Library Bulletin - Journal Articles - February 2010
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Health Improvement/Health Promotion
DORFMAN, Lori and YANCEY, Antronette K. Promoting physical activity and healthy eating: convergence in framing the role of industry. Preventive Medicine Vol 49, No 4 - October 2009: 303-305
Abstract: This commentary addresses a little explored aspect of prevention, namely, how public health practitioners conceptualize the roles of industries whose business interests may be at odds with physical activity and eating nutrient-rich foods. Taking their cues from successful campaigns in tobacco control, many public health advocates have framed obesity as a battle with the food industry. Such framing presents problems when it exacerbates existing tensions between practitioners in nutrition and physical activity, and alienates potential fitness industry partners. Creating healthy environments requires reframing expectations of all industries that influence physical activity and inactivity. A broader view of the influence of corporate practices on physical and social environments will help both physical activity and nutrition advocates identify what they can do together, and in partnership with the business sector, to create environments that promote activity and nutritious eating.
FRENCH, Jeff. The nature, development and contribution of social marketing to public health practice since 2004 in England. Perspectives in Public Health Volume 129, No 6 - November 2009: 262-267
Abstract: Social marketing is a highly systematic approach to health improvement that sets out unambiguous success criteria focused on behaviour change. This paper reviews the key concepts and principles of social marketing and its recent rapid development across government in England in the public health field. This paper outlines the role of the National Social Marketing Centre and concludes with a discussion of the probable future impact of social marketing on public health practice. The paper argues that there is a close ideological match between social marketing and liberal democratic imperatives. Social marketing’s focus on outcome, return on investment and its emphasis on developing interventions that can respond to diverse needs, means it is probable that social marketing will increasingly be required by governments as a standard part of public health programmes.
GRIFFITHS, Jenny and BLAIR-STEVENS, Clive and others. The integration of health promotion and social marketing. Perspectives in Public Health Volume 129, No 6 - November 2009: 268-271
Abstract: The urgency and scale of contemporary health challenges are enormous. The review It's Our Health!1published in 2006 found that social marketing had considerable potential to increase the effectiveness of health improvement work, with the intention that it should build on core health promotion principles and not replace them. Health promotion has, however, lost its focus and identity in recent years in some parts of the country, partly due to repeated organizational change, and it has suffered from a lack of proactive workforce development. Over the last year, the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC) and the Shaping the Future of Health Promotion Collaboration (StFofHP), hosted by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), have explored the relationship between social marketing and health promotion and led a debate with stakeholders. A Delphi consultation with an expert panel drawn from specialists and strategic leaders in several settings, and the academic community, is currently under way and will report in the autumn. Findings so far emphasize the wide variation in understanding and interpretation of the two skill sets, much confusion about definitions and what added value both health promotion and social marketing bring to health improvement. Some of the distinctive contributions of both are described in this paper.
MORRIS, Daniel S and ROONEY, Megan P and others. Measuring exposure to health messages in community-based intervention studies : a systematic review of current practices. Health Education and Behavior Vol 36, No 6 - December 2009: 979-998
Abstract: Accurately measuring exposure is critical to all intervention studies. The present review examines the extent to which best practices in exposure assessment are adhered to in community-based prevention and education studies. A systematic literature review was conducted examining community-based studies testing communication interventions, published in 2003-2007. Of 663 studies identified, 54 met all inclusion criteria and were reviewed for type of exposure assessment conducted (if any), use of exposure data in study analyses, and discussion of biases related to exposure assessment. Although a majority of studies (n = 38; 70%) assessed exposure, most of these used only a simple dichotomous measure (n = 31; 82%), less than half used exposure data to adjust intervention effects (n = 16; 42%), and only six (16%) addressed selective exposure as a possible source of bias. There is substantial room for improvement in measurement and analysis of exposure to communication in community-based disease prevention studies.
