Notescourse‘EpidemiologyandPublic
HealthPolicies’(CHL-33303)
Content
Notesweek1 2
1.1Thedefinitionofpublichealth 2
1.2ThePublicHealthCycle 2
1.3Needsassessment 8
1.4Illustrations 13
1.5GroupAssignment 13
Notesweek2 13
2.1Roleofpolicy,Research&Practice 14
2.2POLdeterminants 17
2.3Formulateaimsandobjectives 18
2.4GroupAssignment 21
Notesweek3 22
3.1ConstructingaLogicModel 22
3.2PolicyInstrumentsandHealthPromotion 24
3.3Illustrations 26
3.4CommunicationEssentials 27
3.5GroupAssignment 28
Self-tests 29
4.1Self-test1 29
4.2Self-test2 30
4.3Self-test3 32
Note:Allreadingchaptersinthissummaryarederivedfrom:
Haveman-Nies,A.,Jansen,S.,vanOers,H.,&van'tVeer,P.(Eds.)(2017).Epidemiologyin
publichealthpractice.WageningenAcademicPublishers.
OtherinformationisderivedfromtheWageningenUniversityandResearch(WUR).
EpidemiologyandPublicHealthPolicies(CHL-33303) 1
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Notesweek1
1.1Thedefinitionofpublichealth
1.1Definitionofpublichealth
Thedefinitionofpublichealthis:‘Thes cienceandartofp reventingdisease,prolonginglife
andpromotinghealththroughtheo rganizedeffortsofsociety’.Youtrytopreventdisease,
prolonglifeandpromotehealth.
Healthisdefinedasa bsenceofillness.Italsoisastateofcompletephysical,mentaland
socialw ell-being(WHO,1948).Addedlaterwasalsothea bilitytoadaptands
elf-manage
inthefaceofsocial,physical,andemotionalchallenges(Huber,2011).
Theo rganizedeffortsofsocietygothroughgovernmentalorganizationsand
non-governmentalorganizations.Theyactonlocal,regional,nationalorinternationallevel.
Forexample:WHO,MinistryofHealth,Publichealthorprimarycareorganizations(GP,
socialservices,healthinsurance,nutritioncentre),andtheindustry(foodindustry,retail).
Thea rtofscienceisdescribedas‘Thepublichealthprofessionalneedstowork
academically,butneedstobeacivilengineer’.Thismeansthattheprofessionalalways
combinesthescience,togetherwithpolicyandthepractice.
1.2ThePublicHealthCycle
1.2.1Chapter3&4reading
TheP ublicHealthCycleisaframeworkforpublichealthprofessionals.Thisisatool,where
differentworkcycles(ofresearch,practiceandpolicy)cometogether.Itemphasizesthat
activitiesofpolicymakers,practitionersandresearchersarerelated,andacknowledgesthat
theycanworktogetheronhealthpromotionanddiseasepreventionbyusingashared
frame.Thesuccessofinterventionprogrammesinpublichealthstronglydependsonproper
planningandgoodteamwork.Importantkey-pointsofthesharedmodelare:
● Ac ommongoal:improvementofthehealthandwell-beingofallpeople.
● Systematicapproach:it’sacyclical,andthus,ongoingprocess,withcontinuous
qualityimprovement.
● Transparency:sharedinformationaboutfacts,figures,evidence,motives,norms,
valuesandavailablebudget.
● Opendialogue:mutualrespectandrecognition.
EpidemiologyandPublicHealthPolicies(CHL-33303) 2
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Source:WUR
ThefourstagesofthePublicHealthCycle
1. Agendasetting:problemrecognitionanddevelopmentofbroadgoalstoaddressit.
Thehealthissuesmustcompeteagainstotherpolicyissues(forexample,safetyor
education)tobecomeapriority.Governmentscanonlyfocusonalimitednumberof
healthproblemsatatime.Thegovernmentisoftenthemostimportantandinfluential
agendasetter.Othersarepoliticalparties,themedia,interestgroupsand
practitioners.Howissuesreachtheagendaisacomplexprocess.Ifpublichealth
issuesareperceivedtobesocially,practicallyandscientificallyrelevantandhave
publicsupport,awin-winsituationforallfieldscanoccur.
a. Roleofthee pidemiologist:provideinformationaboutpopulationhealthwith
policymakers,politicalparties,interestgroupsandthemedia.
b. Roleofther esearcherandp ractitioner:provideinformationaboutthe
magnitudeands eriousnessofahealthproblem.
c. Roleofthep olicymaker:p rioritysetting.
