design of pedestrian facility that responsive to local condition. Implementation is still a challenge due to limited budget; however, there are tendencies that few cities improve pedestrian facilities to encourage people walking in order to make the city livable and environmentally friendly.

Occupational Health and Safety in Aquaculture: Insights on Brazilian Public Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira, Pedro Keller; Cavalli, Richard Souto; Kunert Filho, Hiran Castagnino; Carvalho, Daiane; Benedetti, Nadine; Rotta, Marco Aurélio; Peixoto Ramos, Augusto Sávio; de Brito, Kelly Cristina Tagliari; de Brito, Benito Guimarães; da Rocha, Andréa Ferretto; Stech, Marcia Regina; Cavalli, Lissandra Souto

2017-01-01

Aquaculture has many occupational hazards, including those that are physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and mechanical. The risks in aquaculture are inherent, as this activity requires particular practices. The objective of the present study was to show the risks associated with the aquaculture sector and present a critical overview on the Brazilian public policies concerning aquaculture occupational health. Methods include online research involved web searches and electronic databases including Pubmed, Google Scholar, Scielo and government databases. We conducted a careful revision of Brazilian labor laws related to occupational health and safety, rural workers, and aquaculture. The results and conclusion support the idea that aquaculture requires specific and well-established industry programs and policies, especially in developing countries. Aquaculture still lacks scientific research, strategies, laws, and public policies to boost the sector with regard to occupational health and safety. The establishment of a safe workplace in aquaculture in developing countries remains a challenge for all involved in employer-employee relationships.

The Limit of Public Policy : Endogenous Preferences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bar-Gill, O.; Fershtman, C.

2000-01-01

In designing public policy it is not enough to consider the possible reaction of individuals to the chosen policy.Public policy may also affect the formation of preferences and norms in a society.The endogenous evolution of preferences, in addition to introducing a conceptual difficulty in

Advances and Challenges in Public Policies and Programs to Prevent Discrimination in the Governmental Sphere. The Paped's Case, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernesto Treviño Ronzón

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This article discusses some of the challenges implied in the task of implementing and evaluating actions to prevent and eradicate discrimination in the government sector. It is to recognize that in Mexico the task is in the making and follows patterns of unequal development, although it is widely legislated. For this discussion, we introduce contextual references about the implementation of reforms in favor of human rights in Mexico, and we articulate them with the notion of public policies. Then, we take as reference the case of the “Program to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination” in the Mexico City (PAPED. We argue that, in contexts such as the Mexican, marked by multidimensional violence, corruption, and a poor performance of public institutions, it is necessary to increase the reflexivity of the instances that must implement actions of non-discrimination, as well as to increase this reflexivity in the transparency and visibility of evaluation exercises of their anti-discrimination actions, so as to reach more people and produce progressive movements of appropriation.

School choice : challenge to Sharpeville public primary school principals

OpenAIRE

2012-01-01

M.Ed. This qualitative phenomenological study focuses on school choice as challenge to principals of Sharpeville public primary schools. Different aspects of these choices are explored. School choice is an important component of parental involvement in the education of their children. Parents and learners tend to be open about their right through the support of the Schools Act 84 of 1996. You may not discriminate on the basis of race trough the language policy at your school. This means th...

Partner Country Series: Understanding Energy Challenges in India - Policies, Players and Issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

A combination of rapidly increasing energy demand and fuel imports plus growing concern about economic and environmental consequences is generating growing calls for effective and thorough energy governance in India. Numerous policy reforms over the past 20 years have shifted the country’s energy sector from a state-dominated system towards one that is based on market principles. However, with the reform process left unfinished, India now finds itself trapped halfway along the transition to an open and well-performing energy sector. India suffered from the largest power outage ever in late July 2012, affecting nearly half of the population. While this incident highlights the importance of modern and smart energy systems, it indicates that the country is increasingly unable to deliver a secure supply of energy to its population, a quarter of which still lacks access to electricity. Understanding Energy Challenges in India aims to provide an informative and holistic understanding of India’s energy sector to stakeholders in India as well as the broad public. The publication explores in detail the policies, players and issues of the country’s power, coal, oil and gas, renewables and nuclear sectors. It also highlights the key challenges India faces, challenges that must be resolved for the evolution of the fast-growing country’s energy sector towards a sustainable energy future and eventually critical for the prospects of the Indian and global economies.

The marketing of dissolvable tobacco: social science and public policy research needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Southwell, Brian G; Kim, Annice E; Tessman, Greta K; MacMonegle, Anna J; Choiniere, Conrad J; Evans, Sarah E; Johnson, Robin D

2012-01-01

The latest generation of smokeless tobacco products encompasses a wide range of offerings, including what is commonly referred to as dissolvable tobacco. Designed to deliver nicotine upon dissolving or disintegrating in a user's mouth, dissolvable tobacco products currently appear in various United States markets as strips, orbs, sticks, and lozenges. The emergence of these new products poses distinct opportunities and challenges for social and behavioral science and public health research and raises important public policy questions.

E's Are Good: Standards of Quality in Public Administration as Reflected in Discourse on Canadian Public Policy Design

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Dana Lee; Miller, Audrey Anna; Bratton, Todd

2015-01-01

Promoting understanding of quality in the context of good governance can be a challenging classroom exercise not only because of the potential for hijacking politicization of the discussion, but also because of the variety of ways in which public sector goals can be defined, even in the context of a single policy. Standards of quality in the…

Human Ecology: Acid Rain and Public Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bybee, Rodger W.

1983-01-01

A connection between science and society can be seen in the human and ecological dimensions of one contemporary problem: acid rain. Introduces a human ecological theme and relationships between acid rain and public policy, considering scientific understanding and public awareness, scientific research and public policy, and national politics and…

Ensuring Integrity in AGU Publications and Compliance With Dual Publication Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Praveen; Calais, Eric

2011-03-01

To ensure the highest standards for publication, AGU has begun screening manuscript submissions using CrossCheck (http://www.crossref.org/crosscheck.html) for possible verbatim use of previously published material. Water Resources Research and Geophysical Research Letters have tested this technology since summer 2010. It has proven very useful in ensuring the highest integrity in publication standards and compliance with the AGU dual publication policy (http://www.agu.org/pubs/authors/policies/dualpub_policy.shtml). According to Barbara Major, assistant director of journals, other AGU journals will adopt this screening process in the near future.

Opportunities and challenges for public libraries to enhance community resilience.

Science.gov (United States)

Veil, Shari R; Bishop, Bradley Wade

2014-04-01

This study bridges a gap between public library and emergency management policy versus practice by examining the role of public libraries in the community resource network for disaster recovery. Specifically, this study identifies the opportunities and challenges for public libraries to fulfill their role as a FEMA-designated essential community organization and enhance community resilience. The results indicate there are several opportunities for libraries to enhance community resilience by offering technology resources and assistance; providing office, meeting, and community living room space; serving as the last redundant communication channel and a repository for community information and disaster narratives; and adapting or expanding services already offered to meet the changing needs of the community. However, libraries also face challenges in enhancing community resilience, including the temptation to overcommit library capacity and staff capability beyond the library mission and a lack of long-term disaster plans and collaboration with emergency managers and government officials. Implications for library and emergency management practice and crisis research are discussed. © 2013 Society for Risk Analysis.

Healthy public policy in poor countries: tackling macro-economic policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohindra, K S

2007-06-01

Large segments of the population in poor countries continue to suffer from a high level of unmet health needs, requiring macro-level, broad-based interventions. Healthy public policy, a key health promotion strategy, aims to put health on the agenda of policy makers across sectors and levels of government. Macro-economic policy in developing countries has thus far not adequately captured the attention of health promotion researchers. This paper argues that healthy public policy should not only be an objective in rich countries, but also in poor countries. This paper takes up this issue by reviewing the main macro-economic aid programs offered by international financial institutions as a response to economic crises and unmanageable debt burdens. Although health promotion researchers were largely absent during a key debate on structural adjustment programs and health during the 1980s and 1990s, the international macro-economic policy tool currently in play offers a new opportunity to participate in assessing these policies, ensuring new forms of macro-economic policy interventions do not simply reproduce patterns of (neoliberal) economics-dominated development policy.

Allergies And Asthma : Employing Principles Of Social Justice As A Guide In Public Health Policy Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason Behrmann

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The growing epidemic of allergy and allergy-induced asthma poses a significant challenge to population health. This article, written for a target audience of policy-makers in public health, aims to contribute to the development of policies to counter allergy morbidities by demonstrat- ing how principles of social justice can guide public health initiatives in reducing allergy and asthma triggers. Following a discussion of why theories of social justice have utility in analyzing allergy, a step-wise policy assessment protocol formulated on Rawlsian principles of social jus- tice is presented. This protocol can serve as a tool to aid in prioritizing public health initiatives and identifying ethically problematic policies that necessitate reform. Criteria for policy assess- ment include: 1 whether a tentative public health intervention would provide equal health ben- efit to a range of allergy and asthma sufferers, 2 whether targeting initiatives towards particu- lar societal groups is merited based on the notion of ‘worst-off status’ of certain population seg- ments, and 3 whether targeted policies have the potential for stigmatization. The article con- cludes by analyzing three examples of policies used in reducing allergy and asthma triggers in order to convey the general thought process underlying the use of the assessment protocol, which public health officials could replicate as a guide in actual, region-specific policy development.

Post-exceptionalism in public policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugbjerg, Carsten; Feindt, Peter H.

2017-01-01

Framing the special issue on the transformation of Food and Agricultural Policy, this article introduces the concept of post-exceptionalism in public policies. The analysis of change in agri-food policy serves as a generative example to conceptualize current transformations in sectoral policy...... arrangements in democratic welfare states. Often these arrangements have been characterized by an exceptionalist ideational framework that legitimizes a sector’s special treatment through compartmentalized, exclusive and producer-centered policies and politics. In times of internationalization of policy......-making, increasing interlinkage of policy areas and trends towards self-regulation, liberalization and performance-based policies, policy exceptionalism is under pressure to either transform or give way to (neo-)liberal policy arrangements. Post-exceptionalism denotes a partial transformation of exceptionalist ideas...

Next Generation Innovation Policy and Grand Challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuhlmann, Stefan; Rip, Arie

2018-01-01

The paper explores transformative ways to address Grand Challenges, while locating them in a broader diagnosis of ongoing changes. Coping with Grand Challenges is a challenge in its own right, for policy as well as for science, technology, and innovation actors. The paper presents building blocks

Pharmaceutical policy and the lay public

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Traulsen, Janine Marie; Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna

2005-01-01

Almost every national and supranational health policy document accords high importance to the need to listen to and 'empower' patients. The relationship between pharmaceutical policy and the lay public is not direct but mediated by several actors, including health care workers, patient organisati......Almost every national and supranational health policy document accords high importance to the need to listen to and 'empower' patients. The relationship between pharmaceutical policy and the lay public is not direct but mediated by several actors, including health care workers, patient...... organisations, industry and, most recently, the media. Although the overall aim of health and pharmaceutical policy is to address the needs of all citizens, there are only a few, well organised groups who are actually consulted and involved in the policymaking process, often with the support of the industry....... The reasons for this lack of citizen involvement in health and pharmaceutical policymaking are many, for example: there is no consensus about what public involvement means; there is a predominance of special interest groups with narrow, specific agendas; not all decision makers welcome lay participation...

An Adaptable System to Support Provenance Management for the Public Policy-Making Process in Smart Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barkha Javed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Government policies aim to address public issues and problems and therefore play a pivotal role in people’s lives. The creation of public policies, however, is complex given the perspective of large and diverse stakeholders’ involvement, considerable human participation, lengthy processes, complex task specification and the non-deterministic nature of the process. The inherent complexities of the policy process impart challenges for designing a computing system that assists in supporting and automating the business process pertaining to policy setup, which also raises concerns for setting up a tracking service in the policy-making environment. A tracking service informs how decisions have been taken during policy creation and can provide useful and intrinsic information regarding the policy process. At present, there exists no computing system that assists in tracking the complete process that has been employed for policy creation. To design such a system, it is important to consider the policy environment challenges; for this a novel network and goal based approach has been framed and is covered in detail in this paper. Furthermore, smart governance objectives that include stakeholders’ participation and citizens’ involvement have been considered. Thus, the proposed approach has been devised by considering smart governance principles and the knowledge environment of policy making where tasks are largely dependent on policy makers’ decisions and on individual policy objectives. Our approach reckons the human dimension for deciding and defining autonomous process activities at run time. Furthermore, with the network-based approach, so-called provenance data tracking is employed which enables the capture of policy process.

Mapping public policy on genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Weisfeld, N E

2002-06-01

The mapping of the human genome and related advances in genetics are stimulating the development of public policies on genetics. Certain notions that currently prevail in public policy development overall--including the importance of protecting privacy of information, an interest in cost-effectiveness, and the power of the anecdote--will help determine the future of public policy on genetics. Information areas affected include discrimination by insurers and employers, confidentiality, genetic databanks, genetic testing in law enforcement, and court-ordered genetic testing in civil cases. Service issues address clinical standards, insurance benefits, allocation of resources, and screening of populations at risk. Supply issues encompass funding of research and clinical positions. Likely government actions include, among others: (1) Requiring individual consent for the disclosure of personal information, except when such consent would impose inordinate costs; (2) licensing genetic databases; (3) allowing courts to use personal information in cases where a refusal to use such information would offend the public; (4) mandating health insurers to pay for cost-effective genetic services; (5) funding pharmaceutical research to develop tailored products to prevent or treat diseases; and (6) funding training programs.

Challenges to Public Health

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Graphics. Challenges to Public Health. Tracing of the infection. Isolation of patients to stop spread. Laboratory diagnosis. Hospitalization &Treatment. Stock pile & supply of drugs. Planning & mitigation. Information to public. Support to SEARO countries.

Food and beverage policies and public health ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Resnik, David B

2015-06-01

Government food and beverage policies can play an important role in promoting public health. Few people would question this assumption. Difficult questions can arise, however, when policymakers, public health officials, citizens, and businesses deliberate about food and beverage policies, because competing values may be at stake, such as public health, individual autonomy, personal responsibility, economic prosperity, and fairness. An ethically justified policy strikes a reasonable among competing values by meeting the following criteria: (1) the policy serves important social goal(s); (2) the policy is likely to be effective at achieving those goal(s); (3) less burdensome options are not likely to be effective at achieving the goals; (4) the policy is fair.

Enhancing Evidence-Based Public Health Policy: Developing and Using Policy Narratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Troy, Lisa M; Kietzman, Kathryn G

2016-06-01

Academic researchers and clinicians have a critical role in shaping public policies to improve the health of an aging America. Policy narratives that pair personal stories with research statistics are a powerful tool to share knowledge generated in academic and clinical settings with policymakers. Effective policy narratives rely on a trustworthy and competent narrator and a compelling story that highlights the personal impact of policies under consideration and academic research that bolsters the story. Awareness of the cultural differences in the motivations, expectations, and institutional constraints of academic researchers and clinicians as information producers and U.S. Congress and federal agencies as information users is critical to the development of policy narratives that impact policy decisions. The current article describes the development and use of policy narratives to bridge cultures and enhance evidence-based public health policies that better meet the needs of older adults. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 42(6), 11-17.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Youth, Privacy and Online Media: Framing the right to privacy in public policy-making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasselbalch, Gry; Jørgensen, Rikke Frank

2015-01-01

debate. It presents the results of a qualitative study amongst 68 Danish high school students concerning how they perceive, negotiate and control their private sphere when using social media and builds a case for utilizing the results of studies as this to inform the ongoing policy discourses concerning...... policy making that the right to privacy is challenged in new ways in a structurally transformed online public sphere, the way in which it has been framed does not seem to acknowledge this transformation. This paper therefore argues for a reformulation of “online privacy” in the current global policy......The right to privacy is a fundamental human right defined in international and regional human rights instruments. As such it has been included as a core component of key legislature and policy proceedings throughout the brief history of the World Wide Web. While it is generally recognized in public...

An exploratory study identifying where local government public health decision makers source their evidence for policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoneham, Melissa; Dodds, James

2014-08-01

The Western Australian (WA) Public Health Bill will replace the antiquated Health Act 1911. One of the proposed clauses of the Bill requires all WA local governments to develop a Public Health Plan. The Bill states that Public Health Plans should be based on evidence from all levels, including national and statewide priorities, community needs, local statistical evidence, and stakeholder data. This exploratory study, which targeted 533 WA local government officers, aimed to identify the sources of evidence used to generate the list of public health risks to be included in local government Public Health Plans. The top four sources identified for informing local policy were: observation of the consequences of the risks in the local community (24.5%), statewide evidence (17.6%), local evidence (17.6%) and coverage in local media (16.2%). This study confirms that both hard and soft data are used to inform policy decisions at the local level. Therefore, the challenge that this study has highlighted is in the definition or constitution of evidence. SO WHAT? Evidence is critical to the process of sound policy development. This study highlights issues associated with what actually constitutes evidence in the policy development process at the local government level. With the exception of those who work in an extremely narrow field, it is difficult for local government officers, whose role includes policymaking, to read the vast amount of information that has been published in their area of expertise. For those who are committed to the notion of evidence-based policymaking, as advocated within the WA Public Health Bill, this presents a considerable challenge.

Journalists and public health professionals: challenges of a symbiotic relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Lubens, Pauline

2015-02-01

Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public's perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal--gold standard--for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist's goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecting the dignity of patients while also capturing the severity of an epidemic is harder in the era of the 24-7 news cycle. Journalists grapple with dueling pressures: confirming that their information is correct while meeting the demand for rapid updates. Just as health care professionals triage patients, journalists triage information. The challenge going forward will be how to get ahead of the story from the onset, racing against the pace of digital dissemination of misinformation by continuing to refine the media-science relationship.

Public policy, rationality and reason

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodolfo Canto Sáenz

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This work suggests the incorporation of practical reason in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies, alongside instrumental rationality. It takes two proposals that today point in this direction: Rawls distinction between reasonable (practical reason and rational (instrumental reason and what this author calls the CI Procedure (categorical imperative procedure and Habermas model of deliberative democracy. The main conclusion is that the analysis of public policies can not be limited to rather narrow limits of science, but requires the contribution of political and moral philosophy.

Pandemic H1N1 in Canada and the use of evidence in developing public health policies--a policy analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosella, Laura C; Wilson, Kumanan; Crowcroft, Natasha S; Chu, Anna; Upshur, Ross; Willison, Donald; Deeks, Shelley L; Schwartz, Brian; Tustin, Jordan; Sider, Doug; Goel, Vivek

2013-04-01

When responding to a novel infectious disease outbreak, policies are set under time constraints and uncertainty which can limit the ability to control the outbreak and result in unintended consequences including lack of public confidence. The H1N1 pandemic highlighted challenges in public health decision-making during a public health emergency. Understanding this process to identify barriers and modifiable influences is important to improve the response to future emergencies. The purpose of this study is to examine the H1N1 pandemic decision-making process in Canada with an emphasis on the use of evidence for public health decisions. Using semi-structured key informant interviews conducted after the pandemic (July-November 2010) and a document analysis, we examined four highly debated pandemic policies: use of adjuvanted vaccine by pregnant women, vaccine priority groups and sequencing, school closures and personal protective equipment. Data were analysed for thematic content guided by Lomas' policy decision-making framework as well as indicative coding using iterative methods. We interviewed 40 public health officials and scientific advisors across Canada and reviewed 76 pandemic policy documents. Our analysis revealed that pandemic pre-planning resulted in strong beliefs, which defined the decision-making process. Existing ideological perspectives of evidence strongly influenced how information was used such that the same evidentiary sources were interpreted differently according to the ideological perspective. Participants recognized that current models for public health decision-making failed to make explicit the roles of scientific evidence in relation to contextual factors. Conflict avoidance theory explained policy decisions that went against the prevailing evidence. Clarification of roles and responsibilities within the public health system would reduce duplication and maintain credibility. A more transparent and iterative approach to incorporating evidence

The biofuel support policy. Public thematic report. Assessing a public policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

In its first part, this detailed report gives an overview of some key facts regarding biofuels: energy context, biofuels and energy, biofuels and agriculture, multiple and superimposed regulation levels, financial data, and international comparisons. The second part analyses the positions of the different actors (oil industry and dealers, car manufacturers, bio-diesel producers, ethanol producers, farmers producing raw materials, consumer associations, defenders of the environment, public bodies). The third part reports the assessment of the French public policy in terms of efficiency. Some recommendations are made

Public health: disconnections between policy, practice and research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kok Gerjo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Public health includes policy, practice and research but to sufficiently connect academic research, practice and public health policy appears to be difficult. Collaboration between policy, practice and research is imperative to obtaining more solid evidence in public health. However, the three domains do not easily work together because they emanate from three more or less independent 'niches'. Work cycles of each niche have the same successive steps: problem recognition, approach formulation, implementation, and evaluation, but are differently worked out. So far, the research has focused on agenda-setting which belongs to the first step, as expressed by Kingdon, and on the use of academic knowledge in policy makers' decision-making processes which belongs to the fourth step, as elaborated by Weiss. In addition, there are more steps in the policy-making process where exchange is needed. Method A qualitative descriptive research was conducted by literature search. We analyzed the four steps of the policy, practice and research work cycles. Next, we interpreted the main conflicting aspects as disconnections for each step. Results There are some conspicuous differences that strengthen the niche character of each domain and hamper integration and collaboration. Disconnections ranged from formulating priorities in problem statements to power roles, appraisal of evidence, work attitudes, work pace, transparency of goals, evaluation and continuation strategies and public accountability. Creating awareness of these disconnections may result in more compatibility between researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Conclusion We provide an analysis that can be used by public health services-related researchers, practitioners and policy makers to be aware of the risk for disconnections. A synthesis of the social, practical and scientific relevance of public health problems should be the starting point for a dialogue that seeks to

Public and policy maker support for point-of-sale tobacco policies in New York.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, Carol L; Juster, Harlan R; Dench, Daniel; Willett, Jeffrey; Curry, Laurel E

2014-01-01

To compare public and policy maker support for three point-of-sale tobacco policies. Two cross-sectional surveys--one of the public from the New York Adult Tobacco Survey and one of policy makers from the Local Opinion Leader Survey; both collected and analyzed in 2011. Tobacco control programs focus on educating the public and policy makers about tobacco control policy solutions. Six hundred seventy-six county-level legislators in New York's 62 counties and New York City's five boroughs (response rate: 59%); 7439 New York residents aged 18 or older. Landline response rates: 20.2% to 22%. Cell phone response rates: 9.2% to 11.1%. Gender, age, smoking status, presence of a child aged 18 years or younger in the household, county of residence, and policy maker and public support for three potential policy solutions to point-of-sale tobacco marketing. t-tests to compare the demographic makeup for the two samples. Adjusted Wald tests to test for differences in policy support between samples. The public was significantly more supportive of point-of-sale policy solutions than were policy makers: cap on retailers (48.0% vs. 19.2%, respectively); ban on sales at pharmacies (49.1% vs. 38.8%); and ban on retailers near schools (53.3% vs. 42.5%). cross-sectional data, sociodemographic differences, and variations in item wording. Tobacco control programs need to include information about implementation, enforcement, and potential effects on multiple constituencies (including businesses) in their efforts to educate policy makers about point-of-sale policy solutions.

Environmental innovation through transport policy. The implementation of the free fare policy on public transport in Tallinn, Estonia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gabaldon-Estevan, D.

2016-07-01

Urban areas are of increasing relevance when it comes to sustainability: First, about half of the world’s population now lives in cities (increasing to 60% by 2030). Second, cities are nowadays responsible for levels of resource consumption and waste generation that are higher beyond their share on world population. Third, cities are more vulnerable to disruptive events that can lead to restrictions on the provision of resources and to changes on the environment caused by climate change. And fourth, because they concentrate key resources (political, social, cultural…), cities are seen as strategic scenarios where to experiment and develop solutions to cope with the prevailing sustainability challenges driven by the major social and environmental transformations. Urban agglomerations can be seen as complex innovation systems where human activities are shaped in order to transform societies towards sustainable development. For this paper, we focus on the case of an environmental innovation regarding transport policy, the implementation of the fare-free policy on public transport for all inhabitants of Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn, with 414,000 inhabitants in 2015, is the capital of Estonia and the largest city in the country. Over the last two decades the share of public transport trips decreased dramatically. After a public opinion poll in 2012, in which over 75% of the participants voted for a fare-free public transportation system (FFPTS) in Tallinn, the new policy was implemented on 1st January 2013. From that date on inhabitants of Tallinn could use all public transport services (busses, trams, trolly-busses) operated by city-run operators for free. Later the fare-free system was implemented also on trains within Tallinn. In this paper we analyze the context, in which this policy was implemented, the main characteristics of its implementation and its actual situation. (Author)

Implications of health as 'the ability to adapt and self-manage' for public health policy: a qualitative study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jambroes, Marielle; Nederland, Trudi; Kaljouw, Marian; van Vliet, Katja; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Ruwaard, Dirk

2016-01-01

To explore the implications for public health policy of a new conceptualisation of health as 'The ability to adapt and to self-manage, in the face of social, physical and emotional challenges'. Secondary qualitative data analysis of 28 focus group interviews, with 277 participants involved in public

"Stop, You're Killing us!" An Alternative Take on Populism and Public Health Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

Schrecker, Ted

2017-04-26

Ewen Speed and Russell Mannion correctly identify several contours of the challenges for health policy in what it is useful to think of as a post-democratic era. I argue that the problem for public health is not populism per se, but rather the distinctive populism of the right coupled with the failure of the left to develop compelling counternarratives. Further, defences of 'science' must be tempered by recognition of the unavoidably political dimensions of the (mis)use of scientific findings in public policy. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Public opinion and environmental policy output: a cross-national analysis of energy policies in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Brilé; Böhmelt, Tobias; Ward, Hugh

2017-11-01

This article studies how public opinion is associated with the introduction of renewable energy policies in Europe. While research increasingly seeks to model the link between public opinion and environmental policies, the empirical evidence is largely based on a single case: the US. This limits the generalizability of findings and we argue accordingly for a systematic, quantitative study of how public opinion drives environmental policies in another context. Theoretically, we combine arguments behind the political survival of democratic leaders with electoral success and environmental politics. Ultimately, we suggest that office-seeking leaders introduce policies that seem favorable to the domestic audience; if the public prefers environmental protection, the government introduces such policies in turn. The main contribution of this research is the cross-country empirical analysis, where we combine data on the public’s environmental attitudes and renewable energy policy outputs in a European context between 1974 and 2015. We show that as public opinion shifts towards prioritizing the environment, there is a significant and positive effect on the rate of renewable energy policy outputs by governments in Europe. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic, quantitative study of public opinion and environmental policies across a large set of countries, and we demonstrate that the mechanisms behind the introduction of renewable energy policies follow major trends across European states.

Integrating precision cancer medicine into healthcare—policy, practice, and research challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabrielle Bertier

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Precision medicine (PM can be defined as a predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory healthcare service delivery model. Recent developments in molecular biology and information technology make PM a reality today through the use of massive amounts of genetic, ‘omics’, clinical, environmental, and lifestyle data. With cancer being one of the most prominent public health threats in developed countries, both the research community and governments have been investing significant time, money, and efforts in precision cancer medicine (PCM. Although PCM research is extremely promising, a number of hurdles still remain on the road to an optimal integration of standardized and evidence-based use of PCM in healthcare systems. Indeed, PCM raises a number of technical, organizational, ethical, legal, social, and economic challenges that have to be taken into account in the development of an appropriate health policy framework. Here, we highlight some of the more salient issues regarding the standards needed for integration of PCM into healthcare systems, and we identify fields where more research is needed before policy can be implemented. Key challenges include, but are not limited to, the creation of new standards for the collection, analysis, and sharing of samples and data from cancer patients, and the creation of new clinical trial designs with renewed endpoints. We believe that these issues need to be addressed as a matter of priority by public health policymakers in the coming years for a better integration of PCM into healthcare.

Public education for energy policy decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frigren, S.

1977-01-01

A brief review is given of the changes that took place in 1972-73 in public opinion and political views in Sweden, leading to new attitudes and increasing interest in matters is of energy policy. Although nuclear power was from the beginning the main issue, it became more and more widely recognized that a number of complex and technically difficult problems were involved. In late 1973 the Government decided to prepare a comprehensive energy policy programme for the period 1975-85 and to put this programme before Parliament in the spring of 1975. In order to involve the public in the decision making process, a public education programme was introduced in January 1974. The essentials of this programme are described. The main effort was provided by the adult education associations. These were given financial incentives to start energy study circles and prepared their own study material. Journalist seminars were also arranged. The paper then describes how the public, by its activities in the energy study circles, was given a possibility to influence the formulation of the new Swedish energy policy. It outlines the links between the educational efforts, the discussions in the study circles, and the standpoints ultimately taken by the different political parties on the key energy issues, especially as regards the future role of nuclear power. Finally, it also tries to evaluate to what extent this effort in education and involvement can be expected to react on the implementation of the energy policy programme and on future energy policy decisions

Addressing the challenges to health sector decentralization in Nepal: an inquiry into the policy and implementation processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhakal, R; Ratanawijitrasin, S; Srithamrongsawat, S

2009-09-01

The objective of the study was to analyze the status and explore the challenges to decentralization policy implementation in Nepal. Thirty seven key informants rich in experience and knowledge, seven focus group discussions, observation of six health facilities and analysis of about 25 key policy documents provided the data for this study. The study identified the challenges to the implementation of decentralization reforms in the public health sector as: (i) centralised and weak management and programming practices of the government; (ii) weak legal and institutional framework; (iii) conflicting policy objectives; (iv) lack of implementation strategy; (v) poor financial and human resource management system; (vi) lack of adequate preparation for managing the reform; (vii) weak capacity at all levels; (viii) political instability. It was revealed that the implementation of the policy in Nepal was extremely poor as many of the important policy measures were either never initiated or they were only partially implemented. The challenges lie both at - policy design and implementation phase. Clear policy objectives, appropriate structure, sound planning, financing and human resources policy, adequate capacity, responsive information system, defined service packages, active participation of stakeholders and a conducive socio-political environment are considered imperative for successful implementation of the policy. Preparation for managing reform implementation at national and district levels is prerequisite for decentralization to work. Pushing for decentralization in a politically fragile environment may rather lead to further fragmentation, instead of strengthening government legitimacy.

Laboratory Experiments in Teaching Public Economics and Policy

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Špačková Zuzana

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with classroom experiments in economics, which have been derived from laboratory experiments. These experiments cover a broad range of topics, from strictly economic ones (like market games or auctions to those with overlaps to other domains such as public policy. The paper discusses different methodologies of research and classroom experiments, introduces the benefits of the latter and presents a concrete teaching experiment used in public economics courses at the Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University. Another link between economic experiments and public policy is outlined here as well, namely the importance of experimental results for public policy makers.

