City Health Departments

Urban Health ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 377-385
Author(s):  
Daniel Kass ◽  
Thomas Matte ◽  
Adam Karpati
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Political Capacity ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Health Governance ◽  
National Governments

In cities, opportunities exist to influence advances in healthcare, food systems, housing, transport, and the social, physical, and built environments to promote equity, well-being, and health. For cities to accommodate population increases and ameliorate existing conditions, they must seek greater local authority to act and regulate, decentralize power and revenue control from state and national governments, build stronger relationships among governmental sectors and civil society, and build technical and political capacity. This chapter addresses a critical mechanism by which public health as a sector must engage with these changes: local public health governance. It identifies challenges and constraints and offer recommendations for going forward.

Public health promotion of “local food”: Constituting the self-governing citizen-consumer

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Derkatch ◽  
Philippa Spoel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Citizenship

This article explores how the recent and growing promotion of local foods by public health units in Ontario, Canada, rhetorically interpellates the “good” health citizen as someone who not only takes responsibility for personal health but, through the consumption and support of “local food,” also accepts and fulfills her responsibilities to care for the local economy, the community’s well-being, and the natural environment. Drawing on Charland’s concept of constitutive rhetoric, we analyze a selection of public health unit documents about local food to develop a textured account of the complex, multifaceted forms of health citizenship they constitute. Our analysis reveals that, despite their appeals to environmental sustainability and community well-being, these materials primarily characterize the ideal health citizen as an informed consumer who supports the interests of the neoliberal state through individualized lifestyle behaviors, consuming goods produced and distributed through private enterprise. By exhorting individuals to “buy local,” public health discourse therefore frames responsible health citizenship principally in consumerist terms that constrain the range of available options for citizens to engage in meaningful action vis-à-vis their food systems.

scholarly journals Capturing the social value and return on investment of public health services and interventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Ashton ◽  
A Stielke ◽  
M Dyakova
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Balance Sheet ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Return On Investment ◽  
Environmental Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Health Programmes

Abstract The need for investment in health and well-being to achieve sustainable development and inclusive economic growth is stronger than ever in the face of multiple adversities. Making the case for investing in public health is essential. The social, economic and environmental value of public health programmes has to be embedded in every organisational balance sheet in order to progress national and international commitments; and to enable sustainable policy and action for the benefit of people, communities and societies. The WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Well-being at Public Health Wales has developed a programme of work to assess the (social)return on investment of services and interventions. This involves looking at specific health and well-being outcomes, and estimating the wider social, economic and environmental value of the organisation and its various health protection and health improvement programmes. Specific health economics methods used will be Social/Return on Investment and Social/Cost-Benefit Analysis. The programme will generate an ’extended balance sheet’, including estimates of health and well-being outcomes and monetarising the social and environmental value. This will result in establishing the holistic economic value of Public Health Wales. Specific outputs are: a comprehensive costing model to capture input; outcome and impact maps; capturing the value of public health programmes in terms of health and well-being, as well as social, economic and environmental outcomes. Finally, a generalised framework for other similar organisations will be developed. This innovative programme aims to measure the social, economic and environmental value of Public Health Wales as a national public health institute. The developed framework can be used by other organisations across Europe to inform and guide their efforts to capture the wider social value, involve key stakeholders from the outset and achieve sustainable financing in the long run. Key messages Making the case for investing in public health by illustrating its social, economic and environmental value is vital. Social Return on Investment is an innovative and useful method to estimate the wider value of public health interventions.

scholarly journals Start at the Center: Age-Friendly Public Health Systems and Healthy Brain Initiative Frameworks

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 720-720
Author(s):  
Megan Wolfe ◽  
Molly French ◽  
John Shean
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Community Connections ◽  
State And Local

Abstract SIGNIFICANCE. Older adults can contribute wisdom, skills, and time to communities. The public health sector has unique capabilities for creating conditions that promote health, foster community connections, and quality of life. METHODS. Two frameworks provide public health (PH) with core strategies to improve outcomes for all older adults. The Framework for Creating an Age-Friendly Public Health System (AFPHS) supports the PH role, as demonstrated by 37 of Florida’s 67 county health departments that are piloting the AFPHS Framework. The Healthy Brain Initiative’s (HBI) State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia is a framework for action used by PH to promote cognitive health, improve care for cognitive impairment, and increase caregiving supports. Both frameworks call for utilizing regional data and cross-sector partnerships. IMPLICATIONS. PH can contribute to community-wide initiatives to promote well-being and community connections for older adults. Cross-sector partnerships can start by using available tools and planning guides.

