Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles) ISSN (Print) 0957-4824 - ISSN (Online) 1460-2245 Published by Oxford University Press[370 journals]
Pages: 599 - 602 Abstract: The changes in the political landscapes of many of the countries of the world in the past 18 months have left many people scrambling to make sense of the world in which they now find themselves. Populist movements are those ‘that divides society into two antagonistic camps, the “pure people” versus the “corrupt elite”, and that privilege the general will of the people above all else’ (Mudde and Kaltwasser, 2017). These movements often result in an imagined ‘middle’ within societies that is politically powerful while those not identified as part of the ‘middle’ are ignored, demonized, or politically dispossessed. We end up with two groups, the virtuous and the vile (Friedman, 2017). The definition of what constitutes the middle is now made even more contentious by partisan press organisations, increasing use of social media for political purposes and the ease with which many disaffected voters accept glib dismissals of challenges to populist power e.g.: ‘fake news’ distortions (Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017) and ‘alternative facts’ claims. Populist movements have arisen in many countries in recent years and have resulted in political outcomes that favour particular elites; that are disconnected from the existing evidence base; and that have no concerns for real disadvantage and marginalization. Politicians have been increasingly getting away with dismissing evidence, not being accountable when evidence counters their version of events, and lying about the policy outcomes they have achieved or that they will implement in office. This has led to an erosion of trust in politics as usual, a more populist shift in many countries, and what has been called a post-truth world (Brown, 2016; Higgins, 2016; Dorostkar, 2017). Mudde and Kaltwasser (2017) indicate that, while populism is ultimately part of democracy, such movements may constitute a challenge to genuinely democratic politics. PubDate: 2017-08-08 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dax042 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2017)
Authors:. Pages: 603 - 605 Abstract: AbstractMore than hundred mayors leading cities and towns from around the world met at the Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion, held in Shanghai (People's Republic of China), 21-24 November 2016. They reaffirmed the vision of Healthy Cities and the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and committed politically to growing the global Healthy Cities movement. They invite every city to join. PubDate: 2017-08-08 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dax038 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2017)
Pages: 606 - 609 Abstract: Mayors from a highly diverse group of cities pledged their commitment to being Healthy Cities at the Shanghai Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion in November 2016 (WHO, 2017). This was not the first time that at a global meeting supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) mayors expressed their support for novel approaches to urban health promotion (WHO, 2010). In fact, at what WHO calls ‘regional’ levels, ‘Healthy Cities’ since their 1986 inception as a European experiment (that became a movement e.g. Tsouros, 1991; Wilding et al., 2017) have experienced periods of glory and neglect (De Leeuw and Simos, 2017a). PubDate: 2017-08-08 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dax041 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2017)
Authors:Rowe HJ; Wynter KH, Burns JK, et al. Pages: 610 - 623 Abstract: SummaryReducing the burden of postnatal maternal mental health problems is an international public health priority. We developed What Were We Thinking (WWWT), a psychoeducation programme for primary postnatal health care that addresses known but neglected risks. We then demonstrated evidence of its effects in a before-and-after controlled study in preventing maternal postnatal mental health problems among women without a psychiatric history participating in the intervention compared to usual care (AOR 0.43; 95% CI 0.21, 0.89) when conducted by specialist nurses. Testing its effectiveness when implemented in routine primary care requires changes at practitioner, organizational and health system levels. This paper describes a programme of translational formative evaluation to inform the protocol for a cluster RCT. Following the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Guidance for evaluating complex interventions, we conducted a translational formative evaluation using mixed methods. Collection and analysis of postnatal health service documents, semi-structured interviews, group discussions and an online survey were used to investigate service provision, consumers' needs and expectations, clinicians' attitudes and clinical practice, and the implications for health service delivery. Participants were expectant parents, health care providers, health service managers and government policy makers. Results documented current clinical practice, staff training needs, necessary service modifications to standardize advice to parents and include fathers, key priorities and drivers of government health policy, and informed a model of costs and expected health and social outcomes. Implementation of WWWT into routine postnatal care requires adjustments to clinical practice. Staff training, modifications to service opening hours and economic implications for the health system also need to be considered. The MRC Guidance for developing and evaluating complex interventions is a useful framework for conceptualizing and reporting translational formative evaluation, which is an essential step in the evidence trajectory. The results of the evaluation will inform the protocol for a cluster RCT of WWWT and associated health economic evaluation. PubDate: 2016-01-08 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav110 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:van Hoek EE; Bouwman LI, Koelen MA, et al. Pages: 624 - 635 Abstract: SummaryThe objective of this article is to provide insight in the five-step development process of the best evidence, best practice intervention for obese young children ‘AanTafel!’