Implementing Health in All Policies – Time and Ideas Matter Too!; Comment on “Understanding the Role of Public Administration in Implementing Action on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequities”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Departement of Political Science, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada

Abstract

Carey and Friel suggest that we turn to knowledge developed in the field of public administration, especially new public governance, to better understand the process of implementing health in all policies (HiAP). In this commentary, I claim that theories from the policy studies bring a broader view of the policy process, complementary to that of new public governance. Drawing on the policy studies, I argue that time and ideas matter to HiAP implementation, alongside with interests and institutions. Implementing HiAP is a complex process considering that it requires the involvement and coordination of several policy sectors, each with their own interests, institutions and ideas about the policy. Understanding who are the actors involved from the various policy sectors concerned, what context they evolve in, but also how they own and frame the policy problem (ideas), and how this has changed over time, is crucial for those involved in HiAP implementation so that they can relate to and work together with actors from other policy sectors.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

1. Hendriks AM, Habraken J, Jansen MW, et al. ‘Are we there yet?,’ Operationalizing the concept of integrated public health policies. Health Policy. 2014;114(2-3):174-182. doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2013.10.004
2. Ollila E. Health in all policies: from rhetoric to action. Scand J Public Health. 2011;39(Suppl 6):11-18.
3. Kickbusch I, Buckett K. Implementing Health in All Policies: Adelaide 2010. Adelaide: Department of Health, Government of South Australia; 2010.
4. Molnar A, Renahy E, O’Campo P, Muntaner C, Freiler A, Shankardass K. Using win-win strategies to implement health in all policies: a cross-case analysis. PLoS One. 2016;11(2):e0147003. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147003
5. Carey G, Friel S. Understanding the role of public administration in implementing action on the social determinants of health and health inequities. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2015;4(12):795-798. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.185
6. Pressman J, Wildawsky A. Implementation. Berkeley: University of California Press; 1973.
7. Lipsky M. Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russel Sage Foundation; 1980.
8. Warin P. Les politiques publiques face à la non-demande sociale. In: Borraz O, Guiraudon V, eds. Politiques publiques. 2, Changer la société. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po; 2010:287-312.
9. Sabatier PA, ed. Theories of the Policy Process. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press; 2007.
10. Clavier C, de Leeuw E, eds. Health Promotion and the Policy Process. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013.
11. Smith K. Beyond Evidence-Based Policy in Public Health: The Interplay of Ideas. New York: Palgrave Macmmillan; 2013.
12. Clavier C, Sénéchal Y, Vibert S, Potvin L. A theory-based model of translation in public health participatory research. Sociol Health Illn. 2012;34(5):791-805.
13. Hall PA. The role of interests, institutions and ideas in the comparative political economy of the industrialized nations. In: Lichbach M, Zuckerman A, eds. Comparative Politics. Rationality, Culture, and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1997:174-207.
14. Palier B, Surel Y. Les “Trois I” et l’analyse de l’État en action. Revue Française de Science Politique. 2005;55(1):7-32.
15. Bossy T. Les différentes temporalités du changement: la mise sur agenda de l’obésité en France et au Royaume-Uni. In: Palier B, Surel Y, eds. Quand les politiques changent. Temporalités et niveaux de l’action publique. Paris: L’Harmattan; 2010:145-182.
 

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 19 February 2016
  • Revise Date: 08 June 2016
  • Accept Date: 11 June 2016
  • First Publish Date: 01 October 2016

Share

How to cite

Statistics