Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “POLITICS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

The social and political meaning of the silent epidemic of miners' phthisis, Bendigo 1860-1960.

Miners' Phthisis was suffered by goldminers in the Central Victorian city of Bendigo, Australia for 100 years from the 1860s to the 1960s. This paper examines the disease using the framework put forward by Karl Figlio in a study of miners' nystagmus and later adapted by Evan Willis to consider the social processes of Repetition Strain Injury. It demonstrates that a study of industrial disease does not require moral judgements on the disease's biological reality or medical controversy about its treatment in order to fit within such a framework. More, it argues that without an understanding of the social and political meaning of the disease historically and progressively, the biological has itself little meaning.

Disease Outbreaks↗
PubMed1994

Reflections on radiotherapy in Vietnam: political lessons still to be learned.

Radiotherapy in Vietnam represents a stark contrast to the level of care available in the United States. The issue of efficient administration of cancer care with available resources is common to both nations. The challenge for each country is to develop treatment strategies and political policies for effective and accessible care within budgetary constraints. Results of therapy, defined as the restoration of function, must be the measure of efficacy and efficiency. This demands a balance between control of tumor-related symptoms and treatment-related morbidity. The most inefficient use of resources is an ineffective treatment that results in complications, as we observed in Vietnam. As health care policies continue to develop in the United States, we must not fail to focus upon therapeutic outcome as the single most important parameter for measuring success relative to the personal and public investment in medicine.

Cancer Care Facilities↗
PubMed1995

Regulatory and political perspectives in reproductive and developmental hazard assessment.

The World Health Organisation is attempting to harmonise the processes of risk assessment worldwide in the hope that assessments performed in one country will be acceptable to other countries. This would reduce not only duplication of work by scientists, but would also reduce to a minimum the need for animal studies. There are differences in the scientific approaches used in different countries to the process of hazard and risk assessment. For example, in the USA risk assessment is focusing on development of mathematical models to describe dose-response relationships to define, for example, a benchmark dose. In Europe much less use is made of such models. More dependence is placed on no-effect levels, and the use of safety factors is much more highly developed. Political considerations come into play when one looks at the use, or misuse, that may be made of such hazard and risk assessments. Once a chemical has been classified and placed on a 'list' of reprotoxic chemicals, the underlying criteria may be ignored and actions taken which are quite unjustified by the original scientific evidence.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Political and ethical implications of using quality of life as an outcome measure.

The issue addressed by this article has been the legitimacy of using quality of life as an outcome measure with the potential for use as a means of allocating health care resources. Serious problems that arise include the definition and measurement of quality of life and the related ethical dilemmas of sanctity of life versus quality of life, individual versus aggregate good, and autonomy versus paternalism. Two core questions remain: How do we use the concept of quality of life for the benefit of individuals and society without compromising the integrity of either? How do we make ethical decisions for the aggregate good without violating the rights of individuals and without devaluing life, either by forcing someone to live who does not want to or by refusing treatment to someone who wants it? Clinicians and researchers need to be alert to the purpose for which quality of life data are being gathered to ensure that appropriate measures are being used. Forrow et al argue that an "important barrier to the use of decision analyses for individual patients lies in the difficulty of developing reliable and quantifiable measures of patients' preferences for various treatment outcomes--including differences in mortality or life expectancy, various kinds of morbidity, burdens of taking medications, economic costs, and so on." If these limitations could be overcome, quality of life might hold some promise for individual clinical decision-making. The lack of consensus about its definition and the problems inherent in its measurement render quality of life a poor choice as a criterion for decision-making regarding health policy. Clinicians concerned about the issues raised in this article are encouraged to identify the resources available to help them examine the issues. Useful resources include other interested providers, ethics committees, risk managers, chaplins, social workers, and codes of ethics, standards, and position statements. The Oregon model should be studied carefully since it may provide a guide for other states and the federal government. Forums should be organized at multiple levels involving nurses, physicians, other health care providers and the general public. We should encourage careful inquiry and judicious consideration of findings. We should be aware of the political scene and the research scene to guard against the potential misuse of study findings in the establishment of public policy. We should seek information for ourselves and our patients; we should provide the highest quality of care we can that is aimed at providing patients the possibility of fulfilling their own goals for their lives.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Beneficence↗
PubMed2004

Individual, science, and society: ACRM's mission and the body politic.

The core mission of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM)-using interdisciplinary research to "enhance the lives of persons living with disabilities"-has a role to play in the world. This mission draws on rehabilitation's origins in a strong belief system about the value of all individuals, regardless of the state of the body structure and function. This address draws on Scheper-Hughes and Lock's use of the body as a metaphor for a way in which society can think about its beliefs of the human body and disability; a body of science contributing to the evolution of rehabilitation; organizational bodies, both rehabilitation service organizations and ACRM as an organization; and the body politic, a concept used to talk about our engagement in society and its rules, policies, and priorities including research funding. In addition to highlighting excellent interdisciplinary clinical research, ACRM should continue development of a taxonomy of the rehabilitation process; it should endorse the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a conceptual framework for research development; it should continue increasing attention on research on participation and the environment; and it should embrace the scientific community of people engaged in evidence-based policy and health services research.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

The politics of assessing risk for biological invasions: the USA as a case study.

