This book explores the complex relationship between public health research and policy, employing tobacco control and health inequalities in the UK as contrasting case studies. It argues that focusing on research-informed ideas usefully draws attention to the centrality of values, politics and advocacy for public health debates.

The Politics of Evidence Based Policymaking identifies how to work with policymakers to maximize the use of scientific evidence. Policymakers cannot consider all evidence relevant to policy problems. They use two shortcuts: ‘rational’ ways to gather enough evidence, and ‘irrational’ decision-making, drawing on emotions, beliefs, and habits. Most scientific studies focus on the former. They identify uncertainty when policymakers have incomplete evidence, and try to solve it by improving the supply of information. They do not respond to ambiguity, or the potential for policymakers to understand problems in very different ways. A good strategy requires advocates to be persuasive: forming coalitions with like-minded actors, and accompanying evidence with simple stories to exploit the emotional or ideological biases of policymakers.

This open access book bridges the divide between political science and public health, whilst simultaneously embracing the complexities and differences of both. Although public health is inherently political, the tools and insights of political science are often ignored in public health scholarship. Bringing together academics and researchers working at the intersection of both, the book demonstrates how integrating these fields can help reconcile the roles of politics and scientific evidence in policymaking. It also highlights the key conceptual, methodological and substantive implications for bridging this divide, and charts a path forward for a movement towards political science with public health. It will be of interest to academics, researchers and students interested in public health, political science, public policy, and the role of scientific evidence in policymaking.

Weaponising Evidence provides the first analysis of the history of the international law on tobacco control. By relying on a vast set of empirical sources, it analyses the negotiation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the tobacco control disputes lodged before the WTO and international investment tribunals (Philip Morris v Uruguay and Australia – Plain Packaging). The investigation focuses on two main threads: the instrumental use of international law in the warlike confrontation between the tobacco control advocates and the tobacco industry, and the use of evidence as a weapon in the conflict. The book unveils important lessons on the functioning of international organizations, the role of corporate actors and civil society organizations, and the importance and limits of science in law-making and litigation.

Provides wide-ranging anaylses and reviews of the UK's experiences of health inequalities research and policy to date, and reflects on the lessons that have been learnt from these experiences, both within the UK and internationally.

Introduction to Public Health is a foundation, introductory text addressing the principles and practice of public health. Written from a multidisciplinary perspective, the text defines the discipline of public health, the nature and scope of public health activity and the challenges that face public health in the 21st century. Designed for undergraduate health science and nursing students, the text helps readers with their understanding of the nature and scope of public health and the challenges facing the field into the future. Positions public health concepts within an Australian and New Zealand context Chapter case studies and examples to help illustrate key points Chapter reflection and review questions to assist readers with their application to practise Logical structure enabling those new to public health to grasp complex concepts and apply to current health practice New—A suite of video interviews with leading public health experts who each share a broad contextual overview of public health now and into the future Additional resources on Evolve eBook on VitalSource Instructor Resources Image Bank (tables and figures from the book) Case studies Video interviews Students Resources Student Quiz

The definitive work in D&I research -- now completely updated and expanded The application of scientific research to the creation of evidence-based policies is a science unto itself -- and one that is never easy. Dissemination and implementation research (D&I) is the study of how scientific advances can be implemented into everyday life, and understanding how it works has never been more important for students and professionals across the scientific, academic, and governmental communities. Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health is a practical guide to making research more consequential, a collection assembled and written by today's leading D&I researchers. Readers of this book are taught to: · Evaluate the evidence base in an effective intervention · Choose a strategy that produces the greatest impact · Design an appropriate and effectual study · Track essential outcomes · Account for the barriers to uptake in communities, social service agencies, and health care facilities The challenges to moving research into practice are universal, and they're complicated by the current landscape's reliance on partnerships and multi-center research. In this light, Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health is nothing less than a roadmap to effecting change in the sciences. It will have broad utility to researchers and practitioners in epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral science, economics, medicine, social work, psychology, and anthropology -- both today and in our slightly better future.

This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the many definitions, theories and approaches in public health. It is an important book for students and practitioners who are interested in public health, and for those who are keen to improve it.

Much has been written about policy efforts to achieve ‘Health in All Policies’: an ambitious attempt to improve population health and reduce health inequalities by ensuring multiple policy areas are more attuned to their health impacts. However, most accounts focus on technical challenges, such as implementing impact assessments. In contrast, and focusing on the European Union, this book argues that ‘Health in All Policies’ is essentially a political project shaped by institutional power, competing ideas, and discourses. We can only really understand the failure to realise its ambition through political analysis.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. There has been an enormous increase in interest in the use of evidence for public policymaking, but the vast majority of work on the subject has failed to engage with the political nature of decision making and how this influences the ways in which evidence will be used (or misused) within political areas. This book provides new insights into the nature of political bias with regards to evidence and critically considers what an ‘improved’ use of evidence would look like from a policymaking perspective. Part I describes the great potential for evidence to help achieve social goals, as well as the challenges raised by the political nature of policymaking. It explores the concern of evidence advocates that political interests drive the misuse or manipulation of evidence, as well as counter-concerns of critical policy scholars about how appeals to ‘evidence-based policy’ can depoliticise political debates. Both concerns reflect forms of bias – the first representing technical bias, whereby evidence use violates principles of scientific best practice, and the second representing issue bias in how appeals to evidence can shift political debates to particular questions or marginalise policy-relevant social concerns. Part II then draws on the fields of policy studies and cognitive psychology to understand the origins and mechanisms of both forms of bias in relation to political interests and values. It illustrates how such biases are not only common, but can be much more predictable once we recognise their origins and manifestations in policy arenas. Finally, Part III discusses ways to move forward for those seeking to improve the use of evidence in public policymaking. It explores what constitutes ‘good evidence for policy’, as well as the ‘good use of evidence’ within policy processes, and considers how to build evidence-advisory institutions that embed key principles of both scientific good practice and democratic representation. Taken as a whole, the approach promoted is termed the ‘good governance of evidence’ – a concept that represents the use of rigorous, systematic and technically valid pieces of evidence within decision-making processes that are representative of, and accountable to, populations served.