Background: At present, we have very limited ability to compare public health activity across jurisdictions and countries, or even to ascertain differences in what is considered to be a public health activity. Existing standardised health classifications do not capture important dimensions of public health, which include its functions, the methods and interventions used to achieve these, the health issues and determinants of health that public health activities address, the resources and infrastructure they use, and the settings in which they occur. A classification that describes these dimensions will promote consistency in collecting and reporting information about public health programs, expenditure, workforce and performance. This paper describes the development of an initial version of such a classification.
BackgroundInvestments in settings-based health interventions can include workplaces, however, engaging with businesses and convincing them to take a role can be difficult. Our research investigated the potential for trade or industry associations (IAs) to have a role in promoting workplace health initiatives to their members.MethodsSeventeen semi-structured interviews were undertaken with senior executives from IAs representing industries in the mining, transport, agriculture, manufacturing, farming, hospitality, and construction sectors. Analysis of interviews identified themes around attitudes to workplace health promotion programs and the perceived, actual and potential role/s of IAs in promoting workplace wellness.ResultsIA representatives believed workplaces had potential to be promoting the health and wellbeing of workers through their member organisations; however for some the extent of their role was unclear and for others there was confusion between government-mandated safety initiatives and non-mandated health and wellbeing initiatives. All reported that their IA could have a role in promoting worker health and wellbeing initiatives to member organisations. IAs with larger companies as members were more likely to recognise the importance of workplaces promoting workers’ health; however, the degree of involvement considered appropriate varied. Most IAs had not discussed the topic with their member organisations although they identified resources and support that could assist them in encouraging members to undertake workplace health programs. Resources included industry-relevant business cases outlining the benefits of workplace health, and industry-appropriate worker health information.ConclusionsOur research suggests that across many industry sectors, larger IAs in particular are ready to take a more active role in workplace health initiatives and are well placed to promote these to member organisations.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3364-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Objectives: This paper reports on a comparative evaluation of indicators that are in use, or proposed for use, by leading international organizations to assess their adequacy for the purpose of monitoring key issues related to gender, equity and health.Methods: A comprehensive health information framework was developed on a generic framework by the ISO (2001) to use for the analysis of gender equity within mainstream health systems. A sample of 1 095 indicators used by key international organizations were mapped to this framework and assessed for technical quality and gender sensitivity. Results:The evaluation found defi ciencies in the indicators currently in use, from the viewpoint of both technical quality and underlying conceptual bases, as well as in their coverage of the framework, and especially in relation to health system performance.Conclusions: Routine administrative reporting offered large numbers of indicators but these did not allow for monitoring of gender equity and health. The paper concludes that there is merit in developing a core set of leading indicators that can be used for comparisons across peer countries and communities.Performance measurement has become a common feature of health organizations at national and international levels, and the importance of developing and using appropriate indicators has been of concern to the series of international meetings organized by the WHO Kobe Centre (WKC) on women and health and welfare systems. The fi rst of these meetings resulted in the Awaji Declaration (WKC 2000) which outlined principles for reforming the health and welfare system by shifting focus from health care policy to healthy public policy; from access to services to access to health; from institutions to integrated services delivery; from provider-driven care to client and community-centred care; and from narrow indicators of morbidity and effi ciency to broader indicators of equity and well-being. The Canberra Communiqué (WKC 2001) outlined a range of strategies to effect reform, including building women's leadership and capacity in data collection and analysis for action. It called for public health and health services data to be disaggregated by sex, and for collection design and analysis to 'identify gender differences in experiences, impacts, causes and responses to health needs' (WKC 2001). The Kobe Action Plan, (WKC 2002) operationalised the Communiqué and identifi ed the comparative evaluation of indicators of gender equity, gender equality and health used by international agencies as an immediate priority. The work described here is part of this project. Box 1 Defi nitionsGender -the cultural, social, temporal and political constructions of men and women, girls and boys.Gender indicators -measure the status of women against some 'normative' standard or reference group (e. g. men) and should be able to measure changes in women's status and roles over time.Equity -the equally fair treatment of women and men, including recognition that women and men have different needs, prefere...
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