. A set of requirements for intervention development was developed to guide the data inquiry: the use of theory, influencing factors, tailoring, multi-disciplinarity, duration/frequency and evaluation and monitoring. Step I retrieved evidence from clinical guidelines, followed by a systematic review with meta-analysis (Step II) and an extended literature review (Step III). Evidence was consistent with regard to parent-focus, targeting family level, including diet, physical activity and behaviour change techniques and tailoring to age. However, no evidence or inconsistent evidence emerged from the theory-basis, group-versus-individual sessions, face-to-face contact versus Internet-mediated contact, which disciplines to involve and how to involve them, as well as intervention duration and intensity. Hence, practice-based insights from parental interviews (Step IV) and involved therapists were added and subsequently integrated to the intervention ‘AanTafel!’ (Step V). ‘AanTafel!’ is a multi-component, multi-disciplinary, family-based, parent-focused, age-specific intervention, which is tailored to individual children and families with a duration of 1 year, and using a combination of individual and group sessions as well as a Web-based learning module. Changes in scientific working principles with regard to data collection, reporting and translation to guidelines are required. Practice and science may benefit from close collaboration in designing, implementing and evaluating interventions. PubDate: 2016-01-11 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav115 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Montesanti SR; Abelson J, Lavis JN, et al. Pages: 636 - 649 Abstract: SummaryWe examined efforts to engage marginalized populations in Ontario Community Health Centers (CHCs), which are primary health care organizations serving 74 high-risk communities. Qualitative case studies of community participation in four Ontario CHCs were carried out through key informant interviews with CHC staff to identify: (i) the approaches, strategies and methods used in participation initiatives aimed specifically at engaging marginalized populations in the planning of and decision making for health services; and (ii) the challenges and enablers for engaging these populations. The marginalized populations involved in the community participation initiatives studied included Low-German Speaking Mennonites in a rural town, newcomer immigrants and refugees in an urban downtown city, immigrant and francophone seniors in an inner city and refugee women in an inner city. Our analysis revealed that enabling the participation of marginalized populations requires CHCs to attend to the barriers experienced by marginalized populations that constrain their participation. Key informants outlined the features of a ‘community development approach’ that they rely on to address the barriers to marginalized peoples' involvement by strengthening their skills, abilities and leadership in capacity-building activities. The community development approach also shaped the participation methods that were used in the engagement process of CHCs. However, key informants also described the challenges of applying this approach, influenced by the cultural values of some groups, which shaped their willingness and motivation to participate. This study provides further insight into the approach, strategies and methods used in the engagement process to enable the participation of marginalized populations, which may be transferable to other health services settings. PubDate: 2016-01-22 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav118 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Mutti S; Hammond D, Reid JL, et al. Pages: 650 - 659 Abstract: SummaryPlain cigarette packaging, which seeks to remove all brand imagery and standardize the shape and size of cigarette packs, represents a novel policy measure to reduce the appeal of cigarettes. Plain packaging has been studied primarily in high-income countries like Australia and the UK. It is unknown whether the effects of plain packaging may differ in low-and-middle income countries with a shorter history of tobacco regulation, such as Mexico. An experimental study was conducted in Mexico City to examine perceptions of branded and plain cigarette packaging among smoking and non-smoking Mexican adolescents (n = 359). Respondents were randomly assigned to a branded or plain pack condition and rated 12 cigarette packages for appeal, taste, harm to health and smoker-image traits. As a behavioral measure of appeal, respondents were offered (although not given) four cigarette packs (either branded or plain) and asked to select one to keep. The findings indicated that branded packs were perceived to be more appealing (β = 3.40, p < 0.001) and to contain better tasting cigarettes (β = 3.53, p < 0.001), but were not perceived as less harmful than plain packs. Participants rated people who smoke the branded packs as having relatively more positive smoker-image traits overall (β = 2.10, p < 0.001), with particularly strong differences found among non-smokers for the traits ‘glamorous’, ‘stylish’, ‘popular’ and ‘sophisticated’ (p < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was found for the proportion of youth that accepted when offered branded compared with plain packs. These results suggest that plain packaging may reduce brand appeal among Mexican youth, consistent with findings in high-income countries. PubDate: 2016-01-29 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav117 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Wiggins N; Pérez A. Pages: 660 - 670 Abstract: SummaryRecent publications have called for new approaches to training the next generation of health promotion professionals, for whom effective practice depends on understanding how systemic inequities are created and function and how they can be dismantled. These approaches gain particular urgency in the context of recent trends toward commodification of knowledge at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. Popular education, a liberatory pedagogy, has been used in social movements around the world for decades. In a health promotion context, its use has been associated with increased empowerment and improved health. To explore the potential of popular education (PE) for helping health promotion students develop a systemic analysis of power and privilege and the concrete skills needed to address health and social inequities, we conducted a case study in the context of a community organizing class in a Master's in Public Health curriculum. Analysis of mixed methods data collected from students suggested that PE, with its focus on concrete practices and interactions, is a valid alternative to conventional pedagogy and a useful complement to liberatory pedagogies more common in university classrooms. Application of PE in higher education will require overcoming barriers, including student resistance and institutional pressures that discourage its use. PubDate: 2016-02-05 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav121 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Wiens V; Kyngäs H, Pölkki T. Pages: 671 - 680 Abstract: SummaryWell-being is a complex concept that includes elements of inequality due to socio-economics, living environment or gender. Every person also encounters unique situations and has different experiences of well-being. This qualitative study aims to describe what issues promote and hinder the well-being of girls aged 13–16 in Northern Finland. A total of 117 girls aged 13–16 living in Northern Finland were asked to write about the issues that hinder and promote their well-being. The girls' responses were analysed using content analysis. After analysis, two combining categories were discovered: issues hindering well-being were a debilitating sphere of life and negative experiences in life, and issues promoting well-being were positive subjective sensations and favourably perceived conditions. The results of this study indicate that girls' well-being is connected to their social and physical environment. As the girls' view of the issues that promote or hinder health are connected and interact with their living environment, there is also a need for health promotion measures to take into account both the individuals and the environment in which they function and live. This view challenges us to see health promotion in a broader way—a way which takes into account structural and political factors, individual consultation and empowerment. PubDate: 2016-02-20 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw006 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Meganck J; Seghers J, Scheerder J. Pages: 681 - 690 Abstract: SummarySports clubs are increasingly recognized as an innovative setting for health promotion, as exemplified by the health promoting sports club concept. This study aims to assess the health promotion orientation of both youth sports clubs (YSC) and adult sports clubs (ASC) in Flanders and to identify the motives and barriers as reported by their representatives as a basis for proposing intervention strategies to improve the health promotion orientation in sports clubs. A total of 253 Flemish sports clubs, consisting of 156 YSC and of 97 ASC, completed the online questionnaire, covering club characteristics (e.g. finances, human resources), perceived motives and barriers for health promotion and the health promoting sports club index. Even though YSC were more health promoting than ASC, the results indicated that all sports clubs could improve their health promotion orientation. The most consistent predictors of health promotion orientation are perceived motives index for YSC and perceived lack of resources for ASC. Based on these results, interventions to enhance the health promoting orientation need to tackle the lack of resources such as lack of expertise regarding health promotion. Interventions aimed specifically at YSC should emphasize the direct benefits, for example by demonstrating how health promotion helps clubs to improve the provision of high quality sports participation and by awarding a health promotion quality label. PubDate: 2016-03-01 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw004 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Abichahine H; Veenstra G. Pages: 691 - 701 Abstract: SummaryLeisure-based physical activity is socially stratified in Canada. To date, inequalities in physical activity by race or ethnicity, gender, class or sexual orientation, in Canada and elsewhere, have largely been investigated as distinct, additive phenomena. Informed by intersectionality theory, this paper examines whether racial identity, gender, class