Macroeconomic trouble and policy challenges in the wake of the financial bust

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Angel Asensio

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Contrasting with the 1929 great crisis, authorities intervened forcefully in 2008 to stop the disintegration of the financial system. Governments and central banks then sought to revise the prudential regulation in depth. It would be optimistic, however, to believe that prudential measures, alone, could deliver full economic recovery, at least in the countries that had been involved in the financial turmoil. Indeed, the collapse of the "state of confidence" and the negative effects of private debts on consumption and investment decisions have fed depressive forces and policy challenges which could hold for a while, even once the financial sector is made safe. On the one hand, the economic slowdown and the direct and indirect assistance provided by the governments to the private sectors are having a heavy impact on public finances, meanwhile, on the other hand, the massive amounts of money which artificially inflated the prices of housing and financial products could produce inflationary pressures in the post-crisis period, unless a new assets bubble is allowed for. Authorities could therefore be facing high unemployment in a damaged context of public deficits and inflationary pressures. The paper aims at discussing these new challenges. The inadequacy of inflation targets and fiscal orthodoxy in a depressed economy is emphasized, and the outlines of a Post Keynesian alternative policy are examined.

How Smog Awareness Influences Public Acceptance of Congestion Charge Policies

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Lingyi Zhou

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Although various studies have investigated public acceptance of congestion charge policies, most of them have focused on behavioral and policy-related factors, and did not consider the moderating influence that individual concern about smog and perceived smog risk may have on public acceptance. This paper takes the congestion charge policy in China, targeted at smog and traffic control, and checks how smog awareness—including smog concerns and perceived smog risks, besides behavioral and policy-related factors—might influence public acceptance of the policy. In this paper, we found both a direct and moderating causal relationship between smog awareness and public acceptance. Based on a sample of 574 valid questionnaires in Beijing and Shanghai in 2016, an ordered logistic regression modeling approach was used to delineate the causality between smog awareness and public acceptance. We found that both smog concerns, such as perceived smog risk, and willingness to pay (WTP were both directly and indirectly positively correlated with public acceptance. These findings imply that policymakers should increase policy fairness with environmental-oriented policy design and should express potential policy effectiveness of the smog controlling policy to citizens to increase their acceptance level.

Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding to zoonotic disease in Africa?

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Bardosh, Kevin Louis; Scoones, Jake Cornwall; Grace, Delia; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; Jones, Kate E; de Balogh, Katinka; Waltner-Toews, David; Bett, Bernard; Welburn, Susan C; Mumford, Elizabeth; Dzingirai, Vupenyu

2017-07-19

Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a 'One Health' approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

Five challenges for public administrations in Europe

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Ongaro Edoardo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines five ‘challenges’ facing most administrative systems across Europe. The first challenge stems from the increasingly asymmetric nature of European multilevel governance; the second challenge arises from the missed opportunity of reforming in the absence of a dominant administrative paradigm; the third challenge lies in rescuing and transforming the welfare state; the fourth challenge is concerned with making the most of the knowledge generated in the field of strategic management for strategically managing public services; the fifth challenge lies in staff (demotivation. These challenges are pitched at very different levels: some are related to issues of public governance, some to issues of scholarly and practitioners’ collective understandings of public administration in Europe, and some to trends in the global economy, and notably the financial, economic and fiscal ‘crises’.

1 CFR 5.1 - Publication policy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 1 General Provisions 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Publication policy. 5.1 Section 5.1 General Provisions ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER THE FEDERAL REGISTER GENERAL § 5.1 Publication... Federal Register shall publish a serial publication called the Federal Register to contain the following...

Public Tourism Infrastructure: Challenges in the Development and Maintenance Activities

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Abdullah Shardy

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In Malaysia, the tourism sector is a major contributor to the nation’s development and is spearheaded by the government’s efforts in investing heavily towards providing sufficient and well-functioning public tourism infrastructure. This infrastructure should be ideally developed with a clear and systematic maintenance plan in hand. The challenge herein is not merely providing the necessary infrastructure to sustain tourism activities but rather a pro-active approach towards establishing and subsequently maintaining this infrastructure at its optimal level. The aim of this paper therefore is to identify critical aspects that need to be in place to further enhance the Malaysian tourism industry. The paper discusses the issues and challenges that need to be addressed as a precursor towards an effectively developed and maintained tourism infrastructure system. Development issues that have been identified revolve around the dimensions of quality, quantity and ability of the public agencies involved, particularly issues of inadequate infrastructure, quality of infrastructure and the capability of the agencies in undertaking efficient maintenance activities. These issues were found to lead towards challenges of working with resource constraints, lack of an effective maintenance culture and system as well as the need for clear and effective policies and strategies.

Environmental Policy of Serbia and Challenges of Accession to Europe

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Darko Nadić

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the environmental policy of the Republic of Serbia within the context of accession conditions to the European Union. The main challenges of environmental integration of the environmental policies of Serbia are: economic challenges, the sustainable development challenge, administrative challenges, democratic deficiency challenges, and political challenges. These challenges, while flaws of the environmental policy in Serbia, are no different than the challenges faced by other Central Eastern European countries during the accession process. However, the influence of the global economic crisis, the constant political crisis and unclear definition of the political scene in Serbia, an incomplete vision of environmental education, as well as too much "green" marketing activities and a lack of true law implementation, are additional factors that make the process of environmental accession of Serbia to the EU even more difficult. Therefore, the harmonization of the Serbian environmental legal frame with the European one must be followed by the harmonization of actions of political institutions, social groups and individual citizens, and the overall democratization of society.

Psychology, behavioral economics, and public policy

OpenAIRE

Amir, O; Ariely, D; Cooke, A; Dunning, D; Epley, N; Gneezy, U; Koszegi, B; Lichtenstein, D; Mazar, N; Mullainathan, S; Prelec, D; Shafir, E; Silva, J

2005-01-01

Economics has typically been the social science of choice to inform public policy and policymakers. In the current paper we contemplate the role behavioral science can play in enlightening policymakers. In particular, we provide some examples of research that has and can be used to inform policy, reflect on the kind of behavioral science that is important for policy, and approaches for convincing policy-makers to listen to behavioral scientists. We suggest that policymakers are unlikely to in...

Social media for public health: an exploratory policy analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fast, Ingrid; Sørensen, Kristine; Brand, Helmut; Suggs, L Suzanne

2015-02-01

To accomplish the aims of public health practice and policy today, new forms of communication and education are being applied. Social media are increasingly relevant for public health and used by various actors. Apart from benefits, there can also be risks in using social media, but policies regulating engagement in social media is not well researched. This study examined European public health-related organizations' social media policies and describes the main components of existing policies. This research used a mixed methods approach. A content analysis of social media policies from European institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs) and social media platforms was conducted. Next, individuals responsible for social media in their organization or projects completed a survey about their social media policy. Seventy-five per cent of institutions, NGOs and platforms had a social media policy available. The primary aspects covered within existing policies included data and privacy protection, intellectual property and copyright protection and regulations for the engagement in social media. Policies were intended to regulate staff use, to secure the liability of the institution and social responsibility. Respondents also stressed the importance of self-responsibility when using social media. This study of social media policies for public health in Europe provides a first snapshot of the existence and characteristics of social media policies among European health organizations. Policies tended to focus on legal aspects, rather than the health of the social media user. The effect of such policies on social media adoption and usage behaviour remains to be examined. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Public management, policy capacity, innovation and development

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Erkki Karo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper we discuss the question of what factors in development policy create specific forms of policy capacity and under what circumstances developmentoriented complementarities or mismatches between the public and private sectors emerge. We argue that specific forms of policy capacity emerge from three interlinked policy choices, each fundamentally evolutionary in nature: policy choices on understanding the nature and sources of technical change and innovation; on the ways of financing economic growth, in particular technical change; and on the nature of public management to deliver and implement both previous sets of policy choices. Thus, policy capacity is not so much a continuum of abilities (from less to more, but rather a variety of modes of making policy that originate from co-evolutionary processes in capitalist development. To illustrate, we briefly reflect upon how the East Asian developmental states of the 1960s-1980s and Eastern European transition policies since the 1990s led to almost opposite institutional systems for financing, designing and managing development strategies, and how this led, through co-evolutionary processes, to different forms of policy capacity.

Applying Behavioral Economics to Public Health Policy

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Matjasko, Jennifer L.; Cawley, John H.; Baker-Goering, Madeleine M.; Yokum, David V.

2016-01-01

Behavioral economics provides an empirically informed perspective on how individuals make decisions, including the important realization that even subtle features of the environment can have meaningful impacts on behavior. This commentary provides examples from the literature and recent government initiatives that incorporate concepts from behavioral economics in order to improve health, decision making, and government efficiency. The examples highlight the potential for behavioral economics to improve the effectiveness of public health policy at low cost. Although incorporating insights from behavioral economics into public health policy has the potential to improve population health, its integration into government public health programs and policies requires careful design and continual evaluation of such interventions. Limitations and drawbacks of the approach are discussed. PMID:27102853

Radiation protection, public policies and education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alves, Simone F.; Jacomino, Vanusa M.F.; Barreto, Alberto A.

2011-01-01

The objective of this paper is to inform about the aspects of radiation protection public policies concerning the public spheres and the ordinary population. It is known that information has been considered a very important good in several knowledge areas. However, the efficiency of their transmission mechanisms should be periodically evaluated, checking existing critical and stagnation points. Nuclear area can be mentioned as a historically typical case, where the public policies assume relevant importance as tool for promotion, control and education of the population in general. Considering the polemic nature of such subject, it is clear that there is a need for conducting the construction of educational contents taking in account the educator training necessities. The addressing of radiation protection aspects applied to nuclear techniques conducts, for example, to the awareness on the benefits of radiation and its industrial and medical applications, which are established considering the worldwide adopted basic principles of radiation protection. Such questions, concerned with (or related to) public policies, establish a link between radiation protection and education, themes explored in this article to provide a better view of the current Brazilian scenario. (author)

International Public-private Partnership Policies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greve, Carsten

This paper focuses on how international public-private partnership (PPP) policies are formulated and implemented by international organizations. PPPs for infrastructure projects are relevant and present in many countries around the world. The literature is full of studies of individual countries......, International Monetary Fund, OECD, UN, and the World Bank. The methodology is to examine the most recent policy papers (documents and reports) and compare their content and tools. The paper shows that international organizations cooperate on certain issues in policy Development and tools for PPPs. But each...

Opening the Black Box: The Experiences and Lessons From the Public Hospitals Autonomy Policy in Iran.

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Doshmangir, Leila; Rashidian, Arash; Jafari, Mehdi; Takian, Amirhossein; Ravaghi, Hamid

2015-07-01

Policy formulation and adoption often happen in a black box. Implementation challenges affect and modify the nature of a policy. We analyzed hospitals' autonomy policy in Iran that was intended to reduce hospitals' financial burden on government and improve their efficiency. We followed a retrospective case-study methodology, involving inductive and deductive analyses of parliamentary proceedings, policy documents, gray literature, published papers and interview transcripts. We analyzed data to develop a policy map that included important dates and events leading to the policy process milestones. We identified four time-periods with distinctive features: 'moving toward the policy' (1989 - 1994), disorganized implementation' (1995 - 1997), 'continuing challenges and indecisiveness in hospitals financing' (1998 - 2003), and 'other structural and financial policies in public hospitals' (2004 to date). We found that stakeholders required different and conflicting objectives, which certainly resulted in an unsatisfactory implementation process. The policy led to long-lasting and often negative changes in the hospital sector and the entire Iranian health system. Hospital autonomy appeared to be an ill-advised policy to remedy the inefficiency problems in low socioeconomic areas of the country. The assumption that hospital autonomy reforms would necessarily result in a better health system, may be a false assumption as their success relies on many contextual, structural and policy implementation factors.

A successful Charter challenge to medicare? Policy options for Canadian provincial governments.

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Flood, Colleen M; Thomas, Bryan

2018-03-26

In September 2016, a case went to trial in British Columbia that seeks to test the constitutionality of provincial laws that (1) ban private health insurance for medically necessary hospital and physician services; (2) ban extra-billing (physicians cannot charge patients more than the public tariff); and (3) require physicians to work solely for the public system or 'opt-out' and practice privately. All provinces have similar laws that have been passed to meet the requirements of federal legislation, the Canada Health Act (and thus qualify for federal funds). Consequently, a finding of unconstitutionality of one or more of these laws could have a very significant impact on the future of Canada's single-payer system ('medicare'). However, should the court find that a particular law is not in compliance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the baton is then passed back to the government which may respond with other laws or policies that they believe to be constitutionally compliant. The ultimate impact of any successful Charter challenge to laws protecting medicare from privatization will thus significantly depend on how Canadian governments respond. Provincial governments could allow privatization to undercut equity and access, or they could respond creatively with new legal and policy solutions to both improve equity and access and tackle some of the problems that have long bedeviled Canadian medicare. This paper provides an understanding - grounded in comparative health systems evidence - of law and policy options available to Canadian lawmakers for limiting two-tier care in the wake of any successful challenge to existing laws. The paper presents the results of a large inter-disciplinary, comparative study, started in 2015, that systematically reviewed the legal and broader regulatory schemes used to regulate the public/private divide in 15 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries with a particular eye to what the effect of

A Dynamic Linear Modeling Approach to Public Policy Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loftis, Matthew; Mortensen, Peter Bjerre

2017-01-01

Theories of public policy change, despite their differences, converge on one point of strong agreement. The relationship between policy and its causes can and does change over time. This consensus yields numerous empirical implications, but our standard analytical tools are inadequate for testing...... them. As a result, the dynamic and transformative relationships predicted by policy theories have been left largely unexplored in time-series analysis of public policy. This paper introduces dynamic linear modeling (DLM) as a useful statistical tool for exploring time-varying relationships in public...... policy. The paper offers a detailed exposition of the DLM approach and illustrates its usefulness with a time series analysis of U.S. defense policy from 1957-2010. The results point the way for a new attention to dynamics in the policy process and the paper concludes with a discussion of how...

Social Media for Public Health: An Exploratory Policy Analysis

OpenAIRE

Fast, Ingrid; Sørensen, Kristine; Brand, Helmut; Suggs, L. Suzanne

2017-01-01

Background: To accomplish the aims of public health practice and policy today, new forms of communication and education are being applied. Social media are increasingly relevant for public health and used by various actors. Apart from benefits, there can also be risks in using social media, but policies regulating engagement in social media is not well researched. This study examined European public health-related organizations' social media policies and describes the main components of exist...

Policy challenges of increasing automation in driving

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Ata M. Khan

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The convergence of information and communication technologies (ICT with automotive technologies has already resulted in automation features in road vehicles and this trend is expected to continue in the future owing to consumer demand, dropping costs of components, and improved reliability. While the automation features that have taken place so far are mainly in the form of information and driver warning technologies (classified as level I pre-2010, future developments in the medium term (level II 2010–2025 are expected to exhibit connected cognitive vehicle features and encompass increasing degree of automation in the form of advanced driver assistance systems. Although autonomous vehicles have been developed for research purposes and are being tested in controlled driving missions, the autonomous driving case is only a long term (level III 2025+ scenario. This paper contributes knowledge on technological forecasts regarding automation, policy challenges for each level of technology development and application context, and the essential instrument of cost-effectiveness for policy analysis which enables policy decisions on the automation systems to be assessed in a consistent and balanced manner. The cost of a system per vehicle is viewed against its effectiveness in meeting policy objectives of improving safety, efficiency, mobility, convenience and reducing environmental effects. Example applications are provided that illustrate the contribution of the methodology in providing information for supporting policy decisions. Given the uncertainties in system costs as well as effectiveness, the tool for assessing policies for future generation features probabilistic and utility-theoretic analysis capability. The policy issues defined and the assessment framework enable the resolution of policy challenges while allowing worthy innovative automation in driving to enhance future road transportation.

Traditional vs. Contemporary Management Control Practices for Developing Public Health Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Naranjo-Gil, David; Sánchez-Expósito, María Jesús; Gómez-Ruiz, Laura

2016-07-14

Public health policies must address multiple goals and complex community health needs. Recently, management control practices have emerged to provide a broader type of information for evaluating the effectiveness of healthcare policies, and relate activities and processes to multiple strategic outcomes. This study compares the effect of traditional and contemporary management control practices on the achievement of public health policies. It is also analyzed how two different uses of such practices (enabling vs. coercive) facilitate the achievement of public health policies. Relationships are explored using data collected from managers from public health agencies and public hospitals in Spain. The findings show that contemporary management control practices are more suitable than traditional practices to achieve public health policies. Furthermore, results show that public health policies are better achieved when managers use management control practices in an enabling way rather than in a coercive way.

Policy development and challenges of global mental health: a systematic review of published studies of national-level mental health policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wei; Yu, Yu; Yang, Mei; Chen, Lizhang; Xiao, Shuiyuan

2018-05-18

Mental health policy can be an essential and powerful tool to improve a population's mental health. However, around one third of countries do not possess a mental health policy, and there are large disparities in population coverage rates between high- and low-income countries. The goal of this study is to identify the transition and implementation challenges of mental health policies in both high-income countries (HICs) as well as middle- and low-income countries (MLICs). PubMed, Cochrane Library and Campbell Library were searched from inception to 31 December 2017, for studies on implemented mental health policies at the national level. Abstracts and the main texts of papers were double screened, and extracted data were analysed through thematic synthesis. A total of 93 papers were included in this study, covering 24 HICs, 28 MLICs and 5 regions. Studies on mental health policies, especially those of MLICs, kept increasing, but MLICs were still underrepresented in terms of publication quantity and study frequency. Based on the included studies, nine policy domains were summarized: service organizing, service provision, service quality, human resources, legislation and human rights, advocacy, administration, surveillance and research, and financing and budgeting. HICs incrementally enriched their policy content in all domains over centuries of development; following HICs' experience, mental health policies in MLICs have boomed since the 1990s and quickly extended to all domains. Implementation problems in HICs were mainly related to service organizing and service provision; for MLICs, more severe implementation problems converged on financing and budgeting, administration and human resources. Mental health policy developments in both HICs and MLICs present a process of diversification and enrichment. In terms of implementation, MLICs are faced with more and greater challenges than HICs, especially in funding, human resources and administration. Therefore, future

Commodities and Switzerland: Development Policy Challenges and Policy Options

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Werner Thut

2013-09-01

Full Text Available EDITOR’S NOTEThis paper, written in December 2012, is a contribution to the ‘Policy Debate’ section of the International Development Policy. In this section, academics, policy makers and practitioners engage in a dialogue on global development challenges. Papers are copy-edited but not peer-reviewed. Instead, an initial thematic contribution is followed by critical comments and reactions from different stakeholders. This paper by Werner Thut is followed by reactions and analysis from a non-profit policy institute (Alexandra Gillies, Revenue Watch Institute, New York, ‘Crafting a Strategic Response to the Commodity-Development Conundrum’, a Southern scholar (Prof. Humberto Campodonico, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima ‘Going Beyond Transparency and Good Governance’ | ‘Más allá de la transparencia y una buena gobernanza’ and a representative of the trading sector (Stéphane Graber, Secretary General of Geneva Trading & Shipping Association – ‘Reassessing the Merchants’ Role in a Globalized Economy’.PAPER’S ABSTRACTSwitzerland is one of the world’s largest commodity trading hub. The author, senior policy adviser at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC, reviews experiences and policy options related to commodity trading from a development policy perspective. While this sector has become of strategic importance to Switzerland’s economy, it also entails a number of risks. On the other hand, Swiss development cooperation efforts focus on several resource-rich countries, whose mineral and agricultural commodities are traded via Switzerland. How can Switzerland assist these countries to reap the benefits of their natural resource wealth? This paper looks at development policy aspects of commodity trading in relation to Swiss foreign and domestic policy. It examines ongoing policy debates in Switzerland and discusses development policy options.

Policy, politics and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Greer, Scott L; Bekker, Marleen; de Leeuw, Evelyne; Wismar, Matthias; Helderman, Jan-Kees; Ribeiro, Sofia; Stuckler, David

2017-10-01

If public health is the field that diagnoses and strives to cure social ills, then understanding political causes and cures for health problems should be an intrinsic part of the field. In this article, we argue that there is no support for the simple and common, implicit model of politics in which scientific evidence plus political will produces healthy policies. Efforts to improve the translation of evidence into policy such as knowledge transfer work only under certain circumstances. These circumstances are frequently political, and to be understood through systematic inquiry into basic features of the political economy such as institutions, partisanship and the organization of labour markets. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Men perpetrators of violence against women: public policy challenges and possible interventions in Latin America and Portugal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Juracy F. Toneli

2017-06-01

Full Text Available From exploratory researches done in Latin America and Portugal that have mapped programs for men perpetrators of violence against women, this paper intends to problematize how these men have been regarded by public policies. As to the methodology, visits were made to each program, along with routine observations and access to the materials produced by them, as well as coordinators interviews. The majority of initiatives have been developed by NGOs, however, in Brazil, governmental interventions are growing since the Maria da Penha Law was enacted. In Portugal, four programs were visited, three of which were linked to universities and the other to a hospital. While some difficulties are identified to give support to the male demand, it is important to emphasize the success of programs that propose educational and reflexive interventions. Thus, through reinforcement of public policies and interventions to give visibility for men perpetrators of violence, the possibility to promote changes in this context can be widely expanded.

Healthcare Policy in Romania. Frameworks and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buţiu Călina Ana

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of the paper is to review some of the healthcare policy issues of Romania and identify those challenges which may be addressed through social intervention. Based on statistical data, documents, reports and applicable laws one will review the health condition of Romanian population and the state of the national health system, and will examine the broad strategies and policies currently under the scrutiny of appropriate ministries. The findings of the study suggest looking at health policies also through the lens of social inclusion.

[Health and gender relations: a reflection on the challenges for the implementation of public policies for health care for indigenous women].

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Luciane Ouriques

2013-04-01

This article presents some contrasts that exist between the discourses of public policies concerning women's health care, especially with respect to indigenous women, and the ethnological discourse which emphasizes the specificity of gender relations within indigenous societies. We worked on the assumption that the development of these public policies as well as the organization of health care services offered, which in fact are necessary, have a transforming effect on prevailing gender relations within Amerindian Societies. On the one hand, gender relations between indigenous people are associated with the domains of kinship and corporeality. On the other hand, the process of creating public policies, by means of biomedical intervention and the medicalization of the female body, constitutes a powerful tool for body modeling and the construction of subjectivities contributing to making women worthy of citizenship. The female gender is under discussion and its content is being negotiated.

Environment and economy: Property rights and public policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bromley, D.J.

1991-01-01

For much of its history, environmental economics has sought to modify public policy in order to achieve efficient use and management of environmental resources. The results of this attempt, however, have been dismaying for the most part, and environment public policy continues to differ from the course of action prescribed by economic analysis. Some economists have begun to acknowledge that the reasons for this gap between economic theory and public policy may lie in environmental economics itself rather than in poor policy choices. That is the message sent in this book by Daniel Bromley, who joins S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup, Allan Schmid, and others in a strong internal critique of the discipline and, in particular, of the 'property rights school' of Coase, Demsetz, and other advocates of the market. Property rights are the common thread of this critique, which blames much of the failure of environmental economics to influence environmental policy on several fundamental misconceptions regarding property

Evolution and complexity of government policies to protect the health of undocumented/illegal migrants in Thailand – the unsolved challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Suphanchaimat, Rapeepong; Putthasri, Weerasak; Prakongsai, Phusit; Tangcharoensathien, Viroj

2017-01-01

Background Of the 65 million residents in Thailand, >1.5 million are undocumented/illegal migrants from neighboring countries. Despite several policies being launched to improve access to care for these migrants, policy implementation has always faced numerous challenges. This study aimed to investigate the policy makers’ views on the challenges of implementing policies to protect the health of undocumented/illegal migrants in light of the dynamics of all of the migrant policies in Thailand. Methods This study used a qualitative approach. Data were collected by document review, from related laws/regulations concerning migration policy over the past 40 years, and from in-depth interviews with seven key policy-level officials. Thematic analysis was applied. Results Three critical themes emerged, namely, national security, economic necessity, and health protection. The national security discourse played a dominant role from the early 1900s up to the 1980s as Thailand attempted to defend itself from the threats of colonialism and communism. The economic boom of the 1990s created a pronounced labor shortage, which required a large migrant labor force to drive the growing economy. The first significant attempt to protect the health of migrants materialized in the early 2000s, after Thailand achieved universal health coverage. During that period, public insurance for undocumented/illegal migrants was introduced. The insurance used premium-based financing. However, the majority of migrants remained uninsured. Recently, the government attempted to overhaul the entire migrant registry system by introducing a new measure, namely the One Stop Service. In principle, the One Stop Service aimed to integrate the functions of all responsible authorities, but several challenges still remained; these included ambiguous policy messages and the slow progress of the nationality verification process. Conclusion The root causes of the challenges in migrant health policy are incoherent

Parent Trigger Policies, Representation, and the Public Good

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Ann; Saultz, Andrew

2015-01-01

Using theories of representation and democratic education, this article examines the impetus of parent trigger policies in the United States and their potential effects on public good goals for public education. The article also uses theories of representation and responsible democratic governance to assess the parent trigger policies, or what are…

Economic issues and public alcohol abuse prevention policies in France

Science.gov (United States)

Spach, Miléna

2016-10-19

Objective: To analyse the impact of the alcohol market on the implementation of strong-willed public alcohol abuse prevention policies based on a critical review of the literature. Method: Documentary research and analysis of the alcohol market economic data were performed. An overview of public alcohol abuse prevention policies was conducted from a historical perspective by distinguishing drunkenness control policies, protection of vulnerable populations, and the fight against drink driving and drinking in the workplace. Results: Public alcohol abuse prevention policies are primarily designed to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol occurring as a result of a drinking episode (motor vehicle accident, highway accidents, etc.), while neglecting the long-term consequences (cancer, cirrhosis, etc.). Moreover, while taxation is one of the major public health tools used to reduce the costs of alcohol-related damage on society, the State exercises legislative and tax protection for alcoholic beverages produced in France. In particular, wine benefits from a lower tax rate than other stronger forms of alcohol (spirits, liquors, etc.). The economic weight of the alcohol market can provide an explanation for these public alcohol abuse prevention policies. Conclusion: In view of the mortality caused by alcohol abuse, France must implement a proactive public policy. An alcohol taxation policy based on the alcohol content, a minimum unit pricing for alcohol, or higher taxes on alcohol are public policies that could be considered in order to reduce alcohol-related mortality.

School Uniform Policies in Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Brunsma, David L.

2006-01-01

The movement for school uniforms in public schools continues to grow despite the author's research indicating little if any impact on student behavior, achievement, and self-esteem. The author examines the distribution of uniform policies by region and demographics, the impact of these policies on perceptions of school climate and safety, and…

Public policy: effective treatment for tobacco disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheg, K E

1996-01-01

Public policy initiatives offer greater promise than other strategies for reducing the major public health problem of death and disease due to smoking. Three of the most critical public policy areas today are smoke-free environments, youth access, and advertising. While earlier laws separated smokers and nonsmokers into separate sections, the focus now is on smoke-free environments. Various places, however, most notably restaurants, often remain polluted with tobacco smoke and put women at heightened risk of disease and death. Restricting youth access to tobacco products has also gained momentum in the 1990s. The recently proposed Food and Drug Administration regulations designed to reduce smoking by minors by 50% over seven years are the most significant national public policy initiatives ever to address the problem of children smoking. Measures to counter the tobacco industry's massive advertising and promotion campaigns have also increased. The federal government has begun enforcing the prohibition on cigarette advertising on television, and local jurisdictions have restricted tobacco billboards and point-of-sale advertising.

Shadow Cost of Public Funds and Privatization Policies

OpenAIRE

Sato, Susumu; Matsumura, Toshihiro

2017-01-01

We investigate the optimal privatization policy in mixed oligopolies with shadow cost of public funds (excess burden of taxation). The government is concerned with both the total social surplus and the revenue obtained by the privatization of a public firm. We find that the relationship between the shadow cost of public funds and the optimal privatization policy is non-monotone. When the cost is moderate, then higher the cost is, the lower is the optimal degree of privatization. ...

Energy policy and public administration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daneke, G.A.; Lagassa, G.K. (eds.)

1980-01-01

At the 1979 conference of the American Society for Public Administration, each editor chaired a separate panel on the administrative dimensions of energy policy. Both panels revealed the importance of involvement in energy decision making by all levels of government. It turns out that energy policy makers are confronted with unrealistic, and therefore paralyzing, choices between two rather extreme sets of energy stategies and futures: large-scale, centralized technologies vs. small-scale, decentralized, appropriate technologies. The nineteen chapters selected and compiled here represent the basic policy issues that must be confronted along whichever path that is chosen. A separate abstract was prepared for each chapter.

Public involvement in danish energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Refslund Poulsen, N.; Breinholt Larsen, F.

1977-01-01

A preliminary investigation on ''Public involvment in the Danish energy policy. The nuclear power issue'' was carried out as part of the project on ''Public involvment in decision-making related to science and technology'' performed by the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry of the OECD in Paris. The historical development of Danish energy policy is briefly described. An account is given of the nuclear controversy, and the development of public opinion is outlined. The public debate has been very widespread and intense, by far the most comprehensive debate since that concerning the European Communities. Assuming that the development of public opinion reflects the relative success or failure of the contending parties, the opponents of nuclear energy seem to have done best. Opinion polls showed some marked deviations among the electorate according to different variables. The most striking were those observed in relation to sex, age, education, and political preferences. One chapter treats the attitude of public authorities to extended public involvment, and special accounts are given of the Energy Information Committee, and the Energy Council. Finally the prime movers of the nuclear debate are dealt with, in particular the Organization for Information on Nuclear Energy OOA, which opposes nuclear power. (B.P.)

Public health emergencies and the public health/managed care challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, Sara; Skivington, Skip; Praeger, Sandra

2002-01-01

The relationship between insurance and public health is an enduring topic in public health policy and practice. Insurers share certain attributes with public health. But public health agencies operate in relation to the entire community that they are empowered by public law to serve and without regard to the insurance status of community residents; on the other hand, insurers (whether managed care or otherwise) are risk-bearing entities whose obligations are contractually defined and limited to enrolled members and sponsors. Public insurers such as Medicare and Medicaid operate under similar constraints. The fundamental characteristics that distinguish managed care-style insurance and public health become particularly evident during periods of public health emergency, when a public health agency's basic obligations to act with speed and flexibility may come face to face with the constraints on available financing that are inherent in the structure of insurance. Because more than 70% of all personal health care in the United States is financed through insurance, public health agencies effectively depend on insurers to finance necessary care and provide essential patient-level data to the public health system. Critical issues of state and federal policy arise in the context of the public health/insurance relations during public health emergencies. These issues focus on coverage and the power to make coverage decisions, as well as the power to define service networks and classify certain data as exempt from public reporting. The extent to which a formal regulatory approach may become necessary is significantly affected by the extent to which private entities themselves respond to the problem with active efforts to redesign their services and operations to include capabilities and accountability in the realm of public health emergency response.

Developing Public Policies for New Welfare Technologies – A Case Study of Telemedicine and Telehomecare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tambo, Torben

2012-01-01

and communication-based technologies (ICT) for homecare and monitoring (telemedicine, telehomecare). Despite major investments and national commitment, public policies have not yet found a general approach to move from technological and clinical opportunity and into large-scale regular use of the technology...... (normalisation). This article provides two case studies from Denmark; one case with hypertension monitoring at a local level and another case on national policy implementation through funding of selected demonstration projects. Among the findings are that policy-making processes certainly face major challenges...... in capturing research and development for the transition of technologies into working practice. Furthermore, policy approaches of supporting experimentation and demonstration are found inadequate in promoting technology into a level of normalisation in highly cross-organisational operational environments...

