Nutrition Interventions Addressing Structural Racism: A Scoping Review

African Americans experience high rates of obesity and food insecurity in part due to structural racism, or overlapping discriminatory systems and practices in housing, education, employment, health care, and other settings. Nutrition education and nutrition-focused policy, systems, and environmental changes may be able to address structural racism in the food environment. This scoping review aimed to summarize the available literature regarding nutrition interventions for African Americans that address structural racism in the food environment and compare them to the “Getting to Equity in Obesity Prevention” framework of suggested interventions. An electronic literature search was conducted with the assistance of a research librarian encompassing 6 databases—MEDLINE, PyscINFO, Agricola, ERIC, SocINDEX, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. A total of 30 sources were identified detailing interventions addressing structural barriers to healthy eating. The majority of nutrition interventions addressing structural racism consisted of policy, systems, and/or environmental changes in combination with nutrition education, strategies focused on proximal causes of racial health disparities. Only two articles each targeted the “reduce deterrents” and “improve social and economic resources” aspects of the framework, interventions which may be better suited to addressing structural racism in the food environment. Because African Americans experience high rates of obesity and food insecurity and encounter structural barriers to healthy eating in the food environment, researchers and public health professionals should address this gap in the literature.

Health Policy/Systems: Overview and History

This article describes the complex healthcare policy and financing systems in the US within a historic and political context for how the US arrived at these systems. It also provides an overview of frameworks useful for articulating how social work may have an increased influence on policies impacting the healthcare system along with specific arenas ripe for social work interventions towards healthcare system improvements. Social workers have the obligation, through the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, and the requisite skills, to participate in the healthcare policy process ensuring that they not only have a place at policy making tables, but that members of communities impacted by these policies have an opportunity to assist in setting the healthcare policy agenda and programs to best serve them.

COVID-19 and policies for care homes in the first wave of the pandemic in European welfare states: Too little, too late?

This article examines COVID-19 and residential care for older people during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, comparing a range of countries – Denmark, England, Germany, Italy and Spain – to identify the policy approaches taken to the virus in care homes and set these in institutional and policy context. Pandemic policies towards care homes are compared in terms of lockdown, testing and the supply of personal protective equipment. The comparative analysis shows a clear cross-national clustering: Denmark and Germany group together by virtue of the proactive approach adopted, whereas England, Italy and Spain had major weaknesses resulting in delayed and generally inadequate responses. The article goes on to show that these outcomes and country clustering are embedded in particular long-term care (LTC) policy systems. The factors that we highlight as especially important in differentiating the countries are the resourcing of the sector, the regulation of LTC and care homes, and the degree of vertical (and to a lesser extent horizontal) coordination in the sector and between it and the health sector.

Anke Hassel, Bruno Palier (ur.): Growth and Welfare in Advanced Capitalist Economies − How Have Growth Regimes Evolved?

This extensive book is the result of longer ones research that began in 2014 and considers the main economic challenges facing advanced industrial democracies faced since the early 1990s and government responses on them. There are three clearly defined goals of the book: First, expand our understanding of how political economy has changed since the 1970s; second, to analyze the contribution of governments to these changes, looking at their growth strategies and third, to shed light on and analyze the role of reforms social policy systems in these transformations. In short, this book also shows gives a general understanding of the evolution of the regime growth in the advanced capitalist OECD countries.

A Comparative Study of Economic Policies Based on Green Energy Transformation

Faced with increasingly serious climate and environmental problems, the green transformation of the energy structure is imminent. Energy development is related to a country’s economic lifeline, and the level of energy green transition is a key factor in determining the degree of low-carbon economic development. As an important way to internalize the externalities of environmental behavior, the degree of perfection of economic policies has a direct impact on the energy transition process. As an important means to promote the adjustment of energy structure, economic policies can internalize the positive or negative externalities of corporate environmental behaviors, and play an unparalleled role in the process of promoting the green transformation of energy. This article takes Germany, France, Japan, and Australia as the research objects of the four countries with relatively advanced energy transition economic policy systems, and fully analyzes the above-mentioned countries’ practices in fiscal and taxation policies, green finance, and market systems, and combines China’s energy transition economic policies. Implementation status, and corresponding suggestions for the construction of China’s energy transition policy system.

Community-Engaged Older Adult-Led Policy, Systems, and Environment Interventions in the MS High Obesity Program

Older adults in rural areas are at unique risk for poor outcomes due to social isolation and limited access to resources. The Mississippi High Obesity Program (HOP) aims to enhance access to social connections and resources like community gardens, food pantries, and physical activity as part of its broader objective to prevent and reduce obesity. Through policy, systems and environment strategies, development of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between aforementioned entities, and community based participatory research approaches, Mississippi HOP efforts enhance food systems improvement efforts; grow multi-sectoral collaboration; and evaluate the effectiveness of new policies, and specifically MOUs, in reaching these goals. Older adults represent more than 40% (n=27) of all coalition members and stakeholder leaders (n=61); they are essential for the success of these initiatives. This presentation will highlight the work done during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of and benefits to older adults, especially ones in rural communities.

Ratio legis of special minimum limit regulation in narcotics law

Narcotics crime in society (especially in Indonesia) shows an increasing trend both quantitatively and qualitatively with widespread victims, especially among children, adolescents, and the younger generation in general. Based on this, the government must increase efforts to prevent and eradicate narcotics crimes by any means, whether reforming the Narcotics Law, imposing strict sanctions and so on. The purpose of this research is to find out how the legal ratio of the Special Minimum Limit Regulation in the Law on Narcotics. This research is normative legal research with a conceptual approach and a philosophical approach. The legal materials used are primary and secondary with the technique of analyzing legal materials using the interpretation method. The results of the study indicate that the Ratio legis regulation specific minimum criminal provisions in the three laws studied, namely: the Narcotics Law and the Supreme Court Circular Number 03 of 2015, is intended to prevent disparities in the sentencing of crimes by judges. The regulation of types of criminal sanctions in legislation is one of the functions of the State to protect legal interests, in the form of life, property and dignity. The regulation of criminal sanctions is one of the criminal policy systems that can be seen from several aspects, namely the criminal system, namely: types of sanctions, alternative and cumulative forms of sanctions and their duration, namely the maximum-minimum of the punishment threatened.