Insight from National Experts: From the Community-Based Organization Sector

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-34
Author(s):  
Kim Foreman ◽  
Sandra Byrd Chappelle
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mortgage Lending ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Based Organization ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
The Relationship

Chapter 4 looks at the growing understanding of the relationship (intersectionality) between human health and other leading indicators of well-being that has come as a consequence of an increase in understanding of the social determinants of health. These indicators include full employment, educational attainment, and fair mortgage lending. It looks at examples of the work of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) together with public health officials and hospitals.

Main themes

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Colin Palfrey
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
New Public Health ◽  
Promotion Policies ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Health Promotion Interventions ◽  
The Impact

This book examines the evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of health promotion policies and projects, with particular emphasis on the UK. As an introduction, this chapter clarifies the key concepts in the health promotion literature such as ‘new public health’, civil society, poverty and empowerment. It first considers the potentially disputed assumption that ‘health’ is an unequivocal concept before discussing the social determinants of health, the emergence of a ‘new public health’ in the UK that consists of health promotion as a model of health policy, and the role of civil society in health promotion. It also explains what poverty is, the impact of public health and health promotion interventions, the purpose of health promotion, and motives for improving people's health (such as empowerment, charity, economics). Finally, it reflects on the future for health promotion.

The Social Determinants of Health in a Community Context: Lessons for Sociological Practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-81
Author(s):  
Tim Knapp ◽  
Lisa Hall
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Sociological Practice ◽  
The Social

Much of the research on the social determinants of health has been done at national or international comparative levels. Findings from these studies highlight the importance of macro social factors that affect health outcomes, such as limited and unequal access to health care and the effects of racial discrimination, economic inequality, and patriarchy. However, such macro-level research provides limited information about how applied and clinical sociologists can address local social determinants of health and improve the well-being of individuals and community residents. Results from a county-level public health survey shed more specific light on how interpersonal networks, social activities, and neighborhood characteristics affect people’s physical and mental health. The results can be utilized by clinical and applied sociologists who counsel individuals and work to invigorate neighborhoods, and by public health officials who develop and reform community-level health policies and programs.

scholarly journals The new nutrition science: sustainability and development

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (6a) ◽  
pp. 766-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark L Wahlqvist
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Food Technology ◽  
Nutrition Science ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Generation

AbstractObjectiveTo show that nutrition science is anchored in food systems and is influenced by the social, through the environmental to the cosmological, life's connections and rhythms. To indicate that an integrative approach is now becoming possible with advances in food technology, in the understanding of food choice and of human behaviour, and in a preparedness to recognise nutritional inputs in the full sweep of life-long well-being and health outcomes.MethodAn analysis of the much broader understanding of nutritionally related diseases from an ecological perspective, with attention to economic development, beginning with poverty alleviation. Recognition that the biological dimension of nutrition science is undergoing a profound reappraisal; that technologies will allow us to change the course of nutritionally related diseases for the better; and that nutrition science will find partners in information technology and telecommunications, food technology and energy technology.ConclusionA new generation of nutrition scientists can help build a new economy that supports development amongst communities, whether close or distant from each other. The opportunities for this kind of development to be realised between Asia, Latin America and Africa are considerable. At all times, however, nutrition scientists must uphold the paramount importance of good governance, conflict resolution and maternal literacy if their work is to achieve its growing potential.

scholarly journals The time is now for public health to lead the way on addressing financial strain in Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-987
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Glenn ◽  
Candace I. J. Nykiforuk
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The Core ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Underserved Groups

AbstractFinancial strain was an issue for many Canadians long before the arrival of the global novel coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. However, it has worsened in recent months in relation to the pandemic and public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Members of underserved groups and people who experience poverty are particularly vulnerable to financial strain and its negative health impacts. As public health professionals, we should be concerned. In this commentary, we discuss the concept of financial strain and its health consequences and highlight how existing research in the area is falling short and why. We suggest next steps to guide research and practice related to financial strain such that it reflects the core values of public health, including equity, life course approaches, and the social determinants of health. This commentary is a call to action for public health researchers and practitioners in Canada to take a more prominent role in shaping the agenda on financial strain to support financial well-being for all.

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