Governments ’ accountability for Canada’s pandemic response
AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic —with its wide-reaching social, political, and economic implications—showcases the importance of public health governance. Governmental accountability is at the forefront of societal preoccupations, as state actors attempt to manage the pandemic by using sweeping emergency powers which grant the m significant discretion. Though emergency measures have tremendous impacts on citizens’ lives, elected officials and civil society have little input in how governments wield these powers. We reviewed available mechanisms in Canadian private, constitutional, and criminal law and found them to be ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 12, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Bridging global health actors and agendas: the role of national public health institutes
This study investigated whether national public health institutes (NPHIs) unify agendas and actors, how this can be achieved, and what factors contribute to success. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 public health leaders from 18 countries in six WHO regions between 2019 and 2020. Respondents described how NPHIs bridge agendas reporting five strategies that institutes employ: serving as a trusted scientific advisor; convening actors across and within sectors; prioritizing transdisciplinary approaches; integrating public health infrastructures, and training that builds public health capacity. Findings also rev...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 12, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Prioritizing COVID-19 test utilization during supply shortages in the late phase pandemic
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 12, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Implementing federal food service guidelines in federal and private worksite cafeterias in the United States leads to improved health outcomes and is cost saving
AbstractPoor diet increases cardiometabolic disease risk, yet the impact of food service guidelines on employee health and its cost effectiveness is poorly understood. Federal food service guidelines (FFSG) aim to provide United States (U.S.) government employees with healthier food options. Using microsimulation modeling, we estimated changes in the incidence of cardiometabolic disease, related mortality, and the cost effectiveness of implementing FFSG in nationally representative model populations of government and private company employees across 5 years and lifetime. We based estimates on changes in workplace intake of...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 4, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
How ought we allocate unanticipated doses of COVID-19 vaccines? A proposal based on experience in the United States, 2020 –2022
AbstractWith vaccination against COVID-19 well underway, providers in the United States (U.S.) found that vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines contained more doses than listed. Because of limited vaccine shelf life, vaccine-providing institutions have thrown extra doses away or quickly distributed them using ad-hoc allocation schemes (drawing names from waiting lists or administering doses to whomever happened to be nearby). This Viewpoint argues that these practices are ethically inadequate and proposes an alternate distribution scheme based on the system in the U.S. to allocate donated organs. The proposal a...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 4, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The ethics of encouraging employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination
AbstractThe coronavirus pandemic continues to hinder the ability of businesses to operate at full capacity. Vaccination offers a path for employees to return to work, and for businesses to resume full capacity, while protecting themselves, their fellow workers, and customers. Many employers reluctant to mandate vaccination for their employees are considering other ways to increase employee vaccination rates. Because much has been written about the ethics of vaccine mandates, we examine a related and less discussed topic: the ethics of encouragement strategies aimed at overcoming vaccinereluctance (which can be due to resis...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - March 30, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The case for using mixed methods for designing, implementing, and disseminating evidence-based interventions for public health practice
AbstractA well-recognized gap exists between findings from public health research and their use in public health practice to improve outcomes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified implementation research as vital to improving the adaptation and dissemination of public health interventions into real-world settings. Implementation research encompasses multimethod evaluation approaches; ‘mixed methods’, the planned integration of qualitative and quantitative methods, is a key tool. We argue that mixed methods designs are crucial for design and evaluation of public health interventions, provide illustrative c...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - March 23, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
COVID-19 Pandemic: the case of Cameroon
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - March 10, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in Brazil: past, present, and future
We describe the history of SSB taxes in Brazil and the rationale it provides for specific SSB taxes across the country. (Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - February 21, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Evaluating community-driven cardiovascular health policy changes in the United States using agent-based modeling
This study used an agent-based model to estimate long-term impacts of a comprehensive smoke-free policy, as it was implemented in two communities, Arlington and Mesquite, Texas. The model predicted the percentage of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and diabetes in the population 10 and 20 years following policy adoption. In Arlington, the percentage of the population with these conditions each decreased by approximately 0.5% over 20 years; in Mesquite, the percentage of the population with diabetes, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke decreased by 1.1%, 0.6%, and 0.3%, respecti vely, after 20 years. The results w...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - February 10, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Ethical allocation of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States: an evaluation of competing frameworks for the current pandemic and future events
We present four allocation models and compare their characteristics for ethically meeting the health needs of the population. The literature shares broad agreement on guiding ethical principles with those of the four proposed models for vaccine allocation, featuring the concepts of utilitarianism, prioritarianism, equity, and reciprocity. We conclude that the “Interim Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution in the United States” from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the most comprehensive and ethically sound. We recommend government officials and policymakers at all levels consi...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - February 9, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Limitations of Canadian COVID-19 data reporting to the general public
AbstractCanadian coronavirus (COVID-19) case statistics reported by governmental bodies and news outlets are central to inform the public and to guide health policy. We searched Canadian governmental and news outlets websites to determine how COVID-19 case statistics were reported to the general public, whether they were reported with appropriate denominators, data sources, and accounted for age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Canadian COVID-19 data reporting practices were found to have limited utility due to varying case definitions, heterogeneous and dynamic testing criteria, lack of appropriate standardization accounting ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - January 31, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Secondhand smoke exposure from the indoor and outdoor shisha centers located at the perimeter of educational institutions in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study
AbstractShisha is a centuries-old traditional smoking habit rapidly gaining popularity among the students and young adults in Malaysia. The present study evaluated secondhand smoke exposure (SHS) and characteristics of 25 indoor and 25 outdoor shisha centers (SC) operating around the educational institutes such as universities in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. We observed a significantly higher particulate matter (PM)2.5 concentration in indoor than outdoor SC (3595.28 μg/m3 and 65.12 μg/m3,p < 0.001, respectively). SCs are offering different flavors to attract clients and exposing students and young professionals ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - January 21, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Weight enumeration in United States anti-bullying laws: associations with rates and risks of weight-based bullying among sexual and gender minority adolescents
We examined how anti-bullying legislation that includes weight as a protected class (enumeration) contributes to the prevalence of weight-based bullying and its adverse health sequelae among SGM adolescents. We collected data on weight-based bullying and health risk (stress, unhealthy eating behaviors, self-rated health) from theLGBTQ National Teen Survey and linked these to state anti-bullying legislation obtained from the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services. Weight-based bullying was less frequent, but associated with greater health risk for SGM adolescents in states with, versus without, weight-en...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - January 20, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Vaccine distribution exacerbates the social divide
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - January 19, 2022 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