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy

African Journals Online (AJOL)

daouda.thiam

2009-02-26

Feb 26, 2009 ... person of Charles Taylor, given his antecedents. Regardless ..... influence of the reactions of the public on the foreign policy actions of governments. ... tion reacted vehemently to this move, which was viewed as tantamount.

[Public policy-making on breast cancer in Latin America].

Science.gov (United States)

González-Robledo, M C; González-Robledo, L M; Nigenda, G

2013-03-01

To understand the public policy-making process as it relates to breast cancer care in five Latin American countries. An exploratory-evaluative study was conducted in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela in 2010, with the selection of countries based on convenience sampling. Sixty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with government officials, academics, and representatives of trade associations and civil society organizations. A content analysis of secondary sources was performed. Information sources, data, and informants were mixed using the triangulation method for purposes of analysis. The countries that have made the most progress in public policy-making related to breast cancer are Brazil and Mexico. Although Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela do not have policies, they do have breast cancer care programs and activities. Two perspectives on the development of public policies became evident: the first includes the broad participation of both governmental and nongovernmental sectors, whereas the second, more narrow approach involves government authorities alone. The results point to significant differences in public policy-making related to breast cancer in the Region. They also show that greater progress has been made in countries where policies have been developed through inclusive participation processes.

Public Policy and Gender Inequality in Brazilian Society: Considerations From the Realms of Labor, Politics and Science.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janaina Xavier do Nascimento

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The present text focuses on issues of gender inequality and public policy in Brazil today. My major goals are as follows: 1 to provide an analysis of gender inequality in Brazilian society through an examination of the three key arenas of labor, political representation and science and 2 to examine both the advances and the challenges that persist in confronting inequality through public policies on gender. To these ends, I employ secondary data, obtained from three different official sources (IBGE, TSE and CNPq. Lastly, I argue that while the policies that have been implemented can be linked to significant progress in the three above-mentioned arenas, we are still quite far from a real reversal of the current situation of deep inequality, persisting, above all, in the field of political representation.

Health in All (Foreign) Policy: challenges in achieving coherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Labonté, Ronald

2014-06-01

Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach is generally perceived as an intersectoral approach to national or sub-national public policy development, such that health outcomes are given full consideration by non-health sectors. Globalization, however, has created numerous 'inherently global health issues' with cross-border causes and consequences, requiring new forms of global governance for health. Although such governance often includes both state and non-state (private, civil society) actors in agenda setting and influence, different actors have differing degrees of power and authority and, ultimately, it is states that ratify intergovernmental covenants or normative declarations that directly or indirectly affect health. This requires public health and health promotion practitioners working within countries to give increased attention to the foreign policies of their national governments. These foreign policies include those governing national security, foreign aid, trade and investment as well as the traditional forms of diplomacy. A new term has been coined to describe how health is coming to be positioned in governments' foreign policies: global health diplomacy. To become adept at this nuanced diplomatic practice requires familiarity with the different policy frames by which health might be inserted into the foreign policy deliberations, and thence intergovernmental/global governance negotiations. This article discusses six such frames (security, trade, development, global public goods, human rights, ethical/moral reasoning) that have been analytically useful in assessing the potential for greater and more health-promoting foreign policy coherence: a 'Health in All (Foreign) Policies' approach. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Do driving restriction policies effectively motivate commuters to use public transportation?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yunxia; Hong, Zaisheng; Liu, Yong

2016-01-01

Driving restriction policies have been implemented in some large Chinese cities to cope with severe urban smog pollution. We explored the roles of policy acceptance and other factors in commuters' transport mode decisions, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Tianjin, China. A structural equation model was developed to test eight hypotheses, two of which were rejected. The results indicate that a driving restriction policy alone cannot effectively motivate commuters to use public transport if the policymakers fail to improve public transport, enhance commuters' awareness of consequences, increase commuters' perceived behavior control, and encourage car owners to change driving behavior. Comparisons between car owners and non-owners indicated that car owners view driving restriction policy and public transport more negatively. These negative views could be a barrier for the promotion of public transport among car owners. In addition, attitude toward public transport was found to have positive correlation with commuting time. - Highlights: • Attitude towards public transport has an impact on policy acceptance. • Driving habit indirectly affects policy acceptance and perceived behavior control. • Driving restriction policy and public transport are not popular among car owners. • Attitude towards public transport correlates positively with commuting time.

Public health policy research: making the case for a political science approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernier, Nicole F; Clavier, Carole

2011-03-01

The past few years have seen the emergence of claims that the political determinants of health do not get due consideration and a growing demand for better insights into public policy analysis in the health research field. Several public health and health promotion researchers are calling for better training and a stronger research culture in health policy. The development of these studies tends to be more advanced in health promotion than in other areas of public health research, but researchers are still commonly caught in a naïve, idealistic and narrow view of public policy. This article argues that the political science discipline has developed a specific approach to public policy analysis that can help to open up unexplored levers of influence for public health research and practice and that can contribute to a better understanding of public policy as a determinant of health. It describes and critiques the public health model of policy analysis, analyzes political science's specific approach to public policy analysis, and discusses how the politics of research provides opportunities and barriers to the integration of political science's distinctive contributions to policy analysis in health promotion.

Dossier: “Public Policies for Territorial Development in Latin America”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Sabourin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This dossier is devoted to the subject “Public Policies for Territorial Development in Latin America”. It is true that articles about either public policies for rural development or territorial and environmental development have already been published in Sustainability in Debate. However, this present dossier has the merit of introducing scientific articles that combine both research subjects – public policies for rural and for territorial/environmental development.

BASES OF PUBLIC POLICY FORMATION DIRECTED AT ENSURING BUDGET SECURITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Onishchenko

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the article the priorities and public policies that can improve the safety level of the budget of Ukraine have been grounded. Attention on the problems of imbalance and deficiency trends accumulation of public debt has been focused. The detailed analysis of the budget deficit of the European community to further research the main problems of fiscal security has been carried out. The formation of the concept of budget policy should include long-term and medium-term priorities of the state priorities areas have been concluded. Budget policy on public debt must deal with interrelated issues of debt bondage and effective use of public credit, promote economic growth with respect safe level and structure of public debt have been emphasized by author. Debt policy as part of fiscal policy under certain conditions can be a powerful tool to intensify investment and innovation processes in society, promote economic and social development. The reorientation of fiscal policy to address current problems through debt and use it as the basis of investment and innovation development provides an effective public debt management is designed to reduce state budget expenditures on its servicing and repayment, optimizing the scope and structure of debt according to economic growth. The role of debt policy in modern terms increases is clearly subordinate to and consistent with long-term goals and priorities of fiscal policy. There is an urgent development and implementation of effective mechanisms for investing borrowed resources, increasing the efficiency of public investment, including the improvement of organizational, financial, legal and controls. Strategically budget security guarantees only competitive economy, which can be constructed only by recovery and accelerated development of promising sectors of the national economy in the presence of a balanced budget policy. Now there is a tendency to implement only measures to stabilize the political and socio

Censorship Challenges to Books in Scottish Public Libraries

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Kelly; McMenemy, David

2013-01-01

Censorship challenges to books in UK public libraries have received renewed attention recently. This study sought to establish the incidence of censorship challenges to books in Scottish public libraries in the years 2005-2009 and the actions taken in response to these challenges. It was found that eight local authorities in Scotland had received…

Health Data Sharing Preferences of Consumers: Public Policy and Legal Implications of Consumer-Mediated Data Management

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Lisa A.

2017-01-01

An individual's choice to share or have control of the sharing or withholding of their personal health information is one of the most significant public policy challenges associated with electronic information exchange. There were four aims of this study. First, to describe predictors of health data sharing preferences of consumers. Second, to…

A Mixed Methods Approach for Identifying Influence on Public Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver-Hightower, Marcus B.

2014-01-01

Fields from political science to critical education policy studies have long explored power relations in policy processes, showing who influences policy agendas, policy creation, and policy implementation. Yet showing particular actors' influence on specific points in a policy text remains a methodological challenge. This article presents a…

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in Botswana’s Public Service: Achievements and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorothy Mpabanga

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to explore the implementation of performance monitoring and evaluation tools used in Botswana’s public service. The paper also identifies achievements and challenges of implementing performance monitoring and evaluation system and suggests ways for improvement. This paper uses secondary data sources. The paper reveals lack of performance monitoring and evaluation skills, poor supervision, poor conditions of service and a poor work ethic as some of the factors contributing to ineffective use of performance monitoring and evaluation tools in the service. Leadership commitment and support, benchmarking reforms, training and education, developed administrative and governance structures as well as well-defined public policy and program formulation and implementation processes are some of the success factors to enhanced performance management and evaluation systems in Botswana. The paper argues for adoption of a developmental-led model in order to enhance existing performance monitoring and evaluation system that would improve implementation of government policies and programs. Botswana has been striving to excel in service delivery through performance monitoring and evaluation oriented reforms.

CULTURAL POLICY IN TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES: NEW CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulyana V. SHCHURKO

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the new conditions of countries’ development in the post-crisis period. Challenges to the cultural and socio-economic policy during last decade were analyzed. Religious factors are offered to be considered as important mechanisms of solving transition period problems, and at the same time as the causes of many conflicts in the world. It was offered to include those factors as inevitable elements into modern policy making process.

Systematic environmental monitoring model for decision in Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jair Cunha Cardoso Filho

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Addresses the existing interdisciplinary between Information Science and public policies, and proposes to environmental monitoring tool as a relevant tool for improving the process of evaluating the effectiveness of these social policies and social programs, there included the legislative branch, through the collection, processing and provision of information allowing to identify the environmental changes and propose, consistently, the improvement of public policies that meet the demands of citizens.

Patron Behavior Policies in the Public Library: "Kreimer v. Morristown" Revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Geiszler, Robert W.

1998-01-01

The case of an indigent library patron recovering a judgment against a public library is used as a backdrop for discussing patron behavior policies in the public library. Highlights include First Amendment rights, the public library as an expressive forum, government rules, policy lessons from the case, and acceptable policies. (AEF)

Multisectoral Actions for Health: Challenges and Opportunities in Complex Policy Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viroj Tangcharoensathien

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Multisectoral actions for health, defined as actions undertaken by non-health sectors to protect the health of the population, are essential in the context of inter-linkages between three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. These multisectoral actions can address the social and economic factors that influence the health of a population at the local, national, and global levels. This editorial identifies the challenges, opportunities and capacity development for effective multisectoral actions for health in a complex policy environment. The root causes of the challenges lie in poor governance such as entrenched political and administrative corruption, widespread clientelism, lack of citizen voice, weak social capital, lack of trust and lack of respect for human rights. This is further complicated by the lack of government effectiveness caused by poor capacity for strong public financial management and low levels of transparency and accountability which leads to corruption. The absence of or rapid changes in government policies, and low salary in relation to living standards result in migration out of qualified staff. Tobacco, alcohol and sugary drink industries are major risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs and had interfered with health policy through regulatory capture and potential law suits against the government. Opportunities still exist. Some World Health Assembly (WHA and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA resolutions are both considered as external driving forces for intersectoral actions for health. In addition, Thailand National Health Assembly under the National Health Act is another tool providing opportunity to form trust among stakeholders from different sectors.

Social Technology as a Sustainable Public Policy: The Mandalla Project in Ceará

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josimar Souza Costa

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Environmental degradation in semi-arid Northeast has been a great challenge for the Brazilian government. The need to generate employment and income, justifies the establishment of productive activities competitive and covering the dimensions of sustainability. In this context, there is the movement of Social Technology (ST, aimed at social inclusion and development through the appropriation of simple technologies, inexpensive and consolidated in the culture of the community benefit. As a public policy of the government of Ceará, appeared the Mandalla Project, using irrigated agriculture and agribusiness production system, which includes the creation of small animals from natural methods. This study aims to analyze the ST Mandalla as a public policy that promotes sustainable development. The results show that this technology, contributes significantly to the sustainable development of semi-arid and improving the quality of life of communities served when examined against the dimensions of Sustainable Development model of Sachs (2002.

Romanian Public Expenditures Policy during the Economic Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca-Ştefania SAVA

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to discuss the Romanian public expenditures policy promoted in the context of the economic and financial crisis. Firstly, we present a brief introduction on the effects of public expenditures policy to economic growth and the role of automatic stabilizers in times of economic recessions. Secondly, the paper analyzes the evolution of current and capital public expenditures before and during the economic and financial crisis, according to which unproductive spending prevailed, in detriment of productive investments which can stimulate the economic recovery.

Public Participation in the Energy-Related Public Policy Making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozicevic Vrhovcak, M.; Rodik, D.; Zmijarevic, Z.; Jaksic, D.

2011-01-01

This paper provides an overview of possibilities for public participation in proposing legal acts and other energy related documents in the Republic of Croatia and gives author assessment of the Croatian public participation level in the processes carried out. The ways how public has participated in the making of a few officially accepted documents have been analysed and potential benefits of inclusion of a wider circle of interested public have been stated. A comparison of the degree of public involvement in the decision making processes in Croatia and the European Union has been made, with specific emphasis on the adoption of the Third package of energy laws. Several national and EU funded projects aiming at enhancing the Croatian public participation in public decision making processes have been presented and their results given. Finally, possibilities for the improvement of the public participation in the Croatian energy policy making processes are proposed. (author)

Policy challenges for wildlife management in a changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

Mark L. Shaffer

2014-01-01

Try as it might, wildlife management cannot make wild living things adapt to climate change. Management can, however, make adaptation more or less likely. Given that policy is a rule set for action, policy will play a critical role in society’s efforts to help wildlife cope with the challenge of climate change. To be effective, policy must provide clear goals and be...

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH TO TRANSPORTATION POLICY

OpenAIRE

Makoto ITOH

2003-01-01

Established in 1995 with the basic philosophy of serving as a bridge between research and practice, the Institute for Transport Policy Studies conducts activities in support of transportation policy research in the public interest. This paper aims to describe the contribution of public interest research to transportation policy as seen in the Institute's activities. Touching first on the context and events leading to its establishment, the paper then describes the Institute's guiding principl...

Public consultation in public policy information: a state-of-the-art report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, A.B.; McKee, M.; Hansen, R.D.

1977-01-01

The purpose of the National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) Program is to site, construct and operate nuclear waste repositories at several locations. Recent experience indicates that the public is aware of the problems of nuclear waste disposal, and correspondingly there is public concern about how and where to dispose of nuclear wastes. The selection of sites involves a wide range of considerations including geological, technical and environmental feasibility. In addition to these, it is important that societal acceptance of repository options also be taken into account in moving foward with the NWTS Program. Such an incorporation of social considerations and preferences correspondingly implies the need for public consultation in the site selection process. In exploring the concept and state-or-the-art of public involvement in public policy decision, a number of important questions are relevant: (1) What are the basic objectives of public participation in policy formation and program decisions. (2) Who are the ''publics'' that should be involved and how can they be identified. (3) What information should be communicated between the agency and the publics. (4) What techniques are available to elicit public participation and involvement and what are their capabilities. At the outset, it should be noted that the purpose of this paper in addressing these questions is not to design public participation procedures for the NWTS program. Rather, the above are questions that provide a broad framework for developing an understanding of citizen participation in public policy decisions, such as nuclear waste disposal. In this sense, the following discussion is to provide a context and guidance for approaching the problem of organizing and structuring involvement in the NWTS program. Annotated bibliography of 95 references is included

Public consultation in public policy information: a state-of-the-art report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bishop, A.B.; McKee, M.; Hansen, R.D.

1977-01-01

The purpose of the National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) Program is to site, construct and operate nuclear waste repositories at several locations. Recent experience indicates that the public is aware of the problems of nuclear waste disposal, and correspondingly there is public concern about how and where to dispose of nuclear wastes. The selection of sites involves a wide range of considerations including geological, technical and environmental feasibility. In addition to these, it is important that societal acceptance of repository options also be taken into account in moving foward with the NWTS Program. Such an incorporation of social considerations and preferences correspondingly implies the need for public consultation in the site selection process. In exploring the concept and state-or-the-art of public involvement in public policy decision, a number of important questions are relevant: (1) What are the basic objectives of public participation in policy formation and program decisions. (2) Who are the ''publics'' that should be involved and how can they be identified. (3) What information should be communicated between the agency and the publics. (4) What techniques are available to elicit public participation and involvement and what are their capabilities. At the outset, it should be noted that the purpose of this paper in addressing these questions is not to design public participation procedures for the NWTS program. Rather, the above are questions that provide a broad framework for developing an understanding of citizen participation in public policy decisions, such as nuclear waste disposal. In this sense, the following discussion is to provide a context and guidance for approaching the problem of organizing and structuring involvement in the NWTS program. Annotated bibliography of 95 references is included.

Risk in Public Policy Making: A Neglected Issue in Australia

OpenAIRE

Hardaker, J. Brian; Fleming, Euan M.; Lien, Gudbrand D.

2008-01-01

We argue for greater recognition of the risky nature of most policy decisions. In this context we discuss the gulf between public risk perceptions and attitudes and those of 'experts'. Public views of risk are often inconsistent and seemingly irrational. They nevertheless influence policy choices in a democracy. On the other hand, experts often claim unjustifiable levels of confidence in their predictions of policy choice outcomes, creating a lack of public faith in their recommendations. Whi...

Implications of health as 'the ability to adapt and self-manage' for public health policy : A qualitative study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jambroes, Marielle; Nederland, Trudi; Kaljouw, Marian; Van Vliet, Katja; Essink-Bot, Marie Louise; Ruwaard, Dirk

2016-01-01

Background: To explore the implications for public health policy of a new conceptualisation of health as 'The ability to adapt and to self-manage, in the face of social, physical and emotional challenges'. Methods: Secondary qualitative data analysis of 28 focus group interviews, with 277

Food system policy, public health, and human rights in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Shannon, Kerry L; Kim, Brent F; McKenzie, Shawn E; Lawrence, Robert S

2015-03-18

The US food system functions within a complex nexus of social, political, economic, cultural, and ecological factors. Among them are many dynamic pressures such as population growth, urbanization, socioeconomic inequities, climate disruption, and the increasing demand for resource-intensive foods that place immense strains on public health and the environment. This review focuses on the role that policy plays in defining the food system, particularly with regard to agriculture. It further examines the challenges of making the food supply safe, nutritious, and sustainable, while respecting the rights of all people to have access to adequate food and to attain the highest standard of health. We conclude that the present US food system is largely unhealthy, inequitable, environmentally damaging, and insufficiently resilient to endure the impacts of climate change, resource depletion, and population increases, and is therefore unsustainable. Thus, it is imperative that the US embraces policy reforms to transform the food system into one that supports public health and reflects the principles of human rights and agroecology for the benefit of current and future generations.

Can public health reconcile profits and pandemics? An analysis of attitudes to commercial sector engagement in health policy and research.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeff Collin

Full Text Available Public health's terms of engagement with unhealthy commodity industries (alcohol, tobacco and ultra-processed food and drinks have become increasingly contested in policy and research. We sought to identify approaches that could attract consensus support within and across policy domains.Using snowball sampling, we undertook an online survey of 335 health researchers, advocates and policymakers, in 40 countries, assessing responses to stated principles, claims and recommendations for engaging with unhealthy commodity industries in relation to key policy and research initiatives.Most respondents identified a fundamental conflict between industry interests and public health objectives for all three industries, with agreement greatest in relation to tobacco and weakest for food. This pattern was replicated across diverse questions regarding potential forms of engagement, including in rejecting voluntarism and partnership approaches to health policy. While awareness of tobacco industry tactics to influence policy and research was higher than for alcohol and food, most respondents rejected the view that the influence of the latter was less significant for public health. Proposals that health and research organisations should divest their funds attracted less support with respect to food, while restricting publication of industry-funded research in academic journals was the issue that most divided opinion. Respondents reported most difficulty in answering questions about the food industry.The strong consensus around restricting interactions with the tobacco industry supports increased implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control's conflict of interest provisions. There is strong support for the extension of such practices to the alcohol industry, challenging current norms. More mixed responses indicate a need for greater clarity in defining the food industry, and for research analyzing links, similarities and differences across

Can public health reconcile profits and pandemics? An analysis of attitudes to commercial sector engagement in health policy and research.

Science.gov (United States)

Collin, Jeff; Hill, Sarah E; Kandlik Eltanani, Mor; Plotnikova, Evgeniya; Ralston, Rob; Smith, Katherine E

2017-01-01

Public health's terms of engagement with unhealthy commodity industries (alcohol, tobacco and ultra-processed food and drinks) have become increasingly contested in policy and research. We sought to identify approaches that could attract consensus support within and across policy domains. Using snowball sampling, we undertook an online survey of 335 health researchers, advocates and policymakers, in 40 countries, assessing responses to stated principles, claims and recommendations for engaging with unhealthy commodity industries in relation to key policy and research initiatives. Most respondents identified a fundamental conflict between industry interests and public health objectives for all three industries, with agreement greatest in relation to tobacco and weakest for food. This pattern was replicated across diverse questions regarding potential forms of engagement, including in rejecting voluntarism and partnership approaches to health policy. While awareness of tobacco industry tactics to influence policy and research was higher than for alcohol and food, most respondents rejected the view that the influence of the latter was less significant for public health. Proposals that health and research organisations should divest their funds attracted less support with respect to food, while restricting publication of industry-funded research in academic journals was the issue that most divided opinion. Respondents reported most difficulty in answering questions about the food industry. The strong consensus around restricting interactions with the tobacco industry supports increased implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control's conflict of interest provisions. There is strong support for the extension of such practices to the alcohol industry, challenging current norms. More mixed responses indicate a need for greater clarity in defining the food industry, and for research analyzing links, similarities and differences across different types of

CDC's Prevention Status Reports: Monitoring the Status of Public Health Policies and Practices for Improved Performance and Accountability.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Andrea C; Lowry, Garry; Mumford, Karen; Graaf, Christine

Increasing the adoption and implementation of evidence-based policies and practices is a key strategy for improving public health. Although there is widespread agreement about the importance of implementing evidence-based public health policies and practices, there are gaps between what has been shown to be effective and what is implemented at the state level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Prevention Status Reports (PSRs), a performance measurement system, to highlight evidence-based public health policies and practices and catalyze state performance and quality improvement efforts across the nation. CDC selected a set of 10 topics representing some of the most important public health challenges in the nation. Stakeholders, including state health departments and other partners, helped conceptualize the PSRs and informed the development of the PSR framework, which provides an organizational structure for the system. CDC subject matter experts developed criteria for selecting policies and practices, indicators for each policy and practice, and a criteria-based rating system for each indicator. The PSRs were developed for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The PSRs were developed and serve as a performance measurement system for monitoring the adoption, reach, and implementation fidelity of evidence-based public health policies and practices nationwide. The PSRs include 33 policy and practice indicators across the 10 health topics. They use a simple 3-level rating system-green, yellow, and red-to report the extent to which each state (and the District of Columbia) has implemented the policy or practice in accordance with supporting evidence or expert recommendations. Results from aggregate analyses show positive change or improvement. The PSRs are a unique part of CDC's work to improve the performance and accountability of the public health system, serving as both a monitoring tool and a call to action to improve health

Energy for sustainable road transportation in China: Challenges, initiatives and policy implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Xiaojun; Chang, Shiyan; Li, Jingjie; Qin, Yining [Institute of Energy and Environmental Economics, Energy Science Building, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-11-15

This paper presents an overview of the initiatives launched in energy supply and consumption and the challenges encountered in sustainable road transportation development in China. It analyzes the main energy challenges related to road transportation development arising in the context of economic development, rapid urbanization, and improvement in living standards. It also discusses technological- and policy initiatives needed to deal with these challenges, drawing comparisons with foreign experience: promoting the development and dissemination of alternative fuels and clean vehicles such as: LPG, CNG, EV, HEV, FCV, ethanol, methanol, DME, bio-diesel, and CTL, strengthening regulations relating to vehicle fuel economy and emission, improving traffic efficiency and facilitating public transport development, and strengthening management of the soaring motor vehicle population. If the current pattern continues, by the year 2030, the vehicle population in China will be 400 million and fuel demand will be 350 million tons. The potential energy saving capacity being 60%, the actual oil demand by 2030 from on-road vehicles might technically be kept at the current level by improving fuel economy, propagating use of HEV and diesel vehicles, improving supply of alternative fuels, and developing public transport. Several uncertainties are identified that could greatly influence the effect of the technical proposals: traffic efficiency, central government's resolve, and consumers' choice. (author)

A study on the role of influence group in public policy making

OpenAIRE

Abbas Monavarian; Mojtaba Amiri; Narges Sadat Razavimehr

2014-01-01

Nowadays, learning more about influence groups on public policy making is one of most important subjects of management science. Governments are the primary sources for public policy making but influenced groups participate indirectly and while they remain out of power, they put pressure on many decisions. Some of participants in public policy making are not influenced groups but mostly, due to their participation in policy public making matter are called influenced groups. This research, from...

Central bank independence and public debt policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beetsma, R.M.W.J.; Bovenberg, A.L.

1997-01-01

The various proposals for the institutional design of the European Monetary Union have drawn fresh attention to the link between monetary and public debt policies. This paper explores the strategic interaction between fiscal authorities setting public debt and the central bank controlling monetary

Public Policies that Help Foster Social Inclusion

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Chau-kiu

2013-01-01

Public policies can be effective in raising people's social inclusion as intended only reasonably through their implementation. With respect to the implementation perspective, this study examines the effectiveness of eight policies as perceived to implement in Hong Kong, China. The study employs data collected from 1,109 Chinese adults randomly…

Balance, Diversity and Ethics in Public Policy Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Paul B.

Public policy for agriculture and natural resources must change as farming and the use of resources change, but policy also changes to reflect new understandings. The new understandings that will shape future agricultural policy may not come from food producers or agricultural scientists, and may not assume that expanding production is the primary…

Public Policy-Making in Contemporary Ethiopia | Abebe | Africa Insight

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article draws attention to the perennial problems and salient features of public policy-making in contemporary Ethiopia, namely, the imbalance between policy-making institutions and policy benefi ciaries, and how these have infl uenced policy formulation and implementation from 1991 to 2004. Drawing from interviews ...

The Mexican experience in monitoring and evaluation of public policies addressing social determinants of health

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Adolfo Martinez

2016-01-01

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) have gradually become important and regular components of the policy-making process in Mexico since, and even before, the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) called for interventions and policies aimed at tackling the social determinants of health (SDH). This paper presents two case studies to show how public policies addressing the SDH have been monitored and evaluated in Mexico using reliable, valid, and complete information, which is not regularly available. Prospera, for example, evaluated programs seeking to improve the living conditions of families in extreme poverty in terms of direct effects on health, nutrition, education and income. Monitoring of Prospera's implementation has also helped policy-makers identify windows of opportunity to improve the design and operation of the program. Seguro Popular has monitored the reduction of health inequalities and inequities evaluated the positive effects of providing financial protection to its target population. Useful and sound evidence of the impact of programs such as Progresa and Seguro Popular plus legal mandates, and a regulatory evaluation agency, the National Council for Social Development Policy Evaluation, have been fundamental to institutionalizing M&E in Mexico. The Mexican experience may provide useful lessons for other countries facing the challenge of institutionalizing the M&E of public policy processes to assess the effects of SDH as recommended by the WHO CSDH. PMID:26928215

The Mexican experience in monitoring and evaluation of public policies addressing social determinants of health.

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Adolfo Martinez

2016-01-01

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) have gradually become important and regular components of the policy-making process in Mexico since, and even before, the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) called for interventions and policies aimed at tackling the social determinants of health (SDH). This paper presents two case studies to show how public policies addressing the SDH have been monitored and evaluated in Mexico using reliable, valid, and complete information, which is not regularly available. Prospera, for example, evaluated programs seeking to improve the living conditions of families in extreme poverty in terms of direct effects on health, nutrition, education and income. Monitoring of Prospera's implementation has also helped policy-makers identify windows of opportunity to improve the design and operation of the program. Seguro Popular has monitored the reduction of health inequalities and inequities evaluated the positive effects of providing financial protection to its target population. Useful and sound evidence of the impact of programs such as Progresa and Seguro Popular plus legal mandates, and a regulatory evaluation agency, the National Council for Social Development Policy Evaluation, have been fundamental to institutionalizing M&E in Mexico. The Mexican experience may provide useful lessons for other countries facing the challenge of institutionalizing the M&E of public policy processes to assess the effects of SDH as recommended by the WHO CSDH.

The Mexican experience in monitoring and evaluation of public policies addressing social determinants of health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adolfo Martinez Valle

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Monitoring and evaluation (M&E have gradually become important and regular components of the policy-making process in Mexico since, and even before, the World Health Organization (WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH called for interventions and policies aimed at tackling the social determinants of health (SDH. This paper presents two case studies to show how public policies addressing the SDH have been monitored and evaluated in Mexico using reliable, valid, and complete information, which is not regularly available. Prospera, for example, evaluated programs seeking to improve the living conditions of families in extreme poverty in terms of direct effects on health, nutrition, education and income. Monitoring of Prospera's implementation has also helped policy-makers identify windows of opportunity to improve the design and operation of the program. Seguro Popular has monitored the reduction of health inequalities and inequities evaluated the positive effects of providing financial protection to its target population. Useful and sound evidence of the impact of programs such as Progresa and Seguro Popular plus legal mandates, and a regulatory evaluation agency, the National Council for Social Development Policy Evaluation, have been fundamental to institutionalizing M&E in Mexico. The Mexican experience may provide useful lessons for other countries facing the challenge of institutionalizing the M&E of public policy processes to assess the effects of SDH as recommended by the WHO CSDH.

Population mental health: evidence, policy, and public health practice

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cohen, Neal L; Galea, Sandro

2011-01-01

... on population mental health with public mental health policy and practice. Issues covered in the book include the influence of mental health policies on the care and well-­ being of individuals with mental illness, the interconnectedness of physical and mental disorders, the obstacles to adopting a public health orientation to mental health/mental ill...

Neoliberal Policies and their Impact on Public Health Education: Observations on the Venezuelan Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Feo

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the impact of neoliberal policies on the training of specialists in Public Health and describes the Venezuelan experience. In Venezuela, like other countries of the American continent, Public Health Schools had been transformed from institutions under the direction of the Ministry of Health to a model in which training took place under market conditions. Education in Public Health became a private good for individual consumption, and schools, lacking official funding, survived by offering courses in a market that did not necessarily respond to a country’s health needs. The conclusion discusses the currrent Venezuelan experience, in which the State has resumed control of the training of specialists in public health, making it more democratic, and adoptng an educational model centered around practice and whose purpose is the mass training of leadership teams to bolster the National Public Health System. In order to comment on the impact of neoliberal policies on training in public health we must first briefly review the following themes: 1. Basic concepts such as neoliberalism, globalization, and health systems. 2. The impact of neoliberal reforms on health. 3. The Venezuelan situation: basic principles for the training of professionals and technicians in health within the framework of a model of independent and sovereign national development. 4. Final reflections: challenges for the coming years.