RACETTE, Susan B and DEUSINGER, Susan S and others. Worksite Opportunities for Wellness (WOW): effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors after 1 year. Preventive Medicine Vol 49, No 2-3 - August/September 2009: 108-114
Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a worksite health promotion program on improving cardiovascular disease risk factors. Methods: In St Louis, Missouri from 2005 to 2006, 151 employees (134 F, 17 M, 81% overweight/obese) participated in a cohort-randomized trial comparing assessments + intervention (worksite A) with assessments only (worksite B) for 1 year. All participants received personal health reports containing their assessment results. The intervention was designed to promote physical activity and favorable dietary patterns using pedometers, healthy snack cart, WeightWatchers® meetings, group exercise classes, seminars, team competitions, and participation rewards. Outcomes included BMI, body composition, blood pressure, fitness, lipids, and Framingham 10-year coronary heart disease risk. Results: 123 participants, aged 45 ± 9 yr, with BMI 32.9 ± 8.8 kg/m2 completed 1 year. Improvements (P = 0.05) were observed at both worksites for fitness, blood pressure, and total-, HDL-, and LDL-cholesterol. Additional improvements occurred at worksite A in BMI, fat mass, Framingham risk score, and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome; only the changes in BMI and fat mass were different between worksites. Conclusion: A multi-faceted worksite intervention promoted favorable changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors, but many of the improvements were achieved with worksite health assessments and personalized health reports in the absence of an intervention.
SHIRCORE, Richard and LADBURY, Patrick. From service delivery to solution delivery : commissioning for health improvement. Perspectives in Public Health Volume 129, No 6 - November 2009: 281-287
Abstract: The further division of responsibilities between commissioners and providers in England will have far-reaching consequences and opportunities for developing and enhancing health improvement. Commissioners will have the opportunity to craft local solutions to local issues. To be effective, these local responses need to tackle the core determinants of health and to build the social capital that is at the heart of all communities that enjoy high standards of health. This paper argues that the new arrangements mark an evolution of the Beveridge model of healthcare (centralized, top down and professionally prescribed) to a post-Beveridge model characterized by it being decentralized, localized and utilizing professional skills in the pursuit of client and community satisfaction and engagement rather than a narrowly defined professional perspective. This paper indicates some of the key conceptual changes commissioners need to employ to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. It is argued that the new arrangements will only be fully effective if commissioners of health improvement programmes ensure they factor in health promotion and social marketing expertise, both in the strategic and operational phases of commissioning. Finally, predictions are made about changes in the values and characteristics of current health improvement organizations.
STARKEY, Fenella and AUDREY, Suzanne and others. Identifying influential young people to undertake effective peer-led health promotion: the example of A Stop Smoking In Schools Trial (ASSIST). Health Education Research Vol 24, No 6 - December 2009: 977-988
Abstract: The objective of the study was to develop and evaluate an effective whole-community approach to identifying a diverse group of influential young people to effectively diffuse health promotion messages among their peers. A peer nomination questionnaire, developed through extensive piloting work, was completed by 10-730 Year 8 students (aged 12-13 years) in 59 schools (30 intervention, 29 control) as part of a cluster randomized controlled trial. Influential students identified in 30 intervention schools were trained to disseminate smoke-free health promotion messages through informal contacts with peers. This approach successfully identified, recruited and retained a diverse group of students, broadly representative of their year group, to undertake the role of ‘peer supporter’. Although students and staff expressed doubts about the suitability of some young people recruited as peer supporters, the intervention achieved a 22% reduction in the odds of being a regular smoker in intervention compared with control schools [odds ratio 0.78 (95% CI 0.64-0.96)]. Carefully designed and developed peer-led interventions have potential for delivering effective smoking prevention among adolescents. Paying close attention to the way in which peer educators are identified, and involving young people themselves in this process, may be the key to increasing the effectiveness of peer education.
E, Marilyn and HARRIS, Patrick and others. The role of health impact assessment in promoting population health and health equity. Health Promotion Journal of Australia Vol 20, No 3 - December 2009: 172-179
Abstract: Within the discipline of health promotion there has been long-standing understanding of the social determinants of health and life expectancy.1-3 There is also long-standing evidence of the unfair, unjust distribution of these resources within and among societies. It has proven difficult to translate this evidence of the need for the fairer distribution of socially-distributed resources into powerful action by the range of sectors through whose policies and programs/services much of this inequitable distribution is created.4 Health promotion has proven effective in contributing to significant improvements in the health of populations. It is, now, based on well-developed theory and a comprehensive body of evidence. However, health promotion in particular and the health sector in general have found it difficult to work with other sectors to influence public policy to create the social, economic, environmental and cultural conditions necessary for health equity. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is outlined as an approach that offers the health sector a structured, transparent method and process to work with other sectors to predict the impact of policy proposals on the health of populations (and on the determinants of health), and to predict the distribution of these impacts in advance of adoption and implementation of the policy. Based on Australian experience of conducting HIAs, the paper outlines contributions that HIA can make to formulating and implementing of healthy public policy. It describes the steps in HIA and illustrates the use of these in practice.