Alcohol-related policy measures in Ontario: who supports what and to what degree?

Aging, Pensions and Long-term Care: What, Why, Who, How?; Comment on “Financing Long-term Care: Lessons From Japan”

Japan has been aging faster than other industrialized nations, and its experience offers useful lessons to others. Japan has been willing to expand its welfare state with a long-term care (LTC) insurance to finance home care and nursing home care for frail elderly. As Ikegami shows, it created new facilities and expanded specialized staffing for home care, developed a c...

How Neoliberalism Is Shaping the Supply of Unhealthy Commodities and What This Means for NCD Prevention

Alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy foods contribute greatly to the global burden of non-communicable disease (NCD). Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have recognized the critical need to address these three key risk factors through global action plans and policy recommendations. The 2013-2020 WHO action plan identifies the need to engage economic, agricultural and other relevant...

The Why, Who, What, How, and When of Patient Engagement in Healthcare Organizations: A Response to Recent Commentaries

What Makes Whistleblowers So Threatening?; Comment on “Cultures of Silence and Cultures of Voice: The Role of Whistleblowing in Healthcare Organisations”

Whistleblowing is defined by the retaliation that those who speak out receive. Why some organizations find it almost impossible not to retaliate depends more on the properties of the organization than the act of the individual whistleblower. These properties are, to greater or lesser degree, present in all organizations. Not all organizations retaliate against whistleblowers, but the whistleblo...

Shanghai’s Track Record in Population Health Status: What Can Explain It?; Comment on “Shanghai Rising: Health Improvements as Measured by Avoidable Mortality Since 2000”

Health reforms that emphasize public health and improvements in primary care can be cost-effective measures to achieve health improvements, especially in developing countries that face severe resource constraints. In their paper “Shanghai rising: health improvements as measured by avoidable mortality since 2000,” Gusmano et al suggest that Shanghai’s health policy-makers have been successful in...