Health Equity: 05/11/11

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

[EQ] Evidence for Social Policy and Practice - Perspectives on how research and evidence can influence decision

Evidence for Social Policy and Practice

Perspectives on how research and evidence can influence decision making

Public and Social Innovation, NESTA UK April 2011

Available online PDF [36p.] at: http://bit.ly/lLzpxp

"......From criminal justice, childrens services to poverty reduction, this report contains essays from organisations using different methodologies and approaches to generate evidence and influence policy and practice in a number of service areas.

The idea that policy and practice should be underpinned by rigorous evidence is internationally accepted, yet there is recognition that the level of rigour in evaluating ‘what works’ in social policy remains limited. In a time of public service reform and more decentralised decision making, the need for timely, accessible and reliable evidence is becoming ever more important.

Content

Evidence for Social Policy and Practice

Perspectives on how research and evidence can influence decision making in public services

Part 1: Project Oracle, The Social Innovation Partnership

Part 2: Combining research and practice: The Center for Court Innovation’s approach to justice reform

Part 3: Washington State Institute for Public Policy

Part 4: Using impact evaluations to inform policy

Part 5: RAND’s Promising Practices Network

Part 6: The Obama Administration’s evidence-based social policy initiatives: an overview

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[EQ] World Conference on Social Determinants of Health - Consultation on Draft Technical Paper, 9 May - 3 June 2011

World Conference on Social Determinants of Health

Consultation on Draft Technical Paper from 9May - 3 June 2011

Comments welcome by Friday 3 June 2011

Consultation page: http://bit.ly/kgtLTR

Draft technical paper: PDF [320.] at http://bit.ly/lro1I9

The World Conference on Social Determinants of Health (WCSDH) is being convened by WHO and kindly hosted and supported by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

The World Conference will take place in Rio de Janeiro from 19 to 21 October 2011.

WHO is currently undertaking a public consultation on the current draft of the Technical Paper for the Conference to elicit comments and feedback. The Technical Paper aims to provide policy-makers with an overview of key strategies to implement action on social determinants of health to reduce health inequities and contribute to broader development, organized by the five Conference themes. The final version of this paper will inform discussions at the Conference. Comments on this current draft are welcome by Friday 3 June 2011 and can be submitted at the Consultation webpage above.

In particular, comments are sought on whether the draft fulfils its aims to inform the five themes of the Conference, and whether any major strategies for implementation of action on social determinants have been omitted.

The main themes that will be tackled during the Conference are:

· Governance to tackle the root causes of health inequities: implementing action on social determinants of health

· The role of the health sector, including public health programmes, in reducing health inequities

· Promoting participation: community leadership for action on social determinants

· Global action on social determinants: aligning priorities and stakeholders

· Monitoring progress: measurement and analysis to inform policies on social determinants

The aim of the Conference is to bring Member States and other actors together to catalyze high level political support for national policies to address social determinants of health to reduce health inequities. Its specific objectives are to:

· strengthen political commitment by Member States to develop and implement national policies on social determinants of health to reduce health inequities;

· share experiences, challenges and technical knowledge on addressing social determinants of health, taking into account the need for strengthening governance arrangements and learning from different contexts.

Conference website: www.who.int/sdhconference/

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[EQ] Chronic diseases - A clinical and managerial challenge

Chronic diseases
A clinical and managerial challenge

HOPE - European Hospital and Healthcare Federation

Available online PDF [56p.] at: http://bit.ly/ln7i7s

"......Chronic conditions represent today one of the most relevant threats and challenges in Europe. As illustrated in the chart on the left page, WHO data indicates that today between 80% and 90% of deaths are due to chronic diseases.

But what is particularly alarming, is the increasing incidence and prevalence among population as well as the increasing rate of population with multiple chronic conditions.

In all EU Member States chronic diseases creates new challenges in terms of healthcare organisation, balance between the different levels of care and system financing, in a context of growing expectations of the population and possible decrease in resources available. The issue of chronic diseases requires new paradigms of healthcare supply and changes within the system, which are happening effectively at different paces. ....

...While it is obvious that an ageing population and chronic diseases rapidly spreading are major problems everywhere, it is worth noting that the lack of integration and coordination within the system if considered as one of the main weaknesses in most examined countries.

This lack of integration concerns the different levels of the healthcare system: general practitioners, nurses, specialists, primary care institutions and hospitals, as well as community care. Another issue regards actions towards the population and patients to foster cultural change with actions of prevention, awareness and direct information.

The most important transversal issue, however, lies in the financial constraints, which have negative effect both on the people’s ability to access the system, and on the quality of care received.... '

Content

CHAPTER 1 - CHRONIC DISEASES, A CLINICAL AND MANAGERIAL CHALLENGE, WHY?

CHAPTER 2 - STEPS FORWARDS: STRATEGIES TO TACKLE CHRONIC DISEASES

Disease Management Programmes
Integration of Management
Self-Management and Patient Education
New Roles for Health Professionals
Prevention and Early Detection
ICT Innovations and eHealth
Research

CHAPTER 3 - STRATEGIES AGAINST CHRONIC DISEASES AROUND EUROPE:

FINDINGS OF HOPE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

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