Implementation of public policy on alcohol and other drugs in Brazilian municipalities: comparative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mota, Daniela Belchior; Ronzani, Telmo Mota

2016-07-01

One of the challenges with respect to public health and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs is to implement policies in support of greater co-ordination among various levels of government. In Brazil, policies are formulated by the Secretaria Nacional de Políticas sobre Drogas (SENAD - State Department for Policies on Drugs) and the Ministério da Saúde (MS - Ministry of Health). This study aims to compare implementation of policies adopted by SENAD and MS at the municipal level. Three municipalities were intentionally selected: Juiz de Fora having a larger network of treatment services for alcohol and drug users; Lima Duarte, a small municipality, which promotes the political participation of local actors (COMAD - Municipal Council on Alcohol and Drugs); and São João Nepomuceno, also a small municipality, chosen because it has neither public services specialised to assist alcohol and other drugs users, nor COMAD. Data collection was conducted through interviews with key informants (n = 19) and a review of key documents concerned with municipal policies. Data analysis was performed using content analysis. In Juiz de Fora, there are obstacles regarding the integration of the service network for alcohol and other drug users and also the articulation of local actors, who are predominant in the mental health sector. In Lima Duarte, while there is a link between local actors through COMAD, their actions within the local service network have not been effective. In São João Nepomuceno, there were no public actions in the area of alcohol and drugs, and consequently insufficient local debate. However, some voluntary, non-governmental work has been undertaken. There were weaknesses in the implementation of national-level policies by SENAD and the MS, due to the limited supply of available treatment, assistance and the lack of integration among local actors. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A review of UK housing policy: ideology and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, J

2005-06-01

The aim of this paper is to review UK public health policy, with a specific reference to housing as a key health determinant, since its inception in the Victorian era to contemporary times. This paper reviews the role of social and private housing policy in the development of the UK public health movement, tracing its initial medical routes through to the current socio-economic model of public health. The paper establishes five distinct ideologically and philosophically driven eras, placing public health and housing within liberal (Victorian era), state interventionist (post World War 1; post World War 2), neoliberal (post 1979) and "Third Way" (post 1997) models, showing the political perspective of policy interventions and overviewing their impact on public health. The paper particularly focuses on the contemporary model of public health since the Acheson Report, and how its recommendations have found their way into policy, also the impact on housing practice. Public health is closely related to political ideology, whether driven by the State, individual or partnership arrangements. The current political system, the Third Way, seeks to promote a sustainable "social contract" between citizens and the State, public, private and voluntary organizations in delivering community-based change in areas where health inequalities can be most progressively and successfully addressed.

Ethics Instruction for Future Geoscientists: Essential for Contributions to Good Public Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Leinen, M.; Mogk, D. W.

2016-12-01

Geoscientists work in a world of uncertainty in the complex, dynamic, and chaotic Earth system that is fraught with opportunities to become involved in ethical dilemmas. To be effective contributors to the public discourse on Earth science policy, geoscientists must conduct their work according to the highest personal and professional ethical standards. The geosciences as a discipline relies on the fidelity of geoscience data and their interpretations, geoscience concepts and methodologies must be conveyed to policy makers in ways that allow them to make informed decisions, corporations require a workforce that conducts their affairs according to the highest standards, and the general public expects the highest standards of conduct of geoscientists as they underwrite much of the research supported through tax dollars and the applications of this research impacts personal and societal lives. Geoscientists must have the foundations to identify ethical dilemmas in the first instance, and to have the ethical decision-making skills to either prevent, mitigate or otherwise address ethical issues that arise in professional practice. Awareness of ethical issues arises in many dimensions: Ethics and self (engaging self-monitoring and self-regulating behaviors); Ethics and profession (working according to professional standards); Ethics and society (communicating effectively to policy makers and the general public about the underlying science that informs public policy); and, Ethics and Earth (recognizing the unique responsibilities of geoscientists in the stewardship of Earth). To meet these ethical challenges, training of future geoscientists must be done a) at the introductory level as all students should be aware of ethical implications of geoscience concepts as they impact societal issues; undergraduate geoscience majors need to be explicitly trained in the standards and norms of the geoscience community of practice; graduate students need to be fully prepared to deal

A study on the role of influence group in public policy making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas Monavarian

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, learning more about influence groups on public policy making is one of most important subjects of management science. Governments are the primary sources for public policy making but influenced groups participate indirectly and while they remain out of power, they put pressure on many decisions. Some of participants in public policy making are not influenced groups but mostly, due to their participation in policy public making matter are called influenced groups. This research, from practical research purpose and method view, is a descriptive research and survey branch. The study investigates the effect of university based Iranian Sociological Association on public policy making. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some experts. The results of our survey indicate that that Iranian Sociological Association could influence on public policy making through elite and prominent leaders, self-knowledge and information, elective campaigns, stimulation and connecting with people and other groups.

Public policies in higher education for the indigenous peoples of the state of Paraná, Brazil: trajectories, challenges and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner Roberto do Amaral

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The experience on the admittance and permanence of indigenous students in public higher education institutions which are the promoters of public policy in higher education in the state of Paraná, Brazil, is provided. Current article is based on the indigenous students’ trajectories at the state universities of Paraná when they were admitted through the Indigenous Entrance Exam. In fact, their permanence in higher education institutions has been possible due to the dual belonging of schooling and ethnicity. It highlights the limits of the State’s role in this policy since their permanence requires higher education policies actually aimed at these subjects and sensitive to the traits built by them. Current analysis is the product of a review of the literature, document analysis and content analysis of interviews with indigenous students and recently graduated indigenous professionals. The uniqueness of the experience in the state of Paraná in the last decade is acknowledged. In fact, its consolidation has been foregrounded on the effective action by the above-mentioned state, by government-run universities and by indigenous leaders and communities.

Stakeholder engagement in policy development: challenges and opportunities for human genomics

OpenAIRE

Lemke, Amy A.; Harris-Wai, Julie N.

2015-01-01

Along with rapid advances in human genomics, policies governing genomic data and clinical technologies have proliferated. Stakeholder engagement is widely lauded as an important methodology for improving clinical, scientific, and public health policy decision making. The purpose of this paper is to examine how stakeholder engagement is used to develop policies in genomics research and public health areas, as well as to identify future priorities for conducting evidence-based stakeholder engag...

Challenges created by data dissemination and access restrictions when attempting to address community concerns: individual privacy versus public wellbeing.

Science.gov (United States)

Colquhoun, Amy; Aplin, Laura; Geary, Janis; Goodman, Karen J; Hatcher, Juanita

2012-05-08

Population health data are vital for the identification of public health problems and the development of public health strategies. Challenges arise when attempts are made to disseminate or access anonymised data that are deemed to be potentially identifiable. In these situations, there is debate about whether the protection of an individual's privacy outweighs potentially beneficial public health initiatives developed using potentially identifiable information. While these issues have an impact at planning and policy levels, they pose a particular dilemma when attempting to examine and address community concerns about a specific health problem. Research currently underway in northern Canadian communities on the frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection and associated diseases, such as stomach cancer, is used in this article to illustrate the challenges that data controls create on the ability of researchers and health officials to address community concerns. Barriers are faced by public health professionals and researchers when endeavouring to address community concerns; specifically, provincial cancer surveillance departments and community-driven participatory research groups face challenges related to data release or access that inhibit their ability to effectively address community enquiries. The resulting consequences include a limited ability to address misinformation or to alleviate concerns when dealing with health problems in small communities. The development of communication tools and building of trusting relationships are essential components of a successful investigation into community health concerns. It may also be important to consider that public wellbeing may outweigh the value of individual privacy in these situations. As such, a re-evaluation of data disclosure policies that are applicable in these circumstances should be considered.

Language Policy and Planning: Challenges for Latin American Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Hamel, Rainer Enrique; Álvarez López, Elisa; Carvalhal, Tatiana Pereira

2016-01-01

This article starts with an overview of the sociolinguistic situation in Latin America as a context for language policy and planning (LPP) decisions in the academic field. Then it gives a brief overview of the language policy challenges faced by universities to cope with neoliberal internationalisation. A conceptualisation of the domain as a…

Formulating Public Policy in Croatia and the Problem of Policy Coordination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdravko Petak

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The paper explores the role of politicians and civil servants in the process of horizontal and vertical policy coordination, with a special emphasis on the specific context of Croatia. Starting from Guy Peters’ typology, which distinguishes four distinct types of coordination, ranging from more simple to more complex ones – negative coordination, positive coordination, policy integration and development of strategies for government, the author stresses that the Croatian case is connected with failure in achieving all types of coordination. One of the reasons for such a situation lies in a low level of applying classical policy analysis in the Croatian public administration system. A direct consequence of this is the existence of the system of coordination based on ad hoc assessment of proposed policies, and not on standard policy analysis tools. Therefore, in the lack of central government policy unit the prominent role in such a system belongs to the finance Minister, who serves as some kind of “policy switchman”.

Advancing Public Policy for High-Growth, Female, and Social Entrepreneurs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosma, N.S.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/182375102; Stam, F.C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/215649370; Terjesen, Siri Ann

2016-01-01

Findings from a large and growing body of entrepreneurship research offer insights for public policy and public officials and managers. Entrepreneurship policy is defined as measures undertaken to stimulate entrepreneurship in a region or country. The authors discuss generalizations from empirical

Papers of the Public Policy Forum conference : Fueling our future : strategic energy policy opportunities for Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The Public Policy Forum is a unique organization in Canada which promotes excellence in public policy development due to its firm belief that high quality government is fundamental in the competitive global economy. This conference provided a forum to discuss recent developments in the oil markets and energy policies from a public policy perspective. Trends in global energy supply and demand were also reviewed with emphasis on issues such as industry consolidation, regulatory reform and oil pricing. The presentations examined the world energy outlook in terms of fossil fuel consumption, demand growth in developing countries, energy security, and how to reduce greenhouse gases for sustainable development. This conference featured 20 presentations, of which 4 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

Implementing new public management in Zimbabwe: Challenges and obstacles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Chigudu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is an exploratory study of the new public management (NPM’s implementation in Zimbabwe. The data presented is a review of the government’s policy initiatives and research publications. Findings suggest fragmented implementation of NPM reforms without requisite administrative skills, lack of resources, ill timing, and political inertia. This research’s underlying significance is that it provides insights to improve NPM and future public sector reforms. It contributes to relevant literature by filling gaps in the research on NPM in Zimbabwe The paper provides policy recommendations necessary for addressing public sector reforms in developing economies particularly in African countries that have a history of political instability.

The Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change: Values, Poverty, and Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crabtree, Andrew

2016-01-01

Book review of: The Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change: Values, Poverty, and Policy by Darrel Moellendorf. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 263 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-107-67850-7......Book review of: The Moral Challenge of Dangerous Climate Change: Values, Poverty, and Policy by Darrel Moellendorf. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 263 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-107-67850-7...

A comparison of the technological, economic, public policy, and environmental factors of HVDC and HVAC interregional transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armando L. Figueroa-Acevedo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The design of an interregional high-voltage transmission system in the US is a revolutionary technological concept that will likely play a significant role in the planning and operation of future electric power systems. Historically, the primary justification for building interregional high-voltage transmission lines in the US and around the world has been based on economic and reliability criteria. Today, the implementation renewable portfolio standards, carbon emission regulations, the improvements in the performance of power electronic systems, and unused benefits associated with capacity exchange during times of non-coincident peak demand, are driving the idea of designing an interregional high-voltage transmission system in the US. However, there exist challenges related to technical, economic, public policy, and environmental factors that hinder the implementation of such a complex infrastructure. The natural skepticism from many sectors of the society, in regards to how will the system be operated, how much will it cost, and the environmental impact that it could potentially create are among the most significant challenges to its rapid implementation. This publication aims at illustrating the technological, environmental, economic, and policy challenges that interregional HV transmission systems face today in the US, looking specifically at the Clean Line Rock Island project in Iowa.

About public health policies in the new century

OpenAIRE

Franco G., Alvaro

2010-01-01

Several subjects of public health policies are analyzed from different points of view, bearing in mind the line of coherence of their universal, global and integral character. Themes such as "Health for All", understood as a universal policy at the close of this century, are included. Around it other recent approaches are considered which are also related between them: the subject of health promotion in its broad vision from the guidelines of the Ottawa (Canada) letter, and the public health ...

Advancing public health obesity policy through state attorneys general.

Science.gov (United States)

Pomeranz, Jennifer L; Brownell, Kelly D

2011-03-01

Obesity in the United States exacts a heavy health and financial toll, requiring new approaches to address this public health crisis. State attorneys general have been underutilized in efforts to formulate and implement food and obesity policy solutions. Their authority lies at the intersection of law and public policy, creating unique opportunities unavailable to other officials and government entities. Attorneys general have a broad range of authority over matters specifically relevant to obesity and nutrition policy, including parens patriae (parent of the country) authority, protecting consumer interests, enacting and supporting rules and regulations, working together across states, engaging in consumer education, and drafting opinions and amicus briefs. Significant room exists for greater attorney general involvement in formulating and championing solutions to public health problems such as obesity.

How federalism shapes public health financing, policy, and program options.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogden, Lydia L

2012-01-01

In the United States, fiscal and functional federalism strongly shape public health policy and programs. Federalism has implications for public health practice: it molds financing and disbursement options, including funding formulas, which affect allocations and program goals, and shapes how funding decisions are operationalized in a political context. This article explores how American federalism, both fiscal and functional, structures public health funding, policy, and program options, investigating the effects of intergovernmental transfers on public health finance and programs.

Road pricing policy process : The interplay between policy actors, the media and public

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ardiç, O.

2015-01-01

Although road pricing policies are generally seen as an effective measure to deal with transport related problems (e.g. congestion), the number of implemented road pricing schemes is relatively limited. The thesis aims to gain insights into complex interplay between policy actors, media and public

Public Policy and Health Informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Katherine

2018-04-05

To provide an overview of the history of electronic health policy and identify significant laws that influence health informatics. US Department of Health and Human Services. The development of health information technology has influenced the process for delivering health care. Public policy and regulations are an important part of health informatics and establish the structure of electronic health systems. Regulatory bodies of the government initiate policies to ease the execution of electronic health record implementation. These same bureaucratic entities regulate the system to protect the rights of the patients and providers. Nurses should have an overall understanding of the system behind health informatics and be able to advocate for change. Nurses can utilize this information to optimize the use of health informatics and campaign for safe, effective, and efficient health information technology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nuclear power and public policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrader-Frechette, K.S.

1980-01-01

The authors' purpose is to raise some of the social, political, and ethical issues which for so long have been ignored in making government assessments of nuclear power. In particular she asks whether current policy (governing admissible releases of radioactivity during electricity generation) is based on sound ethical premises. She argues that it is ethically reprehensible to generate long-lived nuclear wastes without knowing whether they can be safety stored. An ethical and methodological assessment of public policy is presented based on the presupposition that a core melt accident is improbable. It is then argued that the alleged cost-effectiveness of fission generated electricity is based on economical methodology which is both illogical and unethical. Finally, an outline of the sorts of policy-making procedures which ought to be followed in dealing with nuclear technology is given. (Auth.)

Public education for energy policy decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frigren, S.

1977-01-01

A brief review is given of the changes that took place in 1972-1973 in public opinion and political views in Sweden, leading to new attitudes and increasing interest in matters of energy policy. Although nuclear power was from the beginning the main issue, it became more and more widely recognized that a number of complex and technically difficult problems were involved. In late 1973, the Government decided to prepare a comprehensive energy policy programmme for the period 1975-1985 and to put this programme before Parliament in the spring of 1975. In order to involve the public in the decision-making process, a public education programme was introduced in January 1974. The essentials of this programme are described. The main effort was provided by the adult education associations, which were given financial incentives to start energy study circles and prepared their own study material. Journalist seminars were also arranged. The paper outlines the links between the educational efforts, the discussions in the study circles, and the standpoints ultimately taken by the different political parties on the energy issues. (author)

Understanding and Facing Discipline-Related Challenges in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom at Public Schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josefina Quintero Corzo

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Complying with school regulations and teachers' instructions is a basic principle of an excellent class; both novice and experienced teachers face challenging situations when getting into real classrooms, especially those related to classroom management. There are various reasons that explain discipline problems in public schools, as well as varied strategies beginning teachers create and try when coping with those challenges. This article reports an action research study on how this methodology helped a group of teacher-trainees overcome indiscipline in English as a foreign language classrooms at public schools, and align with professional development initiatives which focus on reflection and decision-making processes that the new Colombian policies demand from new teachers seeking a higher quality of education.

Constraints, challenges and prospects of public-private partnership in health-care delivery in a developing economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Anyaehie, Usb; Nwakoby, Ban; Chikwendu, C; Dim, Cc; Uguru, N; Oluka, Cpi; Ogugua, C

2014-01-01

In Nigeria, concerns on the quality and financing of health-care delivery especially in the public sector have initiated reforms including support for public-private partnerships (PPP) at the Federal Ministry of Health. Likewise, Enugu State has developed a draft policy on PPP since 2005. However, non-validation and non-implementation of this policy might have led to loss of interest in the partnership. The aim of this study was to provide evidence for planning the implementation of PPP in Enugu State health system via a multi-sectoral identification of challenges, constraints and prospects. Pre-tested questionnaires were administered to 466 respondents (251 health workers and 215 community members), selected by multi-stage sampling method from nine Local Government Areas of Enugu State, Nigeria, over a study period of April 2011 to September 2011. Data from the questionnaires were collated manually and quantitative data analyzed using SPSS version 15 (Chicago, IL, USA). Only 159 (34.1%, 159/466) of all respondents actually understood the meaning of PPP though 251 (53.9%) of them had claimed knowledge of the concept. This actual understanding was higher among health workers (57.8%, 145/251) when compared with the community members (6.5%, 14/215) (P < 0.001). Post-PPP enlightenment reviews showed a more desire for PPP implementation among private health-care workers (89.4%, 101/113) and community leaders/members (55.4%, 119/215). PPP in health-care delivery in Enugu State is feasible with massive awareness, elaborate stakeholder's engagements and well-structured policy before implementation. A critical challenge will be to convince the public sector workers who are the anticipated partners to accept and support private sector participation.

Innovation and participation for healthy public policy: the first National Health Assembly in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasanathan, Kumanan; Posayanonda, Tipicha; Birmingham, Maureen; Tangcharoensathien, Viroj

2012-03-01

This paper aims to describe and disseminate the process and initial outcomes of the first National Health Assembly (NHA) in Thailand, as an innovative example of health policy making. The first NHA, held in December 2008 in Bangkok, brought together over 1500 people from government agencies, academia, civil society, health professionals and the private sector to discuss key health issues and produce resolutions to guide policy making. It adapted the approach used at the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. Findings are derived from a literature review, document analysis, and the views and experiences of the authors, two of whom contributed to the organization of the NHA and two of whom were invited external observers. Fourteen agenda items were discussed and resolutions passed. Potential early impacts on policy making have included an increase in the 2010 public budget for Thailand's universal health coverage scheme as total public expenditure has decreased; cabinet endorsement of proposed Strategies for Universal Access to Medicines for Thai People; and establishment of National Commissions on Health Impact Assessment and Trade and Health. The NHA was successful in bringing together various actors and sectors involved in the social production of health, including groups often marginalized in policy making. It provides an innovative model of how governments may be able to increase public participation and intersectoral collaboration that could be adapted in other contexts. Significant challenges remain in ensuring full participation of interested groups and in implementing, and monitoring the impact of, the resolutions passed. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Health policy making for street children: challenges and strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdi, Fatemeh; Saeieh, Sara Esmaelzadeh; Roozbeh, Nasibeh; Yazdkhasti, Mansoureh

2017-08-17

Background The phenomenon of street children is a bio-psychological and social issue that not only harms children, but also endangers the health of a society. In line with the national programs for the development and promotion of street children's health in Iran, health policy making and essential strategies for this group of children will be presented in this paper. This paper will discuss the main issues and challenges of street children's health and, also, health policy and guidelines for this population. Methods In this review study, the keywords; street children, health, challenges, policy, and health policy making were searched through PubMed, SID, Iranmedex, World Health Organization (WHO), Emro, the Cochran Library, Medline and Google scholar to collect data. The search resulted in 84 related resources from which 48 cases that were more relevant to this research and covered the issue more comprehensively, were used. All data published during 2002-2015 have been included in this paper. Results Key concepts including street children and their health, health policy, strategies to improve the health of street children, health policy approaches for street children, the WHO's strategies, and social support program for street children must be considered in the health policy making processes for street children, as precise identification of the relevant information makes planning more effective in health policy making for this group of children. Conclusion The phenomenon of street children is a growing problem in the world and it has turned into a serious concern in many countries including Iran. The findings of this study can be used for identifying necessary measures in order to use research outcomes more effectively in policy making processes and reforming street children's health policies in Iran.

Global Adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops: Challenges for the Public Sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Huesing, Joseph E; Andres, David; Braverman, Michael P; Burns, Andrea; Felsot, Allan S; Harrigan, George G; Hellmich, Richard L; Reynolds, Alan; Shelton, Anthony M; Jansen van Rijssen, Wilna; Morris, E Jane; Eloff, Jacobus N

2016-01-20

Advances in biotechnology continue to drive the development of a wide range of insect-protected, herbicide-tolerant, stress-tolerant, and nutritionally enhanced genetically modified (GM) crops, yet societal and public policy considerations may slow their commercialization. Such restrictions may disproportionately affect developing countries, as well as smaller entrepreneurial and public sector initiatives. The 2014 IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry (San Francisco, CA, USA; August 2014) included a symposium on "Challenges Associated with Global Adoption of Agricultural Biotechnology" to review current obstacles in promoting GM crops. Challenges identified by symposium presenters included (i) poor public understanding of GM technology and the need for enhanced communication strategies, (ii) nonharmonized and prescriptive regulatory requirements, and (iii) limited experience with regulations and product development within some public sector programs. The need for holistic resistance management programs to enable the most effective use of insect-protected crops was also a point of emphasis. This paper provides details on the symposium discussion and provides background information that can be used in support of further adoption of beneficial GM crops. Overall, it emphasizes that global adoption of modern agricultural biotechnology has not only provided benefits to growers and consumers but has great potential to provide solutions to an increasing global population and diminishing agricultural land. This potential will be realized by continued scientific innovation, harmonized regulatory systems, and broader communication of the benefits of the high-yielding, disease-resistant, and nutritionally enhanced crops attainable through modern biotechnology.

Smoker-free workplace policies: developing a model of public health consequences of workplace policies barring employment to smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Houle, B; Siegel, M

2009-02-01

A marked shift in tobacco-related workplace health promotion intervention involves the adoption of policies barring employment to smokers. We discuss the potential public health consequences of these policies on those affected-smokers, their families, the surrounding community and society at large. We find a lack of published evidence evaluating the effectiveness and consequences of these policies. By developing a model of policy effects, we outline possible unintended consequences. With such large gaps in the evidence base and the potential for deleterious consequences, we argue for increased discussion about the use of smoker-free employment policies as a public health intervention and for increased engagement of employers by the public health community in worksite health promotion.

Changes in alcohol policies and public opinions in Finland 2003-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Österberg, Esa; Lindeman, Mikaela; Karlsson, Thomas

2014-05-01

There is a constant and ongoing interplay between public opinions and public policies, alcohol policies being no exception. This article describes the development of public opinions regarding alcohol policy in Finland during a 10-year period between 2003 and 2013. Fluctuations in the alcohol policy opinion climate are put in context by looking at concurrent changes in alcohol policies and in total alcohol consumption. The study is based on data from opinion surveys on alcohol policies commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Welfare and the Finnish Social and Health Association. The opinion polls include questions about the general acceptance of prevailing alcohol policies, appropriate sales channels of different alcoholic beverage categories and opinions about the legal age limits and prices of alcoholic beverages. In the study, changes in alcohol policy during 2003-2013 are surveyed, and their relationship with changes in alcohol policy opinion is examined. There seem to be a strong positive correlation during the study period between the level of alcohol consumption and the share of those wanting a more restrictive alcohol policy in Finland. It seems that an increased level of awareness of alcohol-related issues among the general public created a more restrictive opinion climate on alcohol policy issues after the big alcohol excise duty decrease in 2004. The reverse seems to happen but in a lesser degree when alcohol excise duties has been increased after the year 2007. © 2014 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Policies for Renewable Heat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

This paper builds on IEA publications, Deploying Renewables, Principles for Effective Policies and Deploying Renewables, Best and Future Policy Practice, that discuss the 'integrated policy approach,' whereby renewable energy technologies require different support policies at different stages of their maturity pathways. The paper discusses how the integrated policy approach applies to renewable heat. It attempts to provide guidance for policy-makers on renewable heat throughout the different phases of the policy lifecycle, allowing for the specific challenges of renewable heat and needs of the many stakeholders involved. Stimulating a market for heat involves challenges that are different and, often, more difficult to overcome than in the electricity and transport sectors.

How Smog Awareness Influences Public Acceptance of Congestion Charge Policies

OpenAIRE

Lingyi Zhou; Yixin Dai

2017-01-01

Although various studies have investigated public acceptance of congestion charge policies, most of them have focused on behavioral and policy-related factors, and did not consider the moderating influence that individual concern about smog and perceived smog risk may have on public acceptance. This paper takes the congestion charge policy in China, targeted at smog and traffic control, and checks how smog awareness—including smog concerns and perceived smog risks, besides behavioral and poli...

Financial sustainability versus access and quality in a challenged health system: an examination of the capitation policy debate in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Atuoye, Kilian Nasung; Vercillo, Siera; Antabe, Roger; Galaa, Sylvester Zackaria; Luginaah, Isaac

2016-11-01

Policy makers in low and middle-income countries are frequently confronted with challenges of increasing health access for poor populations in a sustainable manner. After several years of trying out different health financing mechanisms, health insurance has recently emerged as a pro-poor health financing policy. Capitation, a fixed fee periodically paid to health service providers for anticipated services, is one of the payment policies in health insurance. This article examines claims and counter-claims made by coalitions and individual stakeholders in a capitation payment policy debate within Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme. Using content analysis of public and parliamentary proceedings, we situate the debate within policy making and health insurance literature. We found that the ongoing capitation payment debate stems from challenges in implementation of earlier health insurance claims payment systems, which reflect broader systemic challenges facing the health insurance scheme in Ghana. The study illustrates the extent to which various sub-systems in the policy debate advance arguments to legitimize their claims about the contested capitation payment system. In addition, we found that the health of poor communities, women and children are being used as surrogates for political and individual arguments in the policy debate. The article recommends a more holistic and participatory approach through persuasion and negotiation to join interests and core evidence together in the capitation policy making in Ghana and elsewhere with similar contexts. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Major health service transformation and the public voice: conflict, challenge or complicity?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Graham P; Carter, Pam; Dent, Mike

2018-01-01

Objectives Calls for major reconfigurations of health services have been accompanied by recommendations that wide ranging stakeholders be involved. In particular, patients and the wider public are seen as critical contributors as both funders and beneficiaries of public health care. But public involvement is fraught with challenges, and little research has focused on involvement in the health service transformation initiatives. This paper examines the design and function of public involvement in reconfiguration of health services within the English NHS. Methods Qualitative data including interviews, observation and documents were collected in two health service 'transformation' programmes; interviews include involved public and professional participants. Data were analysed using parallel deductive and inductive approaches. Results Public involvement in the programmes was extensive but its terms of reference, and the individuals involved, were restricted by policy pressures and programme objectives. The degree to which participants descriptively or substantively represented the wider public was limited; participants sought to 'speak for' this public but their views on what was 'acceptable' and likely to influence decision-making led them to constrain their contributions. Conclusions Public involvement in two major service reconfiguration programmes in England was seen as important and functional, and could not be characterized as tokenistic. Yet involvement in these programmes fell short of normative ideals, and could inadvertently reduce, rather than enlarge, public influence on health service reconfiguration decisions.

Open Access Policy for CERN Physics Publications

CERN Multimedia

2014-01-01

CERN is committed to Open Access. It represents one of the values written in our Convention sixty years ago and is increasingly important for our Member States.   In the last edition of the Bulletin, this article described how CERN is doing with regards to open access publishing today. On Thursday this week, the Open Access Policy for CERN Physics Publications* was endorsed by the Scientific Information Policy Board (SIPB) and approved by the Director-General the same day . For any clarifications regarding the policy, please contact the Scientific Information Service library.desk@cern.ch. * A French version of the policy will be made available shortly.

Challenges : adopting GIS for diplomacy and foreign policy

Science.gov (United States)

Christian, Carol

Foreign policy and diplomacy are, by definition, location specific. GIS-related tools can be useful to decision makers and problem solvers to merge diverse data that impinges on policy issues. While to a degree, such technologies have been adopted for natural disaster response, security, and environmental studies, widespread adoption of GIS into policy tasks has been slow. Decision makers and nonexperts are reluctant to assimilate new tools into old cultures because of a number of hurdles. Yet clearly, information sharing would be advantageous and allow visualization of information and situations in a more productive environment. This presentation will touch upon some of the challenges and stimulate discussion.

Translation of tobacco policy into practice in disadvantaged and marginalized subpopulations: a study of challenges and opportunities in remote Australian Indigenous communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robertson Jan A

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Australia generally, smoking prevalence more than halved after 1980 and recently commenced to decline among Australia's disadvantaged Indigenous peoples. However, in some remote Indigenous Australian communities in the Northern Territory (NT, extremely high rates of up to 83% have not changed over the past 25 years. The World Health Organisation has called for public health and political leadership to address a global tobacco epidemic. For Indigenous Australians, unprecedented policies aim to overcome disadvantage and close the 'health gap' with reducing tobacco use the top priority. This study identifies challenges and opportunities to implementing these important new tobacco initiatives in remote Indigenous communities. Methods: With little empirical evidence available, we interviewed 82 key stakeholders across the NT representing operational- and management-level service providers, local Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to identify challenges and opportunities for translating new policies into successful tobacco interventions. Data were analysed using qualitative approaches to identify emergent themes. Results The 20 emergent themes were classified using counts of occasions each theme occurred in the transcribed data as challenge or opportunity. The 'smoke-free policies' theme occurred most frequently as opportunity but infrequently as challenge while 'health workforce capacity' occurred most frequently as challenge but less frequently as opportunity, suggesting that policy implementation is constrained by lack of a skilled workforce. 'Smoking cessation support' occurred frequently as opportunity but also frequently as challenge suggesting that support for individuals requires additional input and attention. Conclusions These results from interviews with local and operational-level participants indicate that current tobacco policies in Australia targeting Indigenous smoking are sound and comprehensive

The Process Of Advocacy In Romanian Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Gurgu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Influencing public policy in favor of interest groups can be achieved through advocacy associations legally constituted whose mission is to: promovate professional excellence in the application of advanced practices of advocacy, strengthen civil society participation in development of public policies and continuously develop policies to private firms.. Through advocacy associations can uphold and enforce the values of entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Any resource used in advocacy efforts associations should generate added value and impact, contribute to the progress, development and improved quality of life. Advocacy associations must primarily promotes technical and professional skills of advocacy for any civil society interested group with honesty, dignity, mutual respect, transparency and social responsibility in order to strengthen the system of participatory democracy to which they are signatories.

