scholarly journals The HCT Index: A Typology and Index of Health Conspiracy Theories with examples of use

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Michael Stubbersfield ◽  
Tom Widger ◽  
Andrew Russell ◽  
Jamshid J. Tehrani
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Health It ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Government ◽  
Typical Experience ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Research And Policy

Conspiracy theories about secret agendas behind vaccination programmes, the side effects of medical treatments, and cover-ups by the government or pharmaceutical industry are prevalent in many countries, and can have highly detrimental and far-reaching effects on people’s wellbeing. For, research and policy-making in public health, it is therefore vital to understand the nature, construction and dissemination of these health conspiracy theories (HCTs). Inspired by the influential ATU index of folktale types, this paper presents a typology and example index of international HCTs to be used as a tool to enable researchers to identify and categorise HCTs they come across, and to provide a pool of examples of HCTs which could be used in various fields of research. Also presented are two studies which used the HCT Index as a source of material. The first, a survey of HCT exposure and belief in the UK found that both familiarity and belief were high: 97% of Britons are familiar (having heard the same or similar before) with at least one HCT and 49% of Britons believed that at least one HCT was likely to be true. Demographic influences are also discussed. The second study, a focus group discussion health rumours in rural Sri Lanka, found concerns over threats to fertility as well as how to verify information that falls outside of typical experience.

scholarly journals The HCT Index: a typology and index of health conspiracy theories with examples of use

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Stubbersfield ◽  
Tom Widger ◽  
Andrew J. Russell ◽  
Jamshid J. Tehrani
Keyword(s):  
Group Discussion ◽  
Health It ◽  
Web Searches ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Typical Experience ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Medical Side

Background: Conspiracy theories regarding vaccination programmes, medical side effects, and cover-ups by governments or pharmaceutical companies are prevalent in many countries and have highly detrimental and far-reaching effects on people’s wellbeing. For research and policymaking in public health, it is vital to understand the nature, construction and dissemination of these health conspiracy theories (HCTs). Inspired by tale typologies developed in folkloristics, this paper presents a typology and index of international HCTs as a tool for researchers to identify and categorise the HCTs they come across, and to provide a pool of examples of HCTs which could be used in various fields of research. To illustrate this, two studies are also presented (Study 1 and Study 2). Methods: HCTs were collected from relevant academic literature, news journalism, a survey of known health-related, general conspiracy theorist websites, and web searches based around known HCTs. From this, 14 core types were identified, and a numbered index was constructed with brief descriptions, examples, and motifs. Study 1 is a survey of HCT exposure and belief in the UK. Study 2 is a focus group discussion of health rumours in rural Sri Lanka including discussion of HCTs. Results: The HCT Index provides valuable insights into the international dissemination of HCTs. Study 1 found that familiarity with and belief in HCTs were high: 97% of Britons are familiar with at least one HCT and 49% of Britons believed that at least one HCT was likely to be true. Study 2 highlighted concerns over threats to fertility and about how to verify information that falls outside of typical experience. Conclusions: The HCT Index provides a useful framework for future cross-cultural research. As a typology it encompasses a wide range of beliefs which can be more effectively categorized and compared and, ultimately, challenged.

scholarly journals To stop or not to stop ‘culture’: determining the essential behavior of the government, church and public in fighting against COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalmacito A Cordero
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Health It ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Church

Abstract Culture is a way of life. A recent correspondence emphasizes that it is a contributory factor in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, and this must be considered by each government around the world. However, I argue that various elements in culture do not need to stop or else it will create public outrage. I therefore propose a win–win solution for both parties with the inclusion of the church that can serve as a framework for the sake of public health. It is primarily based on a kind of behavior that is needed to be embodied by the involved groups—‘supportive’ government, ‘creative’ church and an ‘adaptive’ public. These essential behaviors of all groups are possible to embody for a successful implementation of public health.

scholarly journals An overview of behavioral economics in Dutch policy making. the next step: how to nudge policy makers

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 27-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Els Stroeker
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Dutch Government ◽  
Science Knowledge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Structural Integration ◽  
Dutch Policy ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

This article describes the beginning of the influence of behavioral economics on the Dutch government. This started in the period that the UK started with its Behavioral Insights Team (BIT UK). The article presents explanation of the concept “nudging” and the way this is integrated in Dutch policy. Also leading publications and examples of how behavioral economics is used in policy making are presented. The advice of the government in 2014 on how to ensure a structural integration of behavioral science knowledge in policy is part of the next step. The next step contains two main parts: 1. How to nudge policy makers and 2. Embedding nudges in policy making on four aspects: positioning, projects, performance and professionality.