The current regulation of biological invasions rests on an unwarranted presumption (that the invader will cause no harm) and on risk assessment procedures that are narrowly focused, subjective, often arbitrary and unquantified, and subject to political interference. Although this current approach dominates international treaties and most national policies, it has not stemmed the rising tide of biological invasions, as evidenced by several examples from the USA. Technical advances in measuring and predicting impacts of introduced species will improve risk assessments. Additionally, focusing squarely on the risks associated not only with a proposed species introduction, but also on the goals of the introduction and on alternative ways of achieving them, would lead to more-informed decisions permitting the introduction of a species and fewer problematic invaders. In assessing the alternatives to introductions, the precautionary principle should be given heavy weight, as should the distribution of possible costs and benefits.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Threats to family planning services in Michigan: organizational responses to economic and political challenges.

Title X is the only federal funding specifically for contraception and family planning services. This study identifies the threats and challenges Title X family planning organizations face in Michigan, and examines organizational responses to these challenges. We hypothesized that organizational responses to current challenges, including recent legislation, would differ between organizational types. We used a multiple case study design to examine safety net providers that received Title X funding in 2001. Cases were selected to represent economic and geographic diversity and included a mix of population densities. Key informants at each organization participated in face-to-face, semistructured interviews. Interviews collected data on current challenges, organizational planning processes, and organizational responses. All Title X organizations reported significant challenges, including rising costs, increasing need, and inadequate funding. Private organizations were more concerned about political challenges, especially recent Michigan legislation, than health departments. Organizational type was associated with the type of response. Health departments tended to close clinics or cut services, whereas private organizations recruited insured populations and increased patient fees. Based on these findings, the family planning safety net in Michigan appears to be undergoing significant change. These changes may decrease the availability of affordable family planning services in Michigan.

Community Health Centers↗
PubMed1992

Political issues in endovascular surgery.

"Political issues" may determine the relative progress if not the ultimate success and acceptance of endovascular surgery as much as its intrinsic merits. These issues include turf battles, commercialization of newly developing technologies, unethical advertising, and self-serving reporting practices in presenting clinical results. Acceptable indications, methods of evaluating results, standardized reporting practices, appropriate "gold standards" for comparison, and controlled trials (without premature release) are recommended, as well as an emphasis on the future need for proper training and credentialing and quality assurance programs.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1999

Explaining the universe: Herbert Spencer's attempt to synthesize political and evolutionary ideas.

Herbert Spencer's evolutionary ideas related not just to the biological world but to the universe and everything in it. Human societies were also viewed through his evolutionary lens so that Spencer's evolutionary and political ideas are inextricably entwined. This essay looks at some of Spencer's ideas and attempts to locate them in the social and intellectual context of his youth. It also speculates on the rise and fall of Spencer's reputation.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The World Health Organization Report 2000: a politically incorrect computer game].

The World Health Organization Report 2000 is aimed at supporting an evidence-based development of health care systems in the world. The report has brought about a significant political and academic debate. This article reviews the contribution of the WHO Report to current health care policy, as well as analyzes and comments the main published critiques. Through a commented compilation of the health care reforms implemented over the last fifteen years in the world, WHO shifts radically its traditional position supporting now universal access to health care and a strong government's conduction role, but within a financial risk sharing environment, public and private co-operation and deregulation of the public management of health care institutions. WHO ranks in this report the 191 countries according to their health care systems' goal attainment and performance using a very weak, obscure and artificial methodology which has been opposed internationally. WHO is, however, committed to continue this initiative without apparently any major changes in the general and methodological approach.

Annual Reports as Topic↗
PubMed2003

The politics of 'branding' in policy transfer: the case of DOTS for tuberculosis control.

How and why policies are transferred between countries has attracted considerable interest from scholars of public policy over the last decade. This paper, based on a larger study, sets out to explore the processes involved in policy transfer between international and national levels. These processes are illustrated by looking at a particular public health policy--DOTS for the control and treatment of tuberculosis. The paper demonstrates how, after a long period of neglect, resources were mobilised to put tuberculosis back on international and national public policy agendas, and then how the policy was 'branded' and marketed as DOTS, and transferred to low and middle income countries. It focuses specifically on international agenda setting and policy formulation, and the role played by international organisations in those processes. It shows that policy communities, and particular individuals within them, may take political rather than technical positions in these processes, which can result in considerable contestation. The paper ends by suggesting that while it is possible to raise the profile of a policy dramatically through branding and marketing, success also depends on external events providing windows of opportunity for action. Second, it warns that simplifying policy approaches to 'one-size-fits-all' carries inherent risks, and can be perceived to harm locally appropriate programmes. Third, top-down internationally driven policy changes may lead to apparent policy transfer, but not necessarily to successfully implemented programmes.

Antitubercular Agents↗
PubMed2001

The missing politics and unsettled science of the trend toward earlier puberty.