Public policy processes and getting physical activity into Alberta's urban schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Gladwin, Catherine P; Church, John; Plotnikoff, Ronald C

2008-01-01

Public policies impact the amount of physical activity (PA) that children receive at school. These policies are of interest because overweight and obesity among Canadian children have grown at significant rates, and increasing PA among children is one way to reverse this trend. This research investigates the public policy processes that have resulted in Alberta's education system adopting in-school daily physical activity (DPA) and not supporting walk-to-school (WTS) initiatives. Using the policy process described by Kingdon and others as a conceptual framework, this research reviews literature and documents on public policy relating to PA in schools and interviews key individuals (N = 20) to identify the policy-related facilitators and barriers in Alberta, Canada to increasing PA in school-aged children. DPA was mandated because Kingdon's three policy streams (problem, solution and politics) became joined or linked. DPA was the most viable solution because literature supports and teachers believe in the educational benefits of PA. As well, a physician with personal beliefs about the benefits of PA became the minister of education and coupled the solution with the political stream through his ministerial power. Reasons that WTS programs have not become school or health policy include advocacy led by politically weak organizations, lack of a supportive policy entrepreneur and poor saliency among educators. This research illuminates the inner workings of the policy process shaping PA in schools, identifying the unseen forces of the policy process that move issues forward. The findings provide valuable insight for building other healthy public policies.

'Are we there yet?' - operationalizing the concept of Integrated Public Health Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriks, Anna-Marie; Habraken, Jolanda; Jansen, Maria W J; Gubbels, Jessica S; De Vries, Nanne K; van Oers, Hans; Michie, Susan; Atkins, L; Kremers, Stef P J

2014-02-01

Although 'integrated' public health policies are assumed to be the ideal way to optimize public health, it remains hard to determine how far removed we are from this ideal, since clear operational criteria and defining characteristics are lacking. A literature review identified gaps in previous operationalizations of integrated public health policies. We searched for an approach that could fill these gaps. We propose the following defining characteristics of an integrated policy: (1) the combination of policies includes an appropriate mix of interventions that optimizes the functioning of the behavioral system, thus ensuring that motivation, capability and opportunity interact in such a way that they promote the preferred (health-promoting) behavior of the target population, and (2) the policies are implemented by the relevant policy sectors from different policy domains. Our criteria should offer added value since they describe pathways in the process towards formulating integrated policy. The aim of introducing our operationalization is to assist policy makers and researchers in identifying truly integrated cases. The Behavior Change Wheel proved to be a useful framework to develop operational criteria to assess the current state of integrated public health policies in practice. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Policy recommendations for addressing privacy challenges associated with cell-based research and interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogbogu, Ubaka; Burningham, Sarah; Ollenberger, Adam; Calder, Kathryn; Du, Li; El Emam, Khaled; Hyde-Lay, Robyn; Isasi, Rosario; Joly, Yann; Kerr, Ian; Malin, Bradley; McDonald, Michael; Penney, Steven; Piat, Gayle; Roy, Denis-Claude; Sugarman, Jeremy; Vercauteren, Suzanne; Verhenneman, Griet; West, Lori; Caulfield, Timothy

2014-02-03

The increased use of human biological material for cell-based research and clinical interventions poses risks to the privacy of patients and donors, including the possibility of re-identification of individuals from anonymized cell lines and associated genetic data. These risks will increase as technologies and databases used for re-identification become affordable and more sophisticated. Policies that require ongoing linkage of cell lines to donors' clinical information for research and regulatory purposes, and existing practices that limit research participants' ability to control what is done with their genetic data, amplify the privacy concerns. To date, the privacy issues associated with cell-based research and interventions have not received much attention in the academic and policymaking contexts. This paper, arising out of a multi-disciplinary workshop, aims to rectify this by outlining the issues, proposing novel governance strategies and policy recommendations, and identifying areas where further evidence is required to make sound policy decisions. The authors of this paper take the position that existing rules and norms can be reasonably extended to address privacy risks in this context without compromising emerging developments in the research environment, and that exceptions from such rules should be justified using a case-by-case approach. In developing new policies, the broader framework of regulations governing cell-based research and related areas must be taken into account, as well as the views of impacted groups, including scientists, research participants and the general public. This paper outlines deliberations at a policy development workshop focusing on privacy challenges associated with cell-based research and interventions. The paper provides an overview of these challenges, followed by a discussion of key themes and recommendations that emerged from discussions at the workshop. The paper concludes that privacy risks associated with cell

The Concepts of Nudge and Nudging in Behavioural Public Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Pelle Guldborg

2017-01-01

In 2008 Thaler and Sunstein coined the concept of ‘nudge’ in their book carrying the same name. Since then the concept of nudge, as well as the derivate concept of ‘nudging’, have been main drivers in the emergence of the paradigm of Behavioural Public Policy. From the outset, however, confusion......, a revised definition of nudge that cleans up conceptual mess and locates nudging amongst three strings of behavioural public policy: push, clear and nudge. Finally, ‘nudging’ is defined as the systematic and evidence-based development and implementation of nudges in creating behaviour change and some...... concerns about nudging in public policy are addressed....

Manifestations of integrated public health policy in Dutch municipalities.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Dorothee; Harting, Janneke; van Oers, Hans; Schuit, Jantine; de Vries, Nanne; Stronks, Karien

2016-06-01

Integrated public health policy (IPHP) aims at integrating health considerations into policies of other sectors. Since the limited empirical evidence available may hamper its further development, we systematically analysed empirical manifestations of IPHP, by placing policy strategies along a continuum of less-to-more policy integration, going from intersectoral action (IA) to healthy public policy (HPP) to health in all policies (HiAP). Our case study included 34 municipal projects of the Dutch Gezonde Slagkracht Programme (2009-15), which supports the development and implementation of IPHP on overweight, alcohol and drug abuse, and smoking. Our content analysis of project application forms and interviews with all project leaders used a framework approach involving the policy strategies and the following policy variables: initiator, actors, policy goals, determinants and policy instruments. Most projects showed a combination of policy strategies. However, manifestations of IPHP in overweight projects predominantly involved IA. More policy integration was apparent in alcohol/drugs projects (HPP) and in all-theme projects (HiAP). More policy integration was related to broad goal definitions, which allowed for the involvement of actors representing several policy sectors. This enabled the implementation of a mix of policy instruments. Determinants of health were not explicitly used as a starting point of the policy process. If a policy problem justifies policy integration beyond IA, it might be helpful to start from the determinants of health (epidemiological reality), systematically transform them into policy (policy reality) and set broad policy goals, since this gives actors from other sectors the opportunity to participate. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The challenge of multilingualism: in response to the language policy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article investigates the requirements of the newly released Language Policy for Higher Education and provides guidelines for an educational approach that would support multilingual, higher education. In a nutshell, this policy challenges higher education institutions to provide in the linguistic needs of the new, more ...

Worship Discourse and White Race-based Policy Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, R. Khari; Kaiser, Angela; Jackson, James S.

2014-01-01

The current study relies upon the 2004 National Politics Study to examine the association between exposure to race-based messages within places of worship and White race-based policy attitudes. The present study challenges the notion that, for White Americans, religiosity inevitably leads to racial prejudice. Rather, we argue, as others have, that religion exists on a continuum that spans from reinforcing to challenging the status quo of social inequality. Our findings suggests that the extent to which Whites discuss race along with the potential need for public policy solutions to address racial inequality within worship spaces, worship attendance contributes to support for public policies aimed at reducing racial inequality. On the other hand, apolitical and non-structural racial discussions within worship settings do seemingly little to move many Whites to challenge dominant idealistic perceptions of race that eschews public policy interventions as solutions to racial inequality. PMID:25324579

Challenges for sustainable resource use : Uncertainty, trade and climate policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bretschger, L.; Smulders, Sjak A.

2012-01-01

We integrate new challenges to thinking about resource markets and sustainable resource use policies in a general framework. The challenges, emerging from six papers that JEEM publishes in a special issue, are (i) demand uncertainty and stockpiling, (ii) international trade and resource dependence,

Public-Private Collaboration on Productive Development Policies in Colombia

OpenAIRE

Marcela Eslava; Marcela Meléndez Arjona; Guillermo Perry

2014-01-01

This Working Paper analyzes the institutions that shape public-private collaboration for the design and implementation of productive development policies in Colombia. These policies are increasingly designed in the context of formal institutions and venues, with public-private collaboration being a pillar of that formal design. This paper focuses on two specific case studies: the Private Council for Competitiveness and its role in the National Competitiveness System and the Productive Transfo...

Essays on Public Documents and Government Policies (3).

Science.gov (United States)

Morehead, Joe

1986-01-01

Eight essays on government documents examine a variety of subjects--the publication "Policy and Supporting Positions," Supreme Court and separation of powers rulings, private legislation, environmental information, publications of the Department of Education, physical fitness, and national cemeteries. (EM)

Foreign Policy and Public-Private Partnership for Economic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines foreign policy and public-private partnership for economic development in Nigeria. It proceeds from the assumption that foreign policy goes beyond spontaneous reaction to international issues and events, but an extrapolative and empirical attempt at achieving a state's short and long term goals ...

Public debt managers' behaviour interactions with macro policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogduin, Lex; Öztürk, Bahar; Wierts, Peter

2011-01-01

We investigate the evolution of public debt management, the policy behaviour of debt managers, and the interaction of debt management with financial stability and monetary policy. The main focus is on the euro area. Empirical estimations of a debt management reaction function indicate that the share

Public debt managers' behaviour: interactions with macro policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogduin, L.; Öztürk, B.; Wierts, P.

2010-01-01

We investigate the evolution of public debt management, the policy behaviour of debt managers, and the impact of debt management on financial stability and monetary policy.The focus is on the euro area. Empirical estimations of a debt management reaction function indicate that the share of short

Public-policy responsibilities in a restructured electricity industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tonn, B.; Hirst, E.; Bauer, D.

1995-06-01

In this report, we identify and define the key public-policy values, objectives, and actions that the US electricity industry currently meets. We also discuss the opportunities for meeting these objectives in a restructured industry that relies primarily on market forces rather than on government mandates. And we discuss those functions that governments might undertake, presumably because they will not be fully met by a restructured industry on its own. These discussions are based on a variety of inputs. The most important inputs came from participants in an April 1995 workshop on Public-Policy Responsibilities and Electric Industry Restructuring: Shaping the Research Agenda. Other sources of information and insights include the reviews of a draft of this report by workshop participants and others and the rapidly growing literature on electric-industry restructuring and its implications. One of the major concerns about the future of the electricity industry is the fate of numerous social and environmental programs supported by today`s electric utilities. Many people worry that a market-driven industry may not meet the public-policy objectives that electric utilities have met in the past. Examples of potentially at-risk programs include demand-side management (DSM), renewable energy, low-income weatherization, and fuel diversity. Workshop participants represented electric utilities, public utility commissions (PUCs), state energy offices, public-interest groups, other energy providers, and the research community.

[The contributions of local authorities to regional public health policy].

Science.gov (United States)

de Maria, Florence; Grémy, Isabelle

2009-01-01

Local authorities in France are key players in shaping public health policy by their action on the determinants of health and through their actions aimed at specific population groups. Since the public health act of 9 August 2004 establishing the first regional public health plans, their level of involvement and role continues to grow as coordinators, funders and project managers within the greater Paris metropolitan region. Their active participation in regional policy to improve population health and reduce inequalities in health has led to a better organization of the public health programs implemented (in terms of visibility, dialogue, coordination, transparency, and better awareness of context and integration of local issues). Their participation is also a source of innovation resulting in the proposal and use of new approaches (such as the development of health surveillance and observation for advising the local decision-making process). Within the current context of the "Hospitals, patients, health and territories" bill, which entrusts the governance of regional health policy to a specific agency, the role given to local authorities in this new organizational structure must be clearly defined to take into account all of their existing and potential contributions to public health policy.

Smoke-Free Public Policies and Voluntary Policies in Personal Settings in Tbilisi, Georgia: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Carla J; Smith, Samantha A; Bascombe, Ta Misha; Maglakelidze, Nino; Starua, Lela; Topuridze, Marina

2016-01-25

Georgia has limited tobacco control policies, particularly in the area of smoke-free public policies, which may influence the adoption of smoke-free home rules. We qualitatively examined knowledge about and reactions to public and personal smoke-free policies among Tbilisi residents. In Spring 2014, we conducted six focus groups among 47 total participants--two among male smokers, one among male nonsmokers, two among female smokers, and one among female nonsmokers. Our sample was 48.9% male and 70.2% past 30-day smokers. Most believed that SHS was dangerous, with particular concern regarding the impact of SHS on children and pregnant women. Many had misconceptions about how to protect others from SHS and the effectiveness of some approaches. Many indicated that they had some type of home rules, but few reported a complete ban on smoking in the home. Even when some restrictions were in place, they rarely were effective or enforced. Common concerns about the partial smoke-free public policy in Georgia included its economic impact, perceived discrimination among smokers, and the policy being against the Georgian culture. These concerns were heightened when participants were asked about the possible implementation of a complete smoke-free policy. Educational programs are needed to promote smoke-free policies in Georgia.

Competition policy and public procurement in developing countries

OpenAIRE

Falvey, Rod; La Chimia, Annamaria; Morrissey, Oliver; Zgovu, Evious

2008-01-01

Measures to support Competition Policy and enhance the efficiency of Public Procurement can enhance the impact of regional integration agreements. The first part addresses Competition Policy - measures employed by government to ensure a fair competitive market environment. Competition policy aims to ensure that markets remain competitive (through anti-trust or anti-cartel enforcement) or become competitive (through liberalisation). For a variety of reasons, competition is often restricted in ...

Environmental challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conable, B.; Warford, J.; Partow, Z.; Lutz, E.; Munasinghe, M.

1991-09-01

The contents include the following: Development and the Environment: A Global Balance; Evolution of the World Bank's Environmental Policy; Accounting for the Environment; Public Policy and the Environment; Managing Drylands; Environmental Action Plans in Africa; Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa; Irrigation and the Environmental Challenge; Curbing Pollution in Developing Countries; Global Warming and the Developing World; and The Global Environment Facility

Climate Change and Public Health Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason A; Vargo, Jason; Hoverter, Sara Pollock

2017-03-01

Climate change poses real and immediate impacts to the public health of populations around the globe. Adverse impacts are expected to continue throughout the century. Emphasizing co-benefits of climate action for health, combining adaptation and mitigation efforts, and increasing interagency coordination can effectively address both public health and climate change challenges.

Public Policy and Protection from Exclusion - Phase III | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Public Policy and Protection from Exclusion - Phase III ... and decision-makers active in the promotion of equitable health policies, with a view to promoting the emergence of an observatory of health systems in the ... Policy in Focus publishes a special issue profiling evidence to empower women in the labour market.

Evolution of the policy of legal regulation on public procurement in Lithuania

OpenAIRE

Ambrazevičienė, Rima

2004-01-01

This article aims to present in overview of the evolution of the policy of legal regulations on public procurement in Lithuania in 1990-2004. The public procurement policy in this article is understood as the concept, principles and main aims of legal regulation on this sphere. According to some scientific researchers there are two major paradigm shifts of public procurement policy in the world - a shift from internal processes to value adding benefits and a shift to opening up of public purc...

Alumni access policies in public university libraries | Burclaff ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the current library access policies for alumni at a public university system using document analysis, observations and interviews. We found that alumni are specifically addressed in only two library access policies, and borrowing privileges through cards, on-site access and restricted access to electronic ...

Revolution or evolution: the challenges of conceptualizing patient and public involvement in a consumerist world

Science.gov (United States)

Tritter, Jonathan Q.

2009-01-01

Abstract Background  Changing the relationship between citizens and the state is at the heart of current policy reforms. Across England and the developed world, from Oslo to Ontario, Newcastle to Newquay, giving the public a more direct say in shaping the organization and delivery of healthcare services is central to the current health reform agenda. Realigning public services around those they serve, based on evidence from service user’s experiences, and designed with and by the people rather than simply on their behalf, is challenging the dominance of managerialism, marketization and bureaucratic expertise. Despite this attention there is limited conceptual and theoretical work to underpin policy and practice. Objective  This article proposes a conceptual framework for patient and public involvement (PPI) and goes on to explore the different justifications for involvement and the implications of a rights‐based rather than a regulatory approach. These issues are highlighted through exploring the particular evolution of English health policy in relation to PPI on the one hand and patient choice on the other before turning to similar patterns apparent in the United States and more broadly. Conclusions  A framework for conceptualizing PPI is presented that differentiates between the different types and aims of involvement and their potential impact. Approaches to involvement are different in those countries that adopt a rights‐based rather than a regulatory approach. I conclude with a discussion of the tension and interaction apparent in the globalization of both involvement and patient choice in both policy and practice. PMID:19754691

What Do Diploma Theses Unveil about Academic Public Policy in the Czech Republic?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mouralová Magdalena

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Although textbooks, conference papers, scientific journals and monographs deal with the research aspects of public policy, only little attention is paid to the way it is taught at universities. In this article we aim to explore academic public policy in the Czech Republic - specifically in terms of teaching outputs - using a unique method: an analysis of diploma theses. In the sample there were diploma theses defended within all the full-time Master’s study programmes having “public policy” in their names in the Czech Republic between 1995 and 2013. We conclude that there are two traditions of academic public policy in the Czech Republic, which enriches previous findings in the area and makes them more accurate. The research design and thoroughly described methodology invite other researchers to conduct international comparison of the features of academic public policy. The findings may also illustrate the trajectory made by the newly established discipline of public policy in the past twenty years in the Czech Republic, which may be of great interest to the newly formed international public policy community.

Solar rooftop in India: Policies, challenges and outlook

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malti Goel

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Solar photovoltaic rooftop has emerged as a potential green technology to address climate change issues by reducing reliance on conventional fossil fuel based energy. With a strong commitment to increase the renewable sources based energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022, India has a target to install 100 GW of solar energy capacity. Of this 40 GW would be the share of grid connected solar PV rooftop. This paper examines global growth in solar energy, world's major rooftop installed capacity countries' policies and solar rooftop policy instruments in India. The current Indian goals, issues & challenges in achieving them and trends in further development are discussed. Keywords: Solar energy, India, Rooftop PV, Policies, Outlook

Developing implementation indicators for public policy, case study: Tehran and Qom Agricultural Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahammad Ali Haghighi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Public policies are problem oriented and solve a public problem. Making decision and policies does not solve problems by itself but they must be executed effectively. As executing policies is a main step of policy making, formulating indicators for implementing policy is necessary. In this article we conducted a content analysis of elites’ opinions to improve implementation of public policies. Therefore, three major factors have been introduced including policy making, environmental policy implementation and organizational structure factors. Sample data were taken from agricultural organizations of Tehran and Qom. For data gathering library research, interview and questionnaire were used. To analyze the data, k-s, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, confirmatory factors analysis and means comparisons were applied using SPSS and LISREL. Results show all of proposed indicators and measures are valid for implementation of public policies and about important of indicators between two participant groups, indicators in Tehran groups is more important.

Acknowledging individual responsibility while emphasizing social determinants in narratives to promote obesity-reducing public policy: a randomized experiment.

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Jeff Niederdeppe

Full Text Available This study tests whether policy narratives designed to increase support for obesity-reducing public policies should explicitly acknowledge individual responsibility while emphasizing social, physical, and economic (social determinants of obesity. We use a web-based, randomized experiment with a nationally representative sample of American adults (n = 718 to test hypotheses derived from theory and research on narrative persuasion. Respondents exposed to narratives that acknowledged individual responsibility while emphasizing obesity's social determinants were less likely to engage in counterargument and felt more empathy for the story's main character than those exposed to a message that did not acknowledge individual responsibility. Counterarguing and affective empathy fully mediated the relationship between message condition and support for policies to reduce rates of obesity. Failure to acknowledge individual responsibility in narratives emphasizing social determinants of obesity may undermine the persuasiveness of policy narratives. Omitting information about individual responsibility, a strongly-held American value, invites the public to engage in counterargument about the narratives and reduces feelings of empathy for a character that experiences the challenges and benefits of social determinants of obesity.

Acknowledging individual responsibility while emphasizing social determinants in narratives to promote obesity-reducing public policy: a randomized experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Roh, Sungjong; Shapiro, Michael A

2015-01-01

This study tests whether policy narratives designed to increase support for obesity-reducing public policies should explicitly acknowledge individual responsibility while emphasizing social, physical, and economic (social) determinants of obesity. We use a web-based, randomized experiment with a nationally representative sample of American adults (n = 718) to test hypotheses derived from theory and research on narrative persuasion. Respondents exposed to narratives that acknowledged individual responsibility while emphasizing obesity's social determinants were less likely to engage in counterargument and felt more empathy for the story's main character than those exposed to a message that did not acknowledge individual responsibility. Counterarguing and affective empathy fully mediated the relationship between message condition and support for policies to reduce rates of obesity. Failure to acknowledge individual responsibility in narratives emphasizing social determinants of obesity may undermine the persuasiveness of policy narratives. Omitting information about individual responsibility, a strongly-held American value, invites the public to engage in counterargument about the narratives and reduces feelings of empathy for a character that experiences the challenges and benefits of social determinants of obesity.

Public health policies to encourage healthy eating habits: recent perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorski, Mary T; Roberto, Christina A

2015-01-01

There is an urgent need to address unhealthy dietary patterns at the population level. Poor diet and physical inactivity are key drivers of the obesity pandemic, and they are among the leading causes of preventable death and disability in nearly every country in the world. As countries grapple with the growing obesity prevalence, many innovative policy options to reduce overeating and improve diet quality remain largely unexplored. We describe recent trends in eating habits and consequences for public health, vulnerabilities to unhealthy eating, and the role for public health policies. We reviewed recent public health policies to promote healthier diet patterns, including mandates, restrictions, economic incentives, marketing limits, information provision, and environmental defaults.

Multicultural social policy and community participation in health: new opportunities and challenges for indigenous people.

Science.gov (United States)

Torri, Maria Costanza

2012-01-01

Community participation in local health has assumed a central role in the reforms of public healthcare, being increasingly associated with the issue of decentralization of the health system. The aim of this paper is to raise questions regarding the structural approaches to multicultural social policy in Chile and to analyze the results of its implementation. The article analyzes the case study of Makewe Hospital, one of the pioneering experiences of intercultural health initiative in Chile. The Makewe Hospital, which involves the indigenous community of the Mapuche, provides interesting insights to understand the dynamics of multicultural social policy and presents an example of a successful initiative that has succeeded in involving local communities in multicultural health policy. This case study discusses the effectiveness of grassroots participation in multicultural healthcare provision and presents the main strengths and challenges for the replicability of this experience in other settings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Energy Policy. Highlights. 2013 Edition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-07-01

Energy Policy Highlights showcases recent developments in energy policies among all 28 IEA member countries. Each contribution underscores the changing nature of both global and domestic energy challenges, as well as the commonality of energy concerns among member countries. The policies highlighted in this publication identify an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a clear policy objective. Electricity, enhancing energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix in a cost effective manner are likewise areas of common focus. On the end-user side, increasing public awareness of domestic energy policies through improved transparency and engagement is an important facet of policy support among IEA member countries. The successful implementation of policies and other initiatives benefitted from efforts to inform the public.

Pharmaceuticals, political money, and public policy: a theoretical and empirical agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Paul D

2013-01-01

Why, when confronted with policy alternatives that could improve patient care, public health, and the economy, does Congress neglect those goals and tailor legislation to suit the interests of pharmaceutical corporations? In brief, for generations, the pharmaceutical industry has convinced legislators to define policy problems in ways that protect its profit margin. It reinforces this framework by selectively providing information and by targeting campaign contributions to influential legislators and allies. In this way, the industry displaces the public's voice in developing pharmaceutical policy. Unless citizens mobilize to confront the political power of pharmaceutical firms, objectionable industry practices and public policy will not change. Yet we need to refine this analysis. I propose a research agenda to uncover pharmaceutical influence. It develops the theory of dependence corruption to explain how the pharmaceutical industry is able to deflect the broader interests of the general public. It includes empirical studies of lobbying and campaign finance to uncover the means drug firms use to: (1) shape the policy framework adopted and information used to analyze policy; (2) subsidize the work of political allies; and (3) influence congressional voting. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Using public policy to improve outcomes for asthmatic children in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Jewlya; Oppenheimer, Sophie; Zimmer, Lorena

2014-12-01

School-based services to improve asthma management need to be accompanied by public policies that can help sustain services, scale effective interventions, create greater equity across schools, and improve outcomes for children. Several national organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have recommended specific public policies the adoption of which in school settings can improve asthma outcomes for children. Although many states and school districts have adopted some of these policies, adoption is not universal, and implementation is not always successful, leaving inequities in children's access to asthma services and supports. These issues can be addressed by changing public policy. Policy change is a complex process, but it is one that will benefit from greater involvement by asthma experts, including the researchers who generate the knowledge base on what services, supports, and policies have the best outcomes for children. Asthma experts can participate in the policy process by helping to build awareness of the need for school-based asthma policy, estimating the costs associated with policy options and with inaction, advocating for the selection of specific policies, assisting in implementation (including providing feedback), conducting the research that can evaluate the effectiveness of implementation, and ultimately providing information back into the policy process to allow for improvements to the policies. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementing multiple intervention strategies in Dutch public health-related policy networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Harting, Janneke; Peters, Dorothee; Grêaux, Kimberly; van Assema, Patricia; Verweij, Stefan; Stronks, Karien; Klijn, Erik-Hans

2017-01-01

Improving public health requires multiple intervention strategies. Implementing such an intervention mix is supposed to require a multisectoral policy network. As evidence to support this assumption is scarce, we examined under which conditions public health-related policy networks were able to

The Limitations of Quantitative Social Science for Informing Public Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Jerrim, John; de Vries, Robert

2017-01-01

Quantitative social science (QSS) has the potential to make an important contribution to public policy. However it also has a number of limitations. The aim of this paper is to explain these limitations to a non-specialist audience and to identify a number of ways in which QSS research could be improved to better inform public policy.

US public policy and emerging technologies: the case of solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahm, Dianne

1993-01-01

Public policy is generally believed to have an effect on the emergence and rate of diffusion of technology. Solar energy technologies are no exception. This article explores the relationship between a variety of United States (US) public policies and the emergence and diffusion of solar energy technologies using data gathered as part of the National Solar Energy Policy Study. The article presents findings regarding the status and policy position of US renewable energy research and development (R and D) and manufacturing organizations. Specific policy options which could be adopted to speed emergence and diffusion of solar energy technology products are discussed. (Author)

Ageing and the public service: human resource challenges

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pilichowski, Elsa; Turkisch, Edouard; Arnould, Emmanuelle

2007-01-01

.... In addition to addressing an urgent policy concern of OECD member countries, this project fits the larger OECD priority of developing policy responses to ageing societies. This project has accompanied a separate study on public sector pension schemes in OECD member countries. The two projects have fed into each other. The project was led by Elsa Pili...

Public Support for Weight-Related Antidiscrimination Laws and Policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilbert, Anja; Hübner, Claudia; Schmutzer, Gabriele; Danielsdottir, Sigrun; Brähler, Elmar; Puhl, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Weight-related discrimination is prevalent and associated with health impairments for those who are targeted, which underscores the need of antidiscrimination legislation. This study is the first to examine public support of weight-related antidiscrimination laws or policies in Germany, compared to the US and Iceland. In a representative German population sample (N = 2,513), public support for general and employment-specific weight-related antidiscrimination policies, weight-based victimization, and weight bias internalization were measured through established self-report questionnaires. Half of the German population sample agreed with antidiscrimination policies. General antidiscrimination laws received lower support than employment-specific laws. Support for policies considering obesity a physical disability was greatest in Germany, whereas support for employment-specific antidiscrimination laws was lower in Germany than in the US and Iceland. Total support for weight-related antidiscrimination policies was significantly predicted by lower age, female gender, obese weight status, residence in West Germany, church membership, and readiness to vote in elections. German support for weight-related antidiscrimination policies is moderate. Increasing awareness about weight-related discrimination and laws prohibiting this behavior may help to promote policy acceptance. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Perceptions Regarding Importance and Skill at Policy Development Among Public Health Staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Castrucci, Brian C; Leider, Jonathon P; Sellers, Katie

2015-01-01

Policy development is recognized as a core function of public health and a core competency in formal public health education. However, relatively little is known nationally about worker perceptions and competencies related to policy development in the governmental public health workforce. To characterize perceived importance and presence or absence of competency gaps related to policy development. As part of the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS), a nationally representative stratified sample of permanently employed state health agency (SHA) central office staff was created. Descriptive and inferential analyses examined correlates of perceived importance and competency gaps related to policy development. Permanently employed central office employees of SHAs. Analyses focus on 2 self-reported measures of perceived importance and ability related to policy development skills, as well as awareness and perceptions regarding Health in All Policies (HiAP). Seventy-two percent of SHA central office staff (95% confidence interval, 71-73) indicated "influencing policy development" was somewhat or very important to their day-to-day work. Among that group, 35% (95% confidence interval, 34-36) reported that they were unable to perform this or they considered themselves to be a beginner at this skill. Approximately three-fourths of staff indicated "understanding the relationship between a new policy and many types of public health problems" was somewhat or very important, and 30% of those who did said they were unable to perform this skill or were a beginner at it. Nationally, one-half of staff have not heard of HiAP. Among those who have, 86% indicated it was somewhat or very important to public health, and 41% reported they would like to see more emphasis on HiAP. Workforce development, both formal education and on-the-job training, may benefit from placing a greater emphasis on the development of policy skills. HiAP is an important approach to policy

How do local governments decide on public policy in fiscal federalism?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köthenbürger, Marko

2011-01-01

Previous literature widely assumes that taxes are optimized in local public finance while expenditures adjust residually. This paper endogenizes the choice of the optimization variable. In particular, it analyzes how federal policy toward local governments influences the way local governments...... decide on public policy. Unlike the usual presumption, the paper shows that local governments may choose to optimize over expenditures. The result holds when federal policy subsidizes local taxation. The results offer a new perspective of the efficiency implications of federal policy toward local...

How Do Local Governments Decide on Public Policy in Fiscal Federalism?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köthenbürger, Marko

2008-01-01

Previous literature widely assumes that taxes are optimized in local public finance while expenditures adjust residually. This paper endogenizes the choice of the optimization variable. In particular, it analyzes how federal policy toward local governments influences the way local governments...... decide on public policy. Unlike the presumption, the paper shows that local governments may choose to optimize over expenditures. The result most notably prevails when federal policy subsidizes local fiscal effort. The results offer a new perspective of the efficiency implications of federal policy...

