AIM This research examined 1) the extent and nature of smokefree outdoor area (SFOA) policies in New Zealand, and 2) the process of developing, implementing and promoting compliance with a SFOA policy. METHOD An online survey was carried out with 43 of the 67 Local and District Councils, supplemented by other means. The survey assessed whether the council had a smokefree policy and if so, wha...

CONTEXT Advocacy for Recovery has been joined by research offering new perspectives on mental health policy, treatment, rehabilitation and anti-discrimination efforts. OBJECTIVES Chances and challenges of a Recovery model for the mental health field will be presented and discussed. KEY MESSAGES Recovery is currently widely endorsed as a guiding principle of mental health policy. New rules f...

The last decade has been marked by rapid growth in the breast cancer advocacy movement around the world. Today such movements are well established in North America and western Europe, and are emerging and gaining momentum in regions of the world with limited resources--Africa, Asia, eastern Europe, and Latin America. Internationally breast cancer advocates have faced the challenges of dealing w...

BACKGROUND Pain is strongly associated with significant personal and societal costs. A crucial element of any initiative on pain must focus on eliminating pain care disparities that are pervasive throughout the United States health care settings. OBJECTIVES This report focuses on macro-level factors related to pain care disparities in the United States that may be amenable to policy intervent...

Grassroots innovations for sustainability are attracting increasing policy attention. Drawing upon a wide range of empirical research into community energy in the UK, and taking recent support from national government as a case study, we apply three distinct analytical perspectives: strategic niche management, niche policy advocacy, and critical niches. Whilst the first and second perspectives ...

Evidence suggests that our brains are shaped profoundly by experiences in early life, with long-lasting implications for development. This science has yet to make the leap to policy on early childhood development in Canada--a shortcoming that has left this country well behind other developed nations. The Pascal Report, released in June 2009, marks an historic opportunity to enact comprehensive ...

INTRODUCTION Commissioned by the Wisconsin Medical Society in 2003, the Wisconsin Citizen Congress project aims to get at least 5000 physicians and 100,000 citizens in a partnership for health and health care improvement in Wisconsin. The power of activated citizens and a citizen-physician partnership is one of few hopeful answers to current policy failures in health care. Citizen Congress II a...

Healthy Public Policy is one of the key health promotion actions. Advancement of Healthy Public Policy requires that the health consequences of policy should be correctly foreseen and that the policy process should be influenced so that those health consequences are considered. Health Impact Assessment is an approach that could assist in meeting both requirements. Policies often produce health ...