The age of puberty in many populations has declined steeply over recent centuries and may be declining still. Consequently, today's children tend to experience the hormonal stresses of rapid development at younger ages than did their ancestors, around whose later, if not more gradual, maturation traditional behavioral expectations formed. Little has been made of this "rush to puberty" outside the life sciences. This article reviews its historical documentation, scholarly appreciation, epidemiological correlations, putative physiological and environmental explanations, sociological implications, and largely latent politics.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Disciplining addictions: the bio-politics of methadone and heroin in the United States.

Biomedical understanding of methadone as a magic-bullet pharmacological block to the euphoric effects of heroin is inconsistent with epidemiological and clinical data. An ethnographic perspective on the ways street-based heroin addicts experience methadone reveals the quagmire of power relations that shape drug treatment in the United States. The phenomenon of the methadone clinic is an unhappy compromise between competing discourses: A criminalizing morality versus a medicalizing model of addiction-as-a-brain-disease. Treatment in this context becomes a hostile exercise in disciplining the unruly misuses of pleasure and in controlling economically unproductive bodies. Most of the biomedical and epidemiological research literature on methadone obscures these power dynamics by technocratically debating dosage titrations in a social vacuum. A foucaultian critique of the interplay between power and knowledge might dismiss debates over the Swiss experiments with heroin prescription as merely one more version of biopower disciplining unworthy bodies. Foucault's ill-defined concept of the specific intellectual as someone who confronts power relations on a practical technical level, however, suggests there can be a role for political as well as theoretical engagement with debates in the field of applied substance abuse treatment. Meanwhile, too many heroin addicts who are prescribed methadone in the United States suffer negative side effects that range from an accentuated craving for polydrug abuse to a paralyzing sense of impotence and physical and emotional discomfort.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Alternative modalities of help within socio-political and ethnic minorities: self-help among Arabs living in Israel.

The present paper deals with alternative modalities of help within sociopolitical and ethnic minorities. It explores the phenomenon of self-help as one modality of help within the Arab population living in Israel. The analysis is based on four research studies, which incorporate the perspectives of lay people, professionals, self-help group members, and students in the helping professions, regarding definitional issues associated with the concept of self-help and attitudes toward such a modality of help. Findings obtained from the four studies reported here suggest that a natural fit exists between the Arab culture and such a helping modality as self-help organizations. Based on the findings, practical recommendations are outlined for use in the area of social work with socio-political and ethnic minorities.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Sri Lanka. Political violence and ethnic conflict.

In recent years, Sri Lanka has experienced 2 violent rebellions in which youths have played a prominent role, 1 in the majority Sinhala community and 1 in the minority Tamil community. The former was crushed, but the latter remains ongoing, with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who claim to represent the Tamil minority, battling the Sinhala-dominated government. Prospects for peace in the short- and medium term appear poor. These events have generated an impressive body of interdisciplinary interpretation, but several important topics have received relatively little attention. Most ongoing research is being carried out by anthropologists, historians, and political scientists, but psychological insights would offer important complementary perspectives.

Civil Disorders↗
PubMed2003

Caregiving-related needs analysis: a proposed model reflecting current research and socio-political developments.

The present authors have developed a model for assessing caregiving-related problems and needs, the Economic, Social, Psychological and Educational Requirements Table (ESPERT). The model was based on an analysis of the international literature concerning caregiving-related problems, and current specific European and Italian legislation, as well as the authors' own research results (which also permitted them to design a specific instrument for the general assessment of caregivers). This paper describes the socio-psychological and socio-political background prompting the development of the model, the general instrument for the assessment of caregivers and an example of its use in a sample of caregivers of cancer patients. In the example study, 80 caregivers of cancer patients were asked to complete questionnaires evaluating their state and trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, personality traits, and specifically, their neuroticism or emotional instability, caregiving strain and the degree of satisfaction with their lives. In addition to the specific information obtained about this group of caregivers, the present results show that the completion of the ESPERT makes it possible to identify the proportion of subjects at economic, social and emotional risk, and to decide rapidly what kind of resources/interventions can be implemented, bearing in mind the most balanced cost-benefit ratio.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Patient autonomy and the politics of professional relationships.

Debate in the health care professions about the politics of interpersonal relationships between professionals and their patients or clients is increasingly organized around proxy measures of the quality of professional services such as patient satisfaction, or the extent to which the provision of care avoids routines and is genuinely individualized. This paper explores some of the problems which arise from this in relation to patients' autonomy and nurses' authority.

Authoritarianism↗
PubMed1998

Towards a politics of trust.

This paper draws upon sociological theory to demonstrate that the manufacture and deployment of trust is an integral part of the function of complex systems such as health care. The discussion begins by identifying the error within the nursing literature which arises from a rather technical conceptualization of trust. This tends to limit the dimensions to trust which is established, and fails to recognize that trust may be subject to competition and conflict. The paper continues by drawing upon the work of two theorists, Niklas Luhmann and Susan P. Shapiro, to demonstrate how trust functions within systems such as health care and the mechanisms through which it is controlled. The title of this paper, 'Towards a politics of trust', identifies that this is merely the first stage in the analysis. Further stages are necessary which analyse the ways in which power is exercised in the conflict for control within discrete elements of the system.

Health Care Reform↗