From a holistic approach of public policy to co-governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminiţa-Gabriela POPESCU

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In the context of the current paper, the holistic approach means the extrapolation of the concept of citizen towards the level of co-participant in public policy process.The paper is focused on the transformation of public policies in the holistic perspective, as well as on the creation of conditions favourable to such approach.It means to emphasise issues linked, on the one hand, to how prepared the political representatives and public authorities are to accept both the direct involvement of citizens in decision-making and sharing of accountability in public policy process, and, on the other hand, the direct citizens’ involvement. In other words, the paper attempts to identify possible responses to key matters for the holistic approach: On the one hand, are the members of community aware of the importance of commitment? Are they truly motivated to take part in such a structure? On the other hand, how are prepared the political representatives and public authorities to accept co-operation with different categories of stakeholders?The researches in Romania reveal that unfortunately the actual context is not favourable to the holistic approach. The current conditions are just at minimal level, the policies will be further made behind closed doors and the citizens’ consultation will be mainly formal.

A review of water quality policies in relation to public good benefits and community engagement in rural Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daly Karen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper examines current recreational water use in the rural landscape in Ireland and reviews current EU policies and national regulations aimed at protecting water quality and the wider environment under agri-environmental schemes. Specifically, we review policy instruments that protect water for recreational use, their impacts and the challenges they pose for rural development against current requirements to increase public awareness and participation. In Ireland, there is limited experience in public participation in water quality protection and restoration and we highlight how this can be addressed by focussing on the specific contribution of water quality in rural areas in relation to the provision of recreational ecosystem services. These services provide the infrastructure for much of Ireland’s rural tourism sector. In this context, emerging participatory approaches to policy implementation are also assessed as national and local government prioritise community engagement for the second cycle under the EU Water Framework Directive.

Evaluating public policy instruments in the Greek building sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spyridaki, Niki-Artemis; Banaka, Stefania; Flamos, Alexandros

2016-01-01

This paper applies a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to evaluate public policy mechanisms that foster energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in the Greek building sector, based on stakeholders’ understanding and perceptions of the functionality of policy instruments. The objective is to shed light on the implementation of currently employed policy mechanisms that aim to achieve the 2020 energy savings targets and beyond, providing useful information to policy makers for future policy (re-) formulations. In this framework, policy instruments were evaluated against process-related criteria, such as implementation costs, distributional effects, and coherence of policy processes, so as to highlight successful policy practices during their implementation phase as well as to unveil cases of policy underperformance or unintended policy outcomes. To hedge uncertainties related to policy instrument selection, the method employs probabilistic evaluations of every alternative against each criterion. The MCA results showed that the country is still missing significant energy saving opportunities that could be reached through more streamlined implementation practices and political support. In times of fiscal crisis, the Greek government should also revitalize the implementation of alternative funding mechanisms and support policy alternatives such as green public procurement, voluntary agreements, and energy performance contracting. - Highlights: • We apply an MCA analysis to evaluate EE and RES policies instruments. • We focus on the implementation stage through qualitative criteria and ordinal scales. • We use the probabilistic evaluations of each alternative against each criterion. • We provide rankings of instruments according to process related criteria. • Greece should revitalize the implementation of funding mechanisms, GPP and VAs.

Public Policy Issues on the Horizon.

Science.gov (United States)

Business Officer, 1997

1997-01-01

The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) has identified public policy issues of interest to its membership in 1997, including those in budget and appropriations, college costs and pricing, distance learning and technology, environmental health and safety, federal audit and accounting standards, Higher Education…

Work-life balance policies: challenges and benefits associated with implementing flexitime

OpenAIRE

Downes, Caroline; Koekemoer, Frieda Eileen

2011-01-01

Orientation: Helping employees to balance their work and family lives is a business imperative. Work–life balance policies (like flexitime) aim to support employees to do so. However, implementing these policies is problematic. Research purpose: The aim of this article is to report on the challenges and benefits associated with implementing flexitime as a work–life balance policy. Motivation for the study: Organisations must develop and implement work–life balance policies. This r...

African communalism and public health policies: the relevance ofindigenous concepts of personal identity to HIV/AIDS policies in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Kipton; Gaie, Joseph Br

2010-09-01

This article explores the possible relevance of African communalism to HIV/AIDS policies in Botswana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We examine various interpretations of African communalism, which many consider to be the cardinal insight of African thought. We suggest several applications of this indigenous notion of personhood to HIV prevention in general and to routine HIV-testing policies in particular. This analysis demonstrates some of the ethical dilemmas and cultural complexities inherent in designing as well as implementing effective HIV-prevention programmes that strike a conscientious balance between protecting individual freedoms and securing public health. Recovering past traditions (such as African conceptions of personal identity) is valuable not only for the purpose of self-identification but also for helping us meet the challenges and problems of today in Africa. We also suggest that the human-rights-based approach to HIV prevention, which strives to protect individuals, is possibly incompatible with the socio-ethical ideals espoused by African communalism. We conclude that public health programmes in Botswana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa would be more effective if those who designed and implemented them possessed a better understanding of indigenous conceptions of personhood or human agency as well as existing ethno-medical beliefs and cultural practices.

Informing public health policy through deliberative public engagement: perceived impact on participants and citizen-government relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Molster, Caron; Potts, Ayla; McNamara, Beverley; Youngs, Leanne; Maxwell, Susannah; Dawkins, Hugh; O'Leary, Peter

2013-09-01

Deliberative public engagement has been proposed for policy development, where issues are complex and there are diverse public perspectives and low awareness of competing issues. Scholars suggest a range of potential outcomes for citizens and government agencies from involvement in such processes. Few studies have examined outcomes from the perspective of citizen participants in deliberative processes. To examine participant perceptions of their involvement in and outcomes of a deliberative engagement exercise. A case study using semistructured interviews was conducted with participants following a deliberative forum on biobanking. From their involvement in the deliberative exercise, participants described transformations in their knowledge and beliefs about the policy issues. They reported being more informed to the extent of having confidence to educate others and effectively contribute to public policy development. They had developed greater trust in government policymakers who they believed would take reasonable account of their recommendations. We conclude that the participants were satisfied with the outcomes of the deliberative public engagement process and viewed it as an effective means of citizen involvement in public policy development. Particularly for citizens who participate in deliberative processes, such processes may promote active citizenship, empower citizens to undertake representative and educative roles, and improve relations between citizens and government agencies. Actions taken by policymakers subsequent to the deliberative exercise, whereby the majority of citizen recommendations were incorporated in the policy developed, may have contributed to participants holding sustained levels of trust in the commissioning government agency.

Public policies for adolescents in vulnerable áreas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mara Rejane Barroso Barcelos

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: To characterize the cross-sector policies aimed at the teenager, from the following analytical variables: adolescence, interdisciplinary, intersectionality and Health System; vulnerability and territory, healthy municipalities and communities. Methods: A documental literature review, in which we sought the meaning of adolescence, the ratio of public investment in this segment and a discussion on the social norm and the state apparatus for their support. We used as categories of analysis: intersectionality, systemic complexity of health, territory of vulnerability, spatial delimitation of policy, social network and healthy spaces. Results: Public policies integrated into healthy spaces have been implemented in several places having adolescence as a focal object. Policies aimed at teenagers, whose symbolic representation considers them more independent and positive in social reality, tend to create more meaningful opportunities and empowerment of individuals. Conclusion: In Brazilian State, new spaces of sociability of the adolescent are welcome, serving as socializing agencies, contributing to the construction of the subjectivity of the adolescent, based in the recovery of social values and preparing for life as from an ethical and civicconsciousness.

Physical inactivity as a policy problem: applying a concept from policy analysis to a public health issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Rütten, Alfred; Abu-Omar, Karim; Gelius, Peter; Schow, Diana

2013-03-07

Despite the recent rapid development of policies to counteract physical inactivity (PI), only a small number of systematic analyses on the evolution of these policies exists. In this article we analyze how PI, as a public health issue, "translates" into a policy-making issue. First, we discuss why PI has become an increasingly important public health issue during the last two decades. We then follow Guy Peters and conceptualize PI as a "policy problem" that has the potential to be linked to policy instruments and policy impact. Analysis indicates that PI is a policy problem that i) is chronic in nature; ii) involves a high degree of political complexity; iii) can be disaggregated into smaller scales; iv) is addressed through interventions that can be difficult to "sell" to the public when their benefits are not highly divisible; v) cannot be solved by government spending alone; vi) must be addressed through a broad scope of activities; and vii) involves interdependencies among both multiple sectors and levels of government.We conclude that the new perspective on PI proposed in this article might be useful and important for i) describing and mapping policies to counteract PI in different contexts; ii) evaluating whether or not existing policy instruments are appropriate to the policy problem of PI, and iii) explaining the factors and processes that underlie policy development and implementation. More research is warranted in all these areas. In particular, we propose to focus on comparative analyses of how the problem of PI is defined and tackled in different contexts, and on the identification of truly effective policy instruments that are designed to "solve" the PI policy problem.

Policy alienation of public professionals: The development of a scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.G. Tummers (Lars)

2009-01-01

textabstractToday, many public professionals feel estranged from the policy programs they implement. That is, they experience ‘policy alienation’. This is of concern as, for satisfactory implementation, some identification with the policy is required. We develop a quantitative scale to measure

Smorgasbord or symphony? Assessing public health nutrition policies across 30 European countries using a novel framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd-Williams, Ffion; Bromley, Helen; Orton, Lois; Hawkes, Corinna; Taylor-Robinson, David; O'Flaherty, Martin; McGill, Rory; Anwar, Elspeth; Hyseni, Lirije; Moonan, May; Rayner, Mike; Capewell, Simon

2014-11-21

Countries across Europe have introduced a wide variety of policies to improve nutrition. However, the sheer diversity of interventions represents a potentially bewildering smorgasbord. We aimed to map existing public health nutrition policies, and examine their perceived effectiveness, in order to inform future evidence-based diet strategies. We created a public health nutrition policy database for 30 European countries. National nutrition policies were classified and assigned using the marketing "4 Ps" approach Product (reformulation, elimination, new healthier products); Price (taxes, subsidies); Promotion (advertising, food labelling, health education) and Place (schools, workplaces, etc.). We interviewed 71 senior policy-makers, public health nutrition policy experts and academics from 14 of the 30 countries, eliciting their views on diverse current and possible nutrition strategies. Product Voluntary reformulation of foods is widespread but has variable and often modest impact. Twelve countries regulate maximum salt content in specific foods. Denmark, Austria, Iceland and Switzerland have effective trans fats bans. Price EU School Fruit Scheme subsidies are almost universal, but with variable implementation.Taxes are uncommon. However, Finland, France, Hungary and Latvia have implemented 'sugar taxes' on sugary foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Finland, Hungary and Portugal also tax salty products. Promotion Dialogue, recommendations, nutrition guidelines, labelling, information and education campaigns are widespread. Restrictions on marketing to children are widespread but mostly voluntary. Place Interventions reducing the availability of unhealthy foods were most commonly found in schools and workplace canteens. Interviewees generally considered mandatory reformulation more effective than voluntary, and regulation and fiscal interventions much more effective than information strategies, but also politically more challenging. Public health nutrition

The health and health system of South Africa: historical roots of current public health challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Coovadia, Hoosen; Jewkes, Rachel; Barron, Peter; Sanders, David; McIntyre, Diane

2009-09-05

The roots of a dysfunctional health system and the collision of the epidemics of communicable and non-communicable diseases in South Africa can be found in policies from periods of the country's history, from colonial subjugation, apartheid dispossession, to the post-apartheid period. Racial and gender discrimination, the migrant labour system, the destruction of family life, vast income inequalities, and extreme violence have all formed part of South Africa's troubled past, and all have inexorably affected health and health services. In 1994, when apartheid ended, the health system faced massive challenges, many of which still persist. Macroeconomic policies, fostering growth rather than redistribution, contributed to the persistence of economic disparities between races despite a large expansion in social grants. The public health system has been transformed into an integrated, comprehensive national service, but failures in leadership and stewardship and weak management have led to inadequate implementation of what are often good policies. Pivotal facets of primary health care are not in place and there is a substantial human resources crisis facing the health sector. The HIV epidemic has contributed to and accelerated these challenges. All of these factors need to be addressed by the new government if health is to be improved and the Millennium Development Goals achieved in South Africa.

Is the low level of physical activity a public policy issue?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalman Michal

2013-03-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Many studies and scientific evidence confirm a positive effect of physical activity on the quality of life and human health. Physical activity, which is also one of the key factors preventing mass non-communicable diseases, is decreasing in Europe, including the Czech Republic, both in children and adults. Serious health consequences for the population and economy of the countries are a reason for a discussion about including the low level of physical activity among public policy issues and a higher allocation of public sources into the area of physical activity promotion. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of the paper is to determine whether the low level of physical activity is a public policy issue. An issue that should by systematically addressed by national, regional as well as local policy. METHODS: Through the policy analysis approach we conducted a content analysis of 25 systematically selected foreign national strategies aimed at the issue of physical activity promotion. The data source was an internal database of the World Health Organization - the International Inventory of Documents on Physical Activity Promotion. The content analysis of the strategies was performed using the Atlas.ti software tool. RESULTS: During a content analysis of 25 foreign strategies a total of 411 text segments (quotations relating to the low level of physical activity were selected. These text segments showed five basic features of a public policy issue according to a conceptual framework developed by Bardach (2000 and Patton and Sawicky (1993 - 1 affects the lives of a significant number of people of a society; 2 is analysable; 3 can be solved through public policy tools; 4 the primary cause or problem can be defined; 5 cannot be solved easily and quickly. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the low level of physical activity is a public policy issue that must be systematically addressed at national level.

Public Telecommunications Policies and Education's Options.

Science.gov (United States)

Norwood, Frank W.

The use of satellite telecommunications for educational and other public service purposes has been restricted by educators' lack of awareness of the potential that exists. While industry actively promotes its own interests, educators rarely even realize that international policies being made today will affect critically the options available for…

Theorising the Intersection of Public Policy and Personal Lives ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

chifaou.amzat

2011-08-02

Aug 2, 2011 ... Theorising the Intersection of Public Policy and. Personal ..... of implementation contexts, as a result of changing policy, the vagaries of life, and the ... which is greatly dependent on the vagaries of the seasons and climate. It is.

Managing Madness: Mental Health and Complexity in Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Hickie

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the concept of collaborative care, particularly in relation to a range of new models of organisation and service that are emerging in response to one of the most problematic areas of public policy – mental health. These emerging models of coordinated mental health care are testing the limits of the evidence supporting coordinated care, and require critical evaluation. Myriad concepts of collaborative or coordinated care in health, including mental health, have created multiple definitions. Once definitional issues have been surmounted, however, the evidence for coordination of health care is reasonably strong. There is considerable research about which treatments and programs are best for people with a mental illness. There are few areas seemingly as complex as mental health, given that responsibility for policy and service lies across all three tiers of Australian government and across multiple jurisdictions. It also engages public, private and non-government sectors. Co-morbidities are commonplace, particularly drug and alcohol problems among younger people. Governments in Australia have traditionally taken responsibility for policy, programs and services, either as direct service providers or through contracting outputs from others. Yet the evidence indicates that for people with a mental illness, the best solutions are often not found in government but in the community and in organisations outside of government. New organisations and new structures are attempting more holistic management approaches, combining clinical care, community support, housing, employment and other services. This paper considers some of these new models in the light of existing evidence. The key challenge facing continued reform in mental health is not uncertainty regarding programs or services, but rather how to drive coordinated care for consumers across departments, governments and providers. This review will highlight the key changes that

Public Policy Exceptions in European Private Law : A New Research Project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Colombi Ciacchi, Aurelia

2014-01-01

Public policy exceptions arguably exist in all fields of private and commerciallaw, not only in private international law but also in substantive law. In substantive private law, the term 'public policy exception' could be used to indicate general illegality rules that make an act of private

War Policy, Public Support, and the Media

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Darley, William M

2005-01-01

Perhaps no element of the current conflict in Iraq engenders more emotion and acrimony within the military than debate concerning the role and influence of the news media on public opinion and national policy...

Public health human resources: a comparative analysis of policy documents in two Canadian provinces

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Amidst concerns regarding the capacity of the public health system to respond rapidly and appropriately to threats such as pandemics and terrorism, along with changing population health needs, governments have focused on strengthening public health systems. A key factor in a robust public health system is its workforce. As part of a nationally funded study of public health renewal in Canada, a policy analysis was conducted to compare public health human resources-relevant documents in two Canadian provinces, British Columbia (BC) and Ontario (ON), as they each implement public health renewal activities. Methods A content analysis of policy and planning documents from government and public health-related organizations was conducted by a research team comprised of academics and government decision-makers. Documents published between 2003 and 2011 were accessed (BC = 27; ON = 20); documents were either publicly available or internal to government and excerpted with permission. Documentary texts were deductively coded using a coding template developed by the researchers based on key health human resources concepts derived from two national policy documents. Results Documents in both provinces highlighted the importance of public health human resources planning and policies; this was particularly evident in early post-SARS documents. Key thematic areas of public health human resources identified were: education, training, and competencies; capacity; supply; intersectoral collaboration; leadership; public health planning context; and priority populations. Policy documents in both provinces discussed the importance of an educated, competent public health workforce with the appropriate skills and competencies for the effective and efficient delivery of public health services. Conclusion This policy analysis identified progressive work on public health human resources policy and planning with early documents providing an inventory of issues to be

Public health human resources: a comparative analysis of policy documents in two Canadian provinces.

Science.gov (United States)

Regan, Sandra; MacDonald, Marjorie; Allan, Diane E; Martin, Cheryl; Peroff-Johnston, Nancy

2014-02-24

Amidst concerns regarding the capacity of the public health system to respond rapidly and appropriately to threats such as pandemics and terrorism, along with changing population health needs, governments have focused on strengthening public health systems. A key factor in a robust public health system is its workforce. As part of a nationally funded study of public health renewal in Canada, a policy analysis was conducted to compare public health human resources-relevant documents in two Canadian provinces, British Columbia (BC) and Ontario (ON), as they each implement public health renewal activities. A content analysis of policy and planning documents from government and public health-related organizations was conducted by a research team comprised of academics and government decision-makers. Documents published between 2003 and 2011 were accessed (BC = 27; ON = 20); documents were either publicly available or internal to government and excerpted with permission. Documentary texts were deductively coded using a coding template developed by the researchers based on key health human resources concepts derived from two national policy documents. Documents in both provinces highlighted the importance of public health human resources planning and policies; this was particularly evident in early post-SARS documents. Key thematic areas of public health human resources identified were: education, training, and competencies; capacity; supply; intersectoral collaboration; leadership; public health planning context; and priority populations. Policy documents in both provinces discussed the importance of an educated, competent public health workforce with the appropriate skills and competencies for the effective and efficient delivery of public health services. This policy analysis identified progressive work on public health human resources policy and planning with early documents providing an inventory of issues to be addressed and later documents providing

Behavioural Public Policy - vejen til en sundere kommune

OpenAIRE

Lützen, Daniel; Tejnø, Cecilie; Bastiansen, Pernille

2014-01-01

Abstract This project looks at how the health care policies of Holbæk municipality can be structured based on the theoretical framework of Behavioural Economics and Behavioural Public Policy, in order to minimise the effects of “high risk behaviour”. By focusing on two specific policy frameworks, namely 1) ensuring a healthy approach to food for children, young people and vulnerable citizens and 2) a smoke and alcohol free environment for children and young people, we attempt to ascertain, ba...

Public Journalism Challenges to Curriculum and Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Tanni

2000-01-01

Considers some challenges of teaching public journalism. Discusses how journalism educators can help students prepare for a career in the service of public life by teaching them how to actively involve citizens in the journalistic processes of gathering information, writing stories, and evaluating performance. Offers teaching applications and…

Smoke-free policies in New Zealand public tertiary education institutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Lindsay A; Marsh, L

2015-04-01

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control mandates the creation of smoke-free environments to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke and reduce demand for tobacco. We aimed to examine the extent and nature of smoke-free campus policies at tertiary education institutions throughout New Zealand, and examine the policy development process. Stage one comprised an audit and content analysis of smoke-free policies. In stage two, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted to investigate the process of developing and implementing policies. Qualitative content analysis was undertaken on interview notes. Policies were identified for most institutions (n = 26/29), though varied widely in nature. Only nine mandated 100% smoke-free campuses without exceptions and few prohibited the sale of tobacco on campus, or connections with the tobacco industry. During interviews (n = 22/29), cited barriers to developing a 100% smoke-free policy included enforcement challenges and anticipated opposition from staff and students. However, participants from institutions with 100% smoke-free policies reported having encountered few challenges. Varying levels of compliance with 100% smoke-free policies were reported yet, overall, these policies were viewed as being effective. Smoke-free campus policies could be strengthened to better reflect a completely tobacco-free organization. Other institutions and workplaces could use these findings to develop 100% smoke-free policies. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

BULGARIA’S MULTI-VECTOR FOREIGN POLICY APPROACH TO SECURITY CHALLENGES IN EASTERN EUROPE

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-06

tenuous than ever with the new controversial Trump administration and the EU nascent foreign policy efforts already failed in handling the challenges...AIR WAR COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY BULGARIA’S MULTI-VECTOR FOREIGN POLICY APPROACH TO SECURITY CHALLENGES IN EASTERN EUROPE by Dimitar Y...the abatement of US interest in Europe, will require wise foreign policy maneuvers to address the changes in the transformed security environment. As

The role of public policy in emerging green power markets: an analysis of marketer preferences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiser, R.H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2000-06-01

Green power marketing has been heralded by some as a means to create a private market for renewable energy that is driven by customer demand for green products. This article challenges the premise - sometimes proffered in debates over green markets - that profitable, sizable, credible markets for green products will evolve naturally without supportive public policies. Relying primarily on surveys and interviews of US green power marketers, the article examines the role of specific regulatory and legislative policies in 'enabling' the green market, and searches for those policies that are believed by marketers to be the most conducive or detrimental to the expansion of the green market. We find that marketers: (1) believe that profitable green power markets will only develop if a solid foundation of supportive policies exists; (2) believe that establishing overall price competition and encouraging customer switching are the top priorities; (3) are somewhat leery of government-sponsored or mandated public information programs; and (4) oppose three specific renewable energy policies that are frequently advocated by renewable energy enthusiasts, but that may have negative impacts on the green marketers' profitability. The stated preferences of green marketers shed light on ways to foster renewables by means of the green market. Because the interests of marketers do not coincide perfectly with those of society, however, this study also recognizes other normative perspectives and highlights policy tensions at the heart of current debates related to green markets. By examining these conflicts, we identify three key policy questions that should direct future research: To what extent should price competition and customer switching be encouraged at the expense of cost shifting? What requirements should be imposed to ensure credibility in green products and marketing? How should the green power market and broader renewable energy policies interact? (author)

Track leading to decision of 'framework for nuclear energy policy'. Reading the public attitude with public opinions (the second). Framework for nuclear energy policy (as of July 2005)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimooka, Hiroshi

2006-01-01

The Government decides to respect the 'Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy', which was decided by the Atomic Energy Commission on October 11th, 2005, as a basic principle for the nuclear energy policy and promote research, development and utilization of nuclear science and engineering. The Atomic Energy Commission asked the public to comment on the draft and held Public Hearings at five different venues. The Planning Council finalized the draft, taking the 1717 opinions from 701 citizens thus gathered into the consideration. Reading the public attitude with public opinions had been conducted by the author, which showed a large percentage of the consent to the policy and, at the same time, the necessity for the nation to make more efforts to communicate with the public in simple and more concise terms or listen to the public, and also to gain the public trust through education and public relations. The pros and cons both commented that the mass media was not fair. (T. Tanaka)

Public support for alcohol policies associated with knowledge of cancer risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Buykx, Penny; Gilligan, Conor; Ward, Bernadette; Kippen, Rebecca; Chapman, Kathy

2015-04-01

Several options are advocated by policy experts to mitigate alcohol-related harms, although the most effective strategies often have the least public support. While knowledge of tobacco-related health risks predicts support for relevant public health measures, it is not known whether knowledge of alcohol health risks is similarly associated with the acceptability of policies intended to reduce alcohol consumption and related harms. This study aims to gauge public support for a range of alcohol policies and to determine whether or not support is associated with knowledge of a long-term health risk of alcohol consumption, specifically cancer. 2482 adults in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, participated in an online survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between demographic data, alcohol consumption, smoking status, knowledge of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer and support for alcohol-related policies. Most participants were supportive of health warnings, restricting access to internet alcohol advertising to young people, and requiring information on national drinking guidelines on alcohol containers. Almost half of participants supported a ban on sport sponsorship, while less than 41% supported price increases, volumetric taxation, or reducing the number of retail outlets. Only 47% of participants identified drinking too much alcohol as a risk factor for cancer. Knowledge of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer was a significant predictor of support for all policies, while level of alcohol consumption had a significant inverse relationship with policy support. The finding that support for alcohol management policies is associated with awareness that drinking too much alcohol may contribute to cancer could assist in the planning of future public health interventions. Improving awareness of the long term health risks of alcohol consumption may be one avenue to increasing public support for effective alcohol harm-reduction policies

Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Miles; Acland, Andrew; Armstrong, Harry J; Bellingham, Jim R; Bland, Jessica; Bodmer, Helen C; Burall, Simon; Castell, Sarah; Chilvers, Jason; Cleevely, David D; Cope, David; Costanzo, Lucia; Dolan, James A; Doubleday, Robert; Feng, Wai Yi; Godfray, H Charles J; Good, David A; Grant, Jonathan; Green, Nick; Groen, Arnoud J; Guilliams, Tim T; Gupta, Sunjai; Hall, Amanda C; Heathfield, Adam; Hotopp, Ulrike; Kass, Gary; Leeder, Tim; Lickorish, Fiona A; Lueshi, Leila M; Magee, Chris; Mata, Tiago; McBride, Tony; McCarthy, Natasha; Mercer, Alan; Neilson, Ross; Ouchikh, Jackie; Oughton, Edward J; Oxenham, David; Pallett, Helen; Palmer, James; Patmore, Jeff; Petts, Judith; Pinkerton, Jan; Ploszek, Richard; Pratt, Alan; Rocks, Sophie A; Stansfield, Neil; Surkovic, Elizabeth; Tyler, Christopher P; Watkinson, Andrew R; Wentworth, Jonny; Willis, Rebecca; Wollner, Patrick K A; Worts, Kim; Sutherland, William J

2014-01-01

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.

Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miles Parker

Full Text Available Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.

Identifying the Science and Technology Dimensions of Emerging Public Policy Issues through Horizon Scanning

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Miles; Acland, Andrew; Armstrong, Harry J.; Bellingham, Jim R.; Bland, Jessica; Bodmer, Helen C.; Burall, Simon; Castell, Sarah; Chilvers, Jason; Cleevely, David D.; Cope, David; Costanzo, Lucia; Dolan, James A.; Doubleday, Robert; Feng, Wai Yi; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Good, David A.; Grant, Jonathan; Green, Nick; Groen, Arnoud J.; Guilliams, Tim T.; Gupta, Sunjai; Hall, Amanda C.; Heathfield, Adam; Hotopp, Ulrike; Kass, Gary; Leeder, Tim; Lickorish, Fiona A.; Lueshi, Leila M.; Magee, Chris; Mata, Tiago; McBride, Tony; McCarthy, Natasha; Mercer, Alan; Neilson, Ross; Ouchikh, Jackie; Oughton, Edward J.; Oxenham, David; Pallett, Helen; Palmer, James; Patmore, Jeff; Petts, Judith; Pinkerton, Jan; Ploszek, Richard; Pratt, Alan; Rocks, Sophie A.; Stansfield, Neil; Surkovic, Elizabeth; Tyler, Christopher P.; Watkinson, Andrew R.; Wentworth, Jonny; Willis, Rebecca; Wollner, Patrick K. A.; Worts, Kim; Sutherland, William J.

2014-01-01

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security. PMID:24879444

Moving towards a new vision: implementation of a public health policy intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruta Valaitis

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Public health systems in Canada have undergone significant policy renewal over the last decade in response to threats to the public’s health, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome. There is limited research on how public health policies have been implemented or what has influenced their implementation. This paper explores policy implementation in two exemplar public health programs -chronic disease prevention and sexually-transmitted infection prevention - in Ontario, Canada. It examines public health service providers’, managers’ and senior managements’ perspectives on the process of implementation of the Ontario Public Health Standards 2008 and factors influencing implementation. Methods Public health staff from six health units representing rural, remote, large and small urban settings were included. We conducted 21 focus groups and 18 interviews between 2010 (manager and staff focus groups and 2011 (senior management interviews involving 133 participants. Research assistants coded transcripts and researchers reviewed these; the research team discussed and resolved discrepancies. To facilitate a breadth of perspectives, several team members helped interpret the findings. An integrated knowledge translation approach was used, reflected by the inclusion of academics as well as decision-makers on the team and as co-authors. Results Front line service providers often were unaware of the new policies but managers and senior management incorporated them in operational and program planning. Some participants were involved in policy development or provided feedback prior to their launch. Implementation was influenced by many factors that aligned with Greenhalgh and colleagues’ empirically-based Diffusion of Innovations in Service Organizations Framework. Factors and related components that were most clearly linked to the OPHS policy implementation were: attributes of the innovation itself; adoption by individuals

Xenotransplantation: science, ethics, and public policy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Committee on Xenograft, Transplantation Institute; Institute of Medicine

... Division of Health Sciences Policy Division of Health Care Services INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1996 Copyrightoriginal retained, the be not from cannot book, paper original however, for version formatting, authoritative the typesetting-specific created from the as publication files other XML and from this of recomp...

No Policy for Public Private Partnership? PPP, Collaboration and Institutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tolstrup Christensen, Lene; Greve, Carsten

The paper examines how the PPP‐policy has developed in a country with low PPP activity. The paper focuses on the following research questions: How does collaboration occur between the public and private sector in relation to the provision of transport infrastructure and public service? How does...... infrastructure projects and public service provision contracts in the transport sector within roads and busses, bridges and tunnels, rail, airports and aviation and harbors. The projects will be categorized in relation to organizational and financial models and it leads to a. discussion of types of policy...

Personnel Policy in Local Public Administration

OpenAIRE

Loránd Cziprián KOVÁCS

2002-01-01

Romanian local public adminstration is currently facing a series of harsh challenges, one of these being the establishment of a new body of public servants with the ability to answer new problems as they arise. This process has not been very easy due to various political, technical, economical and social issues. However, new steps have been taken, which have brought new hope for future developments.

Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Smoke-free Policy in Philadelphia Public Housing.

Science.gov (United States)

Klassen, Ann C; Lee, Nora L; Pankiewicz, Aaron; Ward, Rikki; Shuster, Michelle; Ogbenna, Bethany Townsend; Wade, Anita; Boamah, Maxwell; Osayameh, Olufunlayo; Rule, Ana M; Szymkowiak, Dorota; Coffman, Ryan; Bragg, Virginius; Mallya, Giridhar

2017-04-01

Multi-unit housing environments remain significant sources of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure, especially for vulnerable populations in subsidized housing. In Philadelphia, the largest US housing authority to implement smoke-free policies, we measured baseline resident smoking-related behaviors and attitudes, and longitudinal exposures to airborne nicotine, during policy development and implementation. In 4 communities, we collected data in 2013, 2014, and 2016, before and after introduction of comprehensive smoke-free policies, interviewing persons in 172 households, and monitoring air-borne nicotine in non-smoking homes and public areas. Average nicotine level differences across years were estimated with multi-level models. Fifty-six percent of respondents smoked. Only 37% of households were smoke-free, with another 41% restricting smoking by area or time of day. The number of locations with detectable nicotine did not differ before and after policy implementation, with approximately 20% of non-smoking homes and 70%-80% of public areas having detectable nicotine. However, public area nicotine levels were lower in 2016, after policy implementation, than in 2013 and 2014 (-0.19 μg/m 3 , p = .03). Findings suggest that initial policy implementation was associated with reduced SHS exposure in Philadelphia. As HUD strengthens smoke-free policies, SHS monitoring can be useful to educate stakeholders and build support for policy enforcement.