and sexuality ‘intersect’ with one another to predict physical activity in data from Cycles 2.1 and 3.1 of the Canadian Community Health Survey (n= 149 574). In particular, we apply the intersectional principle of multiplicativity which suggests that people's experiences of their gender identities are raced, classed and sexualized; their racial experiences are gendered, classed and sexualized, and so forth. We find that the positive effect of income on being physically active is strong among visible minority men, of moderate strength among White men and women and weak to non-existent among visible minority women. We also find that a lesbian, gay or bisexual orientation corresponds with a higher likelihood of being physically active among women (especially among less educated women) but not among men. These multiplicative findings undermine additive approaches to investigating social inequalities in leisure-based physical activity and pave the way for future intersectional analyses of axes of inequality and their diverse, intersecting effects. PubDate: 2016-03-12 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw009 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Watabe A; Wongwatanakul W, Thamarangsi T, et al. Pages: 702 - 710 Abstract: SummaryIn the transition to the post-2015 agenda, many countries are striving towards universal health coverage (UHC). Achieving this, governments need to shift from curative care to promotion and prevention services. This research analyses Thailand's financing system for health promotion and prevention, and assesses policy options for health financing reforms. The study employed a mixed-methods approach and integrates multiple sources of evidence, including scientific and grey literature, expenditure data, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in Thailand. The analysis was underpinned by the use of a well-known health financing framework. In Thailand, three agencies plus local governments share major funding roles for health promotion and prevention services: the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), the National Health Security Office, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and Tambon Health Insurance Funds. The total expenditure on prevention and public health in 2010 was 10.8% of the total health expenditure, greater than many middle-income countries that average 7.0–9.2%. MOPH was the largest contributor at 32.9%, the Universal Coverage scheme was the second at 23.1%, followed by the local governments and ThaiHealth at 22.8 and 7.3%, respectively. Thailand's health financing system for promotion and prevention is strategic and innovative due to the three complementary mechanisms in operation. There are several methodological limitations to determine the adequate level of spending. The health financing reforms in Thailand could usefully inform policymakers on ways to increase spending on promotion and prevention. Further comparative policy research is needed to generate evidence to support efforts towards UHC. PubDate: 2016-03-17 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw010 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Williams L. Pages: 711 - 722 Abstract: SummaryHuman agency or the expression of intentionality towards some form of betterment has long occupied human imagination and creativity. The ways in which we express such aspirations are fundamentally informed by our beliefs about the nature of reality, meanings of human well-being and progress, and the ways in which our social locations shape our interests. Within Western health-promoting discourse and practice, such processes have largely been expressed through the construct of empowerment. To date, like health, much empowerment practice has been implicitly rooted in Cartesianism, has tended towards anthropocentrism and in cases where it has engaged with environmental issues, has mirrored environmentalism's focus on externalities and objectivity. These tendencies coupled with the increasing complexity of global, ecological, human well-being issues call empowerment practitioners to integrate new kinds of capacities more suited to addressing the ecological determinants of health. Drawing in part on the author's empowerment research over more than a decade, this article distinguishes between a range of epistemological perspectives underlying contemporary empowerment practices while fore-grounding the concepts of place-based agency and social–ecological resilience. These constructs in turn form the basis for three capacities considered critical for practitioners addressing human-ecological well-being. PubDate: 2016-03-17 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw011 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:García-Moya I; Morgan A. Pages: 723 - 733 Abstract: SummaryTwenty years have passed since the publication of the seminal paper ‘The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion’ (Health Promot Int 1996;11:11–18.), in which Antonovsky proposed salutogenesis and its central construct sense of coherence as a way of boosting the theoretical basis for health promotion activities. Since then there has been a notable amount of conceptual and empirical work carried out to further explore its significance. The aim of this paper is to critically assess the current theoretical status of salutogenesis and its utility to advance effective health promotion practice for young people. The assessment was carried out in the context of contemporary international policy agendas on well-being. An analytic framework was developed using the previous literature on the definition and function of theory. This organizing framework comprised four criteria: description, explanation, prediction and measurability. The paper concludes with a perspective on the status of salutogenesis as a theory and how it can be further developed. Specifically, the critical assessment highlighted that salutogenesis has been subjected to considerable empirical testing over the last few decades resulting in convincing evidence of the relevance and subsequent advancement of the idea. However, less emphasis seems to have been placed on a systematic process of testing and iteration to develop its theoretical basis. The paper identifies a number of aspects that should be developed to support the progression of salutogenesis to the next level. A research–practice cycle approach is proposed that can facilitate that important next step. PubDate: 2016-02-18 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw008 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Heard E; Auvaa L, Conway BA. Pages: 734 - 742 Abstract: SummaryThere is an urgent need to address the epidemic rates of non-communicable diseases globally, and the Pacific Island region is of particular concern. Increasing physical activity participation plays an important role in reducing some of the key risk factors for non-communicable diseases including obesity and being overweight. In order to address low levels of physical activity, it is essential to understand the key barriers and facilitating factors experienced by specific population groups. The purpose of this study is to investigate key facilitating factors for participation in a dance aerobic initiative, Culture X, developed in the Pacific Island country, Samoa. The study further aims to understand ways in which the programme assists participants in addressing barriers to physical activity. Face-to-face interviews running from 10 to 20 min were conducted with 28 Culture X participants in order to gain a deep understanding of participants' personal perspectives with regard to barriers and facilitating factors to physical activity. Findings suggest the inclusion of key cultural components (including, traditional dance moves and music, prayer, community orientation and family inclusiveness) were integral for supporting ongoing participation in Culture X. These components further assisted participants in addressing important personal and social barriers to physical activity (including lack of motivation and enjoyment, lack of confidence, time management, family and social commitments and lack of support). This study highlights creative ways that health promotion in the Pacific Island region can encourage physical activity and informs health promotion literature regarding the importance of placing local culture at the heart of behaviour change initiatives. PubDate: 2016-01-29 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav119 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Poureslami I; Nimmon L, Rootman I, et al. Pages: 743 - 754 Abstract: SummaryUnderstanding the nature and impact of health literacy is a priority in health promotion and chronic disease prevention and treatment. Health literacy comprises the application of a broad set of skills to access, comprehend, evaluate, communicate and act on health information for improved health and well-being. A complex concept, it involves multiple participants and is enacted across a wide variety of contexts. Health literacy's complexity has given rise to challenges achieving a standard definition and developing means to measure all its dimensions. In May 2013, a group of health literacy experts, clinicians and policymakers convened at an Expert Roundtable to review the current state of health literacy research and practice, and make recommendations about refining its definition, expanding its measurement and integrating best practices into chronic disease management. The four-day knowledge exchange concluded that the successful integration of health literacy into policy and practice depends on the development of a more substantial evidence base. A review of the successes and gaps in health literacy research, education and interventions culminated in the identification of key priorities to further the health literacy agenda. The workshop was funded by the UBC Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, Vancouver. PubDate: 2016-02-12 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daw003 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Authors:Carey G; Malbon E, Crammond B, et al. Pages: 755 - 761 Abstract: SummaryLifestyle drift is increasingly seen as a barrier to broad action on the social determinants of health. The term is currently used in the population health literature to describe how broad policy initiatives for tackling inequalities in health that start off with social determinants (upstream) approach drift downstream to largely individual lifestyle factors, as well as the general trend of investing a the individual level. Lifestyle drift occurs despite the on-going efforts of public health advocates, such as anti-obesity campaigners, to draw attention to the social factors which shape health behavior and outcomes. In this article, we explore whether the sociology of social problems can help understand lifestyle drift in the context of obesity. Specifically, we apply Jamrozik and Nocella's residualist conversion model to the problem of obesity in order to explore whether such an approach can provide greater insight into the processes that underpin lifestyle drift and inform our attempts to mitigate it. PubDate: 2016-01-08 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dav116 Issue No:Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016)
Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
[370 journals]
