Putting mental health into mental health law

This article critiques the traditional doctrinal approach to mental health law and compares the traditional approach with a new, interdisciplinary approach known as therapeutic jurisprudence. Therapeutic jurisprudence views the law itself as a potential therapeutic agent. Examples are given of how legal rules, procedures, and the roles of legal actors may produce therapeutic or antitherapeutic results and of how the law may improve therapeutic outcomes without sacrificing the interests of justice.     

Equity,health, and health care

Equity goals, such as equal treatment for equal need or equality of access, commonly take pride of place among the aims of health policy. But do these conceptions, or others derived from more fundamental philosophical systems such as those of the utilitarians or John Rawls, successfully capture the way in which the term equity is generally used? If not, is it possible to find some interpretation that can command a greater consensus? This paper answers no to the first question and yes to the second. It is argued that the standard conceptions of equity ignore the processes by which health states are determined and hence the extent to which they arise from factors beyond individual control. An alternative conception is proposed that directly incorporates these considerations.     

Adjudicated health: incarcerated women and the social construction of health

Women in prison have been identified as one of the most vulnerable groups of women in society. This study examined the social construction of health through weekly interviews with 20 incarcerated women over 15 months. The study was grounded within a critical hermeneutic context using interpretive methods for data analysis. Adjudicated health reflects the social construction of health for women prior to and during imprisonment, and is dually grounded in protection and punishment — a construction in direct apposition to the department of correction's conceptualization of health. Implications for the health of women during imprisonment and post-release are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Designation of health services areas and health systems agency application information--HRSA. Notice designating health services areas in Ohio

This notice is issued to announce the establishment of ten health service areas for the State of Ohio and to provide information on the application procedures to become a federally designated and funded health systems agency.     

Why public opinion changes: the implications for health and health policy

Research on stasis or change in public opinion toward health, health policy, and medical care tends to focus on short-term dynamics and to emphasize the impact of discrete messages communicated by individual speakers in particular situations. This focus on what we term "situational framing," though valuable in some respects, is poorly equipped to assess changes that may occur over the longer term. We focus, instead, on "structural framing" to understand how institutionalized public health and health care policies impact public opinion and behavior over time. Understanding the dynamics of public opinion over time is especially helpful in tracking the political effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 as it moves from the debate over its passage to its implementation and operation.     

My health policy nightmare

Imagine that the United States did not have universal public education. What would the politics of extending access to education look like? It might have a nightmarish cast but also look rather familiar. Thinking about that yields some disturbing implications about the politics of health reform and, in particular, the politics of universal coverage within the broader policy discussion about "health reform."