Assessing public health policy approaches to level-up the gradient in health inequalities: the Gradient Evaluation Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, J K; Sherriff, N S

2014-03-01

This paper seeks to introduce and analyse the development of the Gradient Evaluation Framework (GEF) to facilitate evaluation of policy actions for their current or future use in terms of their 'gradient friendliness'. In particular, this means their potential to level-up the gradient in health inequalities by addressing the social determinants of health and thereby reducing decision-makers' chances of error when developing such policy actions. A qualitative developmental study to produce a policy-based evaluation framework. The scientific basis of GEF was developed using a comprehensive consensus-building process. This process followed an initial narrative review, based on realist review principles, which highlighted the need for production of a dedicated evaluation framework. The consensus-building process included expert workshops, a pretesting phase, and external peer review, together with support from the Gradient project Scientific Advisory Group and all Gradient project partners, including its Project Steering Committee. GEF is presented as a flexible policy tool resulting from a consensus-building process involving experts from 13 European countries. The theoretical foundations which underpin GEF are discussed, together with a range of practical challenges. The importance of systematic evaluation at each stage of the policy development and implementation cycle is highlighted, as well as the socio-political context in which policy actions are located. GEF offers potentially a major contribution to the public health field in the form of a practical, policy-relevant and common frame of reference for the evaluation of public health interventions that aim to level-up the social gradient in health inequalities. Further research, including the need for practical field testing of GEF and the exploration of alternative presentational formats, is recommended. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nurses' perceptions of the challenges related to the Omanization policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Riyami, M; Fischer, I; Lopez, V

2015-12-01

Human resource development has become a major concern in Oman since the inception of the 'Omanization' policy in 1988. The main goal of this policy was to replace the expatriate nursing workforce with similarly qualified local nurses to develop a sustainable workforce and achieve self-reliance. The aim of this study is to explore the nurses' perceptions of Omanization policy. A qualitative research design was used and 16 Omani registered nurses and 26 student nurses were interviewed in depth. Transcribed data were analysed using content analysis. Two main themes emerged from the data: 'Challenges of sustaining the local nursing workforce' and 'Challenges of educational preparation for local nurses'. The participants agreed that Omanization benefited national development, social stability and ensuring local workforce. The challenges faced were cultural and work life balance, preparation of nurses and pace of replacement. The participants were concerned that the pace of replacement could leave behind a marked experience gap. A slow-phased approach to Omanization of the nursing workforce was recommended by the participants. Results obtained from this study reflect the perceptions and voices of student nurses and registered nurses only from the Institute of Nursing and Oman Ministry of Health. A policy of this magnitude requires gradual establishment. The upgrading of the nursing education to degree level, continuous professional development, mentoring and role modeling of expert nurses should be established to prepare local nurses for the localization of the nursing workforce. © 2015 International Council of Nurses.

Family and gender policies in Norway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arlung, Liera

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The NorSpaR project aims to analyse the main public policy initiatives by which Norway and Spain cope with the new social and economic challenges derived from the so-called New Social Risks (NSR. Although both countries present significant differences in their institutional settings (such as Spanish EU membership, or its belonging to diverse welfare regimes types (Norway is generally included in the Nordic regime, while Spain is part of the Mediterranean one, both countries share a common interest in addressing the aforementioned challenges while maintaining social cohesion. In the last decade, governments in both countries have tried to respond to those challenges by reforming their labour markets, adapting their unemployment schemes, as well as their gender, family and long-term care policies. The analysis covered in this project includes three areas of public policy addressing NSR. First, dependency is one of the most daunting challenges for post-industrial societies experiencing population ageing and with an increasing number of frail people in need of care. This situation is forcing governments to rethink their long-term care policies. Second, family and gender public programs need to respond to the growing difficulties of families in reconciling professional and family life. Third, in the transition to a post-industrial order, and in a context of mass unemployment, social protection systems have a renewed prominence. Along with the so-called passive policies offering financial support to the unemployed, active labour market policies are geared to put people back into work. In our analysis we try to find answers to the following questions: What are the challenges that each of these policies have been trying to address in recent years? How have these policies evolved? What kinds of reforms have been implemented, and which ones have been neglected? Have the policy goals and targets of welfare programs been modified in any significant way

Unemployment and activation policies in Norway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barth, Erling

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The NorSpaR project aims to analyse the main public policy initiatives by which Norway and Spain cope with the new social and economic challenges derived from the so-called New Social Risks (NSR. Although both countries present significant differences in their institutional settings (such as Spanish EU membership, or its belonging to diverse welfare regimes types (Norway is generally included in the Nordic regime, while Spain is part of the Mediterranean one, both countries share a common interest in addressing the aforementioned challenges while maintaining social cohesion. In the last decade, governments in both countries have tried to respond to those challenges by reforming their labour markets, adapting their unemployment schemes, as well as their gender, family and long-term care policies. The analysis covered in this project includes three areas of public policy addressing NSR. First, dependency is one of the most daunting challenges for post-industrial societies experiencing population ageing and with an increasing number of frail people in need of care. This situation is forcing governments to rethink their long-term care policies. Second, family and gender public programs need to respond to the growing difficulties of families in reconciling professional and family life. Third, in the transition to a post-industrial order, and in a context of mass unemployment, social protection systems have a renewed prominence. Along with the so-called passive policies offering financial support to the unemployed, active labour market policies are geared to put people back into work. In our analysis we try to find answers to the following questions: What are the challenges that each of these policies have been trying to address in recent years? How have these policies evolved? What kinds of reforms have been implemented, and which ones have been neglected? Have the policy goals and targets of welfare programs been modified in any significant way

Participation, Poverty and Public Policies: 3P Challenging Community Environmental Psychology (The Case of the Communal Councils in Venezuela

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Wiesenfeld

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Participation, poverty and public policy are three relevant topics for the state, society and academy, particularly for environmental and community social psychology. Meanings and ways of addressing these topics by the above mentioned sector have varied across time and places. Recent impact of new governance models, such as participative democracy, has provoked changes in public policy modes of influence, as a strategy for poverty reduction. Such changes’ orientations coincide with those of environmental community psychology, social constructionist theoretical perspective and qualitative methodology. In Venezuela, only Latin American country where participation has been given a constitutional and legal status, it is important to study participation’s meanings and its implications in public management as a strategy for poverty reduction. Communal councils constitute the main community participatory structure, which integrates poor sectors and vehicles their requirements together with governmental entities. Conscious as we are of existing gaps between discourses and actions, the present research analyses official discourses on participation, through the Venezuelan Constitution and the Organic Communal Councils Law, and compares them with participatory meanings and experiences provided by communal councils’ members and other community stakeholders’ narratives. Results show differences between official and community perspectives on participation in communal councils, as well as discrepancies within communities: they also point out to the difficulties of state induced participation, as is the venezuelan case, for its protagonists’ limitations for transcending projects and exerting power outside community boundaries.

14 CFR 298.30 - Public disclosure of policy on consumer protection.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Public disclosure of policy on consumer protection. 298.30 Section 298.30 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION... Limitations and Conditions on Exemptions and Operations § 298.30 Public disclosure of policy on consumer...

A Theoretical and Conceptual Approach to Public Policy , State Models and Brazilian Judiciary Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Abrahão Costa

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Since the consolidation of Western democratic regimes, the issue of public policy takes greater prominence in the academic setting and was taken as an object of study by different branches of knowledge. In the present paper attempts to map the various concepts built for public policy, in order to try to answer three questions: what would be the public policy, which the theories that could be used to give them support and what historical context discussion would have appeared. In addition, it seeks to systematize the interaction between public policy and law from three aspects: their integration in the context of the Constitutional State, legalization of phenomenon of emergence of the policy and its relationship with the notions that inform the public governance. It is stated, finally, that the presented questioning aims to contribute to the start of construction of a proper legal analysis of the field of public policy.

Public R&D Policy Impact Evaluation:Propensity Score Matching and Structural Modeling Estimations

OpenAIRE

Ilbeigi, Alireza

2017-01-01

This dissertation is about public research and development (R&D) subsidies to support private firms doing innovative activities and quantitative impact evaluation of the policy on total factor productivity (TFP) change and additional R&D effort. Public R&D subsidization as a public R&D policy, beside different types of public interventions, has been widely used by governments to stimulate private R&D. These policies aim to fill the gap between the private and social rates of returns by encour...

Public participation and environmental impact assessment: Purposes, implications, and lessons for public policy making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Faircheallaigh, Ciaran

2010-01-01

In recent years the need to enhance public participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the efficacy of alternative mechanisms in achieving this goal, have been central themes in the EIA literature. The benefits of public participation are often taken for granted, and partly for this reason the underlying rationale for greater public participation is sometimes poorly articulated, making it more difficult to determine how to pursue it effectively. The reasons for seeking public participation are also highly diverse and not always mutually consistent. There has been limited analysis of the implications of different forms and degrees of public participation for public decision making based on EIA, and little discussion of how experience with public participation in EIA relates to debates about participation in policy making generally. This paper distinguishes various purposes for public participation in EIA, and discusses their implications for decision making. It then draws on some general models of public participation in policy making to consider how approaches to participation in EIA can be interpreted and valued, and asks what EIA experience reveals about the utility of these models. It argues that the models pay insufficient attention to the interaction that can occur between different forms of public participation; and to the fact that public participation raises issues regarding control over decision making that are not subject to resolution, but must be managed through ongoing processes of negotiation.

New policy challenges on a changing economic landscape | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-01-27

Jan 27, 2011 ... New policy challenges on a changing economic landscape ... Consortium deals with a wide variety of issues, SEP works primarily through four ... strengthen and reform the institutions, rules and customs by which nations and ...

Organisational Factors Affecting Policy and Programme Decision Making in a Public Health Policy Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

2015-01-01

Organisational factors can affect the success of interventions aimed at increasing research use. Research is needed to identify organisational factors affecting research use in specific public health policy contexts. Qualitative interviews with decision makers from a specific public health context identified a range of organisational factors that…

AGU Public Affairs: How to Get Involved in Science Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Landau, E. A.; Hankin, E. R.; Uhlenbrock, K. M.

2012-12-01

AGU Public Affairs offers many ways for its members to get involved in science policy at different levels of participation, whether you would love to spend a year working as a resident science expert in a congressional office in Washington, D.C., or would rather simply receive email alerts about Earth and space science policy news. How you can get involved: Sign up for AGU Science Policy Alerts to receive the most relevant Earth and space science policy information delivered to your email inbox. Participate in one of AGU's Congressional Visits Days to speak with your legislators about important science issues. Attend the next AGU Science Policy Conference in spring 2013. Participate in events happening on Capitol Hill, and watch video of past events. Learn about AGU Embassy Lectures, where countries come together to discuss important Earth and space science topics. Learn how you can comment on AGU Position Statements. Apply to be an AGU Congressional Science Fellow, where you can work in a congressional office for one year and serve as a resident science expert, or to be an AGU Public Affairs Intern, where you can work in the field of science policy for three months. The AGU Public Affairs Team will highlight ways members can be involved as well as provide information on how the team is working to shape policy and inform society about the excitement of AGU science.

Data publication - policies and procedures from the PREPARDE project

Science.gov (United States)

Callaghan, Sarah; Murphy, Fiona; Tedds, Jonathan; Kunze, John; Lawrence, Rebecca; Mayernik, , Matthew S.; Whyte, Angus; Roberts, Timothy

2013-04-01

Data are widely acknowledged as a first class scientific output. Increases in researchers' abilities to create data need to be matched by corresponding infrastructures for them to manage and share their data. At the same time, the quality and persistence of the datasets need to be ensured, providing the dataset creators with the recognition they deserve for their efforts. Formal publication of data takes advantage of the processes and procedures already in place to publish academic articles about scientific results, enabling data to be reviewed and more broadly disseminated. Data are vastly more varied in format than papers, and so the policies required to manage and publish data must take into account the complexities associated with different data types, scientific fields, licensing rules etc. The Peer REview for Publication & Accreditation of Research Data in the Earth sciences (PREPARDE) project is JISC- and NERC-funded, and aims to investigate the policies and procedures required for the formal publication of research data. The project is investigating the whole workflow of data publication, from ingestion into a data repository, through to formal publication in a data journal. To limit the scope of the project, the focus is primarily on the policies required for the Royal Meteorological Society and Wiley's Geoscience Data Journal, though members of the project team include representatives from the life sciences (F1000Research), and will generalise the policies to other disciplines. PREPARDE addresses key issues arising in the data publication paradigm, such as: what criteria are needed for a repository to be considered objectively trustworthy; how does one peer-review a dataset; and how can datasets and journal publications be effectively cross-linked for the benefit of the wider research community and the completeness of the scientific record? To answer these questions, the project is hosting workshops addressing these issues, with interactions from key

Personnel Policy in Local Public Administration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loránd Cziprián KOVÁCS

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Romanian local public adminstration is currently facing a series of harsh challenges, one of these being the establishment of a new body of public servants with the ability to answer new problems as they arise. This process has not been very easy due to various political, technical, economical and social issues. However, new steps have been taken, which have brought new hope for future developments.

Citizen Science for public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Den Broeder, Lea; Devilee, Jeroen; Van Oers, Hans; Schuit, A Jantine; Wagemakers, Annemarie

2016-12-23

Community engagement in public health policy is easier said than done. One reason is that public health policy is produced in a complex process resulting in policies that may appear not to link up to citizen perspectives. We therefore address the central question as to whether citizen engagement in knowledge production could enable inclusive health policy making. Building on non-health work fields, we describe different types of citizen engagement in scientific research, or 'Citizen Science'. We describe the challenges that Citizen Science poses for public health, and how these could be addressed. Despite these challenges, we expect that Citizen Science or similar approaches such as participatory action research and 'popular epidemiology' may yield better knowledge, empowered communities, and improved community health. We provide a draft framework to enable evaluation of Citizen Science in practice, consisting of a descriptive typology of different kinds of Citizen Science and a causal framework that shows how Citizen Science in public health might benefit both the knowledge produced as well as the 'Citizen Scientists' as active participants. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Public Health and International Drug Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Csete, Joanne; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Kazatchkine, Michel; Altice, Frederick; Balicki, Marek; Buxton, Julia; Cepeda, Javier; Comfort, Megan; Goosby, Eric; Goulão, João; Hart, Carl; Horton, Richard; Kerr, Thomas; Lajous, Alejandro Madrazo; Lewis, Stephen; Martin, Natasha; Mejía, Daniel; Mathiesson, David; Obot, Isidore; Ogunrombi, Adeolu; Sherman, Susan; Stone, Jack; Vallath, Nandini; Vickerman, Peter; Zábranský, Tomáš; Beyrer, Chris

2016-01-01

Executive summary In September 2015, the member states of the United Nations endorsed sustainable development goals (SDG) for 2030 that aspire to human rights-centered approaches to ensuring the health and well-being of all people. The SDGs embody both the UN Charter values of rights and justice for all and the responsibility of states to rely on the best scientific evidence as they seek to better humankind. In April 2016, these same states will consider control of illicit drugs, an area of social policy that has been fraught with controversy, seen as inconsistent with human rights norms, and for which scientific evidence and public health approaches have arguably played too limited a role. The previous UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs in 1998 – convened under the theme “a drug-free world, we can do it!” – endorsed drug control policies based on the goal of prohibiting all use, possession, production, and trafficking of illicit drugs. This goal is enshrined in national law in many countries. In pronouncing drugs a “grave threat to the health and well-being of all mankind,” the 1998 UNGASS echoed the foundational 1961 convention of the international drug control regime, which justified eliminating the “evil” of drugs in the name of “the health and welfare of mankind.” But neither of these international agreements refers to the ways in which pursuing drug prohibition itself might affect public health. The “war on drugs” and “zero-tolerance” policies that grew out of the prohibitionist consensus are now being challenged on multiple fronts, including their health, human rights, and development impact. The Johns Hopkins – Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health has sought to examine the emerging scientific evidence on public health issues arising from drug control policy and to inform and encourage a central focus on public health evidence and outcomes in drug policy debates, such as the important deliberations of

Economics and obesity policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lusk, J L

2017-06-01

This paper elucidates the challenges surrounding the economics of some popular obesity-related policy proposals. Solid economic justifications for anti-obesity policies are often lacking, and evidence suggests policies like fat and soda taxes or restrictions on food stamp spending are unlikely to substantively affect obesity prevalence. In short, many of the same factors that make obesity such a complicated and multifaceted issue extend to the economic analysis of public health policies.

Science Under Attack Public Policy, Science Education, and the Emperor's New Clothes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krauss, Lawrence

2005-01-01

The popular debate about the teaching of intelligent design in public schools is but one quandary for scientists and policy makers. Given recent developments which have worked to breed a general distrust of science, it is evident that researchers and politicians alike should be wary of using popular opinion as a guide for policy and pedagogy when it comes to science in public education. Dr. Krauss will qualify this complex issue and will address how educators, policy makers and scientists can work effectively to prevent public misconceptions of science.

Policy Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Special Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rude, Harvey; Miller, Kevin J.

2018-01-01

This article reviews current developments in state and national policies that affect rural special education. A brief overview of the federal role in rural education is provided, with emphasis on the implications for the provision of special education services in rural communities. A variety of challenges are identified, including (a) the variable…

Challenge of material recycling at large public events

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pivnenko, Kostyantyn; Edjabou, Maklawe Essonanawe; Boldrin, Alessio

2017-01-01

infrastructure. Sound waste management is one of the challenges. Some preliminary results presented here, concern waste material flows at a large public event, illustrated on the example of Roskilde Festival (Denmark). Roskilde Festival is a large annual event, which attracts more than 120,000 participants......Large public events such as festivals, sports events or national celebrations tend to attract a considerable number of people. While some of the events are important sources of entertainment for the participants, such gatherings create a challenge to organize and maintain a functioning...... recycling at the festival have been implemented, our preliminary results suggest that there is currently large potential to recover additional materials for recycling and improve sustainability at large public events....

Public Interest Activism in Canadian ICT Policy: Blowin’ in the Policy Winds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie Regan Shade

2008-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the catalyzing influence of Bill C-61—a proposed amendment to the Canadian Copyright Act—and other recent ICT-related policy developments on activism in Canada is examined. The discussion expounds upon the role of academics and activists in fostering a broader public discourse about ICT policy, with attention being given to three key moments in Canadian communication policy: the development of the “information highway” in the mid-1990s and, in particular, the activities of the Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC; the creation of the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel (TPRP in 2005; and the current debates regarding the issue of net neutrality. The analysis demonstrates how “esoteric” digital policy issues are now seen by many Canadians as worthy of their energies. This suggests that politicians cannot afford to ignore their constituents’ concerns about such policy issues as traffic shaping, throttling, fair dealings, and anti-circumvention measures. And, likewise, that academics working in the realm of communication policy domain would do well not to overlook the role of citizens, grassroots groups and non-profit organizations in actively seeking a voice in the various structures of policymaking.

Policy Pathways: Joint Public-Private Approaches for Energy Efficiency Finance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-09-06

This Policy Pathway outlines, through the experiences and lessons learned from country examples, the critical elements to put in place a public-private partnership to finance energy efficiency. It focuses on three mechanisms - dedicated credit lines, risk guarantees, and energy performance service contracts and presents the planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating phases of implemention. Accelerating and scaling up private investment in energy efficiency is crucial to exploit the potential of energy efficiency. However many barriers remain to private investment such as access to capital, uncertainty of future energy prices, transaction costs, perceived higher risk, and lack of knowledge. As part of the IEA 25 Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations, the IEA recommends that governments support private investment in energy efficiency. A joint public-private approach can use public finance and regulatory policy to support the scaling up of private investment in energy efficiency.

Multisectoral Actions for Health: Challenges and Opportunities in Complex Policy Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tangcharoensathien, Viroj; Srisookwatana, Orapan; Pinprateep, Poldej; Posayanonda, Tipicha; Patcharanarumol, Walaiporn

2017-05-16

Multisectoral actions for health, defined as actions undertaken by non-health sectors to protect the health of the population, are essential in the context of inter-linkages between three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. These multisectoral actions can address the social and economic factors that influence the health of a population at the local, national, and global levels. This editorial identifies the challenges, opportunities and capacity development for effective multisectoral actions for health in a complex policy environment. The root causes of the challenges lie in poor governance such as entrenched political and administrative corruption, widespread clientelism, lack of citizen voice, weak social capital, lack of trust and lack of respect for human rights. This is further complicated by the lack of government effectiveness caused by poor capacity for strong public financial management and low levels of transparency and accountability which leads to corruption. The absence of or rapid changes in government policies, and low salary in relation to living standards result in migration out of qualified staff. Tobacco, alcohol and sugary drink industries are major risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and had interfered with health policy through regulatory capture and potential law suits against the government. Opportunities still exist. Some World Health Assembly (WHA) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions are both considered as external driving forces for intersectoral actions for health. In addition, Thailand National Health Assembly under the National Health Act is another tool providing opportunity to form trust among stakeholders from different sectors. Capacity development at individual, institutional and system level to generate evidence and ensure it is used by multisectoral agencies is as critical as strengthening the health literacy of people and the overall good governance of a

New challenges of public health: bringing the future of personalised healthcare into focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricciardi, Walter; Boccia, Stefania

2017-10-01

The greater personalization of healthcare represents a driver of innovation for research, and for the healthcare systems and industries as a whole. Still policy-makers, healthcare professionals, citizens and private companies need to take some steps to realize the potential for such a radical shift. In this paper, we illustrate the challenges, the benefits and consequences that might accompany the implementation of personalized healthcare, and the steps that policy-makers and practitioners would need to take to realise its potential. Six main prerequisites for radical change in healthcare are presented, that include achieving better genetic literacy for professionals and for the public; engaging citizen in the discourse; improved governance, consent and trust in healthcare; feeding and harnessing the data-knowledge cycle for better health; adopting and adapting the Health Technology Assessment framework for the evaluation of the new technologies; and retaining humanity and community in health and care. Some of these concepts originate from a discussion on the future of health and healthcare, looking at least 15-20 years into the future, that we had at the end of 2016 at Ickworth with an international group of experts, under the aegis of the PHG Foundation. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Teaching Public Policy for the Arab World : final technical report

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-02-11

Feb 11, 2016 ... Teaching Public Policy for the Arab World .... integrating politics, policy, economics and other social science research perspectives, this ..... The primary, successful output of this overall project is the viable MA program.

Public health terminology: Hindrance to a Health in All Policies approach?

Science.gov (United States)

Synnevåg, Ellen S; Amdam, Roar; Fosse, Elisabeth

2018-02-01

National public health policies in Norway are based on a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. At the local level, this means that public health, as a cross-sectional responsibility, should be implemented in all municipal sectors by integrating public health policies in municipal planning and management systems. The paper investigates these local processes, focusing on the use of public health terminology and how this terminology is translated from national to local contexts. We ask whether the terms 'public health' and 'public health work' are suitable when implementing an HiAP approach. A qualitative case study based on analyses of interviews and planning documents was performed in three Norwegian municipalities. The results present dilemmas associated with using public health terminology when implementing an HiAP approach. On the one hand, the terms are experienced as wide, complex, advanced and unnecessary. On the other hand, the terms are experienced as important for a systematic approach towards understanding public health ideology and cross-sectional responsibility. One municipality used alternative terminology. This paper promotes debate about the appropriateness of using the terms 'public health' and 'public health work' at the local level. It suggests that adaptation is suitable and necessary, unless it compromises knowledge, responsibility and a systematic approach. This study concludes that the use of terminology is a central factor when implementing the Norwegian Public Health Act at the local level.

New institutional mechanisms to bridge the information gap between climate science and public policy decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, W.; Gulledge, J. M.

2010-12-01

Many decision makers lack actionable scientific information needed to prepare for future challenges associated with climate change. Although the scope and quality of available scientific information has increased dramatically in recent years, this information does not always reach - or is not presented in a form that is useful to - decision makers who need it. The producer (i.e. scientists) community tends to be stovepiped, even though consumers (i.e. decision makers) often need interdisciplinary science and analysis. Consumers, who may also be stovepiped in various agencies or subject areas, may lack familiarity with or access to these separate communities, as well as the tools or time to navigate scientific information and disciplines. Closing the communication gap between these communities could be facilitated by institutionalizing processes designed for this purpose. We recommend a variety of mainstreaming policies within the consumer community, as well as mechanisms to generate a strong demand signal that will resonate more strongly with the producer community. We also recommend institutional reforms and methods of incentivizing policy-oriented scientific analysis within the producer community. Our recommendations focus on improving information flow to national security and foreign policy decision makers, but many are relevant to public policy writ large. Recommendations for Producers 1. The scientific community should formally encourage collaborations between natural and social scientists and reward publications in interdisciplinary outlets Incentives could include research funding and honorary awards recognizing service to public policy. 2. Academic merit review should reward research grants and publications targeted at interdisciplinary and/or policy-oriented audiences. Reforms of merit review may require new policies and engaged institutional leadership. Recommendations for Consumers 1. Congress should amend Title VI of the National Defense Education Act

Translating the human right to water and sanitation into public policy reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Benjamin Mason; Kayser, Georgia Lyn; Kestenbaum, Jocelyn Getgen; Amjad, Urooj Quezon; Dalcanale, Fernanda; Bartram, Jamie

2014-12-01

The development of a human right to water and sanitation under international law has created an imperative to implement human rights in water and sanitation policy. Through forty-three interviews with informants in international institutions, national governments, and non-governmental organizations, this research examines interpretations of this new human right in global governance, national policy, and local practice. Exploring obstacles to the implementation of rights-based water and sanitation policy, the authors analyze the limitations of translating international human rights into local water and sanitation practice, concluding that system operators, utilities, and management boards remain largely unaffected by the changing public policy landscape for human rights realization. To understand the relevance of human rights standards to water and sanitation practitioners, this article frames a research agenda to ensure that human rights aspirations lead to public policy reforms and public health outcomes.

Regime change and public policy: the political and macro-economic decision-making of Spanish energy policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lancaster, T.D.

1983-01-01

This dissertation examines the effects of peaceful regime change on public policy-making. Spain's National Energy Plan (PEN) in particular, and energy planning in general, constitute a critical policy issue which permits direct comparison of decision-making across regime change from the Franco dictatorship to the present constitutional monarchy. The research reveals that the nature of the political coalition underlying Spain's regime change accounts of the lack of significant change in policy-making processes in this particular policy issue. This thesis develops a two-pronged argument to explain the absence of significant policy change. The first is based on a general view of the Franco regime's and the democratic system's coalitional support. In each, three major political forces are seen as central: the military, business, and labor. One of these, business, is seen as being pivotal in the regime transition. Business' pivotal position, it is argued, has permitted a defence of a national energy policy beneficial to its economic interests in energy. The argument's second part focuses on the binding constraint on policy outcomes imposed by private interests in state planning and the generally non-binding nature of oppositional party policy proposals and public opinion.

Confession and Carrying into Execution of Foreign Arbitration Courts' Decisions: Reciprocity and Public Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Sarina, Salima A.; Nukusheva, Aigul A.; Kalmagambetov, Kassym S.; Kumysbekova, Zhanara T.; Nesterova, Elena V.

2016-01-01

The article contains a comparative analysis of foreign arbitration courts' decisions, ensuring the reciprocity and public policy. The aim of the study is to explore such aspects as reciprocity and public policy of arbitration courts. The result is the view of the public policy, despite its apparent irrelevance in today's Kazakhstan, which is of…

Developing a public involvement policy for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, S.; Summerson, J.; Gleason, M.E.; Reyes, P.C.

1994-01-01

The Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program is entering its second decade. Given the Department of Energy's current efforts toward openness and culture change, the role of stakeholders is likely to evolve throughout the 1990s to enable greater participation by these external parties in making program decisions. Although the program has a tradition of inviting its stakeholders to review and comment on its activities, it also is known for employing on occasion what has been derisively called a open-quotes decide-announce-defendclose quotes strategy. Program efforts to involve the public have come under considerable criticism for being inadequate, inconsistent, lacking in follow-through, and offered on a sporadic and selective basis. The program is vulnerable to these criticisms because ground rules for public involvement have never been firmly established as part of the program's routine operations. This deficiency has contributed, in part, to stakeholder doubts about the program's sincerity in engaging in a meaningful dialogue with them. The program and its stakeholders both could benefit from an official public involvement policy that would serve as a guidepost for interactions between program officials and stakeholders. Such a policy, developed in concert with stakeholders, would ensure that all parties understand how stakeholder participation is to occur. This paper reviews (1) events establishing the need for a formal public involvement policy; (2) public involvement initiatives that will inform the process of developing a new policy; (3) current efforts to develop a Department of Energy public involvement policy; and (4) key elements for inclusion in a public involvement policy developed specifically for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program

Constructing public oral health policies in Brazil: issues for reflection.

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Catharina Leite Matos

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the construction of public oral health policies in Brazil by reviewing the available literature. It includes a discussion of the social responses given by the Brazilian State to oral health policies and the relationship of these responses with the ideological oral health movements that have developed globally, and that have specifically influenced oral health policies in Brazil. The influence of these movements has affected a series of hegemonic practices originating from both Market Dentistry and Preventive and Social Dentistry in Brazil. Among the state activities that have been set into motion, the following stand out: the drafting of a law to regulate the fluoridation of the public water supply, and the fluoridation of commercial toothpaste in Brazil; epidemiological surveys to analyze the status of the Brazilian population's oral health; the inclusion of oral health in the Family Health Strategy (Estratégia de Saúde da Família - ESF); the drawing up of the National Oral Health Policy, Smiling Brazil (Brasil Sorridente). From the literature consulted, the progressive expansion of state intervention in oral health policies is observed. However, there remains a preponderance of hegemonic "dental" practices reproduced in the Unified Public Health Service (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS) and the Family Health Strategy.

Energy policy decision making and public opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerstein, L.

1989-09-01

By the example of nuclear the author demonstrates the interactions of short-term fluctuations on the world energy market, energy forecasts, specific events and discussions on energy policy both within political parties and in the general public, and draws conclusions which are valid beyond the Federal Republic of Germany: An analysis of the general public's attitude towards nuclear energy shows two initial phases, i.e. euphoria and scepticism/ideology/agitation. The early eighties, then, led to a third phase - realism. Up to 1983 a consensus prevailed between the leading political parties in Germany regarding the basic energy-policy objective of minimizing the supply risk by providing for a well-balanced use of all available energy sources. The resulting attitude had a positive bearing on the public opinion: more than two thirds of the population were in favour of nuclear. In the mid-eighties, the development of nuclear was by and large completed in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as in the United States and other western industrialized countries and the capacity of nuclear power plants is considered sufficient for the years to come. In addition, abundant long-term reserves of domestic lignite and hardcoal are available: this also should have furnished a good reason to envisage calmly the issues of power supply. Instead, we are again facing emotional discussions on the acceptance of nuclear. Public opinion in the Federal Republic of Germany has changed since the Social Democrats followed the example of the Ecologists and advocated a rapid withdrawal from nuclear. In a recent poll four-fifths of the persons asked did not rule out the possibility of a major accident in a German power station. The wish to ignore today's energy supply problems by escaping into a supposedly safe but yet distant and vague future is part of every public debate. Technical and scientific issues are examined no longer in this global context. Predictions of experts and counter

[Crisis and the independence of public health policies. SESPAS report 2014].

