Extending the realm of health policy with a “new public health” approach: A comparative look at the Canadian and Swedish national experiences

Abstract: Modern health‐care systems in OECD countries were built around hospitals and the preferences of organized medicine and are largely focused on acute‐care services and services provided by doctors. Starting in the early 1980s, however, the professionalization in several countries of trades traditionally involved in health promotion, together with the constitution of a group of researchers in social epidemiology and the corresponding development of specialized schools and research centres, brought new actors into health policy‐making worldwide. This led to the extension of contemporary health policy beyond the post‐war bio‐medical model into population health promotion and social policy. This article describes and analyses the means (and limitations) used by Canada and Sweden for extending the action radius of health policies. Results show that national policies in health promotion beyond the health sector contributed above all to developing and legitimizing an official discourse that presents social problems as factors affecting social inequalities in health. Health promotion represented a tool for maintaining central social norms, as national governments were re‐defining their role in social policy. Sommaire: Les systèmes modernes de soins de santé dans les pays de l'OCDE ont été construits autour d'hôpitaux et des préférences de la médecine organisée et sont essentiellement axés sur les services de soins intensifs de courte durée et les services médicaux. Cependant, depuis le début des années 1980, la professionnalisation des métiers traditionnellement impliqués dans la promotion de la santé survenue dans plusieurs pays, associée à la constitution d'un groupe de chercheurs en épidémiologie sociale et le développement d'écoles et de centres de recherche spécialisés ont introduit de nouveaux acteurs dans l'élaboration de politiques en matière de santéà l'échelle mondiale. Cela a entraîné une transformation de la politique de la santé contemporaine, qui a dépassé le modèle biomédical d'après‐guerre pour s'étendre à la promotion de la santé de la population et à la politique sociale. Le présent article décrit et analyse les moyens utilisés par le Canada et la Suède pour étendre le rayon d'action des politiques de la santé et les limites auxquelles ils font face. Les résultats indiquent que les politiques nationales visant la promotion de la santé au‐delà du secteur de la santé ont contribué avant tout à développer un discours officiel qui présente les problèmes sociaux comme des facteurs ayant une incidence sur les inégalités sociales de la santé. La promotion de la santé a représenté un outil pour maintenir des normes sociales nationales, alors que les gouvernements centraux redéfinissaient leur rôle en matière de politique sociale.     

International Bio Law: An International Overview of Developments in Human Embryo Research and Experimentation

Netherlands International Law Review -     

A Formula for Disaster: The Department of Homeland Security's Virtual Ontology

This paper focuses on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to theorise the spatialities of post-9/11 security knowledge and practice in the US. It analyses the organisational discourses that animate homeland security work, such as preparedness, vulnerability, the new threat environment, risk analysis and capabilities-based planning, and considers the implications of these practices for contemporary geographies of security. It is argued that DHS operates through a virtual ontology of threat, whereby potential, future threats are addressed as present possibilities that emerge in the spaces of everyday life. The sources of American freedoms and insecurities, the everyday, emerging circulations of goods and people, present DHS with a terrain of shifting threats from which both emergencies and preparedness may materialise. Disaster looming, the potential suspension of everyday life forms the basis for security practice as the emergency becomes a fact of life itself. The spatialities of this environment of imminent threat are considered and it is argued that the everyday emergency operates topologically as a continuous process of spatialisation.     

The Prefect and State Reform

The article intends to explain why although tremendous changes have occurred in the structure of government – especially the laws organizing decentralization since 1982 – the institution of the Prefect is still alive in the year 2000. Created in 1800, the institution of the Prefect derives from the will of the central authority to rely on its own representatives to ensure that public policies will be equally implemented over the whole territory. This objective remains but it has to be combined with the objectives of decentralization which are to transfer a number of responsibilities to elected bodies. Consequently, the task of the Prefect is to co-ordinate locally the action of the representatives of the ministers with the action of the elected body. To study the conditions under which the institution carries out this task the article focuses primarily on the limited capacity of the Prefect to mobilize the relevant actors. The second point concerns the difficulty of bringing together the information produced by field services. The third point considers the valuation of proximity and its impact on the action of the Prefect. The article concludes that the function of the Prefect is still the framing of local action but within the new context this can be done more often through the diffusion of information and less often through authority.     

A Modern Dynasty of Imperial Luxury

A warm smile and an exquisite suit.These are the first two things that strike me upon meeting Ken Tang,General Manager of Sunwodd Dynasty Hotel,Beijing.Immediately I know that the hotel's beautiful environment is directly reflected in its General Manager.elegant,sophisticated,warm,and welcoming.     

Affirmative Action in Women's Employment: Lessons from Canada

The use of affirmative action to increase women's representation in employment is recognized under European Community law. The European Court of Justice has identified affirmative action permissible under EC law and what constitutes reverse discrimination, deemed incompatible with the equal treatment principle. Despite these developments, gendered occupational segregation — vertical and horizontal — persists in all member states as evidenced by enduring pay gaps. It is widely argued that we now need national measures which take advantage of the appropriate framework and requisite political will which exists at the European level. Faced with a similar challenge, the Canadian government passed the Employment Equity Act 1986 which places an obligation on federal employers to implement employment equity (affirmative action) by proactive means. Although subject to some criticism, there have been some improvements in women's representation since its introduction. This article assesses what lessons might be learned from Canada's experience.     

Factors Associated with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victimization

This study explored factors associated with a lifetime history of domestic violence and sexual assault in a sample of welfare recipients in Illinois. Results indicate that childhood exposure to domestic violence is a risk factor for both sexual assault and domestic violence victimization, but that childhood physical abuse is only a risk factor for domestic violence. Increased education and employment skills and having more children were also risk factors for domestic violence victimization. Domestic violence was significantly associated with depression, while sexual assault was associated with low social support and a greater perceived need for mental health services. Frequent alcohol and drug use were not associated with either type of victimization. Research implications are discussed.