Improving access to adult vaccination: a tool for healthy ageing

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Scrutton ◽  
David Sinclair ◽  
Trinley Walker
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Healthy Ageing ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how access to vaccination for older people in the UK can be both improved and used as a tool for healthy ageing. Design/methodology/approach – ILC-UK released a report “Adult Immunisation in the UK”, which applied a UK perspective to a 2013 Supporting Active Ageing Through Immunisation (SAATI) report on immunisation. The ILC report combined the SAATI findings with a traditional literature review, a policy review incorporating grey literature and the outcomes of a focus group discussion. This paper highlights the key findings of the ILC-UK report. Findings – Vaccination needs to be included as part of proactive strategies to promote healthy and active ageing. Initiatives need to be explored that increase the rate of delivery of vaccinations. Barriers to the vaccination of health and social care professionals working with older people need to be removed. The government should explore using psychological insights into human behaviour to improve the take-up of vaccinations amongst adults. The range of settings where older people can receive vaccination needs to be expanded. Information on the potential benefits of immunisation should be made readily available and easily accessible to older people. Practical implications – The paper calls for a structural shift in how vaccination services in the UK are organised. Social implications – The paper calls for a cultural shift in how society views immunisation and the role it has to play in the healthy ageing process. Originality/value – The paper uses new European research on immunisation and applies it to the UK's situation.

scholarly journals The new evidence-based policy: public participation between ‘hard evidence’ and democracy in practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-227
Author(s):  
Helen Pallett
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
Hard Evidence ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Background:Debates about evidence-based policy (EBP) were revived in the UK in the 2010s in the context of civil service reform and changing practices of policy making, including institutionalisation of public participation in science policy making. Aims and objectives:This paper aims to explore this revival of interest in EBP in the context of the Government-funded public participation programme Sciencewise, which supports and promotes public dialogues in science policy making. It is based on in-depth ethnographic study of the programme during 2013, considering the impacts on Sciencewise practices and working understandings of engaging in the EBP debate. There is a particular focus on the advantages and disadvantages of categorising public participation as a source of evidence-based policy as opposed to presenting participation as a democratic act which is separate from discussions of EBP. Key conclusions:At different times Sciencewise actors moved between these stances in order to gain credibility and attention for their work, and to situate the outcomes of public participation processes in a broader policy context. In some instances the presentation of outputs from public participation processes as legitimate evidence for policy gave them greater influence and enriched broader discussions about the meaning and practice of open policy. However, it also frequently led to their dismissal on methodological grounds, inhibiting serious engagement with their outputs and challenging internal frameworks for evaluation and learning.

Counter-radicalization, public health, and racism: A case analysis of Prevent

2021 ◽  
pp. 203-216
Author(s):  
Tarek Younis
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Colour Blindness ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Psychological Risk

The threat of terrorism is well documented to be associated with Muslims and Islam in British public consciousness. This chapter will emphasize the sociopolitical context underlying public health strategies seeking to address radicalization and extremism, especially given the UK government’s recent pivoting of its ‘Prevent’ policy within mental health services. Drawing upon two years of empirical fieldwork exploring the impact of the Prevent duty in the National Health Service, this chapter will outline several key issues with counter-radicalization policies enacted within health settings. Firstly, I found that mental health professionals—especially Muslims—self-censored their critical thoughts of Prevent, largely as a result of the political and moral subscript underlying counterterrorism: the ‘good’ position was to accept their counterterrorism duty, and the ‘bad’ position was to reject it. Secondly, Prevent significantly emphasizes reliance on ‘trusting one’s gut’ given the elusive framework of psychological risk factors it outlines during training. In turn, the government engages in what I call performative colour blindness: the active recognition and erasure of a common sense that associates racialized Muslims with the threat of terrorism. Colour blindness, however, is known to be integral for the maintenance of institutionally racist practices in contemporary times. This chapter ends by highlighting two understated issues of racism in contemporary public health approaches to counter-radicalization: the reinvigorated impulse to ‘tackle’ the far-right and the question of coercion and accountability.