2. Programmedevelopment:strategiestointerveneatanindividual,organizational
andpolicylevelhavetobeformulatedinaprogrammeorintervention.Thisplan
couldhavedifferentforms;implementation,adaptingordeveloping.Thechoice
dependsonthedefinedprogrammeobjectives,availablestrategyandresponsible
authorities.Ideally,itcontainsawell-foundedselectionoftargetgroups,activities,
andevaluationplan.
a. Roleofthee pidemiologist:developSMARTobjectives,generatethe
evidence-basefortheprogrammeandhelpdeveloptheevaluationplan.
b. Roleofther esearcher:argumentscanbefoundine vidence-basedand
therapy-basedapproaches.
c. Roleofthep ractitioner:applicabilityandmeetingthen eedsofindividualsand
groupsaretheaddeddecisiveargumentsforaction.
d. Roleofthep olicymaker:importantdecisiveargumentsarepublic
acceptability,visibilityandimmediacy.
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3. Implementation:puttheinterventionplanintoaction;[1]research-drivenapproach
(translateresearchintopractice),and[2]practice-driveapproach(localinitiativesand
noprespecifiedactivities,developmentcontinuesduringtheimplementation).
a. Roleofthee pidemiologist:r egisterandcollectdata,e
valuatethe
implementationprocess,andtherewithimprovethequality.
b. Roleofther esearcher:g uidingtheimplementationprocess.
c. Roleofthep ractitioner:o
rganizingactivities.
d. Roleofthep olicymaker:c oordination.
4. Evaluation:informationabouttheprocess,costsandeffects.Withthis,the
governmentcandecidewhethertheprogrammeshouldbemaintained,expanded,
changedorterminated.
a. Roleofthee pidemiologist:provide,analyse,interpretandintegratedataon
thee ffectivenessoftheprograms(inordertolegitimatepublicfunding).
b. Roleofther esearcher,p ractitioner,andp
olicymaker:reachingc onsensus
aboutweightingthedifferentevaluationresultsrelevantforpolicy,practice
andresearch.
Planpublichealthpoliciesandprograms
Therearethreedifferentmodelsforplanningpublichealthpoliciesandprograms.Theiraim
istoguidetheprocessfromthebeginningtotheend:
1. Precede-Proceed(GreenandKreuter,2005):oldestmodelandadjustedovertime.
Thefirststepsareaboutsettingprioritiesonthebasisofcausalimportance,
prevalenceandchangeability.Thelaststepsareaboutimplementingandevaluating.
Thequalityofthetotalplanningprocesslargelydependsontheevaluation.
Stage Component
1 Precede Socialassessmentandsituationalanalysis:engagepeoplein
definingtheirsocialconditionsandqualityoflifeconcerns(communityis
anactivepartner).
2 Epidemiologicalassessment:identifyahealthproblemthatmay
interactwiththesocialproblemfromstage1.Also,determinantsare
identifiedandgroupedintobehaviouralpatterns,environmental
conditionsandgeneticcomponents.
3 Educationalandecologicalassessment:identify,sortandselect
predisposing,enabling,andreinforcingfactorsthatseemtohave
influence.
4 Administrativeandpolicyassessment,andinterventionalignment:
answerthequestion‘Whatprogrammecomponentsandinterventions
areneededtoaffectthechangesspecifiedinpreviousstages?’
5 Proceed Implementation:programmecomponentsareselectedandalignedwith
prioritydeterminantsofchange.
6 Processevaluation:evaluatetheimplementationoftheprogress.
7 Impactevaluation:evaluatetheimmediateeffectsoftheprogram.
8 Outcomeevaluation:evaluatetheprogram’seffectonthehealthand
socialsituation.
Source:Epidemiologyinpublichealthpolicy
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