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández Aguado, Ildefonso; Lumbreras Lacarra, Blanca

2014-06-01

Independence in the formulation of public health policies can be affected by various agents with objectives contrary to population health, such as large corporations. This lack of independence may be exacerbated by the economic crisis due to lower funding for health regulatory bodies or other measures designed to protect health. Large corporations have influenced the formulation of certain policies with an impact on health, such as those related to the tobacco industry, the chemical industry, nutrition, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and health technology. The main areas in which these companies can influence policies are science, education, politics, and society in general. In this scenario, public health associations should take an active role in ensuring the independence of political decisions via actions such as the following: supporting strategies that guarantee the independence of public health policies and apply criteria of impartiality and transparency; rejecting those public-private partnerships launched to prevent health problems partly caused by these corporations; establishing partnerships to achieve independent training of health professionals and an institution with scientific authority in order to improve public health communication and counteract the lack of sound public health information; promoting a critical analysis of the definition of health problems and their solutions, and establishing related agendas (scientific, political and media) and alliances, so that continuing training for health professionals is independent. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Addressing individual behaviours and living conditions: Four Nordic public health policies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vallgårda, Signild

2011-01-01

: Analyses of recent public health programmes in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Results: Focus is on either, or both, individual behaviour and living conditions as causes of ill health; the remedies are classical liberal as well as social democratic policies. None of the programmes is consistent...... approach to public health exists. All programmes contain contradictory policies and ideological statements with differences regarding the emphasis on individual behaviour versus choice and living conditions and political responsibility. The policies are not entirely predictable from the political stance...

Public Procurement as One of the Institutions of New Industrial Policy

OpenAIRE

Elena F. Gutselyuk

2018-01-01

The article shows the role of public procurement in the formation of the new economic policy. It is proved that the public procurement market is a source of in-vestment in the economy. Analyzed the role of certain prohibitions and restrictions on a policy of import substitution. The application of national treatment to limit the turnover of foreign products was used in the 19th century and is widely used in modern industrial policy, especially in the procurement of goods through the state and...

Integrating Mercury Science and Policy in the Marine Context: Challenges and Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Kathleen F.; Evers, David C.; Warner, Kimberly A.; King, Susannah L.; Selin, Noelle E.

2014-01-01

Mercury is a global pollutant and presents policy challenges at local, regional, and global scales. Mercury poses risks to the health of people, fish, and wildlife exposed to elevated levels of mercury, most commonly from the consumption of methylmercury in marine and estuarine fish. The patchwork of current mercury abatement efforts limits the effectiveness of national and multi-national policies. This paper provides an overview of the major policy challenges and opportunities related to mercury in coastal and marine environments, and highlights science and policy linkages of the past several decades. The U.S. policy examples explored here point to the need for a full life cycle approach to mercury policy with a focus on source reduction and increased attention to: (1) the transboundary movement of mercury in air, water, and biota; (2) the coordination of policy efforts across multiple environmental media; (3) the cross-cutting issues related to pollutant interactions, mitigation of legacy sources, and adaptation to elevated mercury via improved communication efforts; and (4) the integration of recent research on human and ecological health effects into benefits analyses for regulatory purposes. Stronger science and policy integration will benefit national and international efforts to prevent, control, and minimize exposure to methylmercury. PMID:22901766

Beyond the usual suspects: using political science to enhance public health policy making.

Science.gov (United States)

Fafard, Patrick

2015-11-01

That public health policy and practice should be evidence based is a seemingly uncontroversial claim. Yet governments and citizens routinely reject the best available evidence and prefer policies that reflect other considerations and concerns. The most common explanations of this paradox emphasise scientific disagreement, the power of 'politics', or the belief that scientists and policymakers live in two separate communities that do not communicate. However, another explanation may lie in the limits of the very notion of evidence-based policy making. In fact, the social science discipline of political science offers a rich body of theory and empirical evidence to explain the apparent gap between evidence and policy. This essay introduces this literature with a particular emphasis on a recent book by Katherine Smith, Beyond evidence-based policy in public health: the interplay of ideas. As the title suggests, Smith argues that what matters for public health policy is less scientific evidence and much more a more complex set of ideas. Based on detailed case studies of UK tobacco and health inequality policy, Smith offers a richly textured alternative account of what matters for policy making. This excellent book is part of a small but growing body of political science research on public health policy that draws on contemporary theories of policy change and governance more generally. This essay provides a window on this research, describes some examples, but emphasises that public health scholars and practitioners too often retain a narrow if not naive view of the policy-making process. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Experiences of Knowledge Brokering for Evidence-Informed Public Health Policy and Practice: Three Years of the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Helen; Geddes, Rosemary; Haw, Sally; Jackson, Caroline A.; Jepson, Ruth; Mooney, John D.; Frank, John

2012-01-01

Despite a burgeoning literature on, and widespread interest in, knowledge translation and exchange in public health, few articles provide an account of the actual experiences of knowledge brokerage organisations. The Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP) was formed in 2008 to: identify public health interventions…

[Public policies for the elderly in Brazil: an integrative review].

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Luana Machado; Sena, Edite Lago da Silva; Pinheiro, Gleide Magali Lemos; Meira, Edmeia Campos; Lira, Lais Santana Santos Pereira

2013-12-01

This paper is an integrative review analyzing the scientific production and legal documents regarding public policies for the elderly in Brazil. Research was conducted in the Virtual Health Library and Scopus databases, examining publications since 2003. Data were collected from June to September of 2011 using the following key words: "elderly" (idosos), "public policies" (políticas públicas), "elderly person" (pessoa idosa), "aging" (envelhecimento) and "civic participation" (participação cidadã). The search resulted in the selection of 15 articles and six legal documents targeted at the elderly in Brazil that were submitted to content analysis by categorization. The results revealed that aging in Brazil has occurred in the midst of adaptations entrenched in cultural biases, social, economic and educational discrepancies and the implementation of public welfare policies. There were few studies that indicated the importance of strengthening social movements that elicit discussion related to the elderly in Brazil. The conclusion reached is that the study will provide material for reflection about the construction of a new reality about aging in Brazil.

Peter Bourne's drug policy and the perils of a public health ethic, 1976-1978.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Claire D; Dufton, Emily

2015-02-01

As President Jimmy Carter's advisor for health issues, Peter Bourne promoted a rational and comprehensive drug strategy that combined new supply-side efforts to prevent drug use with previously established demand-side addiction treatment programs. Using a public health ethic that allowed the impact of substances on overall population health to guide drug control, Bourne advocated for marijuana decriminalization as well as increased regulations for barbiturates. A hostile political climate, a series of rumors, and pressure from both drug legalizers and prohibitionists caused Bourne to resign in disgrace in 1978. We argue that Bourne's critics used his own public health framework to challenge him, describe the health critiques that contributed to Bourne's resignation, and present the story of his departure as a cautionary tale for today's drug policy reformers.

Public procurement, governance and economic growth: some policy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Public procurement, governance and economic growth: some policy ... Employing the Keynesian income-expenditure approach to measuring the Gross Domestic ... reduce wastage, enhance the effectiveness of government spending, ensure ...

Exploring the epistemology of transdisciplinarity in public policy and administration in South Africa

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Emeka A. Ndaguba

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article seeks to address and direct future research collaboration in public policy and administration from a transdisciplinary perspective in South Africa, by answering three major questions: Firstly, how can public administration be understood from a transdisciplinary perspective? To demonstrate the development of public administration vis-a-vis trends in contemporary public policy and administration in South Africa? And establish the scope for future collaborative research in public policy and administration from a transdisciplinarity perspective in South Africa? This article uses themes in the qualitative realm to provide answers to the research aims: two special editions of Future, Transdisciplinary Manifesto and over 100 journal articles were read and scanned to provide evidence for the arguments in this article. It concludes that the need for transdisciplinarity in public policy and administration cannot be undermined or overlooked as a result of depleting strategies, theories, models and frameworks in resolving complex society quagmires from a disciplinary or interdisciplinary nomenclature.

Designing Difference in Difference Studies: Best Practices for Public Health Policy Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wing, Coady; Simon, Kosali; Bello-Gomez, Ricardo A

2018-04-01

The difference in difference (DID) design is a quasi-experimental research design that researchers often use to study causal relationships in public health settings where randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are infeasible or unethical. However, causal inference poses many challenges in DID designs. In this article, we review key features of DID designs with an emphasis on public health policy research. Contemporary researchers should take an active approach to the design of DID studies, seeking to construct comparison groups, sensitivity analyses, and robustness checks that help validate the method's assumptions. We explain the key assumptions of the design and discuss analytic tactics, supplementary analysis, and approaches to statistical inference that are often important in applied research. The DID design is not a perfect substitute for randomized experiments, but it often represents a feasible way to learn about casual relationships. We conclude by noting that combining elements from multiple quasi-experimental techniques may be important in the next wave of innovations to the DID approach.

Public policies influencing innovation in the agrochemical, biotechnology and seed industries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijman, J.; Tait, J.

2002-01-01

The development and marketing of new products by the agrochemical, biotechnology and seed industries is strongly regulated by government policies. Relevant policies include those on science, technology and innovation, the environment and public health, and farm support. This survey of policies

Why UFI nudges will get stuck in the policy process.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Joshua; Howard, Brendan

2012-01-01

User financial incentives (UFI), in the context of behavioural public policy, have the potential to shape Canadian health policy by replacing or augmenting traditional information-based mechanisms and by imparting a viewpoint that has traditionally been foreign to the public sphere. Whether or not UFI and more traditional "nudges" should be used, they will likely be limited by traditional moral, efficacy and cost/ benefit challenges, as well as the political and bureaucratic impediments that emerge throughout the policy implementation process. These challenges will likely preclude UFI and nudges from having a transformative effect on public policy, but this new school of thought will likely gain prominence through more amorphous means as more individuals learn and adopt its central theory. We should be excited about the potential of UFI and the use of behavioural public policy, but should temper our excitement with realistic expectations about how extensively such an approach should and will be used.

Analysis on the public acceptance of nuclear power plant and its policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Young Sung

1994-02-01

In the current situation of requiring the public acceptance of nuclear power plant, it may be necessary to understand what the public think about this plant and to find out the public preference values for its policies. For this purpose, multi-attribute utility (MAU) model was applied to analyze the public perception pattern for five power production systems. And the conjoint measurement technique was applied to measure quantitative values of public preferences for imaginary policy alternatives. To study the feasibility of these methods, mail survey was conducted to the qualified sample who had the experience of visiting nuclear power plant. Diagnosis of their perception pattern for five power production systems was made by the simplified MAU model. Estimation of the quantitative preference values for potential policy alternatives was made by the conjoint measurement technique, which made it possible to forecast the effectiveness of each option. The results from the qualified sample and the methods used in this study would be helpful to set up new policy of nuclear power plant

Reactions to smoke-free public policies and smoke-free home policies in the Republic of Georgia: results from a 2014 national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Carla J; Topuridze, Marina; Maglakelidze, Nino; Starua, Lela; Shishniashvili, Maia; Kegler, Michelle C

2016-05-01

We examined receptivity to public smoke-free policies and smoke-free home status among adults in the Republic of Georgia. In Spring 2014, we conducted a national household survey of 1163 adults. Our sample was on average 42.4 years old, 51.1 % male, and 43.2 % urban. Current smoking prevalence was 54.2 % in men and 6.5 % in women. Notably, 42.2 % reported daily secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe). Past week SHSe was 29.9 % in indoor public places and 33.0 % in outdoor public places. The majority reported no opposition to public smoke-free policies. Correlates of greater receptivity to public policies included being older, female, and a nonsmoker. Past week SHSe in homes was 54.2 %; 38.8 % reported daily SHSe at home. Only 14.3 % reported complete smoke-free home policies; 39.0 % had partial policies. The only correlate of allowing smoking in the home was being a smoker. Among smokers, correlates of allowing smoking in the home were being male and lower confidence in quitting. SHSe is prevalent in various settings in Georgia, requiring efforts to promote support for public smoke-free policies and implementation of personal policies.

The African diaspora’s public participation in policy-making concerning Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Norglo, Benhardt Edem Kofi; Goris, Margriet; Lie, Rico; Ong’ayo, Antony Otieno

2016-01-01

This paper examines the involvement of African diaspora organizations in Dutch and European policy-making concerning Africa. It addresses the extent to which their inclusion or exclusion in public policy processes in their destination countries is likely to impact (development) policies relating to

PUBLIC POLICIES AND STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF A COUNTRY . CASE OF MOLDOVA

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Eugenia BUŞMACHIU

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The study of concepts applied in the decision - making process aims to investigate the functioning of mechanisms to develop and implement the central public administration policies. A modern decision - making process includes the whole procedure of decision making: setting the priorities of public policies, choosing options, instruments of public policy implementation, developing and adopting the respective legislative and normative acts, funding to implement these policies, conducting implementation actions and monitoring the impact of public policy decisions. Often the decision - making process in public administration is interpreted as a simple organization of the information and documents circuit. Therefore there arises the need to analyze the concept of decision making and propose solutions to improve it.

Organizational and Managerial Challenges of Reforming Slovenian Public Agencies

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Kovač Polonca

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Agencies are among the key contemporary public organizations, prospering within reforms carried out worldwide to increase professionalism and rationalism in public administration (PA. Hence, countries have been establishing agencies and delegating them public tasks in order to achieve expertise-based instead of politically-driven and thus more efficient public policies. In such context, the present article addresses the most important strategic documents related to public administration reform (PAR in Slovenia, analyzing their goals in terms of agencification and the main implementation results and gaps.

Trends in public health policies addressing violence against women

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Kattia Rojas Loría

2014-08-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE To analyze the content of policies and action plans within the public healthcare system that addresses the issue of violence against women. METHODS A descriptive and comparative study was conducted on the health policies and plans in Catalonia and Costa Rica from 2005 to 2011. It uses a qualitative methodology with documentary analysis. It is classified by topics that describe and interpret the contents. We considered dimensions, such as principles, strategies, concepts concerning violence against women, health trends, and evaluations. RESULTS Thirteen public policy documents were analyzed. In both countries’ contexts, we have provided an overview of violence against women as a problem whose roots are in gender inequality. The strategies of gender policies that address violence against women are cultural exchange and institutional action within the public healthcare system. The actions of the healthcare sector are expanded into specific plans. The priorities and specificity of actions in healthcare plans were the distinguishing features between the two countries. CONCLUSIONS The common features of the healthcare plans in both the counties include violence against women, use of protocols, detection tasks, care and recovery for women, and professional self-care. Catalonia does not consider healthcare actions with aggressors. Costa Rica has a lower specificity in conceptualization and protocol patterns, as well as a lack of updates concerning health standards in Catalonia.

Trends in public health policies addressing violence against women

Science.gov (United States)

Loría, Kattia Rojas; Rosado, Teresa Gutiérrez; Espinosa, Leonor María Cantera; Marrochi, Leda María Marenco; Sánchez, Anna Fernández

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE To analyze the content of policies and action plans within the public healthcare system that addresses the issue of violence against women. METHODS A descriptive and comparative study was conducted on the health policies and plans in Catalonia and Costa Rica from 2005 to 2011. It uses a qualitative methodology with documentary analysis. It is classified by topics that describe and interpret the contents. We considered dimensions, such as principles, strategies, concepts concerning violence against women, health trends, and evaluations. RESULTS Thirteen public policy documents were analyzed. In both countries’ contexts, we have provided an overview of violence against women as a problem whose roots are in gender inequality. The strategies of gender policies that address violence against women are cultural exchange and institutional action within the public healthcare system. The actions of the healthcare sector are expanded into specific plans. The priorities and specificity of actions in healthcare plans were the distinguishing features between the two countries. CONCLUSIONS The common features of the healthcare plans in both the counties include violence against women, use of protocols, detection tasks, care and recovery for women, and professional self-care. Catalonia does not consider healthcare actions with aggressors. Costa Rica has a lower specificity in conceptualization and protocol patterns, as well as a lack of updates concerning health standards in Catalonia. PMID:25210820

Engaging with Comparative Risk Appraisals: Public Views on Policy Priorities for Environmental Risk Governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocks, Sophie A; Schubert, Iljana; Soane, Emma; Black, Edgar; Muckle, Rachel; Petts, Judith; Prpich, George; Pollard, Simon J

2017-09-01

Communicating the rationale for allocating resources to manage policy priorities and their risks is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that environmental risks have diverse attributes and locales in their effects that may drive disproportionate responses among citizens. When 2,065 survey participants deployed summary information and their own understanding to assess 12 policy-level environmental risks singularly, their assessment differed from a prior expert assessment. However, participants provided rankings similar to those of experts when these same 12 risks were considered as a group, allowing comparison between the different risks. Following this, when individuals were shown the prior expert assessment of this portfolio, they expressed a moderate level of confidence with the combined expert analysis. These are important findings for the comprehension of policy risks that may be subject to augmentation by climate change, their representation alongside other threats within national risk assessments, and interpretations of agency for public risk management by citizens and others. © 2017 The Authors Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.

[Workplace health promotion in public health policies in Poland].

Science.gov (United States)

Puchalski, Krzysztof; Korzeniowska, Elzbieta

2008-01-01

In this paper the author analyses how far in Poland the idea of workplace health promotion (WHP) does exist in the area of public health understood in its broadest sense. The analysis encapsulates the following issues: (a) the national legislative policy, (b) strategies, programs and projects concerning health issues launched or coordinated by the state or local administration, (c) grassroots initiatives for health promotion supported by local and regional administration, (d) civic projects or business strategies for health. In addition, the author emphasizes the marginalization of workplace health promotion and lack of cohesive policy in this field as well as, the fact that health problems of the working population arising from current demographic, technological, economic and social changes that could be dealt with through developing and implementing WHP projects are not yet fully perceived by public health policy makers.

PUBLIC POLICIES TO R&D IN ROMANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EU STATE AID POLICY

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Bacila Nicolae

2015-07-01

Full Text Available From an economic perspective, the importance of EU state aid policy refers to correcting “market failure” situations that may occur in the economy, aiming at maintaining an undistorted competition in the economic environment. In the context of the Commission focusing its efforts towards promoting R&D investment through Europe 2020 strategy, Romania is a modest innovator and is facing a relatively low level of economic competitiveness. The present paper aims at providing a contribution to the literature on public policies to R&D in the EU, developing both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of public policies to R&D in Romania in the context of the EU state aid policy. Our research hypothesis considers that public policies to R&D in Romania, as in other Central and Eastern European countries, are following a convergence process with the practices from the EU level. Based on data provided by Eurostat, we have stressed that the existing gap between the national level and the EU level tends to maintain in the state aid field even in the future, in spite of Romanian government sector R&D expenditure tending to converge with the EU level, which highlights the potential of catching up with the European model. We believe that the success of the convergence process will depend in the future, to a large extent, on the implementation of the modernised legal and institutional framework of state aid policy, as well as on the capacity to build consensus by policy makers around the necessity to structure future economic development around R&D investment. In order to successfully address these structural R&D problems, the National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation aims to establish R&D as engine for increasing economic competitiveness, while at the same time strengthening strategic areas with comparative advantages, supporting public-private partnerships, funding clusters in areas of smart specialisation, developing intellectual

Networked publics: multi-disciplinary perspectives on big policy issues

OpenAIRE

William H. Dutton

2018-01-01

This special issue of Internet Policy Review is the first to bring together the best policy-oriented papers presented at the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). This issue is anchored in the 2017 conference in Tartu, Estonia, which was organised around the theme of networked publics. The seven papers span issues concerning whether and how technology and policy are reshaping access to information, perspectives on privacy and security online, and social and lega...

International Public Relations in the EU: Development Cooperation Public Opinion and Public Policies

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Victor Negrescu

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In the context of the growing importance of the cooperation for development in the European Union and the appearance of a common growing public opinion agreement supporting this kind of initiatives, it is necessary to understand if we can talk today about a true common European consensus. Still covered on intergovernmental level and considered to be a part of the national foreign policies, EU development aid is still far from reaching the maximum of its efficiency. In this paper we try to introduce a new evaluation method of the cooperation for development policies and interpretation of the degree of communitarisation of the national policies that will enable us to appreciate the stages that have to be completed by the member countries but also by the EU to realize a completely uniform European assistance strategy and of the activities, so necessary for raising the efficiency of the funds allocated by the EU, but also in the perspective of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Public policy and the social determinants of health: the challenge of the production and use of scientific evidence

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Alberto Pellegrini Filho

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article serves as an introduction to the others published in this thematic issue of the Cadernos de Saúde Pública. The author makes a brief historical review of the concepts, approaches and methodologies used to study the relationships between social determinants and health outcomes. By analyzing the current global movement around social determinants of health he emphasizes that the distinctive feature of this movement is the explicit commitment to action through intersectoral public policies that are based on evidence and implemented with the support and participation of broad segments of society. As this special issue of the Cadernos de Saúde Pública is dedicated to presenting the results of research related to social determinants of health, the author focuses on an analysis of the difficulties in the production and use of scientific evidence that supports the definition, implementation and evaluation of policies to combat health inequities through action on social determinants of health. To conclude, he presents some recommendations for overcoming these difficulties.

ESSD: Real World Issues and Challenges of High-Quality Data Publication

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffenberger, Hans; Carlson, David

2013-04-01

The Copernicus data publication journal Earth System Science Data (ESSD) represents an important and unique (and by no means final!) step forward in the larger world of data publication. Working with authors, reviewers, editors and data centres, ESSD has successfully produced many high-quality data publications across a wide variety of scientific disciplines, for individual data sets, multiple data sets as the product of scientific consortia and in special issues coordinated with other science journals. The ESSD success also exposes issues and challenges for present and future data publication, particularly around the topic and implementation of persistent identifiers. • As ESSD encourages redundant data sets across multiple data centres for access and archive purposes, how will DOIs be employed to accurately point to those distributed or replicated data? How can authenticity and integrity be verified? • How can or should object identifiers be employed in pointing from raw to quality-controlled and finally derived data processing levels; how can we designate or distinguish among these, particularly as those terms vary substantially among, for example, geophysical and ecological communities? Likewise, how to distinguish an auto-generated data product (e.g a species identification from GBIF) from a high-effort expertly reviewed data product (e.g. an ESSD publication)? • For a growing number of ESSD data publications with expected annual or periodic revisions and updates, how should data journals' and the repositories' use of persistent identifiers best record the subsequent versions, extensions or corrections? • As published data sets become a valued part of high profile science, with attendant deadlines, announcements and publicity, do the various DOI policies and minting practices among cooperating publishers, data centres and journals represent a help or a hindrance? These questions evolve directly from increasing interest in and activity by ESSD and, as

Healthcare-associated infections: challenges to public health in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Padoveze, Maria Clara; Fortaleza, Carlos Magno Castelo Branco

2014-12-01

This study presents a critical evaluation of the scientific literature related to this subject, aiming to assess the policies and administrative issues regarding the prevention and magnitude of healthcare-associated infections and discuss the challenges for their prevention in Brazil. The topics discussed included historical and administrative issues, challenges imposed by the characteristics of the healthcare system and the territorial dimension, laboratorial support limitations, costs, institutional culture, professional qualification, and patient engagement. It is urgent to hold a nationwide discussion among government representatives, institutions, and healthcare workers and users to overcome these challenges.

Public-private Partnership in the Context of Realisation of the State Financial Policy

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Ostapenko Victoriia M.

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In the result of the study the article analyses modern tendencies of development of economy of Ukraine. It marks out problems connected with realisation of the state financial policy. It considers the essence of the state financial policy, its directions (such as budget-tax and monetary-credit, structural components and tasks. It emphasises the place of the public-private partnership as an instrument of realisation of the financial policy. It justifies tasks in the process of realisation of goals of the modern financial policy, which could be carried out with the help of the public-private partnership. The prospect of further studies in this direction is formation of practical recommendations on the use of the public-private partnership in the process of realisation of the state financial policy. Further improvement of the public-private partnership is connected with development of efficient mechanisms of its introduction and optimisation of its financial structure.

Ethical challenges facing veterinary professionals in Ireland: results from Policy Delphi with vignette methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães-Sant'Ana, M.; More, S. J.; Morton, D. B.; Hanlon, A.

2016-01-01

Ethics is key to the integrity of the veterinary profession. Despite its importance, there is a lack of applied research on the range of ethical challenges faced by veterinarians. A three round Policy Delphi with vignette methodology was used to record the diversity of views on ethical challenges faced by veterinary professionals in Ireland. Forty experts, comprising veterinary practitioners, inspectors and nurses, accepted to participate. In round 1, twenty vignettes describing a variety of ethically challenging veterinary scenarios were ranked in terms of ethical acceptability, reputational risk and perceived standards of practice. Round 2 aimed at characterising challenges where future policy development or professional guidance was deemed to be needed. In round 3, possible solutions to key challenges were explored. Results suggest that current rules and regulations are insufficient to ensure best veterinary practices and that a collective approach is needed to harness workable solutions for the identified ethical challenges. Challenges pertaining mostly to the food chain seem to require enforcement measures whereas softer measures that promote professional discretion were preferred to address challenges dealing with veterinary clinical services. These findings can support veterinary representative bodies, advisory committees and regulatory authorities in their decision making, policy and regulation. PMID:27613779

Corporate political strategy: incorporating the management of public policy issues into hospital strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigelow, B; Arndt, M; Stone, M M

1997-01-01

Hospitals engage in a variety of strategies designed to anticipate, shape, and respond to public policy issues. This article describes corporate political strategy and argues for its need throughout a public policy issue's life cycle.

Post-Snowden Internet Policy: Between Public Outrage, Resistance and Policy Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Pohle

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This editors’ introduction provides a short summary of the Snowden revelations and the paradoxical political and public responses to them. It further provides an overview of the current academic debate triggered by the Snowden case and the documents leaked by him and introduces the articles featured in this issue on post-Snowden Internet policy.

Challenges for policy mix in the context

OpenAIRE

Stawska, Joanna; Grzesiak, Lena

2015-01-01

The aim of this article is to present the essence of policy mix and the extraordinary actions undertaken by the monetary and fiscal authorities in Poland in response to the recent financial crisis. In the article, the hypothesis has been put forward that the challenges faced by monetary and fiscal authorities have contributed to carrying out coordinated actions, especially in support of economic growth during the recent financial crisis. As a result, in Poland during the last f...

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. PMID:25394857

Voluntarism, public engagement and the role of geoscience in radioactive waste management policy-making

Science.gov (United States)

Bilham, Nic

2014-05-01

In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, there has been a move away from previous 'technocratic' approaches to radioactive waste management (RWM). Policy-makers have recognised that for any RWM programme to succeed, sustained engagement with stakeholders and the public is necessary, and any geological repository must be constructed and operated with the willing support of the community which hosts it. This has opened up RWM policy-making and implementation to a wider range of (often contested) expert inputs, ranging across natural and social sciences, engineering and even ethics. Geoscientists and other technical specialists have found themselves drawn into debates about how various types of expertise should be prioritised, and how they should be integrated with diverse public and stakeholder perspectives. They also have a vital role to play in communicating to the public the need for geological disposal of radioactive waste, and the various aspects of geoscience which will inform the process of implementing this, from identifying potential volunteer host communities, to finding a suitable site, developing the safety case, construction of a repository, emplacement of waste, closure and subsequent monitoring. High-quality geoscience, effectively communicated, will be essential to building and maintaining public confidence throughout the many decades such projects will take. Failure to communicate effectively the relevant geoscience and its central role in the UK's radioactive waste management programme arguably contributed to West Cumbria's January 2013 decision to withdraw from the site selection process, and may discourage other communities from coming forward in future. Across countries needing to deal with their radioactive waste, this unique challenge gives an unprecedented urgency to finding ways to engage and communicate effectively with the public about geoscience.

Participation of the public and technology policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paschen, H.; Bechmann, G.; Gloede, F.

1989-01-01

Public participation is placed in the context of the government's technology policy whose legitimation can be questioned in view of the dispute in our society about technological development and its role in decision for shaping the future of the industrial society. This lack of legitimation has induced a search for instruments that might help to close the acceptance gap. Participation of the public is one of these instruments and is discussed in connection with technology assessment, early warning system, and environmental impact assessment. (HSCH) [de

The causal flow between public opinion and policy: government responsiveness, leadership, or counter movement?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hakhverdian, A.

2012-01-01

This article examines the causal relationship between public opinion and policy. Does opinion affect policy or is it the other way around? Three hypotheses take centre stage. The responsiveness hypothesis postulates that changes in public opinion lead to subsequent changes in policy in the same

The relationship between health policy and public health interventions: a case study of the DRIVE project to "end" the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Haiphong, Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammett, Theodore M; Trang, Nguyen Thu; Oanh, Khuat Thi Hai; Huong, Nguyen Thi; Giang, Le Minh; Huong, Duong Thi; Nagot, Nicolas; Des Jarlais, Don C

2018-03-12

We present a case study of the effects of health policies on the implementation and potential outcomes of a public health intervention, using the DRIVE project, that aims to 'end' the HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs in Haiphong, Vietnam. DRIVE's success depends on two policy transitions: (1) integration of donor-funded HIV outpatient clinics into public health clinics and expansion of social health insurance; (2) implementation of a "Renovation Plan" for substance use treatment. Interviews and focus group discussions with key informants and review of policy documents and clinic data reveal that both policy transitions are underway but face challenges. DRIVE promises to show how evolving policy affects health interventions and how advocacy based on project data can improve policy. Broad lessons include the importance of clear and consistent policies, vigorous enforcement, and adequate funding of promulgated policies.

Norwegian public health policy: revitalization of the social democratic welfare state?

Science.gov (United States)

Fosse, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Norway is part of the so-called social democratic welfare state model, which is characterized by its emphasis on solidarity and redistribution among social groups. The concepts of upstream and downstream policy measures may be useful to characterize different approaches to public health policies: upstream measures would be structural measures, in line with the social democratic welfare state model, while downstream measures would be more targeted at individuals or groups at some sort of risk. The aim of this article is to analyze national policies in Norway and how these may be characterized in terms of upstream and downstream factors. Health promotion and public health policies have been high on the Norwegian political agenda for two decades. However, the national policy emphasis has shifted between strategies aimed at individuals and structural strategies--that is, between downstream and upstream measures. Until 2003, policies included mainly downstream measures, but since then a policy shift has taken place and current policy includes an emphasis on upstream measures. This policy was strengthened after a left-wing coalition came into government in 2005. It may be argued that the present policy represents a revitalization of universal and structural measures, in line with the social democratic welfare state model.