scholarly journals Translation across borders: connecting the academic and policy communities

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Connelly ◽  
Dave Vanderhoven ◽  
Catherine Durose ◽  
Peter Matthews ◽  
Liz Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Mutual Learning ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy Communities ◽  
Research And Policy

This chapter looks at the legacy of three projects which connected research and policy communities, through the development of ‘policy briefs’ for the UK Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). These were short and accessible reviews of research relevant to policy on localism. Starting from an understanding of policy-making as meaning-making, and of translation as situated and purposeful action, ethnographic and action research were used to explore how academics and government analysts translate research into ideas useful for policy makers. It concludes that the legacy of researching for policy can be understood both in terms of ‘things left behind’ and their direct impact on policy, and also more broadly in terms of participants’ purposes being met, and influences on academic and civil service norms and subsequent practice. Co-production is central to leaving such a legacy, in particular to break down mutual misunderstanding across the policy/academia border. In contrast interdisciplinarity seems less important, though broadening the disciplinary base of research used by government is certainly valuable. Underpinning everything else, the development of relationships of trust through collaboration and mutual learning is paramount.

scholarly journals General hospital services in the UK for adults presenting after self-harm: little evidence of progress in the past 25 years

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 (6) ◽  
pp. 661-662
Author(s):  
Allan House ◽  
David Owens
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Effective Action ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Hospital Services ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Services Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Research And Policy

SummarySelf-harm remains a serious public health concern, not least because of its strong link with suicide. Twenty-five years ago we lamented the deficits in UK services, research and policy. Since then, there has not been nearly enough effective action in any of these three domains. It is time for action.

scholarly journals JABS FOR THE BOYS

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. e22-e32
Author(s):  
Peter Baker ◽  
Gillian Prue ◽  
Jamie Rae ◽  
David Winterflood ◽  
Giampiero Favato
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Government ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Selective Vaccination

The human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause a range of cancers as well as genital warts and recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in men and women. Most cases can be prevented by vaccination in adolescence. Many countries vaccinate girls and an increasing number, although still a minority, vaccinate both boys and girls. The case for vaccinating boys is based on arguments of public health, equity, ethics and cost-effectiveness. The selective vaccination of females does not protect males sufficiently and provides no protection at all for men who have sex with men. In the United Kingdom (UK), the government’s vaccination advisory committee (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation [JCVI]) began to consider whether boys should be vaccinated as well as girls in 2013 and made clear in draft statements that it considered this not to be cost-effective. A campaign group, HPV Action, was established to advocate gender-neutral vaccination. This group became a coalition of over 50 organisations and used evidence-based arguments, political advocacy and media campaigning to make its case. One of its members initiated legal action against the government on the grounds of sex discrimination. In July 2018, the government agreed that boys in the UK should be vaccinated. The lessons for other campaigns in the men’s and public health fields include: be prepared for the long haul, focus on clear and specific goals, build alliances, align the objectives with existing policies, make a financial case for a change of policy, and use all legitimate means to exert pressure.

scholarly journals RATIONALISM, RISK AND RIDICULE – EXPERTS, SCEPTICS AND THE MARK OF THE ‘BLOB’

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Richard Davies
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Health It ◽  
The Uk

This article offers a perspective on the debate about experts and their value. It considers why expert claims for attention are often regarded as suspect. It does so by reflecting on the work of Arendt, Oakeshott, and Scruton. It notes that decision makers can easily find themselves in a bind - sometimes railing against experts, like those presumed to inhabit an education ‘Blob’ in the UK - and at other times seemingly becoming dependent upon them, as in ‘the Science’ and public health. It draws attention to the character of the distaste for scepticism about experts within education, and to the intellectual origin of that scepticism itself. It highlights the alleged contradictions in the minds of sceptics especially where they want to conserve or draw strength from inherited social norms, and yet at the same time regard them as a dehumanising trap. It suggests that the contradiction can be overcome by distinguishing between their concerns about the dangers of rationalism, and their rooted attachment to reason and reasonableness. It invites practitioners to take a principled interest in risk and in its resistance to elimination. It suggests that ridicule can be healthy in so far as it deftly challenges complacency amongst experts